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I just did a musicvideo with the GH5 and S1. Guess what, GH5 was ACam. That´s because I could rent it in a package with four batteries, Speedbooster XL, perfect cage, with rods, handle, lenssupport, the perfect mini cinema cam. Love this package. I don´t need a shoulderrig and my handheld camerawork is still fine and fitting, as I treat the camera a serious tool and I respect it. My S1 was BCam with only one battery but the spiffy FD to L-mount adapter from cieco7. I am just too stingy to invest in other extra stuff for this camera, because I am still not fond of the tilt screen mechanism, though screen and its ruggyness is fantastic. In this video it´s both cameras together. And guess what, I love them both and would love to buy a GH6. With Prores and its creamier cinematic image, sensor readout, TC, GH- line ergos and menues it would be a no brainer for me. Putting down cameras is very different from objecting to them. But sometimes we get lost and negative about the certain lacks about in some cameras rather than concentrating on their strengths. One general thing I would appreciate, if people become more appreciative about the mft system again! It´s a fantastic system! I mean, a Lumix G9 or GH5, two six year old cameras, can still put out a highend image. VLog L and VLog in lit situations with that slim 150mbit 10bit codec and at blue/Golden Hour, beautiful. And, like our friend @newfoundmass, I am a great fan of MFT and happy that our friend @webrunner5 is back, as well that I would also love our other kids to join in more again. This forum used to be about what people do with affordable gear. So if GH6 is too expensive, there is still a sub 900 dollar production work powerhouse, the GH5. @kye has been a great fan of the perfect All Intra HD. It made me happy to read about his opinion about it when he started his deep observations of the camera. So here is the video. Both cameras were fantastic! GH5 and VLog, both in their economic but strong 10bit 4K codecs. The performed perfectly as A and BCam, like I said GH5 was A was various reasons. Image to me is flawless with VLog L and Vlog performing beautifully in lit situation and Golden Hour, which I shot this video at. I did the directing, dp-ing, lights, editing and super quick grade. Was the typical onemanband thing. But even with a budget for a crew I might have chosen these cameras. If you are interested I could do a breakdown on lensing and cam choice in a different thread. Some dolly work included as well. cheers

I'm probably the last person who should contribute to this conversation. The last time I bought a new camera was over 5 years ago and the camera was released 5 years before that. With that said, I think the GH6 is the best camera on the market right now. Internal 5.7K ProRes with IBIS, 4 channels of audio, etc... I mean it's $2200! For internal ProRes and an image that comes damn close to the Red Komodo. I wish Panasonic could extend that ProRes license to one of their cheaper m4/3 cameras... maybe a 2K ProRes camera at half the price... that would be a genius move. And with that said, I do prefer full frame. I like using vintage lenses and not have to do math every time I decide what lens to use... especially since you need a speedbooster to get the most from the lens. And with that said... I'm cheap and I know what I need. I have a camera that works perfectly fine. I don't need 6K. I doubt anyone in the prosumer market does. So I'd wait for a big sale or to see when they release their ProRes FW. But man... the GH6 is a pretty special camera. Sure you can get a P4K for $1299, but you're adding a lot of money to make it workable and it's a huge beast of an ugly camera.

German testsite Slashcam. Very amazed, by the fact that the GH6 performed equally well as the R5C regarding dynamic range. Here is a translation from their 5RC review, regarding the GH6 surprised them.: "What's really amazing, however, is how well the winner from our last MFT dynamic showdown does: The Panasonic GH6 with Dynamic Boost can "only" come up with 6K, but otherwise delivers a thoroughly equal dynamic range. We will try to present you with more dynamic range comparisons in the next few weeks, which will hopefully result in a more differentiated picture of the current camera market."

Bit of background.... I've been doing stuff on and off for a while with the FZ2000 in pursuit of it being the modern equivalent of my Dad's old cine camera. Something to take on holiday as an integrated system without any other accessories. Also something that I could shoot in with a single profile and then create a single "development" step for it so it would be the equivalent of my Dad sending his exposed Kodachrome cartridge off and getting the finished product back from Kodak, with the goal of that single consistent look without noodling about in post. The FZ2000 has an awful lot going for in that respect as it has internal ND, decent codecs, v-Log and of course the stabilised 24-480mm lens, hence it being in here. Had an opportunity to give it a go in the tourist cine camera role this weekend at the F1 Classic Grand Prix in Monaco and here are some frame exports from the footage, shot in v-Log using the 200mbps all-i HD codec. These days, of course, I'm on the punter side of the fence rather than the press side of it so its a lot more restrictive in terms of shooting but that is where the massive range of the lens on the FZ2000 comes into play in enabling you to get a lot of shot sizes quickly and maximising the coverage you can get. When shooting in HD, the very clean digital zoom extension gets you out to around 1000mm equivalent and the image stabilisation makes hand holding at that range realistic. Shot in 180 degree shutter as its more about the event itself (and is purely for motion rather than for stills extraction) than the cars so the motion blur on the cars is not a defect 😉 The lens itself is very sharp so I've got a 1 strength Glimmerglass filter on it permanently to take some of the edge off.

Dear friends, So here is my recently aquired Canon Fd 35mm F2 in action, along with the 50 1.4 scc, and the Vivitar "Bokina" 90mm F2.5. Cameras rented Gh5 and my own S1. Gh5 on a Speedbooster was ACam, which is still a fantastic camera and has much better menues than the S1 btw. Anyway, the 35mm was in use on both cameras for the shots inside. Outside it was Gh5 with a rented Canon L 24-105 plus S1 with the Canon FD 35. It's always a pleasure to put ones own lenses into action for a shoot. I really like the 35 , the rendering and feels great in hand. The S1 and the 35 give a pretty looking outfit together. So here is the video, shot, directed and edit by me. Finushed just yesterday:

The S1 lacks 4K 120p, four channels of audio, USB-SSD recording, timecode in/out, and coming soon 4K 120p RAW to the Atomos Ninja 5+. The only thing that Panasonic can really be faulted for is leaving out phase detect auto focus and MAYBE internal ND. The streaking issue is also unacceptable, and I hope that they fix it. But they really put everything they could into the camera, and I say that as someone that isn't itching to buy it for a couple of reasons. It will be a while before a reasonably priced full frame hybrid will be able to match all that the GH6 offers. And when one does, it will probably be a Panasonic camera to boot. Most of the others seem more focused on resolution than functionality. I also don't understand why people come into threads about M43 cameras and constantly mention full frame. We get it, they're not full frame cameras and there are great full frame cameras available. It's okay to keep that out of threads dedicated to smaller sensor cameras.

First, I want to say that I'm glad you're back. I wish more of the old guard (except Jon Pais, fuck that guy) would come back! I think where Kye gets annoyed is that, you reiterate why you can't understand why anyone would get a M43 camera even after people have specifically stated what they like about the system and why they are invested in it. When you do that it feels like you kind of completely disregard what we've said and our opinions. Sony was never a member of the M43 partnership, so they definitely wouldn't decide in 2022 to begin releasing M43 cameras. I don't think it's innovation that's lacking, M43 led in innovation for years, it's just that everyone caught up. Still, their cameras offer tools that the competition doesn't. But in a market where auto focus is so very important, that doesn't really matter to a lot of users.

Blackmagic have just updated their Video Assist to record Braw from the Leica SL2-S - anyone here able to test it? I'm very curious. Update page: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/readme/5939d7b7a4ab432598476c0bbefc8116

If you pick up an M to L adapter then it opens up a lot of affordable compact M mount options that will cover full frame. These are from the sub $250 7Artisans 35mm f2 on my FP. It adds minimally to the weight and size when on the FP even with the adapter.

That's some lovely work!

Just to clarify I have said the GH6 is probably the ultimate run and gun camera. Panasonic always packs in a ton of features at an at least decent price point.

M4/3 definitely has its advantages. I shot a short film recently and pulling focus while my actor was walking to or away from the camera was a major pain in the ass. After 3 or 4 takes and some coverage, I knew I had enough to cobble together the scene, so I just gave up. With a smaller format, I could have stopped down to 5.6 and could have wiggled the focus ring for the last few feet... In some ways, I'd love a camcorder... focus was never an issue when they reigned supreme. If Panasonic puts ProRes into one of their 1/2in or 1in camcorders, I may just bite. I'd love an updated FZ2500 with ProRes. But since we're talking FF here, I must admit that I really like what Panasonic has accomplished with their line up. A freaking S5 is on sale for $1499... that's pretty crazy. And I must admit that I was tempted. But I think all of the manufacturers are putting out nice cameras. I wish they were cheaper, though. The image from the Canon offerings are pretty damn nice... even the R6 has some special, filmic mojo to it. The R5C and the R3... let's just say I wish I was a wealthier man.

It's got a lot of nice features it's just not the same as when the GH5 came out and it was the only hybrid camera doing 4k 10 bit.

It is almost $3000, I'd be close to getting an A7S3 for just a bit more used. The BM pocket is $1000 and has internal RAW and prores. I get the Pana is a hybrid camera but why no internal RAW or auto focus? If I need IBIS I can just use the S1 which is almost half the price of the GH6 used, only thing really missing is prores and 4k 120p. You are right full frame has pretty much caught up but M43 isn't pushing enough to stay ahead IMO. I bought the GH5 for that exact reason and its the same reasons I am not getting a GH6, combined with the price tag of course. Everyone will get that camera that works for them but Panasonic has not been pleasing me with their offerings aside from the S1. I am excited to see what their next full frame offering will be.

Also, I suspect that a lot of the R&D is cross compatible between their M43 and FF cameras. Unless the market completely bottoms out I think they'll continue with M43, even if it doesn't match their 2013-2017 output. The day will come, I'm sure, but the demise of M43 has been greatly exaggerated.

There are a lot of things to critique the GH6 about (the streaking, for example, is unacceptable), but of the major camera companies there's no camera in its price range that comes close to its capabilities. It's impressive even if you factor in smaller companies like ZCam and BMD's offerings in its price range, even though they try to push even further as they try to gain market share. Hopefully Panasonic fixes and improves it even more. But it's still an impressive release.

If the Sigma only had IBIS, I’d have gone that route and added the aftermarket tilt screen option. But it doesn’t so every time I have looked at it, I ended back at the same point. Ditto the XT3 which I did use for video for 2 years. If only it had IBIS, I would have stuck with it. If Covid had not interfered, I would have gone and had XT4’s on order, flippy screen aside, it would have been near perfect for me. Was going OM-1 but somewhat relieved it did not work out. After tasting full frame 47mp S1R stills, I suspect I would not have been 100% happy with 4/3rds 20mp files. GH6 so close and nothing against it really except for me to give up my S1H and S5 video combo, it really would have needed to have a significant advantage in AF. But it doesn’t so I just splashed on a second S1R and THAT’S IT, I AM DONE until such a time as something comes along that would truly make it worthwhile making any further changes to what is a fantastic set of tools that I have. I no longer care when that might be and if it’s not next year, fine by me. (Secretiy hoping for a next gen, great AF, mash up of the S1R, S1H and S5. A man can but dream…)

Camera sales are tanking in general. M43 has it's place but will it become so niche that it's not even worth investing in, for camera companies? Sony hasn't done any M43 cameras, they could probably have an edge over Panasonic with their auto focus. But they probably think the market is too small or dying in general. If companies making M43 cameras had their shit together more I don't think there would be as much of an issue. Panasonic would kill the vlogging market with state of the art auto focus and their IBIS but time and time again they miss the opportunity. The M43 P4K is still very relevant. But Blackmagic almost perfectly catered to their audience at the lowest price point possible. I really like the GH6 but the Sigma FP is smaller, has internal RAW and a much larger sensor. Same reason I didn't buy a Fuji. The XT3 was cutting edge but they haven't improved since. No RAW, no 4k 120p, no full HDMI. It's a smaller sensor shouldn't it be more featured than full frame counterparts? I feel the innovation is really lacking with M43 Panasonic and Fuji, also Sony has put no effort into their S35 line up, while their cutting edge full frame stuff has gotten really expensive.

Thank you for letting us know. I just read about last years firmware update about Prores. Vendors unfortunately don't always the specs. Just checked a german vendor for the e2 mft and it says h265 in zillion resolution flavors but no mention of prores. Zcam has so many e2 models. I have a hard time to figure out which are which. Is there an E3 or was it an E2 M3 and was it mft or S35?😊

I came across a free leveler that is worth checking out (if you are on Windows.) https://luveler.blogspot.com/ It really has a great natural sound that reinterprets the dynamics to make it more natural sounding even if you only changing a the volume slightly. I am following a multiband compressor on the master bus and the make he compressor sound more natural. I have a feeling this is going to be a secret weapon of short as it can really reframe the dynamic response of a track or mix for the better. Thomas also makes Loudmax, which is a free limiter that runs on both Windows and Mac. https://loudmax.blogspot.com/ Both are worth checking out.

Great! Thank you for this in depth analysis. My last idea in regards to testing would be to take my color checker chart, a good and soft light source plus my Sekonic light meter and expose the camera as per what the meter says for the correct ISO. Maybe that would solve the question were middle grey is for the given ISO values? In reality to match my shots I usually take the false color screen only and dial in exposure on how I would like the scene to look like afterwards get my talent into the shot and check in which IRE range the skin falls. If I know change angles I leave everything as it is.

Lenses are generally cheaper than their full frame counterparts. They're also smaller, as I stated earlier. Even buying third party FF lenses you'd still spend less on the M43 versions. Are they at fast as their FF counterparts? No, but that's not the most important thing for a lot of people I believe that the M43 system, particularly Panasonic, needs to improve in order for the system to continue. I'm uneasy about Panasonic's long term success because of the AF and how important it is to the market, even if it's not the most important thing to me. But people have proclaiming M43's death since before the GH4. The bodies do. The lenses, especially the zooms, are a different story. A GH6 body with battery, memory card and 12-35mm lense weighs 1,128 g. The A7IV with battery, memory card, and 24-70mm is 1,544. It's the same story with the other zooms, too. In fact the size gap grows significantly. A 70-200mm FF lense alone weighs about the same as a GH6 with a 35-100mm. I mean, it depends on the user. In video? All of those things have workarounds on M43. Low light? Add more light. The lenses all auto focus pretty quickly on systems with good AF. The GH6 has the same MP count as many full frame cameras doesn't it? You can get nice DOF. Photography? Low light isn't as big of an issue. Auto focus works great. MP? Both Panny and Olympus have added high resolution modes. Have you seen the 100mp images the GH6 can produce? Incredible stuff. And the stabilization can't be beat. M43 isn't for you. That's OK.

Me talking about the same thing over and over again, coming from you you can't be serious! They won't for the average person, what the hell you even going to view it on? You going to watch it on half your TV screen?

Agreed. Film-making is so personal / contextual, which is why a great plethora of various cameras and related equipment abounds. I see pros and cons to the various sensor sizes, everything from 2/3" in smartphones to FF and beyond. The challenge is getting something that best fits your unique needs and preferences. Fair enough. We all have individual preferences. Not exactly sure why you're commenting this over and over again though? I'm not in the anamorphic lens threads saying how I'll never buy an anamorphic lens - it wouldn't accomplish anything.

I've compared most of those cameras but not side by side (worked with almost all of them either in post or in person). LOVE the EVA1's image but the LCD and ergonomics are terrible. I put a little loupe on the LCD as I like a minimal set up but it would be a pain to "rig up" traditionally. I much prefer its image to the S1H actually. The colors are just better. It's not a world apart but it just looks better. Noisier though. C200 has a great image but the noise pattern is ugly and there's CMOS smear. It's just not the image I want. P6K I've only worked with in post but it's a pain in some ways from what I can see but the image looks great too. I think it boils down to ergonomics ultimately (and getting the right IRND filters for the P6K – or just getting the pro model) but both the EVA1 and P6K are capable of beautiful images, right on par with (or just a step down from) the Varicam35 and Alexa, which have quite different looking but really beautiful images too.

I thought the topic was "things you can buy". ....but if you must limit it to film things, the best double feature I have ever seen was Clueless and Clockers. A true pairing, if ever there was one.

Let's play then... my favoritess:

I have found consistency in DNG clipping points, but only in the narrow range I've been able to test with multiple samples (ISO 100, 125 and 160). I expect that disabling highlight recovery will give a better idea since the results can be variable, and also I expect it would compare better to the Ninja V output since there isn't any PRR highlight recovery available in software right now. The main thing I've noticed is that the max highlight value in the DNGs scales as a factor of the increase in ISO, at least with 100-125, whereas with the Ninja V it remains constant. I had a chance to look at your new clips. This time, I reverted to using Assimilate Play Pro since I figured out the mistake I was making, and I think it's more accurate at ingesting PRR than EditReady. Play Pro sets the highlight clipping a bit lower at 9.34 vs 10.35. As expected, the highlight clipping point stays constant as the exposure and noise floor increase. To check the noise floor, I zero'd out the exposure in all clips. Once zero'ing out the exposure, it was apparent that ISO 3200/640 has a lower clipping point by 2/3 stop. I'm uploading two contact sheets with all clips with invariant exposure. The second sheet shows the overbright highlights visible in the first few clips when the viewer has the exposure pulled down. So my conclusions right now based on the PRR footage are: ISO 6400/800 has less noise than ISO 100 +3 stops in post. So depending on how you're shooting, there may be an advantage there. ISO 3200/640 has 2/3 stop less in the highlights. However it seems to me that if the exposure is bumped up +1 stop in post to match a 6400/800 clip, that the noise floor is the same but the highlights clip 1/4 of a stop higher (11.68 vs 9.34). I'm guessing that this may be because the higher base ISO has a slightly cleaner noise floor - not as dramatic as we have come to expect with other cameras, but maybe something.

Here is the test I did. I can't remember which was 8 and which was 10 bit as they look almost identical. The 12 bit file is very apparent though, leagues better. This was 100 ISO raised 5 stops in the resolve RAW panel. I used the BM color space.

The Panasonic L Mount mirrorless cameras are compatible with the GH5's Panasonic DMW-XLR1 XLR microphone adapter as well.

Double cheeseburger

Hmm all Z-cam besides the very first have prores internal.

Pretty interesting match of different company's grip.

Good old Levelator! I use to wish they'd turn it into a VST. I *think* I've gotten good enough at audio that I don't need to anymore, but back in the day it I thought it was voodoo the way it'd make things sound.

https://www.videohelp.com/software/The-Levelator This is a great free bit of software that I always run my final audio mix through - don't know exactly what it does but it comes out sounding better every time