MrSMW

It had been on my ‘list’ since it came out and the S1H but for me, the S1 was and still is, a bit bigger than I’d like and the S1H more spec than I need and compared with the S5...well I can get 2x S5’s for the same money, which is good because I need 3 in total! But not yet...with 6 months still to my season starts, absolutely zero need for me to spend on anything I don’t need. Arguably, I don’t ‘need’ the 85mm any time soon but actually yes I do as I both want to be up to speed when wedding season does restart and I do have at least 3 commercial projects that have been suspended due to Lockdown 2. I can do all my commercial projects with a single body and none of them are critical if my single S5 turned into a ball of flame. But it’s not a Canon so I’m not expecting it to do so. The R6 was only a third or fourth place contender for me, various niggles... The Z6ii it was the lack of 10bit. I don’t shoot log and not so much wiggle room with 8 if I cock it up or scenario is tricky lighting. The Sony just a bit pricey for my needs. 3x bodies, even with Sigma primes would still have doubled my total spend for basically ‘the same thing’ and for my hybrid needs, that 12mp was on my mind. XT4 is so close for me and it’s really only lenses that made me move from Fuji. The bottom line is the S5 simply ticks more of my boxes than anything else out there and has less drawbacks. In fact really only has one small Q and that’s how that AF is going to play at a real wedding, heat of the moment. Pretty sure it will be fine though.

Nah, my only wedding this year was 29th July and the other 24 either got cancelled or moved to 2021. Shot 3 mini promo type commercial jobs though and I personally thought the results were excellent. As did the clients but I’m speaking subjectively. Excellent compared to my previous workhorse of XT3 which I was not unhappy with (but needed ‘more’ in various departments hence the move to Panny). And also excellent in that I was still learning the camera and playing with settings on each job. Plus a final excellent in that I was ‘only’ using the 20-60mm kit lens and all 3 jobs were low light so I can already imagine what the f1.8 primes are going to be like. As in perfect. Still waiting on my Sigma 45mm f2.8 though it’s on it’s way (and have preordered the 85mm f1.8) plus waiting delivery for the Smallrig L bracket to give the body an extra 1/2 inch or so of depth. Oh and the Freewell 2-5 VND. I still think it’s the pick of the bunch, at least for my needs vs; XT4, R6, Z6ii and A7Siii. But as I keep saying, the ONLY real test will be my first wedding of the year in April next year because nothing is like the real thing, - it just cannot be replicated.

Shit, don't look at my most recent wedding video on-line 😂

Also there is some tentacled thing from Germany but it’s about twice the price. I have just been looking at various options to replace my current set up based on single Wireless Go with 3x Sony pocket recorders with either lav mics or Rode micros on stands. But had drop out issues and don’t trust the Go, have had folks pull out lav mics at weddings plus clipping. These F2’s look really good (for my needs) so will probably get a trio next Spring.

I hear ya @Mark Romero 2 I tried it once, but then had to take a cold shower and scrub myself with carbolic soap and have never confessed in public. Before today.

Yes, speed ramping or anything and everything like that is a bit gimmicky for my tastes, but as I said previously, I posted not so much to hold this up as the finest piece of filmmaking, but rather at least a whole lot more effort than some of the other stuff out there, ie, using the tool rather than just holding it and babbling about it. I watched something this morning (I am blaming being back in lockdown boredom) where the guy made so many errors it was clear he had no idea about videography never mind the actual camera. But I digress... I knew it was .265 and expected it not to play in Premiere on my machine as I had to batch convert to prores with my previous XT3. But not so, works with zero hiccups other than the occasional ones that are entirely Premiere having one of it’s fits. No idea why that would be...but then I am the last person to ask technical questions of.

Good stuff, enjoyed the ramble 😀

Had one for a short time this Spring/Summer after I decided I really needed more than my phone as a personal camera. Decent range, good for stills in good light, didn’t use it for video as f4 on APSC is not really my thing, especially when I had the Sigma 18-35mm, Tamron 45 and 85mm all f1.8’s.

I wouldn't pay anything he says much (serious) attention. He's a funny guy (mostly, it's getting a bit tiresome though now) but has little clue what he's actually doing...though to be fair, he is learning on the job as he goes along and like anyone, has to improve as a result. But I wouldn't buy or not buy anything on one of his 'reviews'!

I posted 'Soul of Tokyo' more as an example of a filmmakers 'review' as in he actually went out and shot a shit ton of material and made a film with it. And not just shot it, but scripted it first so there was intent with most if not all of it. Compared with 99 other YouTube reviews which are basically; un-box in purple/blue back-lit room wearing a baseball cap backwards because that's what someone with the initials P.M. does. Or used to do. Quote specs. Go outside and wave it about without even trying to fine-tune any settings. Say the AF is shit (because you have to by international law), then put it back in the box and return to sender before making your next bit of 'content'. Just had a look at Russell's (above) stuff and it's OK. The only 'issue' I have with it is the same issue I have with so many others work is that they take a profile, destroy it and then add a heavy-handed LUT back on top that takes the colours too far when IMO, a subtle tweak of the profile SOOC seems so much nicer to me. I think it's because some people just feel they need to fiddle just because. Not knocking the guy, I looked at some of his work and longer stuff on his website and liked a lot of it.

I think they are all decent. In fact, more than that, they are all exceptional as in capable of delivering exceptional results. But no single camera (yet) at everything and that is the part I struggle with. Some are so close, but... Unless of course the 'perfect' camera does now exist for anyone and probably in a lot of cases, especially non-professional, many are probably being too picky. Some of what is perceived as camera companies 'holding back' is in some ways understandable. Take Canon for instance, - the R5 deliberately has overheating issue in order to protect the C70 which does not have IBIS so it steals less sales of the R5. Sony have presumably kept the A7Siii at 12mp because when the A7iv comes out... But why Nikon haven't gone 10 bit internal and Panny have not gone phase AF are mysteries to me. And then there are all these little niggles such as why can't the Canon's write to two card slots when others can and similar small but fundamental things. The bottom line is I could make any of them work but it's somewhat frustrating that there seems to be 1 thing each fail at for no reason that makes sense to us, the purchasers. Anyway, I have made my Panasonic bed. I'm going to go and lie in it 😬

Everything is a matter of opinion, but on one hand you have dozens of 'reviewers/content creators' unboxing a product before (sometimes) going outside and waving it about...and then you have filmmakers: Entirely shot on the S5 with the 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 and the 85mm f1.8 YouTube won't do it justice...

I considered it. Seriously considered it... It had 2 flaws for me vs 1 for the Panny S5. Stellar AF but 12mp stills vs less able AF but 24mp stills. I can buy 2.5 x S5 bodies for the price of 1 single A7Siii’s and I need 3 bodies for my work. Best video-centric DSLR like mirrorless? The Sony probably is, but hybrid? Probably not. I don’t think there is a ‘best’ hybrid right now, just some options that have less compromises or may suit you better than others. I suspect though, that when the A7iv trots along, there will be a near-zero compromise hybrid. Unless they push the price up compared with the current model.

Respectfully, it’s not. The lens is just one part of the equation. You can put great glass on a shit camera and it’s still a shit camera just as a shit lens on a great camera is still a shit lens. A great photographer with an average camera will always out-shoot a complete muppet with uber-expensive kit. I will put skills before kit every time. But phones, some of them are looking a bit good and I’m one of those people that went to just using my phone over a camera...but gone back to camera despite the ‘inconvenience’. Can’t deny the capability of some phones these days in the right hands however. There’s some great stuff in another thread on this forum.

S5 has APSC and pixel:pixel

Ah. Maybe if a more mainstream manufacturer tried the outcome might be different. I have always quite fancied a high end phone with lens attachment and grip etc, but then the cost wasn't that different from am equally capable compact which in itself, is more convenient. But it's an inevitable fact that tech in phones is closing the gap on 'large glass' camera/lenses so the 'answer' for the industry is on the skills side, - being able to offer something that tech cannot compensate for.

The camera industry should respond by having phone tech built into the camera. I have always thought that we are heading towards one multipurpose device so the above comment is not that ridiculous.

Taking it even further... A: one body + one lens to practice with until you get close to your first job and then...and only then... B: buy another identical body (so there is no learning curve) and a second lens so you can do the work. Then there is the rest of it; audio, lighting, tripod, mono, gimbal if that’s your thing, etc. But right now, not wishing to discourage anyone, it’s not the best time to be trying to start out in this industry for sure.

Indeed. Blowing 10k on just a body for weddings is overkill. By a massive amount. 10k for all bodies and lenses max, but it can easily be done for under 5k. I’m in the process of new kit from scratch and total budget for video is under 5k and I shoot an average 25-30 of the things per annum with 25 already booked in for 2020. Especially with the uncertainty in the world right now of the entire industry, blowing 10k on a body with I presume no bookings, is nuts. Apologies OP if your scenario is anything different to that, but it’s how I read it. More like it!

You are not the only one @Danyyyel I had hoped the Z6ii was going to be the one for my hybrid needs (with S5 purely for video) and it would be purely for stills, but it turns out the S5 is better for all my needs; pure video, pure stills and hybrid, so happy days.

There’s a very nice review out by Richard Wong which confirms and exceeds even everything I hoped it would be. Pics look excellent and all the characteristics I look for in a stills lens and for video, as expected. Bodes very well for what is to come...but pity the world is as it is right now.

Just want to see some real world results now otherwise looks good. And they were a day early on the announcement!

Canon C70 + the 0.71x adapter and pairing of Tamron 17-28 and 28-75 f2.8 lenses ...leaves enough room for an R6 with lens for hybrid use 🙂 I ain't got 10k to spend however 😞

Re. the AF which is over-criticized and mainly by people re-reporting opinion not based on actual use or not maximizing it’s performance, well there are a few ‘tricks’. OK, no one should have to resort to ‘tricks’ to make something work and ‘tricks’ is probably the wrong term, but the following all help improve AF. 1: Use native glass, ie, Panasonic not Sigma or Leica. I am especially looking forward to the 35 and 85 primes in this regard. 2: Use 4K 50/60p if possible. I do as a default anyway. 3: Try and avoid using log if possible as more contrasty profiles work better. I am still deciding between tweaked Natural, Cine D and Like 709. For my first 3 jobs, I used Natural and never use log anyway. 4: Tweak the AF settings. I am currently using -3 speed and -1 sensitivity, though may try upping the speed slightly. 5: AF type such as tracking, face, single point etc might make a difference but too early for me to judge and for my first 3 jobs, I flipped between single and tracking and manual as all 3 jobs were people working but more hands than faces. For a wedding, I will definitely go face, but with none since July and nothing until April, I can’t test and know for sure as nothing compares to a real wedding. Nothing!

Yes, back to heel-kicking 🤪 I am currently flipping between strimming in my garden between rain showers, finishing the painting of my office finally after a year of just not looking at it and browsing rubbish on-line. And Winter is coming as Ned Bean once said...