newfoundmass

It might not be as good as Sony's but it's very good and will get better in firmware (it already has, according to The Hybrid Shooter.) No camera's auto focus is perfect, not even Sony. In Gerald's NAB video released yesterday there were multiple times when the video was out of focus and they were using an FX30.

It really is a decent little mic. I think it'll serve you well, and you can tweak it to make it sound better.

The Panasonic will be better in low light than either of these. And I still find Sony colors to be meh. But you really can't go wrong with any of these.

Smallrig 450d light is on sale for $699 today at B&H. That's a great deal https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1729862-REG/smallrig_3970_rc350b_cob_bi_color_led.html

The X-H2S would be a good option if you don't want to have to sell and buy all new lenses. If you don't mind changing systems then the S5ii is, in my opinion, the most compelling camera in that price range for what you're looking to do. It has good autofocus and the best stabilization of the bunch. You can't beat Sony's lens selection though. L-mount is catching up but still is a bit behind.

Posts like this are why I love this forum. Between all of us we have such a wide range of gear that there's a good chance someone has/has experience with something! I do think, money (and quality!) wise, it was probably better to just buy a bigger bag haha but the Tascam is decent for something you can get for well under $100 used (often times in barely used condition.) I think I paid maybe $120 total for both of mine? I don't tweak them a ton, because honestly I'm just using them to get a decentish stereo sound of the crowd from multiple directions and they're going into an audio mix that has three other audio sources in addition to the two stereo ones. The built in mics just don't cut it, and shotgun mics don't provide any immersiveness (though are good to hear blows connecting.) I could most definitely set up a better system overall with all the gear I have, but I'm just one man, so I just do the best I can without driving myself too crazy!

Free To Use Sounds is such a great channel. Really nice guy too that offers a lot of his sounds for free! Buying a slightly bigger bag was probably the right choice, haha

I hope to find someone that loves me as much as markr041 loves Sony cameras.

I didn't film the above examples, but I assume they're better than what I can provide! All my online examples feature heavily mixed audio from multiple cameras (one of which is a shotgun mic) with commentary/voice overs and music. I will go through my raw footage and see if I can get some good examples though! The Sennheiser I'm sure produces a better sound overall sound but for under $100 these blew away the internal microphones, and accomplished what I needed them to!

I've found it's pretty decent personally! I was scared because all the reviews for it were OLD and on DSLRs with crappy preamps, or featured people trying to use it as a vlogging mic, but I used it on my GH5 and now one of my S5s and I think it does a pretty good job. I've found it translates the arena sound pretty well, which is what I wanted.

Add a bracket to move the hotshoe towards the side maybe?

You should be able to find one for cheap! I stole that idea from @Mattias Burling when I was filming with the OG Pocket!

The Sennheiser is probably better overall, but I use two Tascam TM-2X Stereo XY Condenser Microphones for my pro-wrestling work and I'm happy with them! Aside from the price, I like them because they're compact, which is a real plus when around a wrestling ring and filming through the ring ropes! I've also used a Zoom H1 as a mic hotshoed to my camera before with good results!

I'm still rocking the Rode Micro and am quite happy with it!

I'm not trying to lecture you, so forgive me if it comes off that way, but I don't know that you're getting the point that I was trying to make. How do you think we used to film in a low light situation when running and gunning with cameras that were infinitely worse at it than even a modern M43 camera? As @IronFilm said, the FX30 is miles ahead of what we had available to us back then, but people were still able to run and gun with those cameras in low light situations because we knew how to get around that limitation. Back then though we didn't have the luxury of owning LED pocket lights that cost under $100 and could easily be added to the camera's hot shoe. Is the hassle of carrying a small Aperture light when you need it really worth spending more on a FX3/A7Siii for those low light situations? For some I guess it is? Just seems silly to me.

Advancements in technology are great, but people are becoming slaves to it. Lets say for arguments sake the FX30 has very poor low light performance (it doesn't) but it fits your needs perfectly otherwise. What do you do? Decide to keep looking/wait until the "right" camera comes along, or do you buy it because it's the best overall option and work around it's low light performance by carrying a small light or two? I've been doing video for 25 years, since I was 13 years old. One of the first things I learned was how to adapt and get around limitations. To me that's a big part of what we as videographers and filmmakers do. We are problem solvers! So yeah, when seeing people complain about a camera's lowlight performance because it can't see in the dark or gets grainy at ISO 3200 it makes some of us start asking "what are we doing here?!" There are 100s of affordable little lights that can easily fit into any bag. Grab a few of them and just start shooting!

Yeah, it's yet another example of how spoiled we are. I came from the world of camcorders, so people talking about M43 being terrible in low light made me chuckle.

Being a Sony apologist isn't particularly professional, either. You've argued that the A7siii isn't meant for professionals, even though the very first thing Sony said in it's marketing material was how this camera is for "movie makers." You've then faulted people for not immediately selling their A7siii and buying the FX3, because apparently that's a reasonable thing to expect people to do less than a year after they dropped $3500 on the A7siii. Frankly it's pretty ridiculous for Sony to have released the FX3 in the first place just six or so months after the A7siii, given it was pretty much the same camera in a different body, but that's a debate for another day. And now you're faulting folks, many who use the camera professionally, for feeling burnt because they dare "whine" about features being withheld from their flagship cameras but not entry level ones even though it could be easily done in a firmware update. This is silly. @Andrew Reid you should check to see if his IP address is located at one of Sony's headquarters! 😉

People can repeat that until they're blue in the face but it won't suddenly make it true.

It's kind of gimmicky, but I kinda like the different colors. They're fun.

Yeah JCC has always had decent gear. I'll probably purchase this with the summer coming, if only to shade my pale ass a little (there's a bigger version available!) From the sun!

Is that a real product? Edit: it is, I'll be damned!

I'm not sure it has been confirmed either way. I heard a few say it was 1080p only, but others didn't mention that at all

I took would not be opposed to this. I do hope more of these companies start making L-mount versions now that the system has seen an increase in interest.