aldolega

The VA4K requires UHS-II cards, the G85 is compatible with UHS-II but doesn't need them, and UHS-II is way more expensive, so why bother? I will second the suggestion of Sandisk Extreme Pro cards. Just make sure to buy from an authorized dealer so that you get a genuine card, there are a lot of fakes out there. And get the newer versions which are marked U3, they actually perform the same as the original U1 version, but some cameras will perform a check for the U3 designation, and will refuse the U1 cards, even though they're more than fast enough.

When compared to FF video (16x9 cut of a 24X36mm sensor), the GH5 with the XL booster would be a 1.33x crop, and with the Ultra booster it'd be 1.47x. Remember that the XL is less uniform in sharpness across the frame- it is a little sharper than the Ultra in the middle, but softer outside of that. The Ultra is more consistent. Also remember that with the sensor moving due to IBIS, you end up effectively using a larger image circle than without IBIS. So even if IBIS only moves the sensor a mm in each direction, your 13x19mm sensor now needs an image circle that can cover 15x21mm. So APS-C lenses with small image circles, like the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8, which barely cover the sensor with the XL booster, may now go soft or dark in the corners as IBIS shifts the sensor. Or worse yet, you may have the actual edge of the image circle show up as black corners. This is why I think it's safer to go with the Ultra booster for the GH5.

Wow, very cool. Could also be useful for ND with ultrawide lenses that don't have filter threads. So there's a lip of some sort that the filter glass fits into? I wonder if the extra glass messes with the optical formula, affects the back focus etc? Paging Brian Caldwell...

Yes, the latest firmware makes the 5" VA a pretty competent monitor. All it really needs now is waveform and a loupe. I'm planning on running one with a G85, because of the cam's weak 1080p bitrate. Vitaliy at Personal-View said the Chinese are working on an aftermarket 5" loupe, hopefully that happens, I'm hoping a sunhood will suffice until then.

How did you manage this? Just a very small filter that fits inside the lens mount?

Haha, toooo good.

Is it really so much for us to ask for it to have a coffeemaker built in, though? I mean we've got IBIS now, so caffeine jitters won't be an issue. This is obviously the next logical step here.

The .71x "Ultra" booster is more evenly sharp corner-to-corner, while the .64x "XL" booster is slightly sharper in the middle (GH4 cropped 4K area) but is then softer than the Ultra outside of that. Since I know I'll be getting a GH5 eventually, with no crop in 4K I'd rather have more even sharpness across the frame, rather than a drop-off at the corners. Even until then, with the G85, I would prefer to have a smidge of wiggle room inside the image circle for the IBIS to work. A touch of vignetting usually doesn't bother me, but I think it might if it was moving in the frame. Also, with the Sigma 18-35 + XL's image circle being not much bigger than the full sensor, I would worry that IBIS movement might bring "hard" vignetting (the edge of the image circle) into frame occasionally (in 1080p modes), which would definitely be distracting. Speaking of that, does anyone with the G85 know if the sensor still moves at all with IBIS off? I.e. is it completely locked down or does it still float a little? I will be using a fisheye lens with an undersized image circle, so there will be hard vignetting in frame already, and it would move if the sensor jiggled with fast camera movement.

You answered your own question.

A GH4 in 4K mode with an external recorder would give almost no moire, 10-bit 4:2:2, and a nice big screen for focusing and composing. Add a booster to bring it up to APS-C.

Oooh, she's a pudgy girl. Been snacking on processors and IBIS assemblies have we?

You would enter the actual focal length of the lens (or of the lens + booster as a package). Native lenses are of course labeled with this, although you don't have to enter anything for electronic native lenses, as they communicate with the body. For non-electronic native lenses (Voigtlanders, Samyang/Rokinon m4/3 lenses, etc), you would have to manually enter the lenses' stated focal length. Same for any manual glass with a plain (non-booster) adapter. For boosted lenses you would enter (lens focal length X speedbooster power), so for instance for a 50mm lens with a .71x booster you would enter 35.5mm (50mm X .71 = 35.5)- or the closest option in the IBIS menu.

Yea, a super FS5 is more of what I was picturing- still m4/3, real video camera shape, but very small for such, and bigger than the GHs... just big enough to have real controls, ergos, XLR, ND, etc. Although then you're not a whole lot bigger than the GH5 with the XLR box, so maybe it's just not worth it at that point. And the GH5/XLR combo is pretty similar to the C100 shape and layout. Just needs a rotating grip and a tilting EVF.

Photo consumers are moved by things they don't understand/really need all the time, haha. Kinda reminds me a little of this: I see no real reason for the GH5 to be a larger form factor if it can be fit into a photo-cam shape/size/weight. If Panasonic made a larger cam I would hope that it would be closer to the Varicams in ability. Like a super FS7.

@Neumann Films Ideas for standalone tests: -ISO noise- same scene/shot, locked off on a tripod is fine, just roll through the ISOs and use shutter speed to keep exposure the same. -Rolling shutter- if you could use the methodology from this thread: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?303559-Measuring-rolling-shutter-put-a-number-on-this-issue! That would be great as then we would have a fairly standardized result that we can use to compare to other cameras ourselves. -Battery rundown test- Set the cam to its most power-hungry settings (IBIS on, deep DOF and highest bitrate, AF and AE on, LCD max brightness, Wifi on, etc), and see how long the battery lasts. Maybe point it at the TV or out the window at some trees or traffic, so that there's some motion for the codec to encode.

I expect that at least a few of the reviewers that forgot to test/mention battery life had been shooting on GH4s previously, and thus were used to not having to be too concerned with battery life...

IMO the motion difference has a lot to do with the recorded format. The BlackMagics, Alexa etc all shoot to intraframe formats. The GH4 is all interframe (IPB), except for the 200mbps 1080p mode, which is bitrate-starved for intraframe and thus is a little soft. I do use it a lot for high-motion stuff, though.

I think that's the minimum we can expect, along with 4K60p being a 1:1 crop (like the GH4 4K is now). None of which would be awful, but I am still hoping for no crop, and at least 200mbps- preferably 200mbps for 30p and 300-400mbps for 60p... and I think it could happen. It seems pretty certain that 4K60p will definitely be 8-bit 4:2:0, which is again disappointing, but not the worst case.

I have a BMCC booster on my GH4 (I got a good deal on it and the XL wasn't out at the time). It presses on the shutter housing, which inhibits the shutter's motion. As a result I can't shoot photos with it, or manually white balance with it. I've been planning to sell it off and get the XL, as that's the same "strength" but clears the GH4 shutter, but with the GH5 having full-sensor 4K and IBIS, I think I'm going to get an Ultra instead. This of course isn't a direct answer to what the BMCC booster will be like on the G85, sorry. But personally I wouldn't risk it. Something else to consider is that the BMCC and BMPCC boosters have optical designs meant for Blackmagic's much thinner sensor glass. Panny and Olympus m4/3 cameras have more than twice the glass thickness over the sensor, and the XL and other m4/3 boosters are designed for this.

Noooo way will Sony give us 10bit in an A7-series. They have to protect their video cameras. 4K60, yea, sure, probably. But can their processors handle it without melting the camera? And will they squash it into 100mbps? I think so.

I find it a bit funny that you find DR super important, yet rely on auto-exposure modes.

Leeming posted in the Facebook group for the LUT that he had gotten ahold of some G85 footage, and that for the purposes of the LUT it was the same, and to use the existing G7/GH4 LUT. Which makes me skeptical of either people's claims of the newer cameras having better color, or of his testing methodology. I don't see how both can be true (new different color science and the same LUT giving identical results).

I think "6K Photo" will be less than exactly 6000 pixels wide. 5760 maybe? That's the exact same as calling 3840 pixels "4K".

Past matching the color temp, no, there shouldn't be any issues. But remember that controlling and modifying your light is just as important as the lights themselves. The Lowel lights have accessories available (or included, if you get a kit) for mounting standard diffusion, gels, softboxes, umbrellas, etc. With the cheap LEDs you might get a clip-on diffuser or color filter, but past that you're usually on your own for controlling the light.

I think it's as simple as those two examples representing the two opposite extremes, and people here want something more in the middle- a detailed image without artificial sharpening making it look gross. 6D footage has issues outside of resolution and sharpening- mainly awful moire and aliasing- and you can't really fix them.