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I shot a bunch of footage in the summer and the files were wonderful. I haven't tried shooting in low light nor in grey cloudy weather because if the weather is like that then I don't even bother to take the camera out. Every picture tends to look flat and ugly. I was able to work with the colors and it wasn't hard to create a faithful look even when I didn't have a correct WB/tint during the shooting because I use a 200-500 and I can't go somewhere to meter the correct values. I work with a calibrated PA32UCX and I output SDR. Nothing major just before and after grades and for myself and social media. I have however used a RAW video from an R5 and it was really noisy even as it was shot on a sunny beach. With the Z9 you can lower the ISO to 200 from 800 and in Summer it was really helpful to get closer to the 180deg rule. The Z9 will be a good camera for years to come. It has internal RAW at 8.3K and its RAW format is natively supported in Resolve. I have my trust in Nikon. Only issue I would have is the lens mount as getting a PL to Z was quite tricky but eventually I found an online shop with 1 in stock.

GH5 III = GH5 II + punsh-in during recording + Pdaf + timecode, for 1099. @IronFilm😊

I've been paying mild attention to the relative performance since the M1 came out and it's really difficult to get a sense of the economics vs performance for a couple of reasons: Unless you have infinite money, getting a faster CPU will mean not being able to upgrade the RAM, which is often shared, and depending on the circumstances you're in the RAM might be a bottleneck rather than the processing The price of older Apple silicone products hasn't really dropped significantly, so although the M1 and M2 chips are great performers you're still going to pay decently for them I've seen threads of colourists talking about upgrades and what to get, and there are lots of discussions about what trade-offs should be made and which shouldn't. Professional colourists are perhaps at the cutting edge of this stuff because they have to be able to colour grade any footage in full delivery resolution and in real-time with the client sitting there, so there is no possibility of using any proxies or performance settings etc.

Good call. Bought an 18Gbps cable and the noise is gone. Here's a side by side:

By ignoring it and fighting it through the courts.

Well, this is a bit embarrassing! I did a detailed comparison between then when I was grading, but I must have picked an area that was slightly out of focus or something, because looking at the images I posted they're not even close!! Here are some updated images with a couple of blurs added. Just for fun I added a slightly emphasised halation-like one so I've tipped the balance slightly in the opposite direction now.....

I have been spending too much money on equipment in recent years, and WAY too much time researching it. I really don't need anything else in terms of kit. What I do need is to replace my wardrobe and make some repairs to my home and my vehicle. Also, I'd like to spend more time producing passion projects. So, I'm making a commitment that I will not buy any new gear between November 30th, 2023 and November 29th, 2024 (got to give myself the option to take advantage of Black Friday deals). If I need a specialty piece of gear, I will rent it. The exceptions are expendables and direct replacements, should anything I'm using break down. I've never done this before and I'm posting this to help keep myself accountable.

You can get the Sigma 40mm f1.4 ART in L mount but in terms of it being a pancake… well it is if you like your pancakes in this sort of quantity.

What about a 50mm 1.8 bargain lens on the S1? @Beritar That should be much smaller. The Sigma 45mm 2.8 is pretty small but is a relevant amount narrower regarding fov than a 40mm. No real equivalent to the nice 20mm 1.7 in the FF world other than the Voigtlaender 40mm F2 in M-mount or a Konica with a long flange and adapter. I love the fov coming from a 40mm lens on a FF camera. A native 40mm 2.8 pancake would be sweet, with Af and a clutch for hard stops when in manual focus. The G9 II in S5II body is dwarfed by the gigantic S1.😂 Oly 35RC has a 42.5mm F2.8 lens btw. I loved that lens and focal length and that camera.:)

Always amazed by the size and weight of the 25mm f1.4 (or 20mm f1.7) and 35-100mm f2.8. When I compare them to my 50mm and 70-200mm (f2.8) S Pro, I think I will not sell my M4/3 stuff anytime soon. There are some alternatives to the 25mm PL for full frame, I tried the 45mm f2.8 Sigma for my S1/S5III (very similar for dof, bokeh etc) but I prefer to use the PL, better rolling shutter and stabilization on the G9II. I really can't see an alternative to the 20mm f1.7 and the 35-100mm f2.8 though.

👍

I don't have V-LOG on the GH5 - I just use the HLG profile and CST using rec2100 which works fine 🙂

Yes, red box around the frame and you can set up a tally light also. Re. the on/off switch, - just goes to show we all have different preferences. I like where it is on the S1H and hated where it was on the S1R! I wish I could go to a 3 identical body set up for the muscle memory...but I doubt it will ever happen for me now as my next set up will either be 3 different or 4 different bodies...but hey ho 🤪

Forgot volleyball and swimming!

Looking great! @kyeGh5 is indeed a great performer. Btw I haf mentioned a bug before about its performance in Vlog, big pink uniform blotches on skin while using the 10bit Long Gop. I found one example again and it is not funny revising it. Have you encountered that artefact?

Good news. Pleased you've got it sorted.

So you have EF lenses… then why you simply just buy a used R5 + adapter and try out, worse case you can resell the R5 for a small loss. EF lenses works better on R body than on DSLR.

Here is a comparison between a FX9 and a Red Scarlet by my favorite camera user and tester of the Sony Cinealta F3, who switched to the FS7 and then upgraded to a FX9. He still holds the colour of the F3 in high regard but for client work he needs 4K. He is from Sweden. Not the only cool camera loving Swede doing great presentations on youtube.:) He makes some interesting points, regarding reliability and usuability and gives a sneak peak into image character and besides, I just love the fellow. 😊

Yeah it's not bad at all, but still too much when on set. If you are using a Sony FX9 it could be as quick as a lens swap because the you can get adapters that attach the same as a lens. That isn't as secure as a mount that is bolted in though. If you aren't using vintage or stills glass it doesn't matter though.

If it pushes you over the edge for hitting the buy button on the C300, lensrentals.com has a pretty sweet BF sale - use code KPRBF2023 for 15% off any used gear. They have a C300 III for $6,240 in "good" condition ($5,340 after code) - which means it probably won't be the prettiest camera on the block, but probably works fine (and they have some sort of return window if it craps out in the first X days). For the C70 I planned to trade for, MPB didn't get me a final quote back yet and don't seem to be running any BF deals - so I grabbed a C70 in similar condition from 'em along with the 0.71 focal reducer - just about $4k for both ($3900 + tax). I don't think MPB do any special extra value for trade-in so I'll just have 'em pay me if that's the case.

For me as someone who isn't renting high end cine glass it gives me more lens options. Most vintage lenses can be adapted to EF but very few can be adapted to PL, at least not without really expensive modifications done by pros. If I want to throw on an old FD lens or something like that I'd have to swap the mount from PL to EF, which is time consuming. Now that depends on the camera. Swapping the mounts on a mirrorless system is usually fast. On an ARRI or Blackmagic it is a pain.

Having this morning taken delivery of a used Sony FS7 at an amazing price and in amazing condition, I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and suggest that getting something like that, initially, would give you the opportunity at little cost to find out if you actually enjoy shooting with a cinema style camera. It ticks most, if not all, of your boxes (especially the FS7 II due to the locking mount which would be great for adapting to PL) yet also gives a taste of the differences between hybrid and dedicated ergonomics etc.

I'd give a nod to the Z8/Z9. It ticks the boxes you need, the ones you might use the option of if you had them and even the ones that you are absolutely uninterested in that, you never know, you might develop a taste for. Loads of resolution and frame rate options, internal RAW and ProRes, very respectable rolling shutter and, most importantly, the most flexible lens mount around. I appreciate you don't have any interest in AF but if you develop one (either out of choice or necessity such as going further with longer lens wildlife imagery) then it is unique in offering near native adapted AF performance of F,EF and E mount lenses and via the TechArt adapter it will even do AF on MF lenses with any mount deeper than Leica M. So if you change direction from your current needs then the camera can change with you. With regard to your current needs, EF and PL cine lenses are obviously able to be used with the added bonus that, with it being a very shallow mount, the Meike adapters incorporate variable ND filters. It also has the MC-N10 grip which offers full control including of the virtual zoom function which is very effective in turning primes into par focal zooms or just extending the reach of actual zoom lenses. Although timecode sync is not on your lists of must haves, the Z8/Z9 have internal support for the UltraSync Blue wireless timecode system that is used in your wife's Zoom F6 so, again, the option is there if you do require easy sync at some point in the future. Is it a true "cinema" camera when its actually a hybrid ? Well, its only a hybrid if you actually decide to take stills with it so its each to his own use case really. Naturally, if you do decide to shoot the odd still with it then it rinses every cinema camera out there at that particular task 😀 As a cinema camera, its an 8K internal RAW and ProRes shooting one with PL mount and in built variable ND filter with wireless TC sync, EVF and tilting screen for under $3700 which is pretty compelling. It is also a lot more discrete which I suspect might be an advantage if you are shooting urban cityscapes etc. Anyway, its another option to consider amongst the 37432 different ones offered up in this thread. For my part, the only thing I regret more than not buying a Z8 when I had the chance in June is not buying one in October when I had another chance. I will definitely rectify that the next time one comes up ! Good luck with your choice, although I think the fact that there are so many viable options offered up in this thread illustrates that there are very few - if any - wrong choices these days in terms of getting great image quality. And then turn the internet off.

Had them both, RX100V and the ZV1 and both brilliant little, genuinely pocketable cameras which I have used as part of a set up or solely for wedding video. The only real issues I came across were low light performance and overheating, but otherwise great bits of kit.

And budget for several lighting trucks. And budget for a six figure sound package. And budget for all the crew, and actors. And feeding them. And budget for all the locations. Yiiiikes, that doco starts out harsh "There is no reason this shot ever has a boom shadow", the director shouts while pointing an angry finger at the Boom Op. Poor guy

I don’t know and have never considered it… I always move the record video function to the main shutter button and use the video record button as an fn. I assume you have the red box on record set up? But apart from that, I have hit record before in a fast paced situation only to discover I didn’t…or double-tapped…or am actually stopping the recording but have a minute or so of blurry footage of the ground 🤪 The S1H plus the S5ii are a super good combo for video which is why I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to shooting hybrid in 2024 and going forward.

This for 23 years. Since I moved to a payment up front system (for me it’s 1/3rd at the time of booking, 1/3rd 6 months to job date and final 1/3rd 1 month prior), I have never had a single issue with payment. But payment of course is not the whole story and booking the ‘right’ kind of clients is the rest of it. OK easier said than done in some industries and some financial situations but as Kye says, having a contract with T&C’s is key when it comes to any dispute. Not opinion or any other factor, but what does the contract state that in my case reads, “We the undersigned have read, understood and agree to be bound by the T&C’s of this contract”. The T&C’s are essentially 10 points on a single side of A4 for clarity. In business, some folks will try and test you from time to time and it feels personal and there is always that concern in your mind about how far someone might take something and whether your case will stand up. But if it’s clear and it’s factual and you remain calm and professional, they always go away empty handed. I have been tested I think 7 times now out of 800+ clients and despite the threats and blustering from some, not a single one took it beyond that when I said very politely, “no”. Sadly it is just part of running any business and you have to make sure you have covered your own back. Fortunately…at least on my case, awful people are a rarity.

My advice is to take this as a learning opportunity and tighten up your business practices. I've heard this story over and over again in every industry you can think of, where someone acts in good faith and then gets ripped off, and it happens time and time again until they learn to push back and say no, and start enforcing the terms of their contract (and having a contract) and not starting work without up-front payments etc. As soon as you do that, the people will test you and push you, then once you hold your ground the leeches realise you're not a soft target anymore and either they start treating you with respect or you never hear from them again. The most memorable example was a person who recorded an entire album in their recording studio for a band, only charging them $500 for a weeks work because they liked the band and wanted to help them out and they had no money etc. The band refused to pay, claiming poverty, etc etc. Then one day the band turns up in a limousine, with a $2000 per day PR / Management executive in a suit, and still wanted the master recording for free..... Speaking of how life can be difficult for colourists, I was watching an interview with a colourist the other day and he said that in the 80s/90s he was colour grading rap videos and the rappers used to rock up to his colour grading suite for the session with cocaine and Uzi machine guns! He told them to put the cocaine away and to put the Uzi's back in the limo!!

I set myself a challenge: To turn a lowly Sony FX3 video camera into a run-and-gun rig for shooting with vintage 35mm-movie anamorphic lenses from ISCO and Schneider etc. These movie-theater lenses are massive, but are great for video work. The problem is in mounting them. They need a taking lens at the rear, and a variable-diopter at the front. I'm in the process of designing and machining a new type of cage for the FX3 (and other similar cameras). As you can see in these basic renderings, the FX3 body will be 'caged' in a purple-anodized exoskeleton. This is bolted to the camera body using all available mounting-points (there are several). This allows the addition of four, strong aluminum rods. These extend in both directions perpendicular to the camera body. On the front-end, these rods allow various lens-support struts to be added. On the back-end, they allow a shoulder-rest to extend out. With suitable counter-weighting, these massive ISCO and Schneider lenses can be used in a run-and-gun style set-up: It is especially important to me that this rig can be knocked about during shooting. Like you, I am tired of flimsy camera set-ups that look like they're made of Frankenstein-parts. I'd like a camera rig that has some coherence, style, and durability to it. For this reason, I've slightly over-engineered everything for high-durability. The Sony FX3 sits inside a tank-like, milled-aluminum exoskeleton. The on-board fold-out display is protected by a stainless-steel 'hood' section. Personally, I'm not a fan of adding external-monitors to these cameras. The on-board display is more than classic 35mm movie cameras ever had. Onto this entire rig-framework, outer panels are attached, giving the system a waterproof, protective covering, and cleaning-up the look: I am now working on a parametric CAD model, and will be machining prototype parts this month. I'm interested in any feedback from the community here. Colors in the models are for clarity, the finished rig will be a neutral palette 🙂 My interest is not in whether you like the rig or not, I'm more curious about whether I have overlooked anything vital in the design. Thank you!

That will probably be the HDMI cable. I had the same issue. Buy something that's rated for 8K, I use this one without problem: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B76YBHPP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1