Red Cathedral

The ZV-E1 might seem like an odd little camera, sharing loads of features with A7SIII, FX3, A7RV, A6700, A7CII and looking a bit lost amongst the massive stream of paid influencer attention to the latter. But allow me to make a blunt statement about the ZV-E1 up front: the marketing rep who decided to put this camera in the market as a vlogging camera has definitely never used it for anything else than a statistic in their Excel-sheets. It is SO much more! Then who is it for? Link:  https://youtube.com/shorts/ZHDElV5-n6s That answered the question: Is the ZV-E1 a good camera for you? Why I answer yes to: Is the ZV-E1 a good camera? Can be found in this video below. Link: https://youtu.be/HFucLj4lT-0   Bonus notes not in the video: 1. No, why the 4k 100/120fps ( in movie + S&Q ) and FHD 200/240fps ( in S&Q only ) were added with a free license eludes me. Yes, it means it was from the beginning in the camera because no firmware needed updating. Maybe...

The Sony Cinema line ILME-FX30, as it is called in full, is a Super35 ( = APS-C ) cine camera that can be easily mistaken for it's full frame brethren, the FX3. This video has 3 MAIN topics: 1. Focus breathing compensation for video focus transitions without any change to the viewing angle. 2. Auto focus assist allows you to manually override continuous autofocus and let the camera do the final finetuning. Sounds complex? Actually it's super useful. 3. How to activate S-log mode? Yes, there's a difference between FX-cinema line cameras & Alpha mirrorless cameras. 4. BONUS: Quick tips on the extra record button, the cooling, the tally lights, Focus mapping, Clear Image Zoom, Photo capture, streaming, the stills function,.. A link to the video on Youtube .  Sample images ( stills ) made with the FX30 PS. If you want to know everything about the different S-log modes + the Exposure Index ( Flexible ISO, Cine EI & Cine EI Quick ) and you have 15 more minutes to spare...

A few days ago I got my private Sony A7IV after thoroughly testing a pre-production model from work. You can find those 1st pictures on Flickr . Fun fact: This home-coming of the A7IV was my very first video on Clapper ( look for Red Cathedral )  There are some quirks in the A7IV like cropped 4K 60p ( just like Nikon's Z6II ), it heats faster than the A7SIII ( I might you some tricks to minimise heating while filming in a later article ) and eats through batteries at the same speed as the A1 and A7SIII . ( You wanted more power than the A7III , you've got more power.. but that has a price ). However, for events this is an allround powerhouse.. at least: once I'll be doing events again.  For once a I did a complete video walk through of my changes and settings in the menu. It's in English but at the end I quickly show some  important parts in French & in Dutch. Some samples & experiments are already on Flickr (including lowlight, APS-C lens,.. why APS-C?...

A question I often get during events is: " Don't you find it just awful when you're filming a bit and suddenly you see an image that would have made a great photo? " But there is a solution to fix this: The Photo Capture function in the current generations of Sony cameras just might save you. ( Yes, this is a photo Capture from an A7III 4k 25p 8bit 4.2.0 video. ) Which cameras? I've been using this function since my A7III. It can also be activated on for example A7RIII, A7SIII, A7RIV, A7IV, A9, A9II, A1, A7RV, A7C, FX30, A6100, A6400, A6600, ZV-E10, ZV-1, ZV-1F, RX100VII, and even on some Sony video cameras . Full Youtube video Went live on February 10th 2023 ( Yes, 1.5 years after this article was written.. and I still don't enjoy watching/hearing/editing myself on the screen ) How does it work? 1. You shoot a video. ( 8k, 4k, 1080p, horizontal or vertical video orientation, S&Q-video , 8bit or 10bit, 4.2.0 or 4.2.2,.. ) 2. On a quiet moment you ...

 " Why? " You will probably ask while shaking your head. " Why would you do such a thing? " 1. WHAT? Let us start with the " What? " In Sony full frame mirrorless cameras you can always switch between using the camera full frame or in APS-C-mode. This changes your field of view into a " zoomed feel ". What really happens is that in this APS-C mode the processor uses only a part of the sensor. This part is the same size as an APS-C sensor as found in the A6000-series. For photo you always sacrifice megapixels in this "cropped" mode. For video this APS-C mode is called Super 35 mode and has several advantages. But this article is mostly about photography. In video you might want to read this article and consider that for example the full frame A7IV automatically snaps into Super35-mode when you switch it to 4k 50p/60p. In that latter case.. why not put your trust in a lighter, wider ( and often cheaper ) APS-C lens? Subtitles ar...

During training with the Sony A7SIII a common question I get is: since you can't use Super 35 mode in 4k video,  can you still use APS-C lenses to film with? It's logical that you can't use Super 35 mode (= APS-C sized video mode) in 4k since the A7SIII films 4.2k in full sensor readout. Hence you can only use the Super 35 mode in FHD (1080p). In Sony full frame mirrorless cameras you can always switch between using the camera full frame or in APS-C. For photo you always sacrifice megapixels. The A9/A9II/A7II/A7III's 24MP becomes 10MP in APS-C, A7RIII's 42MP becomes a usuable 18MP in APS-C, A7RIV's 61MP becomes a very decent 26MP in APS-C. The advantage for photo is that you can turn a 600mm lens into a 900mm lens without teleconvertor. All info about this feature in this article + video The A7S-series have a 12MP sensor ( to be used as a lowlight behemoth with those giant-sized photocytes in the sensor - factcheck: https://www.digicamdb.com/specs/sony_a7s-iii/...

You can do crazy videothings with the new videocentric A7SIII camera without it overheating and I hope to be able to test several of those (Yes, including making a vertical TikTok or IG video in 4k 120fps or FHD 240fps.. speaking about overkill for those platforms 😇)  But my main focus is photography and while some say 12MP " just isn't enough to be considered as a pro photocamera ",  I still remember days when we were whowed by 8MP pro photocameras. Times have changed.. but if you want you can still make a picture that doesn't need cropping. Depends on the chosen subject and the in-camera framing. Just don't expect to be making large prints (I mean: larger than A3 chemical prints) and then the 12MP covers it perfectly. I'm off now, trying to get the most out of the crazy fast autofocus (even at EV -6), the nearly limitless RAW-buffer (+1000pix buffer with the CFExpress A), the 15+ stops of dynamic range and best of all: the ISO 40 to ISO 409600 (yes, you r...