MIRRORLESS GEAR.
platform for bigger-chip designs. Manufacturers such as JVC have just about managed to cram a Super 35 sensor behind Micro Four Thirds, but it’s a stretch – and when Panasonic released the S1 in March 2019, it chose the L-Mount. PANASONIC AND SONY The video-centric S1H arrived at the end of 2019 and reviewed positively for its ability to work well with some of the biggest names around. The S1 series is presumably due an update at some not-too-distant juncture, not least because Panasonic’s most recent announcements include an update to the existing L-Mount S5. The big news is that the S5 II includes a new sensor, matching the S5’s 24 megapixels but adding phase- detection autofocus, a feature that was conspicuously absent from Panasonic cameras. It has 6K recording in 10-bit 4:2:0, plus an upgraded model will emerge in a few months - the S5 IIX, with enhanced video features including on-board ProRes recording. Meanwhile, Sony won an early mirrorless victory with its
PANASONIC GH6 £1999/$2198
Facilities The advantage of mirrorless stills cameras is their ratio of picture quality to size and weight. Those pictures are sometimes slightly compromised by rolling shutter effects and by the available codecs, but the price we pay for portability is clear. Most mirrorless cameras have HDMI output – sometimes, though not always, a super- fragile mini-HDMI. Few have the option to impose downstream LUTs, so we’re left monitoring whatever we’re recording. Use a low-contrast log mode, and the image can be so flat it’s hard to focus. The instinct is sometimes to solve this with accessories, and for anyone interested in building a feature- packed rig around a mirrorless camera, options abound. The most optimistic way to look at the issue is probably that mirrorless cameras are a highly flexible basis for a shooting package. Or, if your A-camera is already a studio- model Alexa, let’s be happy that crash cams need not suffer as many compromises as they once did.
“It’s a breath of fresh air to find several companies collaborating on a single approach to grabbing hold of a lens”
FUJIFILM MKX50-135MM £3872/$4299
FUJIFILM MKX18-55MM £3874/$3999
71. MARCH 2023
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