FHDcrew

$3,000 being entry-level is crazy...the A7V is a beast but so is every single camera out right now haha. Honestly the GH7 or used G9II is whats tempting me at this point if I were going to upgrade. I'd take the smaller sensor for crazy IBIS, tons of features and great IQ that punches above what people expect from MFT. Lowlight would be fine with a sigma 18-35 and metabones 0.64 lol. But that's a totally different topic...back to the A7V. I just don't like how expensive cameras are now; seems every new model is crazy in price. Nikon are the outliers with incredibly competitive pricing. Sony not having Open Gate here is very lame. Yes you don't need Open Gate, yes the A7V is still a beast, its just that every camera is a beast right now. I could buy a 5 year old A7SIII on eBay for $2,400 USD and never need better in my life...and we had this camera 5 years ago. The fact that the A7V doesn't give me a dramatic reason why I'd want it over the 5 year old A7SIII or even the A7IV which as previously said will become cheaper...says a lot.

Nice!! Good call having that HDMI clamp by the way!

Definitely what I will consider, or even the Z5II once it starts getting cheaper on the used market.

Same…one of my most used lenses for my Z6, an old Nikon 17-35 2.8, is not weather sealed lol, but there’s the 5% of times where it’d be nice for the body to be weather sealed.

Yep...that's my problem. I really want this to be my a-cam, but it only truly makes sense as a b-cam. Yes, it could be an a-cam. Heck, none of the blackmagic bodies are weather sealed and tons of people use them as a-cams. But something about the S9 just doesn't make me love it as an A-Cam. Now ironically, my Z6 + Ninja is technically not weather sealed because the Ninja V clearly is not water-protected, but at least the Z6 body is, so if needed I can strip it down and the body will survive. And the Z6 image still kicks butt. 10 bit NLOG below, skin tones came out great.

Final update, selling both my S9 and Canon R7 (been trying to sell it for a bit), and am reverting back to my OG Nikon Z6 that I’ve used the past 4 years. Really does all I need, 10 bit to the ninja just as good as anything else. And I need to put money toward other things right now lol Sometimes it’s not until you spontaneously buy new gear that you realized what you had before was really all you needed and you just need to keep creating more content lol. That’s how I feel right now haha But still, the S9 is great. I don’t love it as an a-cam cause of the stupid rear dial, but great camera nonetheless.

Decided I am selling my S9...I know. It's a killer camera. I realized I want something more durable as my a-cam. I got it for a killer deal, but that also just makes it all the more easy to sell as I am pricing it low at around $900 WITH the Smallrig cage. After further thought, I want a camera that is weather sealed, and reports about the rear dial going out (it feels soooo cheap) do not give me the most ocnfidence.)

I actually mean Andrew’s profile. I downloaded it so have a copy. I didn’t love the Phantom LUT; used neutral on my friend’s FX3 footage. IDK, he wants a very clean white grade which is great, but the skin tends to lean heavy magenta which I need to correct for. My personal work is a lot more stylized so maybe it would look better in that context.

I’ll have to give this a try on my S9 for an upcoming shoot! Will let you know my thoughts.

Had one of my first intense shoots with the S9; this was a concert with a well-known rapper in the Christian Music scene. Used the Panasonic S9 with my Sigma 18-35 (haven't sold it yet). So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenominal and noise performance isnt bad. I filmed using the 3.3k 4:3 mode which is lovely and allowed me to really easy make a 9:16 edit while still framing for 16:9 or 2:35:1 as well. It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase. I am content with this mode so don't have a massive urge to sell my Sigma 18-35 and get proper full frame glass. Eventually i will though. Double aspect ratio markers on the S9 is sweet; I had a 2:35:1 AND 9:16 aspect ratio marker going at once making framing for both mediums so easy. IBIS is so good; I filmed 90% with e-stabilization set to high; this did crop pretty heavy but you forget about it when shooting, and the performance was so good I rarely had to post-stabilize and could easily replicate gimbal tracking shots with a heel-toe walk and holding the camera a bit loosely. The cage and hand-grip definitley helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on. I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip. Other notes: Battery life is great. Only used two batteries for the entire shoot filming multiple concerts over a few hours. Didnt' even fully run through the second. Lack of viewfinder is not a dealbreaker for me as I only do video; screen could use to be a bit brighter but still usable in direct sunlight. The rear dial feels so cheap; you can easily nudge it half-way between its click points. I don't like it. At least it's very functional. I do find the function button placements to be good, and i can efficiently change settings. A joystick would have been cool. Lack of hot-shoe a non-issue for me as I am 98% video. If I really need it I can whip out my Nikon Z6 for photo work. Camera never overheated once, and it was a very hot day. Definitely love this camera. I do see myself picking up an S5 II on ebay down the line, but I don't see myself ever needing anything better; just would like weather sealing and a more robust build. But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine. Given that I paid $860, its easy to overlook the flaws of this camera.

Camera is in my hands. Feels a lot more premium with the cage. Good way to beef it up as an a-cam without feeling like a huge rig. My weird plan was to rock the sigma 18-35…i already own it and it covers 24-35mm roughly on full frame. But the darn viltrox EF to l mount adapter, while great, forces the camera into an apsc crop no matter what I do. Thinking of selling it and snagging a used canon 16-35 2.8 l or 24-70 l EF.

Might be worth a shot though what I land is still an amazing deal for just the body. Might give it a go though.

I think this S9 will fit my needs perfectly. Electronic shutter doesn’t bother me, as I do video 99.99% of the time. I still have my old Nikon Z6 I can whip out for the very few times I get asked to do photo work.

Liquidation auction are overstock, b-stock, Amazon returns etc so there’s always a chance for something to just be missing lol.

Typical liquidation auction weirdness, the S9 body is in great shape other than a small scuff on the lcd, but the 20-60mm lens is entirely missing from the packaging lol…still a good deal as is still around $400 less than the body only S9s sometimes sell for on eBay. My EF lens adapter comes tomorrow then I can do some proper tests and first impressions. Will share those.