Django

Yeah the A7RV delivers stunning stills but the video is just way too crippled to call it a proper high-end hybrid. CaNikon have it with the R3/Z8/Z9 but with Sony you gotta go spend 7K for the A1's stacked sensor to get that type of performance and you're still left with an average heat dissipation consumer body and no internal RAW! Panny doesn't do internal RAW either but at least is starting to include ProRes.

Sony seems like a bit of a step backwards for your needs. Again A7RV has cropped video, no RAW, high RS & FX3 has 12MP stills and 4K max resolution. Other than compact body/lenses you'd be compromising quite a bit for a complete system change. Nikon Z8/Z9 ticks those boxes, so does Canon R3/R5C. FF everything, internal RAW, 6K/8K, high-res stills.

I've been messing around with the A7RV and I gotta say I really love it for those 61MP stills. Insane cropping power and resolves close to medium format. However the 8K is a little misleading, its got a 1.24x crop, maxes out at 25p, low bitrate 4:2:0 and a horrible 36ms rolling shutter. Alongside overheating that mode is almost unusable. 4K also has a crop by the way. The Z8/Z9, R3/R5C blow it out of the water with no crop, internal RAW and fast read-out sensors. That being said I'm still thinking of going all-in with Sony. FX3/FX30/FX6/A7S3/A7RV.. even the ZVE1.. pretty complete compact body line-up and of course the lenses to go along with. You do have to say goodbye to RAW or high resolution video specs. Its tough because I'm still pretty invested in Canon glass and the R3/R5C/C70 ticks a lot of boxes but the closed RF mount is a concern plus I'm also tired of being split up in multiple ecosystems, just doesn't make sense.

Would love to see some Z8/Z9 (RAW) footage with some nice adapted cine/vintage glass. Biggest appeal to me keeps being that versatile Z mount.

+4K60p in h26x 10-bit 422 will overheat on any large sensor mirrorless without active cooling. So if you need unlimited recording in those settings just spend the extra $400 and get the FX30 with built-in fan etc. That said the thermals don't seem that bad, GU got +2h in 4K30p and 1h30 in 4K60p. I do like that Fuji thought of a cooling fan add-on. Sony goes for the segmentation model.

Pretty good value for $1400. Basically FX30 specs in an Alpha body with added A7RV/ZV-E1 AI chip/specs plus mechanical shutter & EVF. Thermals seem pretty decent too. For pro video I'd still probably spend the $400 extra for the pro FX body, I/O, dual card slots and fan but this is a solid APS-C hybrid. Sony's on a roll with all these camera releases!

For hobby/amateur/travel use I’d forget both those pro options and just go with the new ZV-E1: you get the same great A7S3/FX3/FX6 full frame sensor and image quality plus easy framing and AF thanks to AI chip.. for half the price of an FX3. With the money saved you can invest in quality lenses. If you like Carl Zeiss, I recommend the Batis range.

No multi custom settings is wild on a hybrid although not uncommon on most cine cams which the R5C video OS is based upon. Great that battery life was finally addressed and seems to be adequate.. for XFAVC at least! At this point I wonder if a Z8 is not a better solution for 45MP / 8K60p RAW hybrid? You loose some of the nice video assist tools and LUT support but gain a stacked sensor, ProRes options, custom settings and long battery life.

@markr041 What are your overall thoughts on the camera vs the Sony's you've been using heavily for the last few months?

double post

Just saying there exists proper Panasonic cine cameras with V-Log etc. An L-mount BMD cam would have different log and color science so not really an upgrade path to Panny users imo. I do wish/hope Panny comes out with an (L-mount) EVA-2 or something..

New N-Log Low 2.0 (ISO200) setting that eliminates noise issues from reports. The update should soon come to Z8..

This makes total sense.. L-mount is an alliance so adding a new partner only makes them stronger. BMD make cine cams with no AF, IBIS, h26x or photo specs. They are not a competitor to Leica, Panny or Sigma. BMD finally goes FF which will open up their market. L-mount finally gives them a large sensor mount with adaptability. EF lenses are easily adapted and well supported by L-mount so the transition would be easy for existing EF BMD users. This seems like a win-win for everyone. I do hope they manage to keep the built-in ND system.

Academy award winning cinematographer Greig Fraiser (Dune, Rogue One, Lion) shot his upcoming sci-fi thriller entirely on an FX3 apparently. The ZV-E1 has the same sensor, image processor, 10-bit codec, S-LOG3 & even LUT support. I'm sure we'll end up seeing incredible cinematic footage produced with it. It is certainly capable of it for sure. That being said, not to sound like a broken record but the fact the camera overheats does limit its use. So maybe not the most reliable option for pro work vs A7S3/FX3 with passive/active cooling systems. I've done work myself with overheating cameras in the past (R5,R6) so its doable but its stressful and better suited as B or C cams to be on the safe side. The ZV-E1 seems even more unreliable than those because of its ultra compact size. We know for instance that indoors it is very sensitive to ambient temperature. What the latest findings show is that air flow is key. Hence why it is better suited as a Vlog cam where you are outdoors in motion, or as a travel cam where you are generally shooting short clips outdoors. And in both cases, even if the camera overheats, no biggie, take a coffee break let it cool off. But when there is a will there is a way, rig a mini fan on it and you may have yourself indeed a budget mini FX3! Not that bizarre. No cooling = overheat. FX3/FX30/R5C/S1H have active cooling so don't overheat. Sony has not played into the resolution wars with their A7S3/FX3/FX6/ZVE1 cameras. All 12MB 1:1 4K cameras. Overheating isn't resolution related its high frame rate and high bitrate compressed 10-bit codec related. Its when these appeared that overheating started plaguing mirrorless bodies. Its also why Sigma chose not to implement internal 10-bit compressed on their ultra compact FP. Its either RAW or 8-bit.

Well let's face it, everybody likes to save money no matter your income. So when the Sony shills on YouTube are out there spinning the ZV-E1 is an A7S3/FX3 for almost half the price, eyebrows get raised. What's the catch? Well its quite simple, Sony stripped the camera to its bare bones and it overheats during long takes as result. And the shit show commences. Overheating is a controversial subject. Most people I think feel a camera past a certain price point shouldn't have such limitations. Sony did put a lot of effort into making sure this camera is identified as a VLog camera. It's not in the A7 series its ZV. And I guess that for its intended use, the camera performs to satisfaction. So why the fuss? Because price aside, there are a few cool things about the ZV-E1. It has features neither the A7S3 or the FX3 have thanks to the AI processor. The AF is really impressive, it has breathing comp etc. Also the touchscreen supports gestures etc. The camera just feels snappy and the AF doesn't skip a beat no matter what you throw at it. So in a few ways, the ZV-E1 kinda feels like an updated A7S3/FX3. And that's rather alluring, especially in the US at its price point. But that's when reality hits and you must realise its a vlog/travel C-cam intended for short takes. If that's your method of shooting, well you're in luck. If not, its probably going to be a hard pass. Its as simple as that.

No in Fuji's case the X-Trans sensor has a huge impact on IQ. It uses a unique non standard Color Filter Array that affects noise, moiré and detail resolution. It also avoids the need for an optical lowpass filter. The new processor in XS20 is what allows 6.2k open gate in 10-bit 4:2:2. The XT4 could only do up to 4K in 4:2:0. Also allows FLog2 and ProRes RAW out.

Same guy got the camera to overheat in an indoor test.. in Canada. But not in the African heat, albeit covered from direct sunlight on a windy day. He actually also did an overheat test with one of those small fans blowing right on the camera and it passed so air flow seems like the key to manage thermals. I'm still way too skeptical to drop 2699€ on something that seems to require natural or artificial ventilation to beat overheating but these findings sure are fascinating!

According to comments on the above video, someone asked a gaffer who said the whole thing was shot on FX3 and Oren Soffer said this on Twitter: "We can’t share any technical info JUST yet but promise we will spill all the beans when the film comes out! All I will say for now is just a reminder that any rando can edit IMDb and despite our efforts to contain it the info up on there isn’t accurate, so, grain of salt! ;)" Not sure why all this mystery around what was used but I sense this should make headlines if/when it is officially revealed that the whole thing was shot on the FX3.

Really not that surprising. The Q2 could already do DCI4K and the SL2 5K/4K60p/10-bit. These are not the same users as the M series. Video is a given on the Q & SL series. SL2 is the clear winner with a full cine mode that switches to shutter angle, EI ASA & even measures aperture in T-stops:

Sounds like Z8/Z9 is calling your name! I honestly don't see Pannyboy catching up with neither the sensor or such features as 8K60p RAW within the next year. Nikon AF has always been superb on stills. The burst rate is insane. Great flash integration. The tilt screen. And of course the open lens system giving you access to pretty much anything you desire.. I heard lens support was weak especially older Nikkor.. but good to know performance is on par with native Z on G lenses!

@markr041 So any overheating reports in any of your 4K60p endeavours ? Just checked the weather in Chengdu and its about to get pretty hot, good week ahead for stress test!

Well I'm very happy to see Nikon is finally back with an extremely solid flagship. Its system/mount certainly deserves it. The irony is that it sort of took Z8 to redeploy the light on Nikon, despite it being a repackaged Z9 that's been out for 2y! But it is certainly those smart adapters that are the real game changer for someone like me with multiple lens systems that isn't sure where to go next.. I still have some reserves (specs aren't everything) but GAS is high so again I need to test out a Z8/Z9 ASAP.. Also don't forget in DX mode with one push the 20-40 turns into a 30-60, and that with Hi-Res Zoom function it becomes a 40-80mm via lens ring control. How cool is that?

I've always liked the Q series. Almost traded in my M system for a Q2 when it came out as I use a 28mm summicron almost exclusively but couldn't come to grips with abandoning real rangefinder plus the Kodak CCD sensor on the M9 has such unique rendering, it's like film in contrast. This seems like a pretty incremental update, like with everything in Leica land. 8K is a bit of a surprise, on such a compact body but even Leica has to justify new models so.. No IBIS but the lens IS is actually really good, not hard to get stable video on Q2 and I'd also assume that DIS may even improve on that. Agreed on cooling though, 8K is going to have some serious time limitations I'm sure.

So I'm slowly just realising that I could adapt my EF, E-mount & Leica M glass on a Z system. And obviously F-mount duh. So basically all of the glass I own could be put to use on this one system. That's a huge friggin deal. I'm not yet sure what type of performance I'd get, especially with the EF & E-mount and I hear the FTZ adapter is kinda garbage but yeah that's a big win for Z system as far as I'm concerned.. Oh and yes, tilt screen display is the way!