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The Sony A7M3, because it not only has decent video, it also has great photography capability. Before that, I am using GH5 with speed-booster. My favorite mirrorless setup by far. Image quality wise, I think the BMPCC4K is a little bit better but the GH5 is still very impressive. However, as I am doing more photos than videos nowadays, I have to switch back to the Sony. I started doing paid jobs with the Sony A7S so I guess the Sony system is like home to me. Even now I am thinking about getting an used Sony FS700 for shooting A Roll for performances.

I think Sony has been improving on the color science quite a lot, but the white balance system is still far from accurate or pleasing. Even after doing an in-camera manual white balance, the white balance is often still a little off. And the problem worsens when in mixed lighting.

Well it is next to impossible to buy Panasonic batteries here. And the rental store only has the single stock battery ?. Should have asked before I placed the order. Without the V-mount battery and the plate, it is very light indeed. And the image quality are so good. Sadly the rental store had sold it.

Yeah. Adobe still has the most market share. Here in Hong Kong, very few actually knows any video editing software other than Premiere. There are so many complaints but not many people actually switch to other software. I guess once you invested so much in a software and its workflow, it is hard to switch.

Yes, the Neumann M149 is for recording vocals in our little home studio. My girlfriend has been wanting to get this mic for a few years. Seriously, for $6499 I can even get a Tube-Tech CL 1B Compressor, a nicer addition to the home studio IMO. But we are not doing it professionally, so it is hard to pull the trigger. The appearances matter phenomenon is really strong in Hong Kong. I guess people are so used to the images of cinema cameras and TV Cameras that they think anything smaller is not impressive enough for them. A Sony FS700 and an external monitor is like a perfect combo for me. For shooting A Roll for performances, it is more than adequate. As for B Roll, mirrorless is so much better. Much lighter and more mobile. I've shot a charity event using an EVA-1 with a big V-mount battery, mostly handheld, for ten hours. My client was impressed, I was not ?.

I suppose I was wrong. I learned video editing with Premiere, so I actually think it is great for learning because it has great functionality and really intuitive interface. But the performance and the lack of improvement, as well as the paid monthly model killed it for me. Once I switched to Capture One from Lightroom, there is no reason I keep paying them anymore.

Looks very impressive! I can't believe Canon actually allows RAW recording in their non-cinema line. And as long as there is Canon Log and DPAF, I will be very happy. Oh, wait, it's $6499. Can't afford ?. With this money I can get a proper video camera. I'm looking at an used Sony FS700. It is quite cheap on eBay now. It also looks very massive and bulky which my clients always like. I can even get a new EVA-1 or C200. I can buy lenses. I can buy pro audio equipment (a neumann M149 will be very nice). Or I can pay rents for a few months. I guess I'm just not professional enough to own this kind of camera. I can see why this can be considered as one of the best hybrid camera, but I don't think mirrorless like A7R4, SH1, Z7 or even XT3 are much inferior to it to justify the price difference.

IMO, Premiere is the easiest to learn and very powerful. But performance wise, I think it is not as good as the others. I may be wrong though. Resolve used to be purely for color grading. However, the editing functionality is very good now. And it is cheap! Even the paid version is not that expensive. I am currently learning FCPX because I don't want to pay Adobe anymore. It is very fast on Mac OS, so I think it will be a good choice for you as well. AVID seems to be the most professional one. I have not had any experience with the video editing software of the company. I have only used its audio workstation software, Pro tools, which is amazing. I believe it is also considered the industry standard.

The external monitor does help a little bit, IMO. Less compression artifacts due to better codec. Sometimes shooting SLog2 or Slog3 will have weird banding which disappears when using an external recorder. However, this is very minor improvement. Ultimately, it still exports 8 bit signal only. If you really wish to do heavy color grading, just remember this is still a 8 bit camera even with an external monitor. Smallrig makes some of the best cages for cameras, including the A7M3. The company also offers many accessories. Pretty much anything you need to make a good camera rig. As for power, any V-mount plate is fine but you have to watch out and make sure it does have the correct power outputs for your camera and monitor. Hope this helps?.

I am probably too late for the discussion. Anyways, I think both Slog2 and HLG can give excellent result. Both have very good dynamic range and decent color (this depends on personal preferences, of course). I used to struggle with color correcting SLog2 footage, but then I found the Color Space Transform tool in Resolve. Normally, I will simply transform the gamma and color space to Rec. 709 and start to do minor adjustments. It is much easier this way, IMO. I don't even need a LUT. Here are some of my old footage using the A7S2. I had forgotten to bring the ND filter so these were way way overexposed. Still, with a few clicks of buttons, I've got usable results. My girlfriend was happy with it, at least.

If we are talking about workhorse gear, I'll choose the Sony A7M3. It does everything well enough which is important because I do both photography and videography. For photos, it is very very good. Not quite like the D850 but good enough for my professional work (event and performance). The video codec is decent enough and the color is not too bad. And once you are used to color grading the footage, the process becomes much easier and faster. All in all, exceptional camera which is good for almost anything. However, if it is about fun, my choice will be the Canon EOS M. I brought it really cheap during the $200 challenge. In my opinion, it has even better color than the current Canons. The white balance simply works. The codec is quite decent actually and held up much better than I had expected. But I will not use it for professional work, probably, but who knows?

The video isn't bad to be honest. The location looks very beautiful and some of the shots are quite interesting. The color maybe a little too saturated but this is just personal preference. Some of the shots have too fast of a shutter speed. Of course there are things that can be improved. Who can say their video is so perfect that nothing can be improved on?

Sounds like a very fun challenge. Is there a restriction on which camera body to use?

Thank you! It's crazy two of my favorites in terms of image quality are shot with a GH1. Now I really want to get one to try myself ?! The image looks so nice and smooth. @kyeThanks! The codec on the EOS M is better than I had expected. I only did some minor grading but the image responds really well. The only thing that I am not that happy with is dynamic range. Guess I am spoiled by shooting everything in log the past few years ?.

WOW! I never thought it would be a Lumix G6. The color is really amazing. And of course the cinematography is really on point. Your video is one of my favorite! I actually thought your camera is a GH2. But now I see even the GH1 and a kit lens can produce very good image. I think I even voted your video as the best image quality ?. And congrats to everyone else. I was having tons of fun reading the reveals. @leslie Who would've have thought of using a webcam? Let alone with an anamorphic adapter ?? Maybe I should use my girlfriend's 4K webcam next time. @kyeThe before and after is simply amazing. Your videos really show the importance of editing. Basically turn a AU $17 action camera footage into something very stylish. @anax276Your work makes me want to get an Olympus E-M5 just to test it out. Great image quality. The color is very good. I thought you must have done some grading.

Looks like I can keep my camera! ? Congrats to the winner! And to others as well. You guys are all amazing. My setup is a Canon EOS M and a 7Artisans 25mm F1.8. I got the EOS M in a local store in Hong Kong. It costs me HKD $680, so bascially USD $86. Of course it is a used camera but I don't think the original owner used it much. As for the lens, I brought it from my friend. It is HKD $400, so about USD $ 50. It is really amazing that one can buy such a capable setup in under $150 US dollars! The moment I picked this camera up I fell in love with it. Even though it doesn't have the best ergonomics, I just want to shoot something with it immediately. And the colors is great. The auto white balance is actually really accurate. I would say even better than the other Canon cameras I have used! While the 1080P is quite soft, in my opinion, it looks more vintage than cheap. That are plenty of details. I don't personally like overly sharp image anyway. The lens is a manual prime lens but that isn't a problem. The focus ring is quite smooth. The build quality is nice enough. The vignette is very pronounced but I think it looks good so that doesn't bother me at all. At first I was planning to do a simple and low budget "music video". But due to some horrific things happening in Hong Kong, I didn't have the time and opportunity to do it. So I have to use the footage I shoot during a trip to Disneyland with my girlfriend and her friend. That was my very first time using the camera. My biggest challenge is that the EOS M does not have focus peaking. My eyes are quite bad. I need to rely on focus peaking to manual focus. That's why I missed my focus quite a lot in the video ?. Other than that I find this setup really easy to use. I shoot the whole video handheld. 1080P 24P. I even use auto white balance exclusively and it just works. I did a little bit of color grading and some stabilization in post (only for those panning shots). Many people buy the EOS M to use it with Magic Lantern. But for me, even without the Magic Lantern, the camera still works very well, even in 2019. It just becomes my new favorite!

Voted. I am really looking forward to the reveal part! ? Can't wait to see what kind of camera and lens were used to shot all these beautiful videos (except mine, probably)!

As a filmmaker it is natural for you to rather play with film-making ideas than doing marketing. Heck, I was a marketing student at university, had very good scores for all marketing related classes, and my project was approved and put to use by ACTUAL CLIENT, yet I also hate doing marketing very much. Especially the social media thing. That's why there are professionals out there to help you fulfill your marketing need for the film. More often than not, they are going to do a much better job than most of us. Of course their service is not for free. So the cost for hiring marketing agency should be considered in the planning process. That said, your content is really good and the overall package is quite solid as well. The pictures in your IG is very good. The texts are quite decent as well. Your biggest problem is in your hashtag. Hashtag in Instagram is sort of like a keyword in the index of a book. People look for a particular keyword and that keyword in the index takes them to your content. So, if that user has already known your film, of course they can reach to you by using hashtag like: #flyingfuranimalrescuedocumentary. However if he had never heard of you but is interested in dog rescue, they are going to search for keywords such as: #dogrescue, #animalrescue...etc. Instead of using hashtag that are very specific about YOUR documentary, try use hashtag that are specific for the TOPIC of your documentary. As a dog lover and videographer, I wish you good luck and success!

IMO, the first shot you grade is quite good. The one graded by your client is warm and saturated so I can see what he wants, but it is a little bit too orange. The sky is great but the skin tone is quite unnatural. The second shot is too dull and dark. You can just up the mid tone a bit and it will look so much better. The one by your client is again too orange. Sometimes it is best ask for what the client wants at first. Some people have strong opinion on this matter. If your client wants to have this kind of color grade, just give it to him, unless it just look too awful that it will damage your reputation.

The dogs are super cute! So you should show them more. And you should know about your target audience which would probably mainly consist of dog lovers like me. For the Instagram, try to use hashtags related to dogs and even better, the breed of the dog in the picture. Some people just like certain dogs better. And they will look for specific breeds they really like. Use a few general hashtags and then a few more specific one. For example, #dogofinstagram, #dogoftheday, #cutedog, #dogrescue, #animalrescue...etc. You get the point. The good thing about Instagram is that you can see how popular is that hashtag. So use the popular ones. Your contents are great. Your target audience would love it! The only problem is that they had not heard of you. You just need to reach them. I assume that video isn't the trailer. But the trailer should be easily accessible for any new potential audience. The fact that one may be really interested in your documentary but couldn't find the proper trailer to have a look could mean you just lost a potential customer.

I am really excited! Can't wait to see what kind of cheap camera you guys can get under $200. The reveal will be epic. And hopefully I won't lose my new camera ?.

Thank you very much. I shoot stage performances quite often. Of course most of them are just children or students performing, but I still want to get good photos or videos for them. I always find shooting mixed lighting or weird lighting (like pure red, green) very challenging.

I actually think the peaking in my GH5 is very good. Maybe it is a personal thing. I find the peaking in the Sony cameras too pronounce. If you shot at a higher f-stop, more than likely the peaking is going to be all over the image. Using monochrome definitely helps. When I am using my SmallHD monitor, I always have a page where it is monochrome and has only peaking. So much easier to see the lines.

Thanks. Maybe it's just nostalgic but I really like this camera even though it lacks tons of features that I can't live without ?. It reminds me of my very first camera and the first video my friends and I made back at 2006. Oh the good old days when 720P was considered as cutting edge technology ?. Thank you. I nearly got assaulted. Thank god I went home 15 mins earlier that night! And my girlfriend decided she was going to be lazy that night and not walk the dogs. One of the victims was attacked at the place we usually walk our dogs ?. The camera is just 1080P. I tried to shoot for more dynamic range but it is no match for our modern cameras. But the colour rendition is surprisingly good ?.

Yeah. And I used to BELIEVE every videographer who works professionally, albeit only as part-time, has decent manual focusing skills. Now I know this is not true, at least in Hong Kong. ? I didn't get paid at all for that gig. $1500 USD (approximately) gone. But this is my bad really.