Video: Camera or phone?
Gear review: Panasonic Lumix LX15
“A camera that almost made me start vlogging!”
Vlogging really is a trend at the moment, shooting video in a selfy-mode with a compact camera and sharing it through YouTube. Now Panasonic has a new premium compact camera that’s perfectly suitable for vlogging, the Lumix LX15.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Of course the Lumix LX15 still is a camera for photography, with a 20 Megapixels 1″ sensor that delivers great quality photos. Also the dynamic range of this sensor is great and the noise performance is acceptable.To make it even better you get a Leica 24-72mm f1.4 lens with aperture ring on it! After shooting with this camera for a while I must say that the Auto Focus is quick with fast shutter response. More impressive is the AF-tracking during burst shooting (up to 50 fps!), hands down one of the best I’ve seen ….and now even on such a small yet great camera!
Furthermore, the camera has the Panasonic 4K-Photo feature ….a feature that uses stills from a 4K video. Really awesome. For instance with Post Focus you can now take a picture and afterwards select your focus.
VIDEO
The video on this camera is so good. You can record 4K video 100mbs 30p internally and Full HD 120p for great slowmotion. Combining the 1″ sensor and f1.4 lens the video quality is sharp, nice depth of field with good dynamic range. Using this camera for a few days I have to admit that I almost came to the point to start vlogging, because it’s just so good. The awesome Auto Focus is noticeable during video, with face detection and tracking it’s now so easy to make a good quality vlog/ video.
FLIP SCREEN
The flip screen on the back works great, for both photography and video. Also the touch-function works perfect for selecting and moving your AF-point or just simply go through your photos or the menu.
WiFi
Of course this camera has WiFi connectivity, so you can share you pics and video on social media through your phone and even remotely control the camera.
Check the review I did for Kamera Express (Dutch only ..sorry):
(video is property of Kamera Express)
Gear review: Canon EOS 5D mark IV
Again I was invited by Canon NL for a visit to their headquarters for a hands-on review of their most popular DSLR’s successor, Canon EOS 5D mark IV.
The Canon 5D mark III already was a great allround camera for most professionals and now they upgraded it to a new level, by adding the Dual Pixel sensor (known from both the 80D and 1DX mark II), 30 Megapixels and 4K video. The camera performs faster, especially with Live View and has some body improvements. Now the mic and phones input can be found underneath the same flap and an extra button has been added to quickly select the focus selection area. Also is it possible to shoot with Dual Pixel RAW which ad some extra options when editing your photos on your pc.
Unfortunately this visit was a hands-on review only because this was still a secret review at that time. Canon only allowed us to shoot inside this room we were in.
In short, this upgrade is a nice one ….the camera is faster overall, has a fully functional touch display and the sensor is now more sensitive for light.
(sorry for the bad picture quality …had to use my phone for this quick snap)
Down below is a review video (Dutch only) from Kamera Express in which I present the 5D mark IV:
(video is property of Kamera Express)
Review: Pen F ….my choice of gear
Totally a camera I would love to have in my bag! The Olympus Pen F…. Awesome retro styled camera with great performance.
DESIGN
Do I need to say more? Its design is practical, good grip and retro back flipscreen. They kept all the small details of analog cameras in mind when designing this piece. For instance the on/off switch which is a copy of the wellknown film rewind switch on those analog cameras. The camera comes in this black and a silver finish.
This is a MFT-system camera so it’s nice compact with small yet great lenses. The nice thing is that it has a good electronic viewfinder that’s nicely integrated in this small body design.
SPECS
This is the second MFT-system camera that has a 20 megapixels sensor …so it seems like MFT is getting a new max standard, first the 16MP and now apparently the 20MP sensor. The specs of this camera aren’t that new or sexy …yes it has a nice focus system with 81 points and a sensor-shift 5-axis stabilization. Also shoot 10 frame per second and with a max shutter of 1/8000 (1/16000 electronic). To me the specs are okay, but the outer appearance with the retro dials, good grip and awesom finish will make people actually buy this one (I would definitely…).
CUSTOM
A nice feature is the custom dial on the front of the body next to the lens mount. This lets you customize the color and levels before the shoot. So now you can shoot with customized brightness curves. Really nice to work with!
Gear review: Small yet big …Fujifilm X70
..also a great piece of fashion accessory..”
A camera that needs to be highlighted …the Fujifilm X70. Retro stylisch with modern technology. Not only a good camera but also a great piece of fashion accessory for those fashionistas and fashionistos out there.
What makes this a good camera?
For starters this small camera has a large 16 megapixel sensor, APS-C, a new processor and a fast fixed 28mm lens of f2.8. It also has a touchscreen for both focus and trigger option ….which is quite convenient and honestly it works like a charm. This camera performs good in low light situations, that doesn’t comes as a surprise because of the large sensor combined with the fast lens.
Design
Fujifilm is well-known for its retro design so of course the X70 has this design too. It’s design a very close to it’s bigger brother the X100 series. I truly love the retro designs of Fujifilm …that’s why I have the X100 of course. Thanks to its design adjusting the settings is easy and quicker than on other cameras, in my opinion that is.
Lens
On thing you have to keep in mind is that this camera has a fixed 28mm lens, which is quite wide. So there’s no zoom option there, however this will garanty the best quality. As you can see down below the image quality is very nice. So cropping your image after taking it is possible and very usable.
Gear review: Fujifilm X-Pro2 …about time
It took Fujifilm about 4 years to come with the successor of the X-Pro1 …but is it what we expect it to be?
For work I got the change to review it. I only had the X-Pro2 for several hours (a beta version) because it wasn’t on sale yet. Over the years I have experienced the X100 series and also the X-Pro1 as a good camera so the way the X-Pro2 performed wasn’t really a surprise.
INTERNAL
The sensor is improved with a 24 MP high ISO sensitivity. A key improvement is the focus system which now has a large range of 273 point vs 49 points of the previous version. It also shoots a faster burst of 8fps with a max shutter of 1/8000. Also the video mode is more usable and has manual operation now. These are the internal key improvements.
EXTERNAL
When we look at the body there are only small changes …but good ones for sure. Good improvement is the added joystick, all buttons are moved to the right and the grip is larger. Also the iso dail which is now integrated into the shutterdail… nicely done. Now the camera has two SD-card slots, a mic input and wifi. An improvement I really like is the viewfinder. The OVF shows much more info and guidelines when zooming your lens. Like the X100T it has the electronic rangefinder option which is perfect for manual operation. The EVF is way better now, feels more like an OVF now. Almost no lack and so much detail and color.
MENU
It worthy to mentioned the improved menu structure. It was about time they changed this …the previous version is bad in my honest opinion. Now it’s devided into categories with tabs.
CONCLUSION
Yes they really made a good successor …however it isn’t groundbreaking. The focus is indeed snappy which makes it a more allround camera. Nowdays cameras perform quite good with the sophisticated focus systems, sensors and processors so the new Fujifilm isn’t any different. The fact that it is sort of a rangefinder makes it more unique, but that’s all in my opinion.
For the Dutch people among us I added the review video below, which we did for work. Video is copyrighted and property of Kamera Express of course.
Personal: Gear reviewer …a suitable job!
Hey people …I recently started a new job opportunity at the largest photography specialist of The Netherlands, Kamera Express. A job that’s make it possible for me to be busy with photography/ video gear every day of the week ….(and yes, getting payed to do so). This way I’m not only busy with photography itself, but also with the more technical side of it.
To make it even more interesting I’m also the presentor/ reviewer for their YouTube channel, for which I review the latest gear both photography and video (Dutch only). I’d say this is quite a suitable job for me;)
(still a bit new with reviewing in front of a camera …so please be gentle with me when watching the videos^_^)
The reason I decided to share this news with you guys is to explain my low acitivity on the blog lately …also been busy shooting more for our Dutch website THE VIEWFINDER STUDIO.
Review: Lumix GX8
I had the pleasure of reviewing the Lumix GX8, the successor of the GX7. I must say it’s quite a camera and I will tell you why.
(review video for Kamera Express, Dutch only)
Improvements
Firstly the key improvements are the new 20 MPX sensor, Venus Engine Image processor, 4K video and faster AF-system. For me the most important improvements are the faster AF in both video and stills, the faster burst of 10 pics per second and the larger body/ grip.
Not only is this camera specs-wise better than the GX7, the whole handeling is better. Buttons are more logically placed and the camera reacts faster, which is essential on the streets.
Option overload?
One downside of this camera, after only using it for this review, are the extensive options. I’m quite basic when using a camera, so I immediately noticed lots if options I normally don’t need. So there were moments I had to search for a specifik setting. This is a personal thing maybe, these extensive options quite be practical for another person.
In short
This camera has quite a large sensor so expect to see good quality photos, nice shallow depth and good low light performance. A small body(compared to reflex bodies) and especially awesome small build lenses with great performance. Luckily the GX8 has still kind of the same body as the GX7, so perfect for street photography thanks to its retro rangefinder look.