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A good one of us lost his best friend (his father) and I'd appreciate we might drop a bell... how strangers, or not so much, may we all embrace his pain in solidarity with a good and talented artist. Altogether can be easier to overcome it. Insignificant but life is made of a very few contributions. I met him @Danilo Del Tufo from dvxuser a decade and half ago and we became good friends and collaborators also in real life for a decade now already -- I am producing right now a feature film from a story written by him... the time really flies! Un abbraccio amico Danilo, all thoughts and prayers with you, - EAG

This is Pretty Neat. Unfortunately, since the Sony IMX377 and other 1/2.3" sensors, most smartphone sensors have abandoned 12-bit, for photo or video (Staggered HDR sensors do 12-bit HDR for photos instead). So, this is limited to 10-bit video for now. But, the video quality looks pretty stellar. Unprocessed and I am guessing the highlight and shadow recovery maybe pretty decent. It apparently does 10-bit 4-2-2 (most smartphones that do 10-bit video, have 4-2-0). (The new Snapdragon and MediaTek SoCs talk about 18-bit imaging, which I am guessing may be some crazy HDR, upressing bit-depth, though that may solely be limited to photos). This RAW video does look pretty neat, and doesn't look over sharpened or over processed like most smartphone footage.

Nice! I have a Sennheiser G3 wireless handheld/lav system I don't use very much, was thinking about listing on Fleabay. This may be the route I go as well and just flip the G3 into the SVMX. Cheers Chris

ProDAD Mercalli v5 can do this - I use the software a lot but not the lens correction part of as I don't have any need for it. Of all the software stabilisers I've tried over the years, Mercalli v5 is easily the best I've ever used. https://www.prodad.com/Video-Stabilization-for-Professionals/Mercalli-V5-SAL-Windows-29795,l-us.html Note that people like Magix sometimes bundle it with their video editing software at a much lower cost than buying Mercalli on its own from ProDAD (but it doesn't look like they are doing that at the moment, unfortunately).

Thanks for this thread - exactly what I am grappling with at the moment. Right now I use a Sanken radio mic / Sennheiser setup for the mono voice (moving around freely outdoors) and a spaced pair of DPA mics mounted on the camera on a bar. All mixed in the field via a Juiced link 4-channel mixer mounted below the camera. I can easily use it all hand held and have great freedom moving around which is what I need (having separate devices, trailing leads etc would make life so much harder and in the end, worse footage as a result). The setup works very nicely and gets a wide ambience and nice focused vocal which is what I want ... but phasing issues occur especially when I get closer to the Sanken mic and it can compromise things in a way that annoys. I need to solve this rather unpredictable problem and the most obvious thing is to replace the A/B DPA pair with an XY mic, so the info on this thread is invaluable. From what I have read, the SVMX or AT8022 look like the best bet. The Sanken CMS-50 looks lovely but the price is way above anything else and too much for me but maybe the BP4025 is also in the running here. Do let us know how you get on with the SVMX.

I have a more general basic question for those experienced in such things. Watching live TV panel interviews the other day I was wondering how they do the thing where they cut between a wide shot of the interviewee and close up of the same person but with exactly the same angle of view. It looks like it is the same camera as the angle is identical and this is why it works, rather that being a jump cut (I mean it sort of is but does not jar). Is it some kind of auto zoom that can be clicked when desired or is it two cameras somehow positioned so the angle is the same, and the cuts are done by the director in the control room? It is a very simple, standard technique but it occurred to me I did not know how it is done and it would be a useful thing for me on a project I am working on right now.

Just grabbed a used SVMX on eBay. It’s in pretty rough shape cosmetically but I got a decent price (£290) and doubt I’ll ever be looking to sell it on so as long as it works perfectly I’m happy. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Exactly the same - I have the mke 600 as my main mic and really don’t need to add another big mic to the rig. The AT8022 looks really nice - if I knew I just wanted a stereo mic to swap out with the 600 sometimes I’d go for it.

Agreed. The lines are further blurred because 95% of people out there who call themselves ‘cinematographers’ really aren’t. They are videographers. There is so much more to cinematography than just pointing a camera…..just because you own a Red doesn’t make you a ‘cinematographer’ but that’s a discussion for another post.

I'm leaning toward the Stereo VMP for now just for convenience and availability. I have the MKE 600 shotgun for more directional stuff and don't want to rig another large mic. I'm also shooting smaller cameras than you - mostly the a7sIII. The X does look next level for these smaller on cam mics though. The other options will need another shock mount and larger cables LOL! Damn supply chain issues.... Cheers Chris

Or you could get a used, but as new S5 for ballpark 1000 euros… Not that I’m a fanboy or anything, - I will use whatever I need to do the job and right now that is L Mount. I could easily make a case though for: A7iii instead on my S5 (though IMO the S5 is ‘better’ + A7siii instead of my S1H and A7iv instead of my S1R. But I could make that same argument with both Canon and Nikon and Fuji, so yes, cost has to be a consideration and buying used is a great way of making things work. I did buy the first of my S5’s brand spanking new at launch…but I was without any kit at the time and had a job coming out and was probably going L Mount so… But glass aside, I bought my last 3 bodies used and with the S1R especially, at a stupidly cheap price (1500 euros). So yes, price comes into it as it has to + use case + I have to say, enjoyment which is an important factor for me.

This is true. The noise issue in extreme situations on the C300 Mkii can be really bad. You can avoid by shooting at ISO 500 and avoid C-LOG 2 in those types of situations. You're right, the C500 Mkii is an incredible work horse camera. It's disappointing that there is no light weight 6k codec. My point was that the C300 Mk2 and the C70 are not worlds apart. In 95 percent of situations, they will look nearly identical. I was also disappointed that they removed a lot of the picture profiles in the C70. A lot of the baked in profiles that I had used in the past, (rarely,) have been removed. There is no Cinema EOS Original, no BT.709 in Clog2, they also removed the 12 bit 444 2k codec. Interesting enough, when I compared both cameras in the Wide DR codec, there was more noise on the C70 than the C300Mkii in ISOs over 1600. I kind of expected the opposite. https://vimeo.com/543915327/c8c6ad9ce9 I guess my main point was that the Komodo clearly has a significant leap in quality (to my eyes.) The C500ii, C70, and C300iii all kind of look similar. The main reason the C300ii is better ergonomically is the viewfinder, the natural weight of the camera, the full sized XLR ports, the connections being on the back rather than the side, the relocatable grip, the movable monitor. The C70 needs a cage and monitor to even get close. The lack of an EVF in the C70 really sucks tbh. Again, this all depends on what you're doing. If you're shooting with a gimbal, monopod, or locked off, the C70 is better. If you're shooting handheld run and gun with something like the 24-105, then the C300ii is likely better. The speed booster is awesome. There is vignetting when shooting wide open on some lenses. (this is related to the speed booster, not the lenses.) Yes, you can magnify during recording. Speaking of anamorphic. I did rent an Atlas 32mm over the summer. The aspect was pretty crazy because the lenses are 2x, but they did kind of remove the typical Canon look. Still kind of soft compared to the Komodo imo.

I would hope a $30K-$60K camera would have a better image. Canon are rumored to have newer FF DGO sensors coming with improved dynamic range. Will be great to see FF, DGO, canon AF come together in a more compact camera like the size of a C70. With a fairly substantial reduced AF area. Kind of a bummer in my opinion.