Fred R

FREE APP
@JonasViewfinderGuy just made his IOS/Android viewfinder + light meter app for photography FREE! No subscription, no ads. And it does not look cheap! 🙌

https://youtu.be/n9p5hj_mPXM

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 1

Fred R

If in need of a real film maker channel, with amazing story-telling skills, go check David Orlowitz @davidorlowitz. He writes, acts and directs some gems.

https://youtu.be/ZJnir9hqTp8

2 months ago | [YT] | 1

Fred R

Next video will be about the "Angénieux from Tokina". It will proba.. surely be my most disliked video. I'll try to give you some information to help you identify which part of the AT-X Pro's DNA belongs to Angénieux. EAT: This weekend.
If you own the lens, let me know how much you paid for it.

8 months ago | [YT] | 8

Fred R

HELIOS 44-2 QUALITY
Dwayne Foong (Malaysia), who services Helios 44-2 lenses for a living, bought 10 models from KMZ, Valdai, and MMZ to compare their performances in detail. In summary, the factory of origin does not matter. It's just seller hype. The key factor is maintenance.

And IMO this is hardly surprising: Quality control was left to the workers, whose focus was on quantity, not quality. Any differences stem from the expertise of those who cleaned and maintained the lenses over the years.
To sum up: If you buy a Helios, pay the premium price for the condition, not for the logo.


https://youtu.be/KjJK6e_s6lE

9 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 3

Fred R

WITH A PARENT LIKE PANASONIC, MFT DOESN'T NEED AN ENEMY.
Lenses Manufacturers are more critical to a camera system's survival than the brand that markets the camera. If lens manufacturers stop supplying lenses for a specific mount, the system will die.

This is precisely what is happening with Micro Four Thirds (MFT): Chinese manufacturers, who previously supported the MFT system by offering versions of their lenses with an M43 mount, were effectively doing Panasonic's job to keep the system alive.

However, in 2024, the vast majority of Chinese news lenses were no longer available in M43. 2025? It's worse, Chinese manufacturers appear to have abandoned MFT: none of their autofocus or new manual lenses come with the M43 mount.

The Panasonic GH5 is one of the best-selling cameras and is still available on their website. However, Panasonic has not provided any updates since 2020. And seeing how Apple is heavily promoting its smartphone in Hollywood, with its 1/1.14" sensor, it clearly indicates that sensor size is really not the problem neither a concern... Panasonic is the problem of the MFT growth.

If Panasonic does not recognize that the survival of MFT depends on manufacturers in Shenzhen and that its future hinges on embracing open-source strategies... their GH8 is already obsolete.

9 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 7

Fred R

For Asahi Team:
It might be the best test footage of the Takumar 35mm f2 I ever saw. Go check it out: https://youtu.be/V0TW5xAizjg
If only I had this quality when I compared it to the Mir, my video would had been totally different. 🤷

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

Fred R

Just for my curiosity: How many lenses you guys have. Me I have only 20 something, and it is too much as I only 4 or 5.

1 year ago | [YT] | 6

Fred R

SUICIDE BY EGO
Unfortunately many YTbers are now calling themselves Artist.
Maybe due to their ignorance or ego, or because of the echo chamber of the social medias.

Assembling nice color graded B-roll on fancy music with voice over does not make you an "Artist".
This is not good enough. You must bring the "Wow!"!
The thing that provocs an emotional reaction, the thing that freeze, that sticks. That thing that stops you from blinking. This switch that makes them wanting to cry or laugh without explanation.
The stuff they feel like they must share it with the world. This is ART.

How many YouTubers do you know who have managed to do it at least once???
They call themselves filmmakers, okay. But don’t call them artists until they know how to move you inside.
Art is in the eye and skin of the beholder, not in the mouth of someone having an oversized ego.

Pic: In the Mood for Love (2000) / Wong Kar-wai that clearly checks all the effects I wrote above.

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 10

Fred R

UPDATES AND MIND
I almost completed the hardest and longest part of the video (yeah the animations)... And it looks damn good ! But few things that come to mind:
I will talk like an old man, because the fact is YT told me that 80% of you have half my age.

20 years ago, way before YouTube, I was single and burning cash in gear. All alone by myself. House looked like a camera/computer shop. And guess what? I did shit with all that.

These last years, no more alone. Can’t buy camera or new mac just because of boredom. Cash ran out. Kids take the priority on the grocery list. No more time to chill. And guess what? This is the best thing that happened to me. If you are full of cash and single: You r screwed! Money and freedom are the worse enemies of your potential.

No money? You learn to find some options then solution.
No more time? You don't run around but get the things done.
Mixing animations and stop-motion is the solution I found to compensate for my limitations, and get the things going. Then it became part of my style.
I don't try to learn DaVinci, because I got no more time to explore. Instead I learn how to push what have: Now I know how to put Final Cut to its knees to get what I think acceptable.

My point is stop with the: "If I had that and this… If I have time…" Believe me: you won’t do shit! Been there, done that. Déja vu chez moi. Déja vu chez others!
And these young cats you see on YT with their $6K camera et $2K lights? 95% of them do nothing with it excepted calling themselves "film-makers".


So if you got between 20 and 30 years old, and you understand it... Stop the gear. Save the bucks for the big move, and just go Tiger, create, smash it and make me proud!

Peace!

PS: No one, (especially your relatives) will believe in you and your dreams. And that's ok, that's normal, it's life. But what you gonna do about it? Stay there crying like a baby or get the things done so you won't have to write a shitty post like I do because the beard is getting grey? ✊

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 24

Fred R

MEIKE PRIMES
My most viewed video is about the budget #Meike primes https://youtu.be/q6amR1SsGQk , but... I can't recommend them anymore due to the poor quality of the materials hidden behind their metal body and also their optics.

Except the rings, everything inside is made of plastic... of a low quality! Today I disassembled the 35mm f1.7, for maintenance: The hard stop of the aperture just broke. Also one stop of a aperture blade just fall apart. The lens is good for trash.

The optics have many bubbles trapped inside the glass. At first I did not mind them, thinking that it had been made on purpose to soften the image. But I came to realize that none of my vintage has bubbles in their glasses. So this is clearly due to a bad or low quality control.
Also I noticed that the edges of the glasses crumbles easily.

To sum up: Despite producing a good image, and having a smooth focus and click-less aperture, these budget primes are not made to last the time. And with regards to their price ($70), we are better off buying a vintage.

Guess that I won't try to know how their cine-lenses are made inside.

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 6