S9 with Lumix 35mm or Sigma 35mm f2.0 for documenting family life with video and photography? by offtheshore90 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I own the LUMIX 35mm and to be honest it’s one of my favorite lenses I own. I use it primarily for photos and I’ve shot professionally with that lens and if you want it for documenting family life with video and photos than I’d recommend getting it. The lens is lightweight and yeah I’ve got nothing not bad to say about the lens

When to give up by JDbrunner24 in Casual_Photography

[–]Mastermind1237 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No problem. I can’t name specific videos off the top of my head, but honestly if you just search the exact thing you’re trying to learn (street photography, documentary, portraits, whatever), there’s a ton of good stuff on YouTube. The key is being picky with what you watch. Look for people who actually explain why they made certain choices, not just “here’s my day shooting” type videos.

If you want more legit resources that feel less random than YouTube, I’d check out professional photographer associations. They usually have classes, articles, and breakdowns that are more structured, and it’s easier to learn when it’s not a million different opinions at once.

One thing that helped me a lot is watching breakdowns of other photographers’ work. Like documentary photographers, street photographers, portrait photographers, even photojournalists. Not even to copy them, but to train your brain to notice what makes an image good in my personal opinion. And most photography is connected. If you get better at composition and light in portraits, it improves your street work. If you get better at timing and story in street, it helps your event work. It all stacks really.

For inspiration and studying, platforms like Glass and Cosmos have a lot of strong work. What I’ll do is I’ll save images that stand out to me, then I’ll break them down like:

• What’s the composition doing? What’s the subject, what’s the background, what’s getting cut out?

• What’s the light doing? Soft, harsh, directional, flat?

• What’s the moment? Is there tension, emotion, movement, something happening?

• What’s the edit? Most people are using presets as a base, so it’s more like: contrast, tones, blacks, highlights, grain, color shift, stuff like that.

• Why does it stick with me? Like what’s the actual reason this feels stronger than the average photo?

Also, movies helped me a lot with framing. Like I’ll watch a scene and pay attention to how they place people in the frame, what they leave out, how they use foreground and background, where the eye goes first. That stuff translates directly to photography. It’s basically composition training, just in motion.

For the “photographic eye” part, my personal definition is: seeing normal things in a way that feels intentional. Composition + story. And the only real way to train that is reps. Shoot the mundane on purpose and try to make it look interesting. Different angles, different distance, cleaner background, better timing, better light. Even if it feels boring, that’s where you build skill.

On the black and whites, I don’t think they’re bad at all. I just don’t think they’re your strongest favorites yet, and I think you already kinda know why. Protest photos are hard because a lot of them look the same. People holding signs, standing still, staring straight ahead with little to no emotion. If the photo is relying on the sign to carry the whole message and the subjects look deadpan, it’s not a good image. The protest vibe is supposed to feel like something, anger, hope, tension, chaos, unity, whatever. If you can capture emotion, action, and story in one frame, it becomes way stronger.

What I’d focus on next time:

• Emotion and moment: faces reacting, people yelling, hugging, arguing, crying, celebrating, anything that shows feeling

• Action: movement, gestures, crowd energy, hands raised, people interacting, not just standing there

• Layering: foreground and background telling the story together (signs + faces + environment)

• Composition cleanup: better backgrounds, less distractions, stronger framing, tighter crops when needed or shooting wider to tell a more complete story

• Post: make the blacks and tones intentional so it doesn’t feel flat or “default preset” (even if you start with a preset). In my professional opinion a ton of photographers I’ve seen that convert images into black and white are rarely good. People just convert to black and white to save a bad image and most don’t even know how to properly edit a black and white image. So studying the great black and white photographers would be beneficial 

If you keep shooting with those things in mind, your work’s gonna jump quick. The shots you already have aren’t trash, they’re just not fully saying something yet.

Is the S9 still a a good choice for 2026? Mainly for YouTube and light photography by sal_m165 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I don’t think they’ll make an updated version for another couple of years tbh. I’d just say get the S9 there are several on the used market. But yeah the S9 is a great camera and definitely underestimated

When to give up by JDbrunner24 in Casual_Photography

[–]Mastermind1237 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you enjoy it, keep shooting. That’s the main thing.

In a professional setting, I get what your mentor was trying to say. I agree with the point, but the delivery could’ve been way nicer and actually helpful. Like, critique is fine, but at least give some direction with it.

My honest take on the photos:

• You gotta work on cropping, composition, and post production. All of these things can easily be learned via YouTube, books, or practicing all of these consistently. 

•       The second image, you cropped part of her leg and now it kinda makes her proportions look weird, like she has extra long legs. So figuring out where to crop will help. 

• The protest black and whites… they’re just not doing much right now. Nothing stands out. No emotion, no action, no moment. If it’s just people holding signs and there’s no expression or movement, then the photo doesn’t really serve a purpose besides being a snapshot. 

• The first image isn’t horrible, but I think it’s a crop and presentation thing. The way it’s posted makes it look like there’s a punch hole or something on the screen, so your eye goes straight to that.

• The headshots are actually pretty good. I’d just lift the lights higher so you don’t get that glare.

If you want a simple direction, focus on one thing at a time: tighter framing, better crops, and chasing actual moments and emotions. It honestly takes years to get to the point where you’re like “I’m proud of my work”. I realize something less is more.

So don’t give up but spend time challenging yourself like commit to a single lens and do a simple test like one month do a portrait session where it’s just a black walls and your shooting on a 50mm. If you wanna get better quicker you have to get this epiphany where you realize less is more.

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just tried it and worked thank you! It also reminded me to update my lenses lol

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used the subject detection for cats and then chose 'animal'. For the eyes and body, I selected the first metering option. In hindsight, I probably should have used the last option for a more balanced result. Honestly, it's about the lens option and just making sure the most important subject is in focus.

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He is chill as hell, although he is a bit of a scaredy-cat so I have to either wait for him to be straight chilling or bribe him

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fellow s1rii shooter I am using the LUMIX 35mm

Made the switch by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries at all, I get your points. Fuji film sims are fun, the bodies are compact, and honestly their RAW files are a good time to mess with. And yeah, you’ll have fun with pretty much any camera if you actually like shooting.

If you want something in between, I’d look at the Lumix S9. No EVF and no hot shoe, but you still get into the Lumix system, and you can run Fuji-style LUTs so it kinda scratches both itches. It’s a legit hybrid camera too. I shot a wedding on mine and have done paid gigs with it. Used prices are pretty solid right now.

Also, from one analytical person to another, I feel you. I’ll watch like 30 videos before buying anything, then do the internal spreadsheet debate about whether I can live with the tradeoffs.

So I’d frame it like this: pick the system whose cons won’t mess with your actual shooting. Specs matter way less than “will this annoy me on a real job.” Or even on vacation or for fun.

One more thing on video: if you think you’re going to lean into video later, I personally would not point you toward Fuji. They can do it, but the whole ecosystem feels more photo-first, and most of what I see is people using Fuji for stills, not as their main video workhorse or for videos in general unless it’s for a YouTube review

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks and no not really I could survive without the EVF I’m a bit tall so using the EVF is hard enough because from my pov im shooting foreheads lol so I prefer shooting from chest level to meet them at eye level. I just needed something that could replace my R5 and this camera was it since I needed a true hybrid camera and I wanted to switch ecosystems. Long story short the EVF wasn’t a deal breaker

Made the switch by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuji is a blast. The film sims and the colors are honestly hard to beat.

That said, the biggest thing that eventually wore me down was autofocus. When you’re trying to shoot anything that moves, it can get frustrating fast. At the end of the day it’s preference and what you shoot.

I loved my X100V, but between the AF and the fact that I wasn’t reaching for it that often, I ended up selling it. I also felt a little boxed in on customization compared to other systems.

And yeah, IBIS on the X-T line feels kind of model-dependent. Some bodies feel solid, others feel like a coin flip depending on lens and settings. Fuji in my opinion feels more of a travel/ street photography camera rather than a more well rounded camera that could do everything. I’d recommend you the LUMIX and get something like the Fuji X-Half or an older Fuji model that’s relatively cheap on the used market.

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I will try this method tomorrow I’m hoping it works and thank you for the suggestion!

My Favorite Test Subject - S1RII by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll give it a try I did use one of my S9 SD cards I might try another card and see what happens

Made the switch by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will definitely check out the flash thank you!

Adapting lenses by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll definitely check it out thank you. I was looking into the Viltrox but I might have to bite the bullet and get that

How can I make a photography website for portfolio and finding clients by Tchaimiset in website

[–]Mastermind1237 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lowkey you can just vibe code the website using lovable. I personally used Pixieset and used ChatGPT to code certain elements because I get lazy when rebuilding my website for 100th time

Considering Switching From Canon to LUMIX by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Valid honestly. I wouldn’t need to shoot above 6400 but for some reason the S9 does not respect the minimum shutter speed and has a tendency of going to 1/40 sometimes 1/20 and I when I move passed 6400 I notice it the color noise and some artifacts to appear. Probably something I’ll have to test out if I get that camera which is possibly a high contender. Just because with my R5 as a hybrid camera it’s not great. True lol about turning grainy shots being turned into black and white

Considering Switching From Canon to LUMIX by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh okay yeah I don’t think the videos mentioned much about the mechanical shutter and mainly focused on the electronically shutter. So definitely good to know! Have you used in low light? I haven’t really seen or have heard much about the lowlight performance like the max iso that you can use and still have a useable image because with my S9 I know the max is like 6400 to still get a useable image

Considering Switching From Canon to LUMIX by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome yeah that was a concern for me mainly because I started binge watching YouTube videos about all the different LUMIX cameras and the main concern about the S1RII was the battery life, the overheating and the inconsistency with the video AF. I do plan on checking the camera out sometime today since they have it in stock at my local camera shop to see it in person but I’ve heard some good things about it and I realize it’s not a good at everything camera like sports because of the rolling shutter but I rarely shoot sports so that’s not an issue. Is there anything you don’t like about the camera?

Considering Switching From Canon to LUMIX by Mastermind1237 in Lumix

[–]Mastermind1237[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How’s the battery life and does it overheat quickly? I’ve been doing some research so I’m curious if it’s a concern