Mark Romero 2

Well... the two things that stood out to me in your above elaboration are overall size and 10-bit color, which to me are totally legitimate concerns. Apologies if I am placing too much emphasis on those points. Also I know you had mentioned previously that you didn't want to blow a hole in your budget. So I guess if it were me I would be looking pretty strongly at the X-T3 and the G9 - used / refurbished if possible. Stretching for the GH5 would be tempting since around here they go for about $1,000 used with the V-LOG update. I don't know about adapting Nikon lenses for those cameras though. Be warned that a camera like the GH5 will have 108 different video parameters that you will want to adjust to your preference. Setting up my Panasonic S1 took a couple of hours, and in the middle of shoots I find myself cursing out loud and wondering why I didn't set parameter X to a custom function button / quick menu / my menu and have to dig in through the main menu to change it.

I think you make good points. The only issue is that buying a camera can "lock you in" to a certain set of compatible lenses. And then, once you have bought those lenses, you are kind of married to the system. Certainly metabones / sigma / viltrolx adapters make it easier to have affairs with other camera brands. I say this because I am shooting Panasonic L Mount now and about eight times an hour I have an existential crisis over the availability and cost of L Mount glass and wonder if it might not be better to give up being a photographer / videographer and take up painting in watercolors as a profession 😱

Good to see that you thinking of the big picture. If you can live with 1080p, and since you already shoot with Nikon and have Nikon lenses, the D750 is a good B camera... if you want to stick with Nikon to swap lenses easily. No, it isn't a video-focused camera. I don't know if Nikon has any more video focused DSLR camera. I had been shooting on some sony APS-C cameras (a6500 for 4K and a6000 for 1080p). Very detailed image for the 4K on the a6500, but it just isn't a user-friendly experience. And since you mentioned a C100 in your first post, I guess an a6500 would be going in the OPPOSITE direction of where you want to go 😞 The only other thing I can really add that might be helpful is that (personally) I am really thankful for the 10-bit color on my Panasonic S1 because i shoot in situations where it is all ambient lighting and I have to work with mixed lighting. So I am able to do more color correction with that 10-bit footage than I was ever able to do with the 8-bit footage coming out of my Sony cameras.

My opinion is that if you are actually going to do this professionally (even as a side hustle to your stills business) you are going to need TWO video cameras. sure, you can do the things you mentioned with one camera, but having two cameras could make things easier or faster, and at the very least can save your backside when the client knocks over your tripod and breaks your camera and lens (been there, done that, got the insurance check). Did you budget for lighting yet?

I didn't own that lens, but I thought it was supposed to be pretty decent from 28mm up to about 50mm, just not so good once you zoom in past 50mm.

Please People!!!! Stop saying it is going to be a good lens. My wallet can't take the pressure!!! I was really thinking of picking up a used 20-60mm (they go for around $375 used) to put on a gimbal but now this Sigma lens is putting a damper in my camper.

OK, so looking again at this, I noticed that actually I won't have to worry about the flip-out screen hitting the GIMBAL itself when panning / rotating / going in to selfie mode. So, that's a relief. The only time it might have an issue is if I mount an HDMI monitor on a side handle on the Weebill S.

If you ever decide to do any product photography (or product video) you will like the 24-105 f/4 a lot.

Had to laugh when I heard the music in the background is A Caring Friend by Bad Snacks. I use that song all the time in my real estate videos.

Fortunately, I shoot real estate and since open houses are verboten now, real estate agents and homeowners are seeing the value of quality photos and video.

Well... maybe not an RS2, but I might go for a Crane 2... either the original old-school Crane 2, or the new Crane 2 S. The one thing I liked about my a6500 is that I could use it on my original Crane 1 and put on these dual handles and use it in inverted mode, where it was much easier to use. With the Weebill S I can't really do that.

Thanks again. will look in to it on the Weebill S.

Thanks so much for the reply (and thanks everyone for letting me go off topic). Yeah, definitely redundancy. Thanks again.

Off Topic: I'm interested in what you are doing for audio for those types of interviews. I am guessing it would have to be a lav mic then???

Thanks, I will see if it can lock it somehow. The only issue is that I do NEED the ability to double tap the trigger to get the camera back to straight and level.

Thanks for sharing your experience with this, @Trek of Joy @gt3rs @scotchtape @UncleBobsPhotography I think with my weebill S the main problem would be if I accidentally press the function button three times in a row (instead of two times) which puts the gimbal in to selfie mode. So maybe spinning around the camera would cause the LCD to crash in to the extension handle . My weebill s is a bit temperamental in that it when I want to click the function button twice (to bring the camera back to straight and level), it ends up acting like I clicked it three times.

Just wait for a really cool day, and you can get a good... five or six minutes out of it before the tripod head starts melting.

Are there any real scientific tests of the actual DR of the C70? If so, can you link to them? Gerald Undone used a Xyla chart and came up with 13 stops of DR, which put it pretty much in line with an a7S 3 or a Panasonic S1 / S1H / S5. I am truly hoping that it is NOT 16 Stops of DR because I really don't want to spend all that money for one.

I don't know if you watched the video by Photo Joseph where he interviews Matt Frazer from Panasonic but the issue with a built in neutral density filter is that they would have to take out the mechanical shutter to make room for it (if they wanted to continue using the same lens mount). So, if they made a camera with a build in ND, they would need to have electronic-shutter only. Now, that might not be a bad thing, but I am guessing the sensor would require very fast read speeds. Here's a link to the interview. Worth watching if you are interested in the full frame cameras. If we are comparing first-party lenses (i.e., Actual Sony-brand lenses to actual Panasonic-brand lenses) aren't they more-or-less the same price about now? For example, I think there is only a $100 difference between the cost of the 24-105 f/4 lenses (and if you can live with the AF woes, the Lumix lens is MUCH better for video than the Sony lens, and has 1:2 macro to boot). Panasonic 85mm f/1.8 is $50 more than Sony version. The Panasonic 24-70 f/2.8 is about $100 more than the Sony version. Yes, the Panny 16-35 f/4 is $250 more than the Sony equivalent. (about $1,500 vs about $1,250... pardon my America-centric prices, everyone not in the US of A) I guess the biggest savings though is that 1) There are enough second-hand Sony lenses on the used market to reduce the price by around third off the new price if one doesn't mind buying a used lens, and 2) there are a boatload of third-party lenses at less expensive prices available for Sony. Agreed. I am sad that my seven-year-old a6000 (bought second hand for $300) and $100 kit lens focuses better than my S1 and 24-105 f/4 do. Heck, my a5100 that I bought off craigs list for $125 has better AF than my S1 😞 Well... true. Part of that has been Sony's "fault" since they had to really do something to catch up to Canon and Nikon. On the other hand, when a Panasonic lens DOES focus, it has one of the most beautiful transitions in to focus one can imagine. Meaning, it is slow but smooth, while I find Sony AF fast but jarring. Probably a lot of that has to do with the amount of focus breathing I have seen on most Sony lenses, plus it appears to my eyes that the AF on Panasonic lenses tends to ease in to focus. If the a7 IV comes out and the only thing it offered (above the a7 III) was 10-bit 4:2:2 4K at 30p and 60p, I would probably switch from Panny to Sony and not really regret it.

The Af is substandard compared to other cameras, no doubt about that. And full frame is indeed where the other competitors are headed. But for hybrid shooting, the S-Series of cameras are really good. I am really impressed by VLOG at ISO 4000. The S1H has 6K internal, and that is coming to the S1 in the next firmware update (this spring?!?!?!) The Panasonic lenses (although there aren't that many of them) are great for shooting video (as long as you get things in focus). Minimal focus breathing, near parfocal performance on the zooms, linear focus, adjustable amount of focus throw. Maybe no one cares about that but people like me. Which is a way of saying, yes, the full frame cameras need to be significantly better to grab a larger part of the market. The thing is, for m43 (and for Panasonic in particular), they really are only missing: 1) Great AF 2) Better Low-light / high iso 3) Better dynamic range / lattitude 4) More AI features??? 5) 6K internal? 6) ProRes Raw over HDMI So they are going to be dependent on what Sony or any other chip fabricator comes up with. (An m43 sensor with dual gain optimization like the Canon C70 has would be great and would take care of #2 and #3 above).

Hopefully @IronFilm will chime in on the audio side of things. But yeah, if you just want to get them ONE mic / something simple, then getting a shotgun mic might be ok to start them out. They will have to learn when to use it on camera (when vlogging, mostly), when to boom it (and how to boom it), and when to unplug it and just rely on the camera's in-body mics. Personal Hall of Shame Moment: I once tried to record a concert with a shotgun mic. It was not pretty.

What exactly are they going to be filming? Do they need 4K? How important will AF be? Are you sure a shotgun mic is going to be the right choice for them? (Either they will need to be vlogging with the camera at arm's length, or they will need the shotgun mic to be boomed within 2 feet of the person talking). Maybe a lav mic (or several lav mics) will work better for their needs. BTW: I find that INDOORS I have better luck recording decent audio using a Cardioid / Hyper-Cardioid mic than a shotgun mic (again, boomed over talent). Outdoors, the other way around.

To anyone who has experience using Flip-Out screen cameras on a gimbal, do you actually flip the screen out and use it for things like touch focus and to adjust settings? Or does using it on a gimbal necessitate that you keep the screen in against the body? Thinking of getting an S5 to use on my Weebill S, but have concerns about the LCD screen banging in to the motors, or sticking out to far to the side that it becomes hard to balance the roll access. Since I normally shoot closer to waist-level height, rather than eye-level height, and since the S5 doesn't have a top LED display, would be difficult to see the settings as well. Thanks in advance.

Good to know. The impression I got from others was that it was really good in general, but that makes sense because that was a photography-centric forum.

Using EF lenses on Gen 3 or Gen 4 sony bodies (a7 III, a7R III, a7R IV, a9 II, possibly original a9), many Canon EF lenses are rumored to focus better on the MC-1 on Sony bodies than on some of the Canon bodies (like 5D, 5D II, 5D III). At least, that is what some sony users who switched over from canon claim.