The End Of My Journey, The Start Of The Next.

Street photography, specifically Japanese street shooting for me, is done.

This trip there was a shift in my perceptions, the tolerance of the Japanese for crude tourist habits and on a deeper level, I felt no connection to the craft.

I guess this is inevitable. Everything grows then dies, but before we went, I did not honestly think it would end completely. My love of street photography has been keeping me going for a while now and the lack of it was blamed for my creative funk.

Funk alive, street photography dead.

Where to now?

People who are aware of or alternatively oblivious of me, video of events, landscapes, found things, abstracts.

Beauty in the obvious.

Back to my roots in some ways and to the things that define my work also.

Beauty in ugliness.

Authenticity

I dislike news photography as I am forced to do it at the paper.

It often lacks the one thing I think it should champion and that is authenticity.

The set-up shot is, by its very nature, not authentic. The people are, their reason for being in front of the camera and even their props usually are, but the staging of the photo is “old school” news reporting.

“Say cheese”.

Advice has been given to me by others who are fully entrenched in this way of thinking, but I cannot bring myself to do it.

I think we can do better.

Over thirty plus years of seeing things and grabbing them as I go have given me speed, intuition and accuracy, all mostly wasted as it goes when “manufacturing” an image.

I have felt trapped in a world not best suited to my skill set or one I want to adapt to necessarily, trying to find a decent compromise between set-up and “as I see it” shooting.

Skating the thin ice over a lake of “what has been before and should be for ever more” basking in the fresh air of genuine naturalness. My usual go-to is to put people in their happy place and let them be themselves.

Video has changed this for me or more to the point, video has made this a more normal state.

This does not come from posing.

People it seems have been trained over the years to expect “the usual”, so ironically I have to sometimes re-train them to be themselves, sometimes with near comical results, but that just helps break the ice.

Nor does this

A couple of handy things are small, silent cameras that can be shot from many angles and I hate to say it, but getting to my age you tend to become invisible. Handy.

Even this came from an unguarded moment in a very set-up environment.

People do not want gimmicks any longer, posed images, fakery.

They want authenticity.

The world is full of manufactured perfection.

Look at the work of the young, they are trying to be natural, but they are flooded with not natural-natural media, but they want natural and in a world of AI, authenticity is even more under threat.

It may at the moment be one way of doing something that is at odds with the norm, but in the very near future, it may be the only way.

Real Street Photographer Or Something Else?

Street photography is a wide genre by definition.

It started with life in motion captures, moved through more cerebral, often humour fuelled stages of evolution then got a little lost, a little vague, lacking clear definition.

Today I had a mini revival, then an epiphany.

In Kobe, a much more interesting city for street than Kyoto, I found a spark.

Great light, new vistas and a more “real life” place let me shoot with more intent, but the other side of street shooting in Japan, the “watch your manners” contradiction came to bare. I was told off for taking a shot of a building, but the scolder thought some people, which I did plenty of, so I will take my lumps.

Then, responding to the art of another, I had a little fun with this composition.

Perfect Bokeh.

This may be my goodbye to the genre for me. Lacking purpose and engagement, I am done I feel.

I choose to define myself instead as a composition based “found things” shooter, not a street shooter by trade or hobby.

Harmless little things that usually go un-noticed.

Dissecting The Malaise

Not feeling it, but why?

First up, just happy to be here, but the photo thing was in hind-sight maybe predictable, inevitable even.

I have not been feeling connected to my photography for a while. Passion has been lacking, not allowing connection or satisfaction.

You have to be excited by your subject or the process and I am lacking both.

The subject is known, the season flat, locations familiar.

The process even more so.

Very occasionally I feel the old buzz, but not when I probably need to (which is when?).

Video has a feeling of excitement, or maybe a feeling of “I don’t quite know what I am doing yet, but the potential is endless and the results get ever better”. This can feel exciting, until it all goes wrong.

Known subject, known process, predictable results, record keeping.

Guess I am a tourist this time.

True Shapes? There Are Only Two!

Lets face it, when it comes to image shapes.there are only two.

The balanced, equitable square,

and theatrical wider aspects (16:9 or wider).

The Death Of Street Photography (Or The Birth Of The Phone Zombie)

Street photography (for me) is it seems, close to done.

The phone killed it.

I am not saying the phone replaced the camera, which would simply be a change of tools, but the phone replaced people interacting with their world.

Seems we cannot function now without them.

See what happens when you take their phones away? Total zombie land?

Some escape, going back to the things that came before.

Some seek companionship.

Or actually know where they are going and just go there, both hands full.

No wonder I am taking photos with no people in them.

Photos that could have come from a time before.

Balls, We Like Balls.

I shot this a few years ago, but not with the 15 and 45mm lenses.

Manually de-focussed for near perfect “Bokeh balls” of light.

Kyoto station steps, Halloween.

Some scale

This is what it looks like properly focussed.

So, How Big Should A Camera Be?

This has been percolating for a while, but the new G9 II has escalated my thinking a little.

The EM1x copped a lot of flak for being too big for a M43 camera. The logic of a small sensor resulting alwys in a small camera was not logical at all.

If the EM1x does its job (it does), which is to quickly and accurately take images in any weather, used by any hand (more on this coming) and with any lens attached, then it needs to be the proper supporting element for that purpose.

When I shoot sport with the 300 f4 and 40-150 f2.8 lenses, I prefer either the EM1x or an EM1 Mk2 with attached grip. I rarely use the vertical mode and when I do, I still just hold the main grip and cock my wrist, but the handling and balance of the combination feel right.

The EM1x allows me to grab and shoot, everything where it should be, the rest locked off.

I have used the 300 f4 with an EM1 Mk2 body alone and it was ok, but not ideal.

My hands are average male medium. I can use smaller cameras and do, but the cameras that feel right to me are the bigger ones. The G9 II being slightly bigger than the Mk1 is actually a benefit in my eyes. Large cameras fit in most hands, small cameras only suit small hands.

Yes, they may have been able to make the camera smaller, but by doing that, some of the advantage of the smaller sensor would have been lost. A M43 camera in a decently sized body can out-perform a full frame sensor in the same body in heat dissipation, stabilising, codecs, etc (compare the nearly identical S5 II to the G9 II).

This added size also adds real estate for dials and buttons.

Using the Pen Mini II for a few days has reminded me how frustrating little cameras with limited controls can be. Two touch controls for exposure compensation, AF point shifts etc are not professionally viable and even an experienced shooter on holidays can get a little grumpy.

To me, the G9 I was the nicest camera I owned size to handling. The EM1x’s were ideal, but bigger and the EM1 MkII’s felt nice, but felt a little under done with my two larger lenses mounted and I never feel as happy with their handling compared to the G9, but the MkIII’s nubbin would have reduced the margin.

I did think on the entry blocker this creates for new shooters also. We try to teach new togs about the benefits of exposure adjustment, focus accuracy etc and then give them entry level cameras that lock out easy access.

The reality is, sensor size is not the real determining factor of camera size. It does determine lens size, which can have an effect on the real size determining factor, which is handling and balance fit for purpose.

Landscape shooters have the luxury of using pretty much any camera available, large or small.

Pro sports camera = a large-dual gripped, cleanly laid out, power meaty, tough and fast work horse, balanced for larger lenses and dual orientation shooting. Larger sensor cameras will have larger lenses, but still, the maximum needed is the same from M43 to full frame, which is to say hands are all much the same.

Small travel camera = dinky little sensor wrapper with enough grip for the average hand, probably no view finder, balanced for small primes or light weight kit lenses.

Video power house = standard configuration, or video-centric variant* with ports and cages to take a multitude of accessories.

A camera always seems to end up the same shape, no matter wht else changes. This is becasue people do not change. The early Olympus cameras tried to get away without the view finder, but not long into their growth the finder made its way back in. Some brands have messed with the grip size, shape, the dial placement, but in the end, we come back to the same shaped hand camera we have been using since the 1930’s.

*which may be a small box to a large brute.

Japan Renewed After A Break

Japan has not changed, but it seems I have.

My love of the place is as strong, but it is more mature, more realistic.

Even exposed pipes in temple gardens have to be “perfect”.

I have had a couple of days of wandering familiar and less familiar places and the images I am taking are, well, boring me a bit.

Something I noticed when I started to review and sort the images from my earlier trips was that the images of gardens, quiet places and temples were the ones that felt re-discovered, rescued from memory obscurity.

The street shots were there and still satisfied me, but the garden shots, often taken by reflex, habit even, were the ones that stuck.

From one of the earliest trips, somewhere in Tokyo. I would only frame a handful of the images from my previous trips, this and a couple of its friends would be in the mix.

Ginkaku-ji temple today.

I was aware there may be a change and have an open mind to adapting, so thankfully my mindset and technical processes are flexible.

The hero of the day was the 15mm on the Pen F with the 45mm and EM10.2 as runners up.

The complimentary contradiction tht is the 17/15 pairing defies some logic. Over priced for effectively one lens ($1300au combined for basically a medium speed semi wide prime), the two have very different dynamics in use.

The 15 is cleaner to work with for landscapes, the AF/MF switch being fiddlier, but more defined. The Bokeh rendering is modern (smooth-fast), the colours brilliant and light, great for bringing out gentle light and putting some snap into overcast days. The width just a little more relaxed, but it never seems distorted or obvious.

The 17 has the better for street use AF/MF click-back, but I have found for non street uses, the MF has to be watched (I like to set it to 5ft at f2.8-5.6 depending on light), but often find if I am not careful, it rolls around to infinity very easily. The rendering is deep and forgiving, ideal for “zone” focussing, the colours more realistic and better at handling contrasty light and the slightly tighter angle suits subject based images better.

Japan Dawn

Today we awoke in Japan.

Trip from Tas to Melbourne was fine, the trip to Cairns the next day after a 4am start, was cramped and not the best 3 hours I have spent lately (Jetstar seem to have added a row or two of seats into their jets post COVID), but the trip on the bigger jet to Osaka was awesome.

Roomy, half empty (holidays are over in most states in Australia), pleasantly temperature controlled and even decent movies.

Arrival in the early evening was comfortingly familiar, so not culture shock…yet.

First image.

Just tooling around the station, Sanjo area and one of our favourite temples.

A light day, just to get the vibe back.

A Light.

I had a second chance to do a portrait set at the Teej festival celebration recently.

Black background this time, because the festival is a little more “blingy” than previous ones.

The best shots come from the moments of preparation.

Or distraction. The limits of my background were missed here.

My simple but effective process here is a single reflected brolly about where my head would be, then insert myself below and in front of it to get the image. I am faced with varying group sizes, heights and “props”, so even cover and quick adjustments are the key.

Must Like Guns?

Today I made a decent discovery, one that was always likely as I have found before, but still a little unexpected. I learned a while ago, that a good camera bag does not have to be a camera bag, so I always keep one eye on options.

I have been struggling with video rigs and camera bags. basically, the two are not compatible.

Cameras are relatively predictable, most being universally “flat” even if height may vary. Lenses mounted or not can be dealt with as needed, maybe sometimes stretching things a little, but the paradigm is known, shapes created, allowances made.

Stick a camera in a video cage, add a top handle, side handle, mounting points, tripod plate, lens and suddenly you have a box.

Boxes do not fit into camera bags.

Boxes tend to fit into bigger boxes.

Add to this the reality that many video accessories, like monitors, mics, matt boxes, battery packs etc, are all similarly large and boxy and you have an obvious pattern.

Lots of video bags are available, but tend to be either overkill, designed for big video cameras, or are designed to purpose, but often at a disproportionately high cost for effectively a padded box.

Today, while shopping for travel pants (with success), I discovered a bag designed for handgun owners at range practice.

I know guns, I do not like them, but I know and respect them.

Guns and cameras can have certain needs like size, optics, stabilising, relative fragility, discreetness and preciousness, needs that when addressed can serve both.

The bag is the 5.11 brand “range ready bag”, which seems ideal for a video kit if you ignore the “made for guns” bit and was priced like a sturdy tool bag. $150au bought me a bag as big in volume as the Domke roller case, but “boxier”, i.e taller. It also sports Domke scaled pockets on every facing.

With the S5 for scale. Tall as the F804, but way deeper and with pockets on all sides. Big pockets. One pocket holds both mat boxes and all the adapters. The other holds all my filters, step rings etc, another takes all the mics I would bring normally. There is even a water bottle holder on one end and a separate “brass catcher” bag that may both end up being useful lens bags.

To be clear here, this is not a casual carry shoulder bag. It is a haul bag, a base to work from.

The straps go all the way under for added strength, the zippers are heavy duty and smooth running, the nylon is 600D rip-stop. The whole thing feels genuinely heavy duty as befits a bag that can take a lot of serious metal. Being square it stacks on a trolley well with other cases and bags.

The padded removable insert with full length zip pockets each side and two very strong velcro inserts walls (only 1 used above). This takes my current two rigs well, but the new G9 Mk2 will have a top handle fitted, so it will sit side-on with no lens, the handle sitting on the top edge of the insert. The base pad is a spare I bought for the F804, which is actually longer than the original, able to fit a Domke F1 “little bit bigger” bag. It is a perfect footprint for the insert.

The insert in the bag shows that there is probably 30-40% more space.

With the insert, there is room for a decent sized Neewer 480 LED panel, another case for a smaller 176 LED and filter set and each wall is lined with a padded pocket/wall. If removed, the inside would take a full rig on a chest brace or shoulder rig ready to go, or two rigs with handles, separated by something (?).

The full length back (front?) pocket has 8 magazine pouches that just happen to take Panasonic camera and NPF 550 batteries snuggly. When I get the G9 Mk2, I will have exactly four of each, so another perfect fit. I have a couple of 970’s but they go in the bottom of the pocket and I tend to use these for bigger lights, not camera monitors etc. Check out the nice Bokeh balls on the zip from the 25 f1.8.

This thing was a no-brainer. I bought it knowing it would not take everything, but it would take things other bags struggle with.

What surprised me was it’s versatility. I think with a little thought it will become my all-haul option.

ed. It has become the ideal cinema bag as a companion to the video bag Domke 217 roller. The pocket size, volume and scale are the right thing for fat cinema lenses, mat boxes and mat box filters.

Japan Near, What To Take?

After the same enforced break from travel we have all had, Japan is back on.

The previous seven trips felt like a now closed loop, a series of connected trips that came to a natural close, a turning point reached, a full stop penned.

This has left me with an odd feeling of where to now?

I toyed with the idea of a mainly video recorded trip?

Maybe black and white only with the Pen F?

Same as before?

Better than before?

For gear, something I will likely stress over all the way to the airport, then realise I always know I can make anything work. I am looking first at the Pen F (never gets used for anything else), my last reliable EM5 Mk1 for old times sake or maybe the Pen Mini and an EM10 mk2 as backup.

Lenses are easy.

I hate changing lenses on the go, rather change cameras.

9mm f1.8 Leica. The very nice to use, eminently handy and creative-wide macro.

40-150 Oly kit. Optically reliable, fast focussing and light as a feather. The 12-60 Pana kit is in the same class, but with several wide options, I don’t think it would be used.

17mm f1.8. The “one lens” for travel/street/low light.

15mm f1.7. The other “one lens” option. Either-or, but also a little different.

45mm f1.8. The “second” lens. I have a whole spare one of these reserved just for personal use.

Coverage, speed, depth, optical reliability, easily replaced, even while there and often under utilised in my busy kit.

All you ever really need is a lens to suit each of your “eyes”.

What “eyes” do you have? Only you and your meta data know what you use a lot, or more to the point, what the minimum range you need is.

For me I need a semi wide “street grab” lens the 17mm Oly is the one, a focal length I am very comfortable with and one that just seems to work, but the 15mm Leica can fill the same role. Spoilt for choice.

Waist high grab shot, manually focussed to about 5ft-as marked on the barrel, at f2.8 using the 17’s unique Bokeh (deep, smooth transition, but still with some in-focus snap).

Next is the compression and detail lens. The 45mm Oly fits this well enough, but a zoom is an option. The kit 40-150 is my good light choice, with the 45 for low light and shallow depth. Weight and form factor are different but they are so light that even when combined, why choose?

Compression and clean separation.

More semi-wide quick and reactive.

Back to reach and compression.

Much less important is the super wide, but having a 9mm that weighs less than a spare battery, it is a no-brainer.

I can work this to death, but at the end of the day I know this kit will work, has worked and has been reserved over the last few year to do just this.

The 15mm on the Pen F. Manual focus, old school.

Delightful colours, gentle rendering, sublime sharpness.

The Pen mini and 17. Small, slightly comical and the opposite of threatening, this one is the shoulder strap-go anywhere camera.

The EM10 and either the 45 or the 40-150. Fast, accurate AF and balanced.

No complaints about the little kit tele zoom.

The 9mm as an option for wide indoors, more width if length is pointless and weird macro.

About 600-700g in lenses total. About the Pen F’s body weight.

The kit 40-150 at the back, extended so you can see it (so light it does not even creep), Pen Mini MkII with 17mm, EM10 MkII with 45, Pen F with 15 and the 9mm super wide. The bag is the Tokyo Porter satchel we bought about four trips ago in Kyoto, with the Tenba insert I use in the Domke F802. The bag is a TARDIS, taking the insert with room. I will take four batteries of each type, my wife also using a Pen Mini II I picked up cheap from the local camera shop.

There is depth to burn, a huge front pocket, room either side and an internal weatherproof pocket for documents (clever, a semi weather-proof bag but a truly weather-proof pocket). The Pen mini sits on top of the 9mm with my lucky hankie as cushioning, but I will only take two cameras on any given day. Mini and EM10 for street walks, Pen F and EM10 for more serious expeditions.

The bag.

The most important element of a travel bag is comfort.

The second most important is ease of access.

Security, often a major consideration is not a big deal in Japan.

The Tokyo Porter bag is top loading with plenty of room. It is not super weather proof, but being body hugging and slim-line, it goes under a coat easily. This may become the Filson Field Camera bag, more of a summer weather bag, but rain proof and it sports a few more compartments.

Other things that may go are the Zoom H1 and OSMO Pocket. Both would provide good video and sound capture, if I feel the urge, and neither get much use.

To get there, the much maligned Pro Tactic 350aw is my choice. Zero preciousness, good padding, rigid enough to put feet onto, or to use as an airport pillow and it has plenty of padded compartments for breakables on the way back. The day bag goes flat in my case.

Champions All

The St Patricks college senior boys soccer just won the state private schools flag.

This, added to several other state and northern titles has put the school on a bit of a high and rightfully so. It is the biggest school in the state, but sport is not compulsory, unlike many other private schools.

Playing one down and giving away a decent height advantage, they won out through their strong team ethic, skill and tenacity.

Nice to shoot on a smaller ground with only a zoom.

I may have hitched my wagon to the right horse.

Interestingly, the crowd grew to apparently the second biggest soccer crowd of the year at 500 odd or about 30% of the school body. Entry was free, but not compulsory.

The Wider View

Another hour, another town and another shape.

Japan Within Reach

All things willing, we will be in Japan soon.

Just a taste of what less than an hour can produce.

Those We Left Behind

Had a couple of mammoth weekends lately.

Football finals of all ball shapes, editorial pressures, some things unexpected all amounted to a rush of work, some of which slipped through.

Not as big an audience, but still nice to give them some air.

Life Before And After The "Perfect" Camera

The G9 Mk2 excites.

If you are a M43 user, it is the pinnacle of the offerings so far, especially if like me you are a generalist who needs the best rubber-meets-the-road performance now, but with plenty of upgrade options.

The OM-1 is a beast, but if you are a hybrid shooter, still a little photo-centric.

The GH6 was arguably the top dog, hybrid especially, but is suddenly sidelined to all but the most video centric shooters by a true hybrid that lacks little and improves on much. Yes I would and will happinly swap a fan and flippy-dippy screen for twin SD slots, better AF, stabilising and stills features.

Gimbal like stabilising, professional video specs, best in class stills features, ideal form factor and cross compatibility (my S5 rig will fit it), all with a minimum of fuss. my recent post about video options seems almost quaint after the drop of this camera and all for the price of a low-mid range full frame.

If you are not a M43 user, best be aware. The advantages of the format are many, while the disadvantages are becoming less and less relevant.

Shallow depth of field rendering, meaning often impractical but “on trend” super shallow depth, like an 85 f1.4 used close, is a great look, but rarely of any use in the real world (it can also be matched for DOF by a M43 56 f1.4 Sigma that is much smaller and cheaper). Lenses like that used to assume best in class build and glass pedigrees, but these days, that is rarely the case. Lens perfection can be found in little gems like the 45mm f1.8 Oly, Sigma 30, 15mm f1.7 Leica or the base model f1.8’s from most brands.

A M43 user can and will use f1.8 for a lot of things a full frame user would avoid. Personally I shoot groups three deep at distance with the 75mm at 1.8 for that snappy sharp/soft look. The full frame user is more likely to use f1.8 and wider sparingly, falling back on the old workhorse professional setting of f2.8 (also the pro zoom maximum), achieving much the same* in the end, but losing over two stops of light while getting there*.

Which brings us to the second “biggie”, low light performance. In many scenarios M43 has answers for all the low light head aches. More efficient stabilisers, improved sensors, many with some form of dual ISO or dynamic range lift, then shot over to ever improving software can often fill in the balance.

ISO 6400 cropped, with a hand held 600 f4. Notice the DOF is actually too shallow to get the kicker and wall.

Get yourself out of an Adobe only workflow and ISO 6400 holds no fear, go even higher if needed**, which when combined with the 2x magnification and smaller sensor stabiliser benefit and extra focus depth allowing for wider apertures to be used safely (see above) and you make up 3-4 ISO settings, all while being smaller, lighter and cheaper.

Of course the full frame file can be put through the same “soup” and/or bigger, dearer lenses bought, evening out some of these factors, but at the end of the day, for all practical uses, M43 provides plenty, only beaten in direct test bed comparisons with the always better by definition full frame sensors, but these comparisons are often without real context**.

There is alway more to be found somewhere, but enough is actually enough.

In direct comparison to the S5 Mk2, the only genuine advantage to the full frame camera is extremely high dual ISO performance (8000+), but only if the camera sports a similar fast lens. This is something that in video is a tougher fix for me, not running a super computer.

I am happy to have the “older” S5 for just that (one of the areas the Mk2 offers no actual improvement), but even then, I am keen to use it in Super-35 mode (APS-C crop) as there is little actually lost.

The G9 Mk2 will then do the AF, stabilising work and provide better format choices for me than even the S5 Mk2 would, all while tapping into my huge M43 lens arsenal.

For stills, even the twin EM1x’s are under some pressure, but each of my stable, old and tired or relatively unused****, are all relevant in some way. Even two of my original EM5 Mk1’s still take images that please me and are reliable enough to have been in the running for our next trip to Japan.

Shooting this hand held with 100mp may be interesting, but 25+ is actually plenty. Once the job of a monster tripod mounted camera, I shot a series of these hand held at a school excursion with a long lens.

The older G9’s can now just be my stills/run-and-gun video cameras, basically stills cameras that can more than “do the job” when needed.

Tons of quality, nice and practical, easy to find Bokeh in balance. I used to get excited when eye lashes were visible, now I assume it to be the case.

The G9 Mk2 also fixes the little issue I had with some of my video “rigs”.

The Samllrig shoulder and chest mounts used with the G9 Mk1’s I had to deal with manual focus and stabilising that was good for static work, but less capable than the Olympus cameras for movement. The Olympus cameras offered better AF and stabilising, but were not the best video performers.

Basically, I could put a G9 on a shoulder rig with a wide angle, set focus to a few feet with f5.6 and move with the subject putting the M43 depth of field advantage to good use. There were a few scenarios this worked in, but many ideas that I just had to cut loose.

It looks like the Mk2 would allow me to trust the camera with both its active stabiliser mode and face/body detect AF with any rig***. Suddenly two possibly ill-conceived ideas have fully found their feet.

*1.8 M43 = 3.4 ff in depth of field equivalences.

**The other two togs at the paper use f2.8 zooms and the new Z9 Nikon’s processed through Lightroom and the sports team still ask me why my night and indoor sports shots look brighter and cleaner! The power of modern M43 cameras with faster glass, put through Capture 1 and the occasional dip into ON1 No Noise (oh and the reality that a sensor 4x bigger is not 4x better).

***Another combination is the weighted shoulder rig with a top handle carried low, that seems nearly perfectly balanced for running hand held.

****Near new; S5, EM1x, G9, Pen F, OSMO, Worn in; EM1x, EM1.2, 2x EM10.2, G9, 2x Pen Mini-2, Bit tired; 2x EM5.1, EM1.2, Worn out; 2x EM5.1.

Future Video Pathways. So many Options, Nothing Perfect....Or Is There?

This post has been sitting for a while and just became redundant.

So, I am happy enough right now with my video offerings, but there is room for improvement.

A case of the more you know……. .

The S5 is awesome and considering I get decent enough results for my needs from a G9 in Standard profile, it feels to me like a massive problem solving upgrade is always at hand, but there is a small short fall that could be addressed in one of several ways.

The camera has some ghosting artefacts when following a moving subject. The whole juddering thing has been doing my head in, but I am reconciled now with the reality of it and can mitigate it well enough, but the ghosting issue is a fixable thing.

It comes from LongGOP (long group of pictures) mode a form of IPB recording, where the camera records full detail frames intermittently, “filling in” the rest with frames made up of mostly retained or repeated information, only recording what changes (a bit like an old, hand drawn cartoon with a background sheet and animation placed over the top). They vary a little by brand etc, but are in effect the same.

IPB formats are ideal for semi-static subjects, like interviews etc and they keep files nice and small, but this failure to re-look at the scene every frame can make busy subjects look less detailed and smooth. You could make a movie with IPB formats, but you have to know what it cannot do.

IPB loves this type of thing, but it is not all you will do.

All-i (all-intra) mode on the other hand records every frame as an individual capture, using up a lot more space with this added information (400mbs compared to 150mbs for example, all else being equal), but interestingly often processes more easily, because it is less compressed (un-compressing is one of the big processing strains).

This type of thing is the Achilles heal of IPB.

The G9’s and S5 mk1 do not have All-i recording. The EM1’s do, but fall short in other ways.

The reality is, I do not really need it for most things, but also, it is not actually hard to upgrade to better, although that does come with some caveats.

The big question is I guess, am I willing to pay the price of more information and versatility, the price being massive storage needs or indeed get a camera just for this.

I want it, possibly need it, but I do not love the compromises it may force.

Options up until recently;

GH5 Mk2 $2000-. This camera offers All-i and high bit rate recording (400mbs). It also has live streaming capability and takes the same batteries and M43 lenses I have now. In the sales last year they were about $1600, which was tempting. Basically, apart from the Vlog-L upgrade included and the couple of All-i recording modes, it is a G9 with no top screen and maybe less capable AF/stabiliser. The reality is, This may have been the only form I would probably take All-i footage in, because it does it with minimum fuss. Any more effort smacks of overkill for me, and the camera is a perfectly capable G9 backup for stills, but with continuous recording and steaming. It can also take a Video Assist, gimbal etc. In hindsight, this would have been a good value filler.

GH6 $3000+. The above upgraded, but more than I need and possibly less? The need for a high speed CF card as second memory put me off last time and I doubt I will use half its maximum capabilities. This is overkill for me and with strings attached. Apple ProRes is great, but huge files and a messy workflow are not enticements.

BMPCC4k $2500+. This thing has a lot of video image quality advantages, as well as a free software upgrade and pro video interface, probably filling the hole I have, but with all my other cameras staying relevant as there is much it cannot do. Too many compromises, too dated even? The price includes all the added extras needed to make it work.

Sigma FP $2000+. A video specialist like the BMPCC4k, one that would take my Panasonic-L and retro glass. I have the screen and lenses, so only the camera is required. Cinema DNG eats 22GB per minute. Sorry, no way and even at it’s most workable settings, one TB is only 3hrs of footage.

Black Magic Video Assist (12g) $1000-1300. These will smooth the files and reduce ghosting on my existing camera (S5), give me the same software as the C4k camera and BRAW, but only the S5 will benefit it seems, because even though I have seen footage from G9’s made through them, the G9 is not listed as fully compatible, nor the EM1’s.

Ninja-V $800. Frustratingly, this is compatible with all my cameras, but not a DaVinci work flow (ProRes, not BRAW).

Then this dropped;

G9 Mk2 $3000. The just announced super hybrid. All the benefits of the GH6/S5mk2 with few of the down sides, some new stuff, some improvements, parameter shifting even, perfect form factor, accessory compatibility, no exotic needs. If I designed a camera for me, this would be it, although maybe I would have stopped short, not wanting to over-ask.

No limit or crop 4k, All-i/10bit/422/60p in LOG would have been the dream, but even more! External SSD storage without an interface, in camera 6k open gate, internal ProRes, dual SD cards, Gimbal-like stabilising, useable AF, are all bonus features!

I think we assumed at least recording limits, limited bit depth or paid for Vlog-L, but there are very few holes in this offer. It replaces the OM-1 and GH-6 as the respective top stills and video options.

The big bonus for me is I get all this while buying a genuine stills camera upgrade with no strings attached! It is a real cake-and-eat-it proposition. I could buy it and only ever use stills and 1080p, without feeling I have a single purpose machine being severely under utilised. If I want or need to go “full noise”, then 4k or even 6k are there, no issue, no upgrades needed, just there.

Two of these and I could possibly sell everything else, even the S5. No kidding. I won’t though, because they do not cost a cattle station each, so I might as well hold onto the depth I have and just flog them all.

Getting one soon for video and another when they price drops for general use makes sense. The Mk2 for example could do the job of an EM1x for sport, but so do they.

It is like I will have the “one ring to bind them all”, but all the other rings do their specific jobs just fine as well.

The G9 Mk1’s are still my favourite stills cams for some jobs, and decent B-Cam options for video. One of these is near new and may even get the VLOG-L upgrade.

The S5 has super high ISO performance as long as I use a fast lens with it, or the advantage is mostly lost. The shallow depth thing is a factor also, although not as much as many assume. Full LOG means I have two matched cameras at the “pointy” end. This has done very little work and will still be my static interview cam.

The EM1x’s are my sports cams, as much for their form factor and sheer value as anything else. Probably about 80% working life still left in each. Like the G9’s, one of these is hardly used.

The EM mk2’s have paid for themselves over and over, so every day is a bonus. No idea of shutter count, but even the older one is still a daily user.

The Pen F is special, if limited. Hardly used, it is my personal ride.

The Pen mini, EM10 & 5’s are handy shelf warmers, good for camera risky, personal or low stress jobs like travel or studio. Just these, all well used and a couple over ten years old probably still have 1-200,000 shutter fires left in them in total. That’s a career for some shooters.

Something Of Interest (Or Understatement Of The Year).

The G9 Mk2 has been launched and it safe to say, the era of so-so hybrids is over, maybe also the period of M43 being seen as a lesser option in a world of what to compromise choices.

Numbers like 5.7k/10 bit/422, 4k/120/10 bit, 800mbs/240p/1080, built in Log, ProRes, phase detect AF and better overall specs mean the OM-1 (in my opinion) has its match in a stills camera, and the GH6 and S5.2 as video cams.

All this, no catch?

Compared to the OM-1 it is now offering class leading AF, stabilising, resolution, hand held high res, ergonomics, screen resolutions and probably more, but I got lost after the first five minutes of better and more specs.

It is also cheaper than the GH6 or OM-1.

As a video cam, well where do you start.

I guess mostly with “yes” far more often than “no”.

All-i, internal ProRes, direct power in and storage out to SSD via usb-c, 6k internal, VLog (full), 10 bit/422 in almost all frame rates and resolutions, video interface support (wave form, vectors, anamorphic etc), near faultless AF, best in removable-lens-camera stabilising, are all a yes.

There are a few minor no’s, but compared to all other cams in this space, they are minor or still better than other options.

To me the Pana engineers were given the following parameters;

• Beat anything previously offered in M43 or APS-C crop formats in a true hybrid camera.

• Dominate the M43 specialist feature sets, like hand held hi-res, more efficient stabe, better implementation of expanded dynamic range etc.

• Develop the already much liked S5 II improvements with the advantages of the smaller sensor.

• Offer a camera that can match the OM-1 in stills, then kill it in video.

• Make a camera that can match the GH-6 in video, then beat it in stills.

• Make a camera with the same six year staying power of its predecessor.

• Remove the “built in compromise” vibe of previous offerings like limited record time, accessory or firmware reliant upgrades, paid for Vlog. In essence take away the “yes…but’s”. In other words, raise our expectations into the future.

• Blow our minds.

From what I have seen-read, it is a GH6 killer except for the internal fan, an OM-1 killer-period, an S5 mk2 killer with better video specs internally than the S5 even with off board support, a cost to features all-brand killer.

What can’t it do?

Match full frame super shallow depth of field and their top end high ISO performance. Does it have enough here? I think so, because the lenses available are enough and affordable in practical terms and other benefits match it.

We always want more, so it is rare when hopes are exceeded.

The S5 is still relevant for me for these two above considerations (just), the older G9’s as decent colour matched B-cams (with limits, but enough), the EM1’s are my work horse stills cams. The BMPCC4K, Sigma FP and off board recorders are out as irrelevant and to some extend even now dated options.

It even fits in the S5 cage!

I will be going here in November, chasing the dream of the one camera that does it all.