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Does anyone else feel just plain overwelmed by the choices we have in camera gear? I consider myself an intermediate level filmmaker. I have the basics down and at this point am trying to advance my skill set but I feel at times bombarded by the need to upgrade my camera/lens etc! I have been told by local film groups and companies I have a great eye and just need to put out more work. My very humble kit as an adult with a 9-5 and student debt consists of a Nikon d5300, a tamron 17-50 2.8, 28mm 2.8 (e series Nikon) and a 50mm 1.8 I have access too. I have a benro monopod that needs tightening and doesn't really work as well as an old tripod that will hold the camera steady. My audio gear consists of a tascam dr07mkii, and a (actually very decent sounding) $20 lav. As I'm a musician and into audio recording I also own a focusrite Scarlett 2i4 along with a condenser mic. I own no lighting gear. My rant ends at this: I have access to a 24p/60p 1080p camera. I have a decent lens, not a canon cinema glass but it will get the job done. Yet I constantly feel like I need to drop 5k and get the newest sony/canon/Panasonic XHZ and a ronin or 5axis stabilizer. Perhaps I should better spend money on upgrading my lights/rig/audio this year. My goal this year is to actually work on some shit and perfect my craft. Invest in stuff that will matter and when all that is done and I'm thriving with what I have, look at the camera game then. Rant over Would anyone be interested in a monthly film Challenge? Just to force the creative juices to flow and actually put something out?

Agreed, although the GX80/85 is currently discounted heavily and has in my opinion a better color than the G7 and has no time limitations (in the NTSC region) so that may be a good alternative. Here are some shots made by the G7:

Doesn't sound like you're actually overwhelmed by all the gear out there itself. Sounds more like you're 'tempted' or 'feel pushed' to get something you don't really need (/actually have the financial means for). In that case... club it down before it has a chance to evolve into something worse. Bunch of us suffer from G.A.S. otherwise known as the Gear Acquisition Syndrome, wouldn't know much about it, I believe it's the never ending or satisfying quest for the latest and greatest ... (yeah, about that... don't forget... the first stage is denial ). Just use whatever you have lying around. Don't ask yourself the question 'what if..?'... 'that must surely make me a better filmmaker'... a better camera makes for a better camera... that's it. That's all. See, that actually doesn't make a better filmmaker and doesn't make a better film either. It's more about the vision and experience you have. So focus on those things instead. Surely, you might hit a plateau where you've exhausted the potential of your gear and you need some new firewood to keep the fire going. New gear opens up some new creative freedom and possibilities. But you've got to have a need (and financial means or prospects) for it first. Imagine a first time DSLR shooter... they could get a full kit of expensive lenses, but there's nothing wrong with letting them explore the 18-55mm kitlens first. They will soon realize... 'oh, I'm shooting a lot of land-/cityscapes/astro starry skies... I'm using the wide range a lot'... or 'I love taking portraits' or 'I get noisy images in lowlight'. By USING the gear they have (not by comparing it online to specs of other gear) they notice what's lacking in their arsenal of tools and where there's room for improvement that would really make a change for them personally. I leave you with this... (this kid might have a better attitude than a bunch of us combined )

Or get both! Aaaaaand we arrived at the opposite of the point of the thread

I have to agree. Unless you are shooting 4k nearly any camera made in the last 4 to 5 years can make a great movie if you are skilled I don't care what the price. And if you want 4k cheap buy a Panasonic G7. Its what's between your ears, not in front of them, that make good film making.

Keep working out your craft - invest in yourself, in projects that matter to you, build up your portfolio. That's it Getting better gear is only one step further of making up excuses... What kind of video would you see youself doing ultimatly? When I was going in school for tv production, we would create all kind of video just to find our style, our way. And we would also participate to every contest possible... Overall me and my roomate got over 5000$ in various prizes in thoses 3 years. It's great to pay back a bit of gear too and a great motivator. I don't even need to talk about the learning aspect of it !

Yup, for the money, the G7 cannot be beat. Well, I actually like the image from my D5500 moreso than from the G7, but that's irrelevant to this discussion, the point is that when using this level of equipment you're never going to get the best of everything. The $400-$1000 camera market is a confusing beast. I've been searching for the best camera, for me, in that price range, and everything is a compromise. I've settled on the idea that I want a couple cameras for different jobs, because none of them will do everything you need or want. But in the end, story is king as they say.

Sometimes, when you shoot wide and you want to nail exposure on your subject, you decide to let the sky, or something else, run a little hot.

Yeah, I'm blessed to not have enough money to upgrade ever. Also reminded myself the other day that my interest in gear is just a side effect, was never the point. Now I know how to use a camera, so I'll be a lot more prepared when I have a film ready, and my camera has done great things in good hands, so I'm done seeing any point in upgrading to a way more expensive, barely more capable camera with a new learning curve. A monthly film challenge would be really cool, but I don't think my mind works that way

I think it depends on what your needs are. I take everything from a writing standpoint and how I envision the project. If you're writing an action film, you may just need the 120fps. I'm a cabinet maker by trade and like carpentry you need the right tool for the right job. A lot of people can make due with what they have, but the proper tool makes the job easier. This is why I have resigned myself to having 2 or 3 cheaper cameras with a couple lenses for each one... different tools for different jobs. But do I really need 2 or 3 cheaper cameras... of course not... it's just the projects I am planning require different features that not every camera in this price bracket has. So need and want is subjective.

To add, spend a few minutes on Amazon Prime under the horror category... the production value of some of these movies look like they were shot on a Flip cam and the stories are even worse... you will be hard pressed to find a story that doesn't involve "a paranormal investigation team" or "after the loss of their child... they moved to an old country farmhouse." Sometimes the two are combined. So my point being is that sometimes you don't need good production value, image quality or a good story, you just need the balls to go out and make something. It reminds me of the line from Ed Wood... when speaking to a producer about his latest film, the producer told Ed that his movie was horrible, maybe the worst he ever saw, Ed Wood went on to proudly say... "The next one's even better."

There is a guy over on dvxuser selling a Sony FS100 for 700 bucks OBO. Now that is a buy for a camera that you can make a good movie with! http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?351098-Sony-FS100-with-Canon-EF-FE-Adapter-700-OBO

Yeah the G7 is not a DR king for sure. And low light is pretty poor also. You are not getting an Arri for 400 bucks LoL. But for the average audience they probably will never notice the difference truth be known. Porn films come to mind now on Digital or 60 years ago on 8mm. Nobody was looking at the films from an artistic viewpoint, they were looking at the content LoL! Good material wins over great film making any day. Now if you have both that is called a smash hit Oscar winning movie. Hard to do that.

Super Jan!! Gratulation! Very Nice.. Gr Franz

Yes the 18-55 lens has to be updated, I also run into this problem when I bought the X-T2 kit, It is not something you expect when buying a brand new camera. But after updating the lens, ois is very close to the ibis of my GX85. I absolutely recommand buying the kit, this lens is definitely worth the 300 Euro/Dollar when you buy it in the kit. For a flat setting you can probably best use negative standard with al the other settings dialled down to the lowest value. In the Q menu you can save up to seven different camera profiles. I picked up a X-T2 kit just for our holiday to Kos (Greece) and started shooting there figuring out the settings on the way. After some days I choose Astia low which worked best for me under these high contrast circumstances. I put together some footage I shot on Kos, nothing spectacular all handhold, mainly shot with the kit lens and the 50-230 f4.5-6.7, which I bought for 180 Euro. Greets Jan

Hi everyone, This week's new free tracks are all on my corporate page, but I think some of them would work well in other things as well. They are: "City of Tomorrow_v001"_Looping "Little Space Probe...Very Big Journey"_Looping "Beepage"_Looping "Corporate Ladder"_Looping "High Tech City"_Looping "Technoscape"_Looping http://soundimage.org/corporate/ Daily updates of new tracks are here: https://www.facebook.com/soundimage.org/ Have a great week! :-) Eric

lol http://nofilmschool.com/2016/12/can-you-tell-which-video-was-shot-50k-red-weapon-and-iphone-7-plus

haha thanks guys for all this! YES I'm assuming you guys have all seen Jon Olsen (I think I got that right) 8k vlogs. Like I appreciate it in a way but at the same time no thanks! I apologize if this was a personal rant and I feel like I just vomitted a bunch of thoughts into a big paragraph. But THAT said, my goals are to just keep shooting. I've been on a kick for a couple weeks now where I'll try a personal project a week. It doesn't even have to be planned but just for me having that goal/loose deadline pushes me to create SOMETHING. Also keeps my mind off of GAS. Sure it would be nice to have a 10bit camera with RAW but again as everyone knows these are just tools. Looking forward to another year of filmmaking with my favorite website!

OP - put this on your fridge and keep it there before somebody talks you into buying a Red Weapon 8K for b-roll or some other ridiculous thing.

Thanks for passing that valuable info along, racer5! My initial impression is that he's made the best trade-off, as I'd find more run & gun subjects within the 15m range, and wouldn't find it a problem stopping down for infinity shots at wider focal lengths anyway. In terms of my own conversion plans, I guess I'll simply have to test the limitations of what I have without screwing with the optics (aside from removing the 1" rear barrel housing the two rear elements--see above grab if interested) and see what it yields. Given what's currently online to reference, the only "mod" I can fathom done to the one for sale is altering the rear element position (within main lens body), which I'm not presently set up to replicate. In any event, much gratitude again for the post--a very informative starting point for understanding the potential of this little gem. * 1060 pic grabbed from Kostas' old sale--retro thanks.

EOSHD Pro Color featured on 4KShooters : http://www.4kshooters.net/2016/12/11/sony-fs5-eoshd-pro-color-and-slow-motion-footage/

Beautiful shots !!! Very cinematic, lovely character....

Very creative!

You offer a "in theoretical world base only on my personal opinion" without owning a 1Dx or a Gimbal.... I'm offering a real world opinion using the 1Dx II on a gimbal at 4k 60p using AF in a similar way that the OP is intending to use. You are probably much more skilled and talented than me but the OP did try in real world your "theoretical" approach manual focusing on a gimbal and he was not so happy and I know why, because I'm been there and I don't want to return doing that way. I'm really not sure why you cannot use AF with strobe, these are all done with the 1Dx, strobe and using AF (including long lenses, night shots, backlight, etc...:

Yeah, but it's not unreasonable to expect a level to be, well... level!

Yeah, must be something wrong inside...If you're handy, you can try to fix it yourself. Tito has a recent video on improving sharpness on the Kowa B&H. As it is the same model as Kowa 16H and 8Z, it should apply to your lens also. Check it out

The 1D X Mark II on a proper gimbal sounds like overkill when you can get an E-M1 II or wait for the GH5 and have 5 axis IBIS.

Pepper, below is part of a thread I had with Mario in Germany about his mod. In short: the mod favors close focus at the expense of infinity. A good tradeoff I'd say (I'll gladly crop spherical for infinity shots). Hope it helps answer your questions: you have to know that ALL focusthrough lenses are limited, some more than others. This Mini Isco's are the best focusthrough so far but they are also limited. The alignment is perfect and easy, the sharpness in ideal areas is very high, like Isco 2000 and Iscomorphot 8/x2 but much better usable "before and behind" this ideal area. But, infinity sharpness isnt as sharp as other lenses, you have to stop down for better infinity sharpness with longer focallegth. I had to make some decisions before modification, how these Iscos should work. More sharpness fron minimum to approx 10-15m or more sharpness from approx 6-8m to inifinity. Also i had to choose the ideal focallength (original it was desgined for 100mm F2.8 and 5m fixed focus). I chosen the first option, more sharpness from minimum to near infinity, cause this would cover the most shooting/studio situations, for better infinity sharpness you have to stop down to F4-5.6, real inifinity you need outdoors, so F5.6 shouldnt the problem i thought, for night shots you have to choose a shorter focallentgh like 35mm to shoot with bigger apertures sharp infinity. I also choose 35mm as the new ideal focallength, because ths means that the focalareas around 35mm will be also fine, this means 28mm for M4/3, 35mm S35 and 50mm ff. With the ideal focallength you have a sharp close focus from approx 1.5-2m @F2.8-4m, some good glasses also F2 under 2m, approx 2,5-3,5m @F1.4-2. With longer focals more, 85mm approx 2,5m, 135mm approx 3-3.5m. With shorter focallengths you have really good inifinty results but 85mm is a bit too long. The power of the positive and negative values of the optics are very powerfull, so these Isco lenses are also very sharp with longer telelenses (because it were originally designed for 100mm), whats impossible with other focusthrough lenses (Optex x1.33 for example is bad from 85mm and totally blurred from 100mm) BUT the inifnity sharpness from 85mm isnt the best under F5.6.

Can you post some pictures shot with it ? I don't have this lens, as it is quite rare, but I do love my MD 135/2.8, would love to see a comparison. Is it sharp @f/2 ? The rokkorfiles test shows it not being that sharp, but is it sharp enough for video wide open ? Should be great on a full frame (Sony E-mount ?)

Don't, in your situation, I would just wait for the sony a9 or a7pro /whatever it's going to be call. Keep the workflow easy with sony and same color gamut - no need for massive files... Or even get the inspire 2 with the x5s

5DmkIII ML RAW? Not exactly a cinema camera or ticking the boxes. But Andrii's stuff for example I just really like... It seems to compliment your appreciation for what Canon's doing and that 'soft, clean, smooth cinematic feel to the image' in combination with the bitdepth you're after. Trading in some specs on paper for pleasant results.

The Atomos (Shogun series) will go to 30p 4K Sony raw to ProRes. CDNG to the same framerate & resolution is supposed to arrive via firmware update. I'm not aware of any monitor-less recorder other than the ridiculously expensive Sony one that can achieve the same with this camera. I certainly regard the FS700's image (via the Atomos) as having a cinematic feel to it more reminiscent of the cinema cameras you mention. I viewed quite a few videos before buying it that made me feel this way and later, when I'm on my own laptop, I'll post a link to a handy listing of them. It has to be said, however, that the F3 has more of a reputation as the 'poor man's Alexa'.

http://varavon.com/collections/armor-cage/products/armor-ii-nx1-pro-cage?variant=4096862915

Venice looked nice. Curious what lens is producing all that chromatic aberration though.. it was pretty horrendous in a lot of those shots. Like if I was trying to teach someone what chromatic aberrations look like, I'd probably just have them watch the first minute of your video. like damn if that's not pretty distracting

Used mine to record this video in Cuba. Never overheated ...