IronFilm

haha, yeah, put the Panasonic BS1H inside a Tilta camera cage, slap on a few RED stickers, and use it with the RED branded lenses (nobody will guess it isn't "a RED"! haha): I have been very often tempted to get the RED 17-50mm or 18-50mm Cine Zoom. Or even the utterly insane RED 18-85mm lens!! It is a beast. Well, for me to use it. As I'm not used to that. But I work every week with camera ops using lenses such the Canon 17-120mm T2.95 and the Canon 25-250mm T2.95 Servo PL Lenses: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1633520-REG/canon_4573c011_cine_servo_25_250mm_t2_95_pl.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1043631-REG/canon_9785b002_cn7x17_kas_s_cine_servo.html But more seriously, did you know you can get a RED Scarlet brain for just a grand and a half on eBay? (sadly just the MX sensor though, but for another US$500ish to a grand more, you could pick up a RED Scarlet Dragon. Or the RED Raven brain can be found for roughly sub US$2K, it is a Dragon sensor within the newer DSMC2 system. But with the RED Raven you're stuck with EF mount only, and it's sensor is unfortunately a little smaller than S35) Maybe slightly over $2K-ish for a more complete RED Scarlet package that you just need to add lenses and V Mounts to. Perhaps I should have added one more option to this: RED Scarlet MX camera for US$2K (or RED Raven). Is a little more expensive than going with a Pocket 4K or Micro Studio G2 setup, but a fair bit cheaper than a BMD URSA Mini Pro and a lot cheaper than an ARRI ALEXA Classic. Yet this camera body will be a lot more portable than either! (for gimbals / steadicams / car rigs / ceiling rigs / cranes / jibs / sliders / etc) Of course in "the real world" a RED camera is fairly worthless, especially one as old as this. But in the no budget indie / student filmmaking world, a lot of them still drool over the "RED" name.

Glad it was appreciated 🙂 I don't think the Varicam LT hindered his creativity too much (although, it was a modestly heavier camera than the FS7, and more power hungry, but nothing you couldn't muscle your way through with a bit of grit), if anything the better quality of the Varicam LT opened up more creative options (you could for instance get away with a much smaller lighting package with the Varicam LT than a Sony FS7, and work in more difficult conditions). It is more than the Varicam LT hindered his bank account... (although yeah, I guess it is also limited him in terms of who he could/would work with)

A modern 2024 Sony a5100 and Panasonic GM1 would be really nice to have. That's a good idea, and a good little money maker to develop a plugin which automatically fixes moiré. I too think the 1DXii is a small camera 😛 😉 Sorry, US$1M is far too little money for them to even answer the phone.

My casual bed time reading for tonight. You don't happen to be Mark Lewis from youtube are you?? (I don't think so, by the IG story makes me wonder!) You could get your own Sony RX1 these days now for "only" US$650 on eBay. Take a look at the Nikon Zfc (or Z30 if you want a truly small body) with a Nikon 26mm f/2.8 lens (a full frame lens!) It is also a nearly 40mm FoV (on the Zfc camera body), but using a FF lens which is slightly shorter than even the Panasonic 20mm f1.7!! Or get the massively cheaper (only US$149, but yes, it has autofocus!) TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 APS-C Lens for the Zfc. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1764445-REG/ttartisan_af2728_z_b_27mm_f_2_8_lens_for.html Of get the 7artisans Photoelectric 35mm f/5.6 Pancake Lens for US$99 and pair it with the full frame Nikon Zf. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1628290-REG/7artisans_photoelectric_a006b_z_35mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html

Yes, it's sadly a very very common thing for people of his age and older, who are/were Camera Ops or Sound Mixers / Boom Ops. I know several of my Sound Mixer friends who have been forced into retirement in recent years due to injuries. It's definitely a major worry for myself, even though we're thankfully no longer living in the era when you were expected to wear around your neck for many long hours a Sound Devices 552 / 788T + a stack of heavy Lectrosonics UCR411 receivers in your bag. I got into sound mixing just at the tail end of this era. It was around this time period when many established pros were moving over into all in one mixer/recorders such as the Zaxcom Nomad or the Sound Devices 664, and using lighter dual receivers such as the Lectrosonics SR series. But as I was just starting out, I went for the "older" (and cheaper, as I got my 552 for a really amazing secondhand bargain!!) setup of mixer + recorder paired together. This was my first ever "real" sound bag which I owned: As you can see from a couple of my more recent bag setups, I've got it to a low more compact now: You can imagine how it feels doing 5 or 6 day weeks (often 7 days for me... during busy patches, if I'm filling in the weekends with other gigs) when you're working on a TV Series! For month and month of weeks like this. It's absolutely brutal on your life 😕

Look around what are people local to you shooting with? Most likely they're using Sony FX6 (or perhaps FX9) bodies. So just follow the herd and do the same. But there are pockets of local groups of people around which have gone in another direction, such as they're mainly using Canon C500mk2 for documentary / corporates / etc which have a reasonable budget. Often all it takes is just a few key leaders or production companies in that local region to go together down a certain path, and the whole local region follows them, and there isn't a single Sony camera in sight. However, if you are working purely for yourself / in house, then it doesn't matter what brand or camera model you choose! But if you are working for others, then following what others use matters a lot. Had a friend who purchased the Sony FS7 right when it was released, did pretty well working with that, and he got to a point that he felt like he was "outgrowing the FS7" and had the money to buy something better. By this point in time the ARRI ALEXA Mini had been out for a couple of years, had proven itself, and no longer did you have crazy insane long wait list times if you wanted to buy one himself. But a ALEXA Mini was way outside is budget range. So what is the natural upgrade from a FS7? The F5/F55 are "upgrades", but are more similar than different. Definitely not what he was seeking. What then? He settled upon the Panasonic Varicam LT, which had recently been released (came out the year after the ARRI ALEXA Mini). He sold his Sony FS7 to raise extra funds, with his extra saved up money, he purchased a brand new Panasonic Varicam LT. (but he only got the Varicam after very extensively testing it, renting and borrowing it from others. Not just to run tests on it, but to use it on real world productions too. I worked on a couple of those productions which he shot with a Varicam LT, prior to him buying his own. He really did very very thoroughly all of his homework before settling on a new camera to buy) Seems like a rational decision. Was the next step up in price (over double the price of a FS7) and quality from a FS7. Has much better low light performance, & much better color science than the FS7. Plus did timecode and raw better than the FS7. In a way, the Varicam LT was even "better" than the ALEXA Mini, with better slow motion, better low light, better audio, and true 4K. (only downsides being it is bigger/heavier than a Mini, and it is "not an ARRI") Well, what seemed like a great idea on paper, in reality was one of his worst financial decisions. Because for the higher end jobs above the FS7 level, then usually they only want an ARRI camera. He's not landing the higher end jobs with the Varicam LT. (plus ARRI cameras are cheaper than you think, relative to the total cost of a project. It doesn't make sense for them to pinch pennies and settle for the cheaper Varicam LT) Thus he wasn't earning any extra money due to spending almost double the FS7 amount on a new Varicam LT camera. But it was even worse than this, the Panasonic Varicam LT was losing him money. Because the bread and butter FS7 jobs were no longer hiring him as much, as they don't want to go with some weirdly different new camera, they want the tried and trusted Sony FS7 which all their other shooters use and slots perfectly into their workflow and productions. Owning the Panasonic Varicam LT was a lose-lose situation for him. Quite sad really, even though on paper the Varicam LT was undeniably a much "better" camera than a Sony FS7 (even "better" than an ARRI ALEXA Mini in a fair few ways as well).

Nifty, can jump back and forth between 180VR and 360VR mode. That's often a downside of these dedicated all in one cameras (not camera rigs which are multiple camera bodies used together to do 360VR/180VR), they're only best at either one type or the other.

Have you considered the smaller, lighter, and cheaper Sony FX6? (or the C70 instead of the C300mk3, they both have an identical sensor!) The FX6 seems to be a lot more popular than the FX9 where I am. It's a hell of a lot easier shooting with a FX6 than a FX9 on a gimbal. Easier too on the arms if you're doing a long day handheld. But you said you're 99% on a tripod, a lot of sit down interviews? For interviews I'd prefer a lot more to have 2x FX6 / C70 than to have a single FX9 / C300mk3. And their smaller weight/size/price makes it easier to buy and travel with two. For me, the biggest factor would be what are people in the local market around me using? There is no point having "the best" camera if nobody wants to hire you with it. That means with this as my priority, I would have made the decision to shoot with at various points in time: Sony EX1/EX3 => Canon C100/C300mk1 => Sony FS5/FS7/F5 => Sony FX30/FX3/FX6/FX9 As at each point in time the EX3, C300mk1, FS7, or FX6 was the most popular camera in the low/mid end range of the market. Thus it is an easy no brainer decision to go with the same (or at the very least, go with a close cousin. Say get the much cheaper C100 instead of the C300mk1, and cross your fingers and hope to get some of the crumbs that fall off the table not picked up by C300mk1 shooters. But you will be operating at a big disadvantage competing against them) For myself, I had the Panasonic GH1 back when I was a broke film student. (until then I'd been borrowing with my girlfriend's Nikon D90, or my sister's Canon T2i) Then I got the Sony PMW-F3 at an insanely low price, an offer too good to refuse. (I forget when, I think roughly when the Sony FS7 was released. But the FS7 was way outside my price range back then) Then I picked up the OG BMPCC when it went on sale for US$500, another offer that was too good to ignore. Later on I got a Sony FS7 myself, as I felt I purchased it at the right moment of time when it had depreciated a fair bit to be a great value buy, but not so late that the FS7 didn't still have some life left in it (the FX9 was out, but the FX6 had only just been announced). Although I think I'm going to sell my Sony FS7 soon, and just not buy anything else for the foreseeable future. Juggling working kinda full time in the Sound Dept plus studying CompSci full time too, means there simply is not enough hours left in the day to devote to chasing down camera gigs too and developing my craft. I've done very little of that this year. And I think if I ever do try to take the camera side of things (rather than an exclusive focus on the Sound Dept) more seriously, then I think I'll be doing one of three options: 1) just shooting ultra low budget indie drama stuff, not really caring too much about the money, simply doing it for the love of it, and whatever little bit of pay I get for shooting short films is merely fun pocket change spending money That means buying one of: Going fully nuts and getting an ARRI ALEXA Classic, splurging an amount that doesn't make any financial sense at all whatsoever (but the Alexa Classic is so dirt cheap these days, it's not that much to indulge in as a hobby passion. Many people spend more on golf / fishing / drag racing / Ironmans ) Going more sensibly low budget with a Blackmagic (be it a dirt cheap P4K or BMD Micro Studio Camera G2, or a secondhand URSA Mini Pro) Or continue my love affair with CineAlta, and get a dirt cheap Sony PMW-F55. 2) going into the multicam live streaming niche, this probably is where the overlap of my skillset / personality and business opportunities overlap to make the most sense from a financial perspective Which means one of these options: Buying up a handful of old Sony EX3 cameras on the cheap (maybe mixing in a few other Sony models, such as my Sony PMW-F3 that I'm stll keeping) Buying a handful of BMD Micro Studio G2 cameras. Gives a better image, gives me 4K as well. Integrates nicely with the BMD ATEM ecosystem. But it could be marginally more expensive for the whole setup, once you've rigged out the Micros with everything. And I have a lot of questionable suspicion about if even brand new BMD cameras will be more reliable than secondhand old Sony PMW-EX3 cameras. Plus a Micro vs EX3 looks less "impressively pro" at a conference / sporting event, if you care at all about client impressions. (which do actually matter a lot) 3) going hardcore into some ultra techy geeky niche, that has relatively little competition. Such as 360VR filmmaking, although sadly 360VR turned out to be a fleeting fashion fad which these days there is no interest in. (maybe it is not too late to jump onto the hype of virtual productions such as The Mandalorian used? But that's more about massive time and money investment into computing power / workflows and huge LED walls. And not at all about cameras you'd be buying for it) But if I was to go into 360VR, then I'd do one of: Multiple Sony RX0mk2 cameras, for the first ever 4K 10bit and waterproof multicam rig for 360VR Multiple ZCam E2-M4 bodies, this seems like a fairly well proven and very low cost option for high quality 360VR filmmaking. Definitely the safest bet option out of all of these I'm listing in the 360VR category. Multiple Sony FX30 bodies, a bit higher cost than the E2-M4, but I get to carry on a love affair with CineAlta into the 360VR world. However, this is an unproven configuration nobody else has done. And the body form factor is much more awkward than the body E2-M4 bodies. Multiple BMD Studio G2 camera bodies, another unproven configuration that nobody else in the world has done. But their form factor should be ideal for this, and might make for a better image quality (or at least a more familiar workflow for productions, an equally important consideration, or arguably is even more important) than the ZCams have. But, one big benefit of this choice is I could also use these multiple Studio G2 camera bodies for multicam live streaming! Multiple revenue sources? Just need to swap out the UWA MFT lenses for B4 zoom lenses with adapters. Multiple Panasonic BS1H camera bodies, this is the dream! It would be a low light monster, the best the world has ever seen with 360VR filmmaking (although... this means this is also an unproven configuration, as nobody has ever attempted this. But the BS1H form factor is at least good for this). Although, this is the most expensive option by far! However, the BS1H has seen such a massive drop in price recently, that if I could get a little bit of funding behind me for a 360VR web series, then this could be a viable option to go with.

It's late 2023 already?? Where did the year go!! Scary, scarier than Halloween was. Just limiting ourselves to cameras released within the past year? The easy top three cameras of note for me released in 2023 are: Sony FX30 (came available for sale in stores later 2022, so just barely-ish squeaks in here if you look at the past 12 months or so). Is the latest S35 cinema camera from Sony, and also their most affordable one ever! The L Mount camera from Blackmagic. Finally, another mirrorless mount cinema camera from BMD! Been a long time since the P4K was released. Blackmagic Design Micro Studio Camera 4K G2. It's a big upgrade from the previous Micro Studio Camera, especially for film shooters as it's now so much more than "just a studio camera". If you're an OG BMPCC user who thought the BMD "Pocket" 4K was too big for you, then this Micro Studio G2 is the upgrade for you! Plus it is cheaper than ever, is priced at sub US$1K, even cheaper than the Pocket 4K. Don't be fooled by the "Studio" in its name, yes it is packed full of studio specific features, but in a way this is also their new "Micro Cinema G2" camera as well. Opening it up to any cameras that exist? Then "it depends", just whatever is suitable for the job at hand. Even a super old Sony EX3 might be the right buy for me these days. Although I think I'm going to sell my Sony FS7 soon, and just not buy anything else for the foreseeable future. Juggling working kinda full time in the Sound Dept plus studying CompSci full time too, means there simply is not enough hours left in the day to devote to chasing down camera gigs too and developing my craft. I've done very little of that this year. And I think if I ever do try to take the camera side of things (rather than an exclusive focus on the Sound Dept) more seriously, then I think I'll be doing one of three options: 1) just shooting ultra low budget indie drama stuff, not really caring too much about the money, simply doing it for the love of it, and whatever That means buying one of: Going fully nuts and getting an ARRI ALEXA Classic, splurging an amount that doesn't make any financial sense at all (but the Alexa Classic is so dirt cheap these days, it's not that much to indulge in as a hobby passion. Many people spend more on golf / fishing / drag racing / Ironmans ) Going more sensibly low budget with a Blackmagic (be it a dirt cheap P4K or BMD Micro Studio Camera G2, or a secondhand URSA Mini Pro) Or continue my love affair with CineAlta, and get a dirt cheap Sony PMW-F55. 2) going into the multicam live streaming niche, this probably is where the overlap of my skillset / personality and business opportunities overlap to make the most sense from a financial perspective Which means one of these options: Buying up a handful of old Sony EX3 cameras on the cheap (maybe mixing in a few other Sony models, such as my Sony PMW-F3 that I'm stll keeping) Buying a handful of BMD Micro Studio G2 cameras. Gives a better image, gives me 4K as well. Integrates nicely with the BMD ATEM ecosystem. But it could be marginally more expensive for the whole setup, once you've rigged out the Micros with everything. And I have a lot of questionable suspicion about if even brand new BMD cameras will be more reliable than secondhand old Sony PMW-EX3 cameras. Plus a Micro vs EX3 looks less "impressively pro" at a conference / sporting event, if you care at all about client impressions. (which do actually matter a lot) 3) going hardcore into some ultra techy geeky niche, that has relatively little competition. Such as 360VR filmmaking, although sadly 360VR turned out to be a fleeting fashion fad which these days there is no interest in. (maybe it is not too late to jump onto the hype of virtual productions such as The Mandalorian used? But that's more about massive time and money investment into computing power / workflows and huge LED walls. And not at all about cameras you'd be buying for it) But if I was to go into 360VR, then I'd do one of: Multiple Sony RX0mk2 cameras, for the first ever 4K 10bit and waterproof multicam rig for 360VR Multiple ZCam E2-M4 bodies, this seems like a fairly well proven and very low cost option for high quality 360VR filmmaking. Definitely the safest bet option out of all of these I'm listing in the 360VR category. Multiple Sony FX30 bodies, a bit higher cost than the E2-M4, but I get to carry on a love affair with CineAlta into the 360VR world. However, this is an unproven configuration nobody else has done. And the body form factor is much more awkward than the body E2-M4 bodies. Multiple BMD Studio G2 camera bodies, another unproven configuration that nobody else in the world has done. But their form factor should be ideal for this, and might make for a better image quality (or at least a more familiar workflow for productions, an equally important consideration, or arguably is an even more important) than the ZCams have. But, one big benefit of this choice is I could also use these multiple Studio G2 camera bodies for multicam live streaming! Multiple revenue sources? Just need to swap out the UWA MFT lenses for B4 zoom lenses with adapters. Multiple Panasonic BS1H camera bodies, this is the dream! It would be a low light monster, the best the world has ever seen with 360VR filmmaking (although... this means this is also an unproven configuration, as nobody has ever attempted this. But the BS1H form factor is at least good for this). Although, this is the most expensive option by far! However, the BS1H has seen such a massive drop in price recently, that if I could get a little bit of funding behind me for a 360VR web series, then this could be a viable option to go with.

Atomos has released an interview with ‘The Creator’’s DP, Oren Soffer:

I know you're joking, but I had this discussion a few weeks back with a steadicam op friend of mine, and he made the comment about how he needs to do a few steadicam gigs per month otherwise he doesn't keep up that fitness without those workouts. And I feel similarly, as a Boom Op it is a very physical job just like a Steadicam Op, but needing the consistent technical precision every scene of a focus puller / 1st AC. Is why I now try to hit the weights if I ever have a stretch of time without booming (due to whatever reasons, be it lockdowns, or because I'm just Mixing on gigs instead, or if it is a slow patch, etc), so as to keep up my strength. As it's so important to maintain. I had a scene yesterday that absolutely brutally murdered my arms, put me in a world of pain, yet had to push through while trying to nail a rather difficult complex scene (I swear it would've been 10x easier, with less shadow risks, if I'd been allowed to boom from the upper floor level looking down rather than from being at the level of the the lounge/kitchen itself. But wasn't given permission for that). Ah well, at least the second half of the day was the cruisiest I've had this month! And we wrapped early too, which is nice, then we had our friday wrap drinks.

Yup. Maybe the older one. There is a new G2 that just came out: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1787638-REG/blackmagic_design_micro_studio_camera_4k.html

Check out this Blackmagic studio/broadcast camera setup (try and discover where the camera is hiding....):

With that lack of passion I doubt they'll be going far in the cutthroat real world after graduation. Well, you can still do a lot with just three static cameras. I was thinking for instance I could position myself at a Track & Field event: Cam1: Me (positioned up high in the stands) with an EX3 beside me with a B4 telezoom for extra reach, which I would not actively man it second by second, but if I was to change it from a mid shot of the track finish line to instead zoom in on the LJ pit at the other side of the field, I could. Then I'd sit back down at the switcher again. Cam2: a wide shot of the track finish line at ground level. Cam3: wide shot looking down the back straight. Ideally this coverage would attract the support of the local sporting club(s), and I might get a keen volunteer who can be trained up to do basic manning of one camera. Perhaps with luck some volunteers to do live commentary too. Could then have them micced up and throw a random camera (even merely a a GoPro, or perhaps a Sony RX0) to occasionally cut back to them. Then with time, an extra camera or three could be added to this setup.

This deserves its own thread! I reckon you should go start that video production company, to do live coverage. (plus you are at college, you can likely get some college classmates in to help you man the cameras at events for cheap) I've thought a lot about doing the same myself. You can get secondhand cameras such as the Sony EX3 / F3 / FS700 / F5 / FS5 for dirt cheap these days (the likes of the EX3 & F5 can easily have B4 mount broadcast lenses adapted to them). But they all have a SDI output (thus you can place the camera ages away, on the opposite of the cricket field, and still be be able to easily run the video feed back to you). And the Blackmagic ATEM Minis are dirt cheap too, and they even have SDI outputs! Saving you from the hassle of fluffing around with SDI/HDMI convertors. Pair this all together, and you've got a great setup at a low low low cost! Say if you start with just 3x secondhand Sony EX3 on a couple of cheap tripods, and a third tripod secondhand which has a "good" fluid head, plus a few dozen meters of SDI cable, plus secondhand ATEM Mini Pro SDI equals a total cost of perhaps sub US$4K. (just to start with! And an easy next step to expand out this setup: get a 4th Sony EX3 on a good fluid head tripod, thus you can then have two manned cameras and two unmanned cameras) Arguably it would be better to combine a collection of Blackmagic Design Studio cameras instead, as they do have a lot of features specifically for multicam live shooting, especially when matched together with the BMD ATEMs! And some of them can be just as cheap as the Sony EX3, such as this Blackmagic Design Studio Camera 4K: https://www.ebay.com/itm/266449406292 (another benefit of this path instead, is you'll be 4K ready right from the start!) All this would combine a love of watching spot with a geeky love of cameras. (although, when starting the money there is probably merely pocket change. Could make more doing business conferences as such)

RED had their niche for a little while, when the ARRI cameras were big heavy so not doable on a gimbal (or to fly on a drone, or easily rig up on a car or crane etc). Or even in the pre gimbal era, a steadicam op who can handle a full size ARRI Alexa is expensive. But someone who can fly a stripped down RED body?? You can find them a lot cheaper! (if you're flexible about standards) So you can quickly see the appeal of a RED vs ARRI for say Music Videos. Plus if you want to do slow motion, and wanted better quality than the likes of a Sony FS700, then for a very long time your only real choice was RED. Sony F5/F55 (and later on, VENICE) however nibbled away at that. But once the ARRI Alexa Mini arrived? It crushed the RED and ate it for lunch. You've got a gimbal friendly camera that does up to 200fps. Only high resolution remained as a "reason" for RED. But for many people that's irrelevant. I think I haven't worked on a single production in the last couple of months that is doing more than FHD! (aside from that one day on an ultra low budget short film, shooting on a P4K) I don't think it is unique to LA/NYC. Same here in NZ. Anywhere/anybody with tastes tends to go with ARRI. Newer features, performance, plus the lenses choices will push them to the ARRI 35

The ability to edit my message timed out, so adding my final sentence here: Those times I come across the FX6/FX9 are: very occasionally on ultra low budget shorts films I do (but it's unusual! It's more normal to see a non-Mini ARRI, or a Blackmagic camera), or low budget adverts, or corporates, or reality tv shoots. Which while I do those types of shoots as well now or then, I do however tend to do narrative more often. Edit: ohhhh... I forgot Sony VENICE! Worked on a small number of those, and of course that's LF format. Maybe if I exclusively worked on high end productions, then perhaps I might have seen a brief period of time of a year or two when the majority I worked on was either Sony VENICE or ARRI Mini LF. But because I work such a massively broad range of productions from low budget, to medium budget, to high budget then there was always a mix of original ARRI Mini / other ARRIs / FS7 / URSA Mini / Komodo / Gemini / etc making sure that S35 was still frequently in the mix!

I work on productions with ARRI cameras all the time. REDs etc less often. Because on the high end RED doesn't exist much. And in the mid range RED struggles against the massive popularity of Sony FX series (or before that the Sony FS7. Or to a lesser extent, Blackmagic). Peak popularity for RED was in the distant past, it isn't now in 2023. Have worked on only a handful using one of the ARRI LF cameras (usually the Mini LF), a small enough number I could count it on my fingers. The standard Alexa Mini was still by far the most massively popular option (or one of the other ARRIs if it was a lower budget production, & couldn't afford a Mini). At least that was my personal experience over the last few years. Rather oddly, Panasonic Varicam (full size or LT) would be in my top three cameras I most commonly work with. (first and second being the ARRI Mini & Sony FS7, although I don't see a FS7 around so often in the last couple of years) Fourth place might go to the Blackmagic URSA Mini. However, Panasonic Varicam is only so "popular" in my personal rankings because there is one particular production company (which is massive) that I've worked for quite a lot, and they seem to like it on their shows. I for instance just got home from booming on location for a tv series using 2x Panasonic Varicam S35. Next couple of days I'll be in the studio, and they'll be using three Panasonic Varicam S35 cameras! I'm quite sure however my experience is fairly atypical, and for others the Panasonic Varicam won't even rate in their top twenty cameras they have worked with in recent years. And no point was LF ever a popular format I came across! Unless it was an absolutely no budget at all production using a Sony a7S or similar as their A Cam, or a micro budget production using the a7S (or similar) as their B / C Cam. There were not a tonne of Mini LFs around (although I'll admit the seemed to have brief flash moment of popularity). RED Monstros I've almost never worked with. REDs are just not that common. (I've worked with the RED Komodo though on a handful of productions). Sony FX6/FX9 have got a fair bit of popularity, but I'd say mainly because they're the natural successor to the FS7 and not because they're LF. However I only seem to work with them occasionally. I guess because I'm more in the narrative world, and FX6/FX9 are super rare in that, unless it is ultra low budget.

And the Panasonic BS1H mk2 will have eND too I hope! Along with most important of all..... zero delay SDI output!! Panasonic GH6 already can do 4 channels of audio Clean and info overlays at once! Give us two independent outputs please. With your personal circumstances of: 1) a sweet MFT lens collection 2) a want/need for telephoto lenses, but with a back/bank that can't necessarily match your wants/needs ...then I'd go with the Panasonic G9mk2

We all know they'll be adding PDAF to the GH7. I'm not sure there is much else major they could do, we know they won't do 8K yet in the GH7 (I think??). Maybe 6K?? Maybe they believe PDAF (plus one or two less important things, like 6K or 240fps 4K) is "enough" for the GH7 to be a hit?? (plus all the usual goodness we've come to expect with the GH6/GH5/etc) It's hard to think of anything else "major" they could add. Perhaps a mini-XLR with phantom power like the P4K? But they already have the Panasonic DMW-XLR1, but it would be nice to have a more compact alternative without this) Perhaps a better TC implementation, with DIN like the Canon R5C does it? Maybe DIN for SDI as well?? (DIN is kinda0-ish like a mini BNC connector, perfect as a compact option for the GH7 to offer! Imagine a locking connector like DIN instead of HDMI? But imagine having both DIN and a full size HDMI as two independent outputs? You could give a clean output on one, with info overlays on the other. Exactly what many of us have been dreaming of!) Internal eND just feels like the last "big" thing left for Panasonic to nail for the GH series after they've got AF sorted out.

The LF obsession was always a temporary short term thing (to be able to shoot 4K with ARRI cameras) while we waited for the next generation of the ARRI sensor. Which has now arrived, and is here.

Another fan of old Sony pro camcorders (the Sony PMW-EX3), showing them in use even today in 2023 on paid jobs: It is curious that the genuine Sony BP-U batteries (that he got with his Sony FX9) do not power the Sony PMW-EX3?? But the generic knock off batteries do indeed power it! It's interesting listening to him about why he chose the Sony EX3 instead of the usual Sony FX9 cameras (or even ARRI AMIRA! That he owns as well). Another Sony EX3 vs FX9 video from him: I want a Sony PMW-EX3! Wish I could justify buying one, but I can't. Not any price, no mater how cheap it gets.

As we're just going to make this now be a generic thread about old Sony video cameras that are cool, such as the "full frame" Sony NEX-VG900 (there are also the ASP-C VG10/VG20/VG30 cameras):

I got excited about this Xiaomi 12S for half a second! It's quite affordable. But then I realized the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is a different model, whoops. It's price.... ouch. Ah well, if I wait long enough it will become as "affordable" as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1 is today. (welll... it's price seems to be holding up surprisingly well on eBay for how super old it is!)

Let's compromise and meet in the middle, and admit 1.5x is the "most cinematic".