This time on LensVid Talk we take a look at two recent reviews published here on LensVid – the Ulanzi VideoFast Tripod and the Sunwayfoto LB-90L leveling base, the new Canon C400 cinema camera and two new Canon lenses, the Nikon Z6 III and Panasonic GH7 and we can’t have a list of new cameras without Sony that announced the ZV-E 10 II. Sigma introduced a short zoom lens with its Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8 Art and Sony finally added a multi-camera monitor and control feature to its app (with some limitations). We have an announcement of a surprising 3D partnership between Apple & Blackmagic, as well as a list of new accessories from Westcott, Hollyland, and a very interesting Kickstarter LIT DUO 1 project.
This episode of LensVid Talk was recorded in mid-August 2024.
Ulanzi VideoFast Heavy Duty Tripod Review (01:00)
We recently published a review of the Ulanzi-Heavy-Duty-Videofast tripod alongside its fluid head. Lew had a long list of positive things to say about this new tripod as well as a number of suggestions for improvement for both the tripod and the head.
The Ulanzi VideoFast Heavy Duty Tripod sells on Amazon for just under $370.
Check out our full review of the tripod/head here.
the Ulanzi VideoFast Heavy-Duty Tripod
Sunwayfoto LB-90L Leveling Base Review (04:43)
Leveling bases are super useful especially when shooting video on stills tripod legs (something we do quite often, especially with our Manfrotto 028B tripod). Finding a quality, affordable leveling base is not simple but we believe that we have finally found an option with the LB-90L that is a very robust base with only two drawbacks.
You can buy the Sunwayfoto LB-90L on Amazon for $100.
Watch the full Sunwayfoto LB-90L Leveling base review here.
The Sunwayfoto-LB-90L
Canon C400 (10:20)
After over 3 years of silence, Canon finally revealed a new member of its C family with an RF mount. The new C400 combines many of the latest Canon technologies into a single Cinema camera including a Full frame 6K BSI sensor, Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus, Dual Pixel AF II, 5-axis image stabilization, anamorphic options, RF mount, optimized for live/broadcast and Two card slots (and much more).
One more important aspect is pricing which is set to $8K.
Official C400 Canon video
Canon 35mm f/1.4 L (13:13)
Canon also introduced a new RF fast wide-angle lens – the Canon 35mm f/1.4 L seems to draw a lot of opposing reviews from users (with some users praising it as a big step ahead of the EF version while others criticizing different aspects, especially Canon’s reliance of profile correction to mitigate optical design flaws.
The lens is available for $1500.
Official Canon 35mm f/1.4 L video
Canon RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye Lens (14:01)
Talking about Canon’s new lenses, another newly announced lens is RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye Lens. This one is kind of bizarre looking with its dual ultra-wide fish-eye design but it does have AF and at the moment it only works with the Canon R7 (with APS-C coverage unlike Canon’s RF 5.2mm F2.8L Dual Fisheye (FF lens announced a while back).
The Canon RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye Lens sells for $1100 (not $2K like we wrongly quoted in the video).
Official Canon RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye Lens video
Nikon Z6 III (16:44)
Nikon Finally announced the third iteration of its Z6 camera. The new Nikon Z6 III includes a new 24.5MP Partially-Stacked Sensor, EXPEED 7, 6K60p N-RAW, Bright EVF, articulated screen, 120fps full JPEG, and much more
This is a pretty amazing bang for your buck in terms of specs, however early user reviews also indicated some drawbacks including the fact that the camera comes with no battery charger but maybe more importantly some users reported AF accuracy issues (we are not sure how widespread these are and if Nikon already solved them via firmware).
You can buy the Nikon Z6 III for $2500.
Official Nikon Z6 III video
Panasonic Lumix GH7 (20:41)
Talking about impressive bang for your buck, the Panasonic Lumix GH7 is probably the current king of impressive on-paper specs with a 25MP micro 4/3 sensor, 7K Raw video capability, better dynamic range, better AF, 75fps (single AF) stills, ProRes RAW Internal, 32-Bit Float Recording (with an external XLR unit) real-time luts – 7.5 stops IBIS, open gate and much much more.
You can purchase the Panasonic GH7 for $2200.
Official GH7 video
Sony ZV-E 10 II & a new 16-50 kit lens (23:03)
Sony recently announced the second version of its ZV-E10 alongside an updated kit lens (16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II).
The new version is very similar to the FX30 in many respects (and the a6700), it uses the Z battery (unlike its predecessor), has focus breathing compensation, and a new feature that turns the menus on their side when shooting vertically.
The ZV-E10 II sells for $1100 with the new kit lens.
Official ZV-E10 II video
Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8 Art (25:13)
Sigma recently announced a very interesting 28-45mm f/1.8 Art lens that on the face of it might look like a strange choice for a zoom focal length but if you consider this lens as a combination of several fast, high-quality primes (think 28mm, 35mm and 45mm with everything in between) you might start to look at this fairly heavy and rather expensive lens as some more unique.
The Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8 Art sells for $1340.
Official Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8 Art video
Sony multi-camera monitoring AND cONTROL APP (26:19)
Last year during IBC 2023 we asked Sony (off camera) why the company doesn’t offer an app that will allow the user to control several cameras at the same time. One year later and Sony finally added this very same feature with its Monitor & Control App for up to 4 cameras.
There is a catch, however. This version of the app currently only supports iPads and a very specific list of cameras (Burano, FX6, FX3, FX30, Alpha 1, Alpha 9 III, and Alpha 7S III models so no A7 IV or A7R V etc.).
Photographer James Matthews recently did a video showing the new app and his experience seems very positive (we have spoken to some people who had much less fun experiences with this new version of the app especially when using different cameras – if you tried it – let us know in the comments).
More info on the Sony website.
Apple & Blackmagic 3D Partnership (29:46)
Blackmagic Design announced what it is calling “an end-to-end workflow for producing cinematic Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro”.
Blackmagic states that the URSA Cine Immersive is the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video that is based on 8K, 3D video with a 180-degree field of view, and Spatial Audio. Used in conjunction with the latest version of DaVinci Resolve that supports Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro (to be released later this year) it should be possible to create Apple Vision Pro content.
More info from the Blackmagic Design site.
Westcott L120-B LED (31:46)
Westcott recently introduced several new products including a new L120 bi-color LED that can push out 23,900 lux at 1m (officially, impressive for a 120W LED) and has an SSI score of of 92 with CRI/TLCI of 98+ as well as a silent fan mode (up to at 30%).
The Westcott L120-B Bi-Color COB LED sells for $260.
Westcott L120-B Bi-Color COB LED video
Westcott Easy boom (32:40)
The second product released by Westcott is the Easy Boom. This compact heavy-duty advanced boom design is similar in many ways to models such as the Cambo RD-1100 Redwing (a boom that we have been using for several years in the studio). However, the Westcott has several advantages over the much more expensive Cambo boom including a lock to prevent the boom arm to “jump” up when removing the light and an option to use weights instead of the sandbag as well as a security lock for the light.
The main disadvantage of the Westcott Easy Boom seems to be its length of only 26″ without an option to extend it (with the Cambo you can replace the front part and thus extend the unit quite a lot (something that we have done with our unit).
The Westcott Easy Boom sells for $300 (about half the price of the Cambo).
Official Westcott Easy Boom video
LIT DUO 1 (35:36)
The LIT DUO 1 is a Kickstarter project that recently finished raising almost 1 million dollars on Kickstarter.
The LIT DUO 1 is a color, exposure, illuminance, spectrum, and flicker meter in one unit with a large touch screen and a very clear interface. Unlike other units like the Sekonic C800 that we have been using to test all our lights in our studio (and for all our reviews), which has a clunky dated interface the Lit Duo 1 has a modern color interface with app support that lets the user to measure light, store and share results and update the firmware (no need for cumbersome cables and annoying computer software.
You can still pre-order the Lit Dou 1 on Kickstarter for around $646.
Official LIT DUO 1 video
Hollyland Pyro 7” wireless TX/RX monitor (39:21)
Finally, we have two products from Hollyland. The first is a new large wireless monitor from the new Pyro series (we are currently testing a wireless transmission unit from this new series). The 7″ monitor is not just larger than the Hollyland Mars M1 Wireless Transceiver Monitor we tested early last year, but it also uses the new dual-band transmission system and has several other upgrades like built-in recording (although somewhat limited).
You can buy a single Pyro 7″ unit for $550 or dual monitors for around $1000.
Official Pyro 7″ tutorial
Hollyland VenusLiv V2 (43:11)
The second and final product of this LensVid Talk is the Hollyland VenusLIV V2. We had a chance to see the first version of this product in IBC 2023. The new version of this “camcorder style” streaming camera stream without the need for any additional software from the camera itself or be used as a UVC device to stream easily just like a webcam connected to your computer.
It can record both stills and videos (up to 4K 30p) on an SD card. You can easily add overlays and interesting backgrounds if you are shooting with a green screen right from the camera. There are also several new effects as well as some tools that allow the user to change things such as specific colors in the image in camera (very useful for a device designed for streaming where you can’t edit your video in post.
You can buy the Hollyland VenusLiv V2 for $950.
Hollyland VenusLiv V2 video
You can Check out all of the LensVid Talk videos here. If you want us to cover any specific topics or products in our upcoming LensVid talks please let us know in the comments or on our YT or Facebook pages.
Iddo Genuth 
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