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I should've clarified, I meant mediocre video relative to the competition, not actually mediocre. So many offerings these days, even the middle of the road stuff is great. A C100 for instance.... it's a bit aged now, but I know I can produce stuff with it that will make my clients happy. Ditto the GH4, even though that's getting older. Had a photography gig the other day. Shooting candids and a few posed shots of a CEO in a classroom with a bunch of kids. Tons of daylight streaming in, so lighting was favorable. Honestly, I was pleased with how the GH4 fared. I know it's considered blasphemy to use the GH series on paid gigs, but it looks pretty decent to my eye. Not as good as a higher end full frame I'm sure, but pretty solid. I'll be surprised if the client has any objections. I do worry a bit about 16MP when everyone seems to want 30+ MP. The GH5 at least boosts it up a little. Low light was said to be an issue, but I dunno.... lighting/flash seems to mitigate that. Even DOF doesn't seem to be a huge issue with the right lenses. A fast workhorse zoom is notably absent though. The 12-35 / 35-100 are great, but 2.8 is a little slow for M43. Works great with full frame. I suppose there's the Sigma 50-100 f1.8 w/ speedbooster. Not sure how autofocus would fare, but I've been manually focusing for so long that I'm not sure I would even care. Might be more important for stills though. This is all new to me. A lot of times I'm speaking more for what I think my clients will care about, rather than what I care about.

You're probably right. My possibly controversial opinion is that it's better to go for higher stills IQ and mediocre video, rather than the other way around. Even if you are doing video primarily.

It's a weird camera release for sure. On one hand, I do commend them for trying to give everything to everyone, but it makes it tough to choose. I'll be in the market for both the GH5 and the GH5s at some point. Based on my needs, it's honestly split down the middle on which I'll get. Really hard to choose. Makes it a bit frustrating because I certainly can't justify both. That said, hard to complain. Both are amazing. Most cameras are nowadays, mindblowing really.

This has been my number one fear of Sony cameras. Admittedly, it's more based on what I've heard than what I've personally experienced. Edited one wedding where the second shooter had an A7S, that's the extent of me working with the footage. It was a bit lacklustre, color wise. Honestly, I've never been terribly impressed with Panasonic's color either, so to take a step even further back in that category is not enticing.

Definitely all sounds familiar! We love the Pacific Northwest, so that's what we're hoping for. Honestly, the rain/overcast is a thousand times more tolerable than the crap I'm used to (born on the east coast of Canada).

Just got the Yongnuo 560 IV. Gonna get another and the TX to do remote off camera flash soon. It's amazing for the very low price. In fact, that's one fun thing about photography. You get WAY more powerful lighting sources for a fraction of the price and size.

Yeah I figured that was the other choice. Between the two, really. Have no experience with the Sony line at all.

My bread and butter is video, but I've been slowly getting more photography gigs. I know ideally you'd have 2 cameras for reach, but that's such a massive investment. Right now I have the GH4, so staying with m43 is preferable. What in ya'lls opinion is the best photo/video hybrid, assuming most of work is still video? GH5 (not GH5s) seems like the no brainer.

She's just finishing up her PhD in Library and Information Science here at UBC, so it'd be in that field. Haven't got far enough to start looking, but it's probably the place we're most hopeful to live of all the options. Best combo of good work for her and myself. How is the video production scene there?

We do! My wife and I take roadtrips down there when we can. She's applying to a job at the University of Washington as well, so we might even be moving there.

As always, I think the experiences are largely going to be dependent on your market. I'm based in Vancouver right now. Definitely plenty of folks making money solely with photography and video. I'm far from rich but I've managed to pay my bills doing nothing but freelance video work for 5 years now. It's funny because there's more competition than ever thanks to increased desire and the low cost of equipment. But there's also more video/photo media than ever. It's possible to find your way, but it certainly won't be easy. I can also only speak on the industry in the last 8 years or so, since I'm in my mid thirties. I have noticed on a pattern on forums like these, where the older folks in their 50s and 60s have a different view on the current market. Seems it was easier to make a solid living then, where-as now it seems like there's the high end and a tooooooooooooooon of work at the low, barely scraping by end.

Whoa, impressive to say the least.

I don't consider myself to be a crazy pixel peeper, but the crappy gradations with 8 bit footage under certain conditions really sticks out. I consider it a lot more important than many of the other things complain about with image quality.

That's another category where the pocket wins. And despite their flaws, all the old Panasonic CCD cameras. HVX200, HMC150 etc. Motion was so nice.

Codec is big, too. Pro Res on the pocket is amazing. Not just the quality, but it just edits sooooooooooooo smoothly, and even if it's not RAW, it always surprises me with how robust it is for color correction. Even Pro Res LT. The Pocket's codec choices are dynamite.

I definitely took a big liking to stills. It's a fun challenge for the reasons you mentioned. Plus, it's quicker and easier in a lot of ways. Don't need a gimbal or a tripod. Just a camera and even one prime lens can make for an enjoyable day. Plus I quite like editing photos, whereas editing video can feel like a bit of a slog, even though the end result is satisfying. Photos provide much more instant gratification. I can edit a few quickly and throw them on instagram. Video is a bigger investment, and you often don't even know if the edit is going to work until you put in some significant time. What I've also noticed is that the subject matter determines whether I'm going to want to shoot video or stills. On vacation or hiking with a bunch of landscapes and scenery? Stills all the way. In a gym with my buddies getting action shots? In that situation, I find video is way more satisfying. Movement is so key, and stills lose a lot of it, even if you get a good one. So I like doing both. Which means....when it comes time to upgrade, I'm going to gave a HELL of a time picking between the damn GH5 and GH5s.

Not sure if I can distill it to one feature, but I'd say overall usability. I used to want to squeeze every ounce of image quality, and would sacrifice ergonomics for it. Now I won't. Most things are good enough, and I'd much prefer to use a camera that lets me get a variety of shots quickly. Something that just makes the whole process easy and enjoyable.

Yeah I can't imagine ever ever looking back after using IBIS. Just got the Zhiyun crane, and now that the honeymoon period is over, I often prefer handheld shooting. Gimbals are great for certain moments, but there's something about the energy and speed of which you can get documentary style footage handheld. I imagine IBIS would be a game changer there. I don't know if I've ever been in a situation where I'd care about anything beyond a clean 3200 ISO either. Even that's rare.

I gotta say, this almost seems like good news. Tough call, but I'd probably choose the GH5 over the GH5s, given the features. Even as an event / wedding shooter, the GH5 low light is likely fine. The GH4 typically does ok. And the GH5s means those GH5 used prices are going to go down, down, down : ) Not to mention, I do like shooting stills occasionally. Better photo quality is a nice bonus.

I agree with you. But I feel like people have been saying that for so long. "after the *insert new spec* honeymoon period" But people will always want more. And nothing wrong with improving tech, but dimished returns absolutely kicked in around the GH2. The GH2, compared to, say, the DVX100.... is a MUCH bigger improvement than the Alexa is compared to the GH2. Or anything compared to anything from this point going forward.

The GH2 holds up incredibly well considering it was released, what, 8 years ago now? I shoot with the GH2 and GH4 all the time. I pretty much prefer the GH4 100% of the time, but the difference isn't massive. I can't imagine that the GH5 isn't better in every way but I guess the question is, who cares? I know it's a tired old argument at this point, but talent and creative choices matter way, way more than gear. Most of the content out there, the cameras used are overkill and a GH2 would service them just find. Take a professional hollywood level set, turn on a GH2 and I think people would be utterly shocked with the result. Because ALL OF THAT OTHER STUFF is what actually matters.

Same, BH deal zone can be great. Just got a Dracast silkray 400 LED for $100 w/ free stand, marked down from $250. Price was a steal for the light quality.

Iphone looks nice in daylight. Some limitations for sure. Stinks in low light, and small sensor is limiting of course. Having something so small on a gimbal outdoors would be handy, especially since you'll want most stuff in focus anyway. That said, it's doing some really weird warping in the gimbal footage. Must be the in camera stabilization. Hopefully you can turn that off, otherwise it's useless. It's another tool, for sure. Low end has, and will continue to crush up against the mid-high end in the future. It's getting increasing harder to give a shit about the $10,000 price point cameras.

There's also the risk that clients and distributors will start demanding a minimum of 4K deliverables in the future. I mean, people have been claiming that for like 10 years now, so who knows. But just a thought.

That's the one! I think the biggest issue is the size and operation. It's meant for crews and all of that, as far as I know. Might be a tough go for a solo operator. But damned if you won't have the best image in town. STILL, after 8 damn years or whatever it's been.