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Honestly as someone who works in the Youtube sphere doing quality content every day, the specs on new cameras cease to interest me. We plateaued a couple of years ago in that regard. I can pick up nearly any camera from the last few years and get quality results from it when run through my image pipeline and such. Now when I'm given footage shot by someone else, that is a completely different story. Skill really does matter. What vastly interests me though, are the little things added to cameras every year that make my life easier. I would trade a whole stop of dynamic range and a bunch of pixels for quality built in NDs on mirrorless cameras.

Since you're a newbie, have you considered iMovie?

I still slip GH5s into my work when needed and nobody notices...

Look no further than the GH8.

Doubtless because most people regard it as a 'hulk' - but you do get the equivalent of a free, non-removable battery grip included, as well as an earlier version of the Ai subject detection and tracking that's in the OM-1 (which isn't in the E-M1 iii that followed the E-M1x). I've never owned one (or had any interest in such a large m43 camera), but in theory it may/should have.

The OM-1 doesn't have the 24p C4K VBR 237Mbps mode. C4K has the same bitrate choices as UHD i.e. 102Mbps for 24/25/30p and 202Mbps for 50/60p H.264 and 77/152Mbps H.265. I think these are variable bitrate, but in reality the overall file bitrate usually comes out close to the nominal rates. Having owned both the E-M1 ii and iii, I'd choose the iii - I think the improvements in video C-AF and video IBIS are worth the difference in used price (and you get an AF joystick). But video quality is the same on both (to my eyes anyway). Both of them have probably the best ergonomics and 'feel' of any camera I've ever owned (and great battery life).

Funnily enough, only yesterday I picked up a piece of gear that you featured in a previous episode. Not the camper van unfortunately but the cart. Currently on special in Aldi for the bargain price of £44.99 So, thats the transportation sorted for the kinky amount of 135mm lenses I've acquired over the years. Will need the camper van for transporting the therapy triggering number of 24 and 35mm lenses.

"People" complain about the bitrate because although the specs say it's 237mbps in C4K, it's a variable bitrate (but the UHD mode is a constant bitrate). On certain frames, it'll drop all the way down to 40mbps because it's "enough". Often you can't really see any impact of this. However, I've had issues with it. If you shoot a deep focus shot, handheld, high shutter with lots of super fine details, it'll look strange to my eye, but it's probably the shutter that screwed it up. You'll hit the limits of the 237mbps. Lock down the shot and throw on a ND, it'll look great and the bitrate won't go so high. In contrast, Panasonic's constant bitrate might break and there's nothing you can do, but in general it does look better when there's little movement in the seen (40mbps vs 100mbps). IMO, both the GH6 and GH7 are better for video because of their feature set and especially their in-camera tools (if you use them). If you're a simple histogram shooter with variable ND's and you you don't push grades, Olympus anything works fine. In many respects, the lower-end Olympus cameras(going back to E-m10 iii and E-pl9) are better. They have full-sensor readout and better continuous AF in video. The rest of the video specs are practically the same, including bitrate (both are constant).

Well, "newbie at lighting" vs "newbie at being a Gaffer" are two different things. And depends on the standard being judged. Professional standards: LX Trainee = I'm a very strong "competent" at that, I'd hope LX Assist = I'm "competent", I think Best Boy = I'm not deserving of that title, but willing to fake it and give it a try Gaffer = I'm incompetent Low/no Budget short film standards: LX Trainee = shouldn't exist on short films of this level, unless it's someone's literal pre-teen kid LX Assist = am very strong at this Best Boy = above competent Gaffer = competent I mean, I own a Sony FS7 Wouldn't mean I'm an expert on it, although I guess compared to some people who claim to be one then I am. And "is it half as good as a C500II?" is an interesting question, I am not sure? As obviously the C500mk2 is a vastly better camera, but is it "twice as good"??? Also depends on how are you using it, some random sit down corporate interview on a low budget? The FS7 is probably "95% as good" as the C500mk2 for that purpose.

I suspect when I shot the 25p video I forgot to change the shutter speed from 1/100 (180 degree shutter for 50p) to the 1/50 needed for 25p. That would make it look stuttery/jumpy. All of the video samples were shot handheld, with only sensor-shift IBIS enabled (probably at the highest, +1, stability setting).

Yeah, like photographers, there is very little reason for companies to want to upgrade their gear anymore. It's pretty much a matter of waiting until cameras and such are hitting retirement physically, then choosing an "upgrade" that makes the most sense feature and budget wise. We have an FX6, A7IV, two FX30s, an R7, and a GH5 we use for various projects spread across several studios in two different countries. All those cameras have pros and cons, and work well for different things, but for the most part cut together when needed. At this point the only reason we would buy a new camera is when an old one bites the dust.

Yeah we hit this point for many photographers a decade ago (perhaps even longer ago.... 15yrs ago?) And I feel for many videographers / filmmakers we've in recent years hit this point for them as well.

Just remember the ultimate ADHD Film was shot on XHA1 https://youtu.be/t2koYVqwzT4?si=I-D4pVCKAktGxSWa

Looks like 16 stops will be the limit with Panasonic's new organic sensor tech. Hopefully it will be in the GH9... The organic sensor tech will also included Global Shutter and (functionally) on sensor ND... https://www.eoshd.com/news/ibc-show-panasonic-8k-organic-sensor-prototype-camera-with-on-chip-nd-and-16-stop-dynamic-range/ https://www.43rumors.com/panasonic-again-displayed-an-organic-sensor-prototype/ https://news.panasonic.com/global/topics/13982

This might be something that takes some figuring out. On the series I worked on, with the initial meetings with the producer, both the editor and I preferred Final Cut, the producer had heard some things from the early days of the FCPX launch and was hesitant. We did have to figure out a workflow though and buy a third party plug in to output a AAFs for the audio editor (who used ProTools). I'm so glad we didn't end up having to use something else.

2.5 MB/s is 20 Mbps

The e-m1x is now cheaper than the iii. Just food for thought. I've also heard the e-m1x has better C-AF than the iii, due to the dual processors?

This is a collection of SOOC files from my OM-1 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1527WMHFXJmDvTGI74QINJQdstgJPhXyt&usp=drive_fs Most are 10-bit OMLog400 and two are 10-bit HLG (in low light). The four files in the 'Road' folder are all of the same scene shot back-to-back, 10-bit OMLog400, in FHD 50p, UHD 50p and UHD 25p as a comparison. Most were shot with the Oly 12-40mm pro lens, using sensor-shift IBIS only, auto-WB, 1/100 shutter priority (auto aperture and auto iso). All using C-AF with a medium size central focus area and default C-AF speed and sensitivity settings. The file in the 'Train crossing road' folder is 8-bit UHD 50p and demonstrates the the low rolling shutter. There is an OM System OMLog400 Rec2020 to Rec709 conversion LUT here - https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/3dlut/files/om1_LUT_OM-Log400_BT.2020_to_WDR_BT.709_v1.0.zip - but personally I don't particularly like the results from it.

That’s actually one of my best investments. Along with the motorhome/RV. The moho/RV saves me around €7k per annum that I am not spending on bed & board and will claw back around 35-40% of its purchase price after 10 years use. The cart will be worth fuck all after 10 years, if it even lasts that long…which I doubt, but every wedding I use it at (which is almost all of them) it’s been invaluable. Single trip from van to somewhere convenient within the venue with all my kit loaded up which otherwise would be 3-4 walking trips each end of the day. Last job of the year it’s going to be especially useful as it’s nearly 1km from the closest parking to the church with no drop off opportunity as the roads are too tiny and I can’t get close. But I can trundle my trolley 2km. Kind of…

Both are true. Just from my own limited experience - my EF-S 17-55 2.8 has worked well via adapters/focal length reducers, with functioning AF, on every Sony body I've used (FS700, FS5, A7R1, A6600) but is terrible compared to the inexpensive Sony 24-105 f4 - literally worlds apart. So if AF is important, it generally has to be native. Personally I only use it for 'fun' shooting and for anything intentional use my Super Takumars, but even for the 'fun' stuff I want AF I can rely on.

totally agree, it will balance my shg 35-100 f2, 14-35 f2, 7-14 f4 well.

The Em-1x is one hell of a camera if you don't mind its size. It's an utter beast in all senses of the term. I've heard it has much better face detection even than the OM1 i in video. KEH has them for 700-800 euros, which is also a steal IMO for that beast.

You are not a "complete newbie" and you are not lsquare. Otherwise I would have to question your trademark beard. And that would really suck!:) You nailed it! Low budget gaffers are the lighting assistents on larger sets. It's a hard road to become a gaffer for full budget narratives. Codec, lowlight and colors are stronger on the C500II of course. Both great cameras. I didn't like the Sony too much under tungsten but would use it outdoors anytime.

If price were the main concern (and it probably shouldn't, value and needs are better to consider), I think the very best for the price are the GH5 and E-M1 ii, the later better for AF. I personally don't think 10bit vs. 8bit is really that big of a deal (depending on the usage).

Sorry, I didn't mean the E-m10 iii is better than the OM anything. I only meant it might be better than older non-PDAF bodies from Panasonic (GX850, GX85, etc.) because of the full sensor readout. Still, there are reasons to have the Panasonic bodies (better colors, handling, audio).

good to know em-10 iii is better for video. can you explain more? if om 10 has an ibis of 6.5 stops, probably I will go for it, as it is much cheaper than om 1.

Do they? I don't know, - rhetorical Q! I didn't like it as much as FF/S35 Lumix, but probably never gave it enough time. I suspect in isolation or with enough time to understand and work with it, there would have been little to no discernible difference?

I know a few enjoy my occasional kit ramble and as I have often said, I do like good kit, but do not collect 'toys' for the sake of it. Plus I am actually a minimalist at heart and if I could only own one camera and one lens, I would! But if my update rambles help other folks in some of their own choices, then good. 20-40 f2.8 28-75 f2.8 G2 70-180 f2.8 G2 As far as I am aware, the smallest and lightest and greatest range of f2.8 zooms available from any manufacturer. One of my 'criticisms' of Nikon is rebadging the original versions and charging more for them, but I digress... Sigma do an excellent 16-28 f2.8 I had for a season, but I found it just a bit too wide and two of my 'favourite' focal lengths are 20mm and 40mm making the widest of my zooms, absolutely perfect for my needs. It weighs only 365g which is super light for such a great lens which in crop mode, is still a fantastic 30-60mm lens. I have the 28-70mm f2.8 from Sigma since it's launch and it's been my workhorse in both stills and more recently, video use. At 470g compared with your more typical 24-70 weighing in at anything from 750-1000, again, it's a lightweight gem. It remains firmly in it's current role as primary run & gun video lens. The Tamron version the 28-75mm f2.8 replaced the above as my primary stills lens this year and it's been superb. Some folks prefer a wider 24mm, but not me and it may be only 4mm, but I just don't get on with the 24mm focal length and prefer 28mm as my 'medium wide'. The 'extra' 5mm at the long end is also a bonus. It's slightly heavier than the Sigma at 540g, but that is still lightweight for what it is. Paired with the A7RV, it's an insanely good combo at approx 1350g including Smallrig baseplate either as a full 61mp unit, or as a 42-110mm 26mp set up. And finally the 70-180mm f2.8 G2 weighing in at just 855g. OK, it gives up 20mm at the long end, but I could not care less as it's both lighter and a stop faster than my Lumix 70-200mm f4 and all 70-200mm f2.8's are typically 1250-1500g in L Mount which is considerable on a camera body, especially without a battery grip. That has been one of my big issues with L Mount, - I always needed a battery grip to balance those bigger zooms but that just added even more weight and pushed units run hand well over 2.5kg which all day long is just a bit too much! Summary, - absolutely zero criticisms of these Tamron lenses. They just do exactly what I want and need them to do and we could always wish for even more compact and lighter, but they are IMO, the finest range of zoom lenses currently available for me today. But what about those 35-150 f2/2.8 options available from Tamron and Samyang? Considered but just too big and heavy and external zooming. Either would require a battery grip for me to use and as with those 70-200's, just even more bulk so just no. The only advantage of one of these and slight criticism of my current trio of zooms is it would save on changing lenses, but the way I work, this happens so infrequently, it's not an issue... 28-75mm from start of day until start of ceremony. Change to 70-180 for ceremony and then back to 28-75 until speeches when it's back to 70-180 with final switch to end the day to 20-40 for dancing which is just 4 actual lens changes in a typical 12 hour shoot. It's not an issue. I would however be interested in a similar sized and performing sibling to the new Sigma 28-45mm f1.8. If Sigma bring out something like a 45-90mm f1.8 version of this lens, I would consider swapping the Tamron trio for just these 2 lenses. OK they are bigger and heavier, but do not require a battery grip and the extra quality and capability combined with the cropping ability of the A7RV would make this duo very viable. But as the latter lens does not exist...

I think the answer really depends on your individual circumstances. People tend to give advice based on their own situation, which is fine, but almost always underestimate how different the situations of others can be from their own. Some key considerations to frame the discussion should include: If you are going to be collaborating with anyone else obviously, if you're planning to collaborate then having the same platform makes certain things 100x easier. What your workflow is like Some people shoot, edit the footage with a simple rec709 conversion, then Picture Lock, then sound design / music / VFX / colour grading / etc all get done, then output and distribution. Others may do the edit but will go back and fine-tune it as colour grading and VFX and sound design etc are all being integrated. Others my do all the stages simultaneously, in workflows where the concept of Picture Lock makes no sense whatsoever. How well your footage is shot Some projects have complete control over lighting etc during filming and need basically zero colour grading in post. Others need a lot more finesse, which is well beyond the scope of FCPX. What the turn-around times are for the project If you need to turn something around in 3 days, but need to do round-trip the colour, get Picture Lock before the composer can start composing the score, etc etc then good luck, but if you're in Resolve and editing in the cloud (or with Resolve Server) then you can have the whole team working on the project literally at the same time What codecs you're using What tools you need for VFX / colour grading / audio What tools you're used to using and how much time (if any) you can devote to switching I feel like there is an increasing divide between the formal "industry" way of doing things, where (in theory) everyone does their bit in a sequence and (in theory) the process doesn't go back to an earlier stage, and everything can be done in separate pieces of software.. and the way that small teams or solo operators might sculpt an edit, with everything done within the same package and where everything is able to be finessed right up to hitting Export.

I started editing video on a Mac with PremierPro in 2013. Way too slow. Then I switched to FCP in 2014. Much faster on a Mac. However, in 2019 I ran into an issue with planer tracking in FCP. I was videoing a room that I was panning across. There were windows in the room that I wanted to mask out. However, when a window went out-of-frame the mask distorted badly. I tried everything, but could not get it to work. FCP did not have a planar tracker at that time. So, I decided to try Davinci Resolve and was able to complete my project. Davinci Resolve seemed “natural" to me. I also learned Fusion. I found nodes much easier keyframe and it was imbedded as part of Resolve. None of this layer stuff in Motion that I found difficult work with. The only advantage of Motion is that it encodes about 3x faster than Fusion. But round tripping and cumbersomeness of key framing in Motion takes more time than the encoding in Fusion. i still have PremierPro (it’s part of Adobe Cloud) and FCP but I never use them. Actually, I am thinking of taking FCP off of my computer. Davinci Resolve Studio is a far more complete and easier to use product than any of the other NLEs. I am not going back to FCP or PremierPro. Don

...and Linux!

That's a pity you didn't put in a little extra effort to look further. There is one listed right now for only US$12K: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175568291816 You missed out on a bargain!

I'll upload some if I've got some suitable files handy. FHD is much better than FHD from the E-M1 ii/iii, particularly in 10-bit. There's a bit of aliasing sometimes, but it's not really noticeable unless you're looking for it. I've never noticed any false-colour moire. Overall I'd put FHD a bit below that from my G9 and above the G85 I used to own. (But the G9 has excellent oversampled FHD so it's a tough competition). FHD 8-bit 50/60p is 52Mbps long-GOP H.264, 10-bit is 42Mbps long-GOP, 162Mbps All-I H.265 FHD 8-bit 24/25/30p is 27Mbps long-GOP, 202Mbps All-I H.264, 10-bit is 22Mbps long-GOP, 82Mbps All-I H.265 UHD/C4K 50/60p 8-bit is 202Mbps H.264, 10-bit is 152Mbps H.265 (all long-GOP) UHD/C4K 24/25/30p 8-bit is 102Mbps H.264, 10-bit is 77Mbps H.265 (all long-GOP) Basically nothing above 202Mbps, 8-bit is H.264 Rec709 only, 10-bit is H.265 Rec2020 only, All-I is FHD only. 24/25/30p UHD/C4K 10-bit is the most detailed, 50/60p UHD/C4K 10-bit is a bit softer. I shoot a lot in FHD 50p 10-bit OMLog400 (long-GOP) as it's good enough for most things I do and keeps the file sizes down. Important stuff I shoot in UHD 50p 10-bit OMLog400. For wildlife video, I sometimes use 25p 10-bit because then I can use sensor-shift + digital IS without loosing to much quality. The extra digital IS crop also usefully gives longer reach in addition to excellent stability (like being able to shoot reasonably stable handheld video at 300mm).

Olympus colors never disappoint! Would be really cool to see some 4k 10bit footage in 25p as well.

And PS, I'm not laughing at you, but laughing at the imaginary scenario where as a one man band hybrid shooter, I attempt to juggle 3x zero IBIS or AF cameras that weigh about 5x as much and cost about that also. If not more. I also 'dismissed' anything from BM, the Sony Burano and the Alexa LF.

I didn’t dismiss it because it wasn’t even in the conversation. It would be like, “OK, you were shopping around for a hot hatchback circa €15k on the used market, why didn’t you consider a lightly used €75k Porsche Cayenne?” Pair of bare bones S5ii and a single under 1kg with lens S9 vs 3x rigged out Red Komodo? No offense, but it would be an utter fucking nightmare! 😂

You're still thinking about the GH8...? I'm wondering if the GH9 will have 12k120 in 10-bit 4:2:2. I have given up on it being internal raw in that mode, but my cat videos won't be cinematic if it's only 4:2:0 and doesn't have at least 17 stops of DR. As an astute poster recently commented, if ARRI can do 17 stops with the Alexa 35 then why not Panny? I don't think I'm asking for too much when I expect the cameras specs to compensate for my complete lack of skill.

When you get it, I'd like to know what you think of the S9 when you get in hand.

Speaking of camcorders... here's a video I found shot with an XA10 in "cinema" mode with a monochrome filter applied...

That makes sense! Form and function working together creating a new visual style. You can grab shots from two different locations and match them in an edit. You can even shoot one side of a conversation if you only have one actor available and get the other angle another day. With shallow DOF, I can shoot inside a coffee house, on a crowded ferry and grab shots while I look like a tourist with a camera and nobody will come back and say that blurry counter is my coffee shop. So as much as I understand that it can be overused, there's also a very practical reason to use it for me. Just another tool.

When I bought my first DSLR... the t2i... the exciting part was the ability to use shallow depth of field to help hide our lack of production and art design on DIY films. Those original Canon DSLRs lacked detail on wide angle, infinity focused shots but close ups with shallow depth of field looked great. Unfortunately, wide angle shots became very popular due to skateboarding videos and people's desire to go handheld, so people wanted sharper, more detailed images. With IBIS and AF in FF cameras, it makes sense why shallow DOF has become popular again. Like anything else, it's just another tool. I kinda miss tripod and slider shots if I'm being honest... I imagine they work great now with the great AF and motorized sliders that are available. That said, I was recently watching footage from my friend's old HV20 and was floored by how great it looked in that old Canon "cinema" mode. What it lacked in DR, it made up for in color and atmosphere... and no color grading needed.

I also have both and would recommend Resolve. I'm not sure how much of a future Final Cut has anyway, although it's a far more powerful tool than most people who've used it casually, even for a few years, realize. It just operates very differently from other NLEs and thus most editors used to traditional track-based workflows don't do well with it. Once you understand roles and how to use them it becomes quite powerful and its audio abilities are actually quite sophisticated (which you'd never guess at first). The Ripple Training tutorials opened my eyes. But Resolve has many more features, is based on a traditional track-based model, and overall I much prefer using it. Obviously for color grading Resolve is better, and Final Cut doesn't have anything like Resolve Colour Management, which greatly speeds the process of bringing footage from multiple cameras into your working color space. With Final Cut you're limited to using camera LUTs, which is a poor solution in comparison. Resolve's audio module (Fairlight) is also much easier for traditional track-based editors to comprehend. Resolve definitely has a high learning curve, but lots of good tutorials are available. The free ones from Blackmagic Design will go a long way to getting you started; if you watch a variety of youtube video tutorials from different people you'll get confused as everyone has their own preferred workflows and a lot of the youtube people don't know what they're talking about. Ripple Training has a good (Blackmagic-certified) set of tutorials on Resolve that are a good investment, and they keep them updated as new versions are released.

As a 12 year professional editor and content creator who's used all FCPX, Davinci, and Premiere extensively, I would highly recommend putting in the time to learn Davinci Resolve. The only reason to lean the direction of Final Cut would be if you only plan on a simple editing workflow and will be limited on computing power.

GH2, GH4, GH5, from left to right in ascending order. Perfect points about the GH5 and the other cameras as well. Back then Andrew and Andy Lee made me buy the GH2.5, how Andrew named the G6 back then in his review. A big sleeper. Too bad it didn't have the 50mbit codec from the GH3. GX85 was the first lumix for me being really effortless in color grading. It was amazingly generous from Panasonic to give us a camera like the GX85. It still holds up. But now we want the GX10, 10 stands for 10bit, if not 4K60, then downsampled HD in 50/60p, plus an optional high quality S16 mode, make it h264 and 422. Thank you. FF could be boss for me with S35, M43, S16 modes and various ratios and gates, HD, UHD, Cine2K, Cine4K in a S9 body with EVF, hotshoe, full HDMI and mechanical shutter.😊

He is one of my favourites and has a passion for vintage optics. Look for his channel on Vimeo. Demonstration that an artist can make good use of any tool in his hand.

this is s5 iix plus a 55mm lens handheld. the stabilization is totally like on a tripod.

like any other camera: if you're an artist then it's fine. if you're a technician then not fine because it doesn't have 750MP and 22 stops of DR.

This is a subject I've long wanted to discuss. Sure, it's great to have shallow DOF sometimes, but what are you really doing? Hiding? Why hide something if your subject and story great, the framing and deep focus could enhance that as long as the quality is there.

I've also been waiting for a cheap used 6K Pro as I think its the sweet spot with the internal NDs, tiltable screen and reasonably priced EVF. This changes things for me there too. This with its EVF is about £1700 (cheaper really as there are quite a few used EVFs round that will knock £200 off that price) so its still cheaper than the 6K Pro and it puts into sharp relief the PIXSYS 6K with its EVF which is about £2000 more. I think at this price that if I was getting PIXSYS then I would pick one of these up as well to get a 2nd matched camera, albeit it with a very different form factor.