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S5ii(X) deadcat

Oíche said:
It's too small for a cat, it's definitely more mousey. Look at the box it was delivered in :oops:
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Amazon UK didn't have it, I prefer to support the photography shops anyway.
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The first one from china arrived with a small sack around the small box, the second one from cameranu.nl arrived also in such a big box.

The mailman also found it funny that I had to sign for it, while he also had a TV for the neighbours which didn't need to be signed for...
 
I'm definitely looking forward to getting landscape/nature video without clipped wind noise as this destroys it. I don't like attached music video either as wanting to try and share an experience means hearing the waves, hearing the silence or birdsong etc. is as important to the image quality and content.

Maybe this is the beginning of videography facilatated by an excellent hybrid camera? It was only after getting the S5ii and 70-300 that I discovered I could get c4k 50p at eq. 630mm out if it. If (when) I get a 600mm reach lens that means an eq. 1260mm and the future firmware should deliver the 3x hydrid zoom 1080p for 1800mm :cool: out of camera without PP requirement!

I'm so glad I dismissed the shop sales people advising me to get Nikon Z6ii as it was better for photography, they said this as they asked did I take video and I said only short clips. Truth is I was using Pentax and did try and use video so there was an underlying interest there but it was pretty abysmal in comparison to an S5ii.

I actually don't think a Nikon Z6ii is better for photography either, the sales people cited lens range such as 600mm f4 primes but I'm not rich enough to buy those nor necessarily need them.

The 630mm eq reach as in my handheld sparrows video means I don't need to be. The advantage of videography (over photography ) played on slo-mo up to 0.25x on YouTube shows the male parent chewing up the husks and emulsifying the seed from my feeder as he knows the fledgling can't digest whole seeds. This insight can show what still photography cannot.

I still get a bit peeved when I hear "I don't need video" probably due to my past in the previous Pentax system where the still purported advice from several jurassic users is that it is a better photographic tool having crap video capability (it simply is not!) and "use your phone for video" and years back I thought why do I have all this high IQ equipment and a phone is better?

My first video with a Casio compact was 480p or something back in year 2001, capturing my late grandmother and others, it's invaluable but I wish my Pentax video clips years later were better quality.

I'm pretty sure Ansel Adams would have progressed to videographey given today's tech. BTW his 3 books, The Camera, The Negative, The Print are still inspirational and relevant today. His visualisation lessons are an essense and a must learn... Daumenhoch
 
Oíche said:
I don't see the purpose making a small as possible camera bigger, it defeats the point of it. If you want a decent grip you'd buy S5ii/S5iiX for similar money without the limitations.

The smallrig cage completely ruins the smallness look of it which was the whole point of it and the 26mm f8 to match it.
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Yes, ir makes the camera a bit bigger and heavier.

But, the grip is better and the cage protects the camera if it falls... :oops:
 
xaviergut said:
Yes, ir makes the camera a bit bigger and heavier.

But, the grip is better and the cage protects the camera if it falls... :oops:
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No point, that means original design is wrong for functionality of holding the camera.

It's clearly a case of fashion/smallness above ergonomics.

I have Pentax ME Super and small MX film cameras and the lack of a grip is a nightmare resulting in more shake, it is simply less ergonomic and the grip exists for a reason. The grip is a mechanical form of IS, perhaps at arms length vlogging or otherwise it is less so and another reason why it shouldn't matter, afterall it's not a photocentric camera and relies on IS. Why try and make it a photographer camera?
 
Oíche said:
No point, that means original design is wrong for functionality of holding the camera.

It's clearly a case of fashion/smallness above ergonomics.

I have Pentax ME Super and small MX film cameras and the lack of a grip is a nightmare resulting in more shake, it is simply less ergonomic and the grip exists for a reason. The grip is a mechanical form of IS, perhaps at arms length vlogging or otherwise it is less so and another reason why it shouldn't matter, afterall it's not a photocentric camera and relies on IS. Why try and make it a photographer camera?
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Cages are available for most hybrid cameras. I use mine to securely attach accessories to my cameras. The numerous threaded holes, cold shoes, and nato rails enable configuring & reconfiguring a camera in almost unlimited ways. It's common to need to customize a camera "rig" in a particular way for a project, and sometimes multiple configurations through the course of a single shooting day. Of course, many photographers & videographers don't need this capability, but for those who do, a camera cage is indispensable. Cheers.
 
I rec'd my SmallRig deadcat miniature furry windscreen from B&H today ($15). They packaged it alone in a huge box, but shipping was free (as part of a larger order). Fits snugly in my S5iiX hot shoe (where it will live most of the time), and easy to remove when I use the DMW-XLR1 audio adapter. If it gets windy outside tonight or tomorrow I'll give the deadcat a quick test. Cheers.
 
I tested mine in the mountains on Monday, I still needed to turn electronic wind canceller to high and mic gain to low! Maybe the mic gain low would have been sufficient alone, I'll try it again with wind canceller off.

The mics seem really sensitive, all you can hear is me breathing :( and the outside noise obviously and this was at waist height. Wish there was a breathing canceller :D
 
I did a few brief tests yesterday with my S5iiX, and I agree the little SmallRig fur windscreen "deadcat" seems to reduce or prevent low-frequency rumble caused by a light-to-moderate breeze. I don't know what the wind speeds were, but at a certain point as the wind speed increased, LF rumble could be heard in my over-the-ear headphones.

As Oiche says, using the deadcat together with the camera's "wind canceller" feature seems a bit better at reducing LF wind noise compared to using either technique alone. But at a certain point, stronger winds would cause LF rumble regardless.

Unsurprisingly, I also found using my Sennheiser ME65 mic covered with a Rode fur windscreen connected to the S5iiX via a DMW-XLR1 audio adapter resulted in noticeably less LF wind noise. I had the mic's built-in LF roll-off switch turned OFF. Switching the audio adapter's LF roll-off switch to 160Hz improved things a bit further.

I ran out of time, so wasn't able to compare these results to using the ME65's built-in LF roll-off switch. TBD

An advantage of using most add-on mics is that the mic capsule is much father away from your face & hands (compared to the cam's built-in mics) especially when looking through the cam's EVF. So one's breathing is less likely to be recorded, and hand-hold noises will be minimized by a good mic isolation mount. But of course, add-on mics and isolation mounts add size, weight, and cost.
 
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