IronFilm

Wonder how well the a7Smk2 itself sold. I know of filmmakers who picked the a7Rmk2 over the a7Smk2 But none of them ever picked the a7Rmk1 over the a7Smk1! However the a7Rmk2 caught up with the a7S series for video (give or take a bit, in some ways it was a bit better, in a few ways a bit worse), and of course for stills the a7R line up is way way ahead.

Maybe it will never happen? Was hard to imagine Sony would keep up forever 3x a7 series body variants + an a9 body, not in what is an overall declining market. Plus of course below it an a6x00 series (with people constantly begging for an a5 or a7000 or something APS-C "pro" body) and the FS5 series just above. Puts the a7S series in an extra tricky spot.

This is a key 2nd point for me! (main one of course being on set monitoring) Although not just from a DSLR (from my PMW-F3 or BMPCC would be nice as well). As got a Skype interview soon with a fairly big YouTuber for his channel, plus I'd like to regularly do this for my own YT channel as well. Rather use a better camera for Skype/YouTube Live than my own cellphone! What was the purpose of the color chart for the streaming stream? Can the app adjust colors? Or for checking the cameras against each other?

What do you think of that, worth getting? Is nearly a hundred dollars extra for H.265 vs H.264: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/DHL-Free-Shipping-MPEG-4-H-264-HD-Wireless-wifi-HDMI-Encoder-for-IPTV-Live-Stream/2349192_32776561405.html https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Best-H-265-HEVC-H-264-AVC-Wifi-HDMI-IPTV-streaming-Encoder-for-live-streaming-Broadcast/2349192_32772827022.html Also have a SDI version for a little bit more: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/HEVC-H-265-H-264-HD-3G-SDI-To-IP-Encoder-SDI-RTSP-RTMP-Streaming-Encoder/2349192_32837037880.html But you'd lose out on HDMI, so I reckon I'll go for the full size HDMI version instead. (thankfully it isn't micro HDMI! Then the decision would be harder for me) Whoa, does seem a bit bigger than my mental image of it was. Still, not outlandishly so compared to some Teradecks. Seems to be a relatively small price increase though for that version, so in my eyes a no brainer to buy even if only for studio usage just on the off chance you might in the future use it away from mains. Fascinating! So it is compatible with Teradek's own iOS software. Interesting. So this product is completely unacceptable as for wireless focus pulling (on anything but the lowest of low budget shoots), no surprises here, but should be perfectly good enough for anything else? Seems like a non-issue if you've ever set up a router before and are cable of the difficult task of following instructions through. An alternative viewpoint (if ever using it on paid shoots) is the NP-F version (which has LEDs which shows remaining battery left? That is a nice touch!) is a relatively small extra cost (and I'm seeing a much smaller than £70 difference in cost, maybe I'm looking at this wrong?) which helps the whole set up look more "pro" rather than dodgy DIY, and as this already a very non-standard setup (it isn't a Teradek! Which are very recognizable) why risk it looking any less acceptable than it is already?

At last, yay! Haha! No, I think this thread will greatly interest many many people. As on set monitoring is so very very important. (at least once you get above the no budget one man crew size) Yet cabled monitors are a royal pain the ass to deal with, and wireless monitors are expensive dollars$$$ (and even the pro wireless gear can be troublesome! Not sure troublesome connections either. Did a feature film for a month earlier this year and their old Teradeks were quite noisy in quiet scenes! Sigh. But the noise from their Panavision director's monitor was even worse! I really had to put my foot down about that a few times).

Thank you for putting some perspective into this! Agreed 100%

8bit FHD in 2018/2018 will be a tough sell as a key feature. The Terra makes a RED body look big!

Canon would be insane not to have a high degree of compatibility with their existing 100+ million EF lenses and their new mirrorless pro body. But who knows? No one can predict the future perfectly. Buy sound gear instead ?

Personally I'm against anything which encourages a decline in the standards of sound.

http://www.canonrumors.com/video-capabilities-will-be-at-the-heart-of-all-future-canon-prosumer-camera-bodies-cr2/ Soooo........ "perceived" feature set? Does that mean we'll finally get proper full HD out of a Canon stills camera? Only for them to then dress it up (or rather up scale it) and call it "4K"! ha ?

Been wanting an APS-C P&S for ages, still kicking myself I didn't buy the Nikon Coolpix A when it was on a close out sale (under US$300 back in early 2015!!), so out of curiosity I went and checked where prices are for the X100 series on ebay. They've got about that low! However dunno if I'd want to spend that much for the older model which does 12MP / 720P in 2018 :-/ And of course the new X100F is a lot more. Ricoh GR tends to be even more oricy than the Nikon Coolpix A on eBay (which is still higher than that sale price in 2015! Crazy). So guess I might wait a little while longer, see if prices come down even more on APS-C P&S cameras (Fujifilm X70 has been out for a couple of years, and is now discontinued, and it was the cheapest of them all at launch. So maybe soon we'll see a tumble in its price on eBay).

@newfoundmass, exactly! And I'm sure I'll get more than three years usage out of a sub $200 monitor, even if worst case scenario it gets downgraded to a secondary monitor.

I'm Jewish, does that count? And my grandparents met while living in Scotland! So maybe. Anyway, monitors last for years but also tech advances pretty quick. Would suck to buy a SmallHD 502 only for a Samauri V to be announced the next day. Additionally, why spend money I don't have to? When I can put it instead towards something more important: sound gear. Finally, if I'm working on the camera side of things I'd often be working on very low budget shoots so I'd rather not bring expensive gear to the set anyway! Having cheap gear is nice sometimes, I could for instance do a long term loan of my Feelworld FW759 to a DoP for a feature film and not have any worries over it because it is so cheap anyway if the worst was to happen. (It didn't, I got it returned just the other week at the wrap party)

I'm seeing FS700 prices trending around US$1500 Pity the Atmos Ninja V is HDMI only. As when they relase the compact "Samauri V" then the FS700 will be extra tempting.

The best mirrorless camera is the one in your hand.

Well it is not a case of saving up, I could buy half a dozen 501 tomorrow if I wish, but instead it is the practical realization I shouldn't treat the camera side of filmmaking as much more than an extravagant hobby (I'm better off focusing my "business investments" into sound gear instead! Although yes, if I was still focused on the camera department as a career then yup I'd probably find a way to rationalize the purchase of even a 502).

What is the really really short summary, is it worth getting? Any key gotchas to be aware of? Any pleasant surprises you discovered? Am thinking I'll get it sooner rather than later. Did that cancel out all your lens savings? :-o

BTM_Pix, did you get back safely, or did EU customs grab you?

Forum's captcha probably needs to be upgraded.

Has a USB input though for updates?

Yes, it is better a manufacturer errs towards doing "too much" with their promo videos than "too little". In fact, I'd argue it is near on impossible for a camera manufacturer to go over the top with their promo videos! They could do a full on next Avatar or Lord of the Rings productions purely to promote their new camera and it still wouldn't be too "over the top"! ha I'm guessing they leaked these out purely by accident, it wasn't intentional? Edit: nope, I browsed around the videos and I see comments and replies from the YT channel, this wasn't any "accidental" uploading, very intentional! Exactly. It is great to improve the camera after release and push it forward. BUT you still at least have to start from a fairly high level of competency! At the very least they should have been unlisted videos, to help indicate this.

They (Z Cam) really really really REALLY need to put their camera in the hands of an experienced pro DoP! These little tourist like clips of real life are doing themselves no good at all (quite the opposite, it is doing harm to their marketing!). Even a new ALEXA mk2 from ARRI would suffer if it was marketed like this. And Z Cam doesn't have the luxury of the ARRI brand name, they need to do promo videos like RED does (or at least BMD). Something which I think Kinefinity has recently been sort of half cluing into as being necessary. That was the CEO? Well, glad he is focusing on cameras rather than a soccer career! :-P

"Compact" is super vague, to some people the Nikon D7500 is a "compact 4K" camera (certainly is next to a D850 or D5! Or any 4K cinema camera), while there would be vlogs who think the RX100 is too bulky as it isn't as compact as their 4K smartphone!

There is also all the differences between the F4 and original F8, of course the F8n keeps the benefits as well. One drawback the the F8 had vs the F4 that the F8n loses, is that the F8n now can power the FRC-8 itself (the F4 could, but the original F8 couldn't). I feel a few key points you need to ask yourself are: How often will I record more than 4 channels of audio? (thus will need the EXH-6) How often will I record more than 5/6 channels? (thus even the EXH-6 will not be enough) How many days a year am I getting use from my audio recorder? (as I assume you view this question more from a financial business decision than a hobbyist's question, so if you're working a hundred days a year then of course F4 vs F8n is no difference at all! On a per day basis. But if you're only doing 10 days of paid jobs a year then it becomes trickier as to if the extra cost of a F8n is worth it on a per day basis, I'd say it is, but on the flip side the F8n isn't gain you any extra work over what a F4 would) All the extra points like improved headphone amp, automix, new hybrid limiters, etc are all just extra gravy on the top for the F8n (but I want that gravy! And I'm constantly working, so the cost for the F8n seems very very small to me. Arguably, I should be getting a 633 instead). Because at its core the F4/F8/F8n are more similar than they are different, and any of them are a rock solid recorder packed with features that makes an excellent heart to have at the center of a low budget recording kit setup. btw, on the point of the F4 vs F8 screen, I suspect the F4 screen is one the factors which helps the F4 get better battery life than the F8, and in my limited experience working with the F8 my gut feeling is the F4 screen has the edge in terms of sunlight visibility. So yes, while the F4 has the "worse screen", it isn't all bad news. (however, I'm still looking forward to that higher resolution screen of the F8n when I upgrade from F4)

Yeah I wish Aputure made a 5" screen, I'd use that for sure. Ah yes, of course I forgot about the Feelworld monitors. D'oh Let's see: Feelworld F450: over a hundred bucks more, lower resolution screen, but 0.5" smaller screen. Feelworld F550: over double the price, keeps the same 1920x1080 resolution screen, but 0.5" bigger screen. Feelworld F570: less than fifty bucks more expensive, keeps the same 1920x1080 resolution screen, but 0.7" bigger screen. Of course there is more to these monitors than that, is there something someone can point to specifically as to why it is worth spending more on a Feelworld monitor than a Liliput A5? I do like a lot the mounting bracket the AndyCine A6 comes with (reminds me of the SmallHD Focus), but maybe I can buy this as a third party accessory for the Liliput A5 from somewhere else: Ah ha! The AndyCine A6 is identical to the Feelworld F6, which I can find with free shipping on Aliexpress (the Andycine doesn't exist on Aliexpress): https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=feelworld+f6&opensearch=true I guess I've narrowed this down now to two monitors, F6/A6 vs A5! He left off the SmallHD 502! That would be my dream to own. But I don't do enough camera work to justify that. Nah, I don't think I'd want to spend that much or buy a recorder that lacks SDI. That is an extra hundred bucks, and resolution of the screen is only 800 x 480, same as the old Atmos Ninja 2. No thanks!