Advice wanted. Which camera fits my needs?

[dvcrn]

Hi EOSHD folks! I need to ask for advice again for my next purchase. 

I am looking for a quick and compact camera for on the go static interviews, "walk and talk" interviews and travel related videos with the focus on being light weld. I bought the EM5II for that but the noise of the preamps makes this camera impossible to use with any microphone that goes directly into the body. I'd have to buy a some hot-shoe contraption to mount the audio recorder and the microphone at the same time which gives me even more different batteries to carry around, more weight and more equipment to carry around. 

I love the IBIS on the EM5II and the flipscreen is a huge help but at the same time the continuous autofocus is not very good. 

Now I've been looking around the market to find something that fits my needs more to potentially replace my EM5II. Nice to have things would be:

• Some way to check focus (articulating screen?)
• Good preamps to feed a videomic pro or wireless lavalier into the body
• IBIS or decent OIS with lenses
• Good autofocus

I adore the A7 line and the preamps are good but the problem here is trusting the autofocus without a option to monitor it. I was thinking about a smallhd monitor but that again means I have to mount 2 things on top. Did anyone see a modded a7 or something like that yet? I looked at the way the screen is swivelling and it doesn't seem too difficult to "mod" it but I'd rather not touch it myself. 

The a6300 with superb autofocus would have been an instabuy, giving up the focus monitor as I can trust it a little more. But the rolling shutter and shakey shakey of a non stabilised body makes handheld footage look very bad. (How does it perform with IS lenses?)

The new RX100M4 seems perfect as well except the fact that I can't mount a microphone and can't feed audio into the body. In body audio not good.

The EM5 kills 2 points here, that being the articulating screen and outstanding IBIS. The preamps are garbage and the autofocus meh though. 

What other cameras should I look at? Does the camera I am looking for even exist? Let's assume money is not important - what kind of setup would you advice me to go to? 

[TheRenaissanceMan]

The two that spring to mind are the Panasonic G7 and Samsung NX1. Good preamps, decent autofocus (the NX1 excels here), articulating screens, focus peaking, relatively lightweight, and excellent image quality. You might also look at the NX500, which has a big crop in 4K but all the other advantages of the NX1 and is smaller/cheaper.

[dvcrn]

1 minute ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

The two that spring to mind are the Panasonic G7 and Samsung NX1. Good preamps, decent autofocus (the NX1 excels here), articulating screens, focus peaking, relatively lightweight, and excellent image quality. You might also look at the NX500, which has a big crop in 4K but all the other advantages of the NX1 and is smaller/cheaper.

Samsung was a brand I didn't have on my radar yet, thanks for that! Going to do some research about the NX range

Any particular reason why the G7 and not it's brothers GH4 or GX8?

[Mat Mayer]

Panasonic G7 with 12-32mm pancake lens (this lens weighs and costs less than a quarter of the 12-35, if you buy new separated from a kit on eBay).

There are a few differences with the twice the price GH4 which stop some people getting it like headphone input. Better low light video on the G7 (which has been mentioned once or twice here recently), which might lead to lower used GH4 prices soon/already? The GH4 doesn't weight too much more and feels great in your hands compared to something like an RX100 or A7.

[fuzzynormal]

I've heard gripes about the lousy pre-amps in the EM5II, yet I'm clean audio with it and my Sennheiser em100.  I dial down the input to a minimum and then adjust the input level accordingly on the wireless mic.  It's not an impressive preamp, but I've found it useable.

[IronFilm]

For such lightweight run and gun usage, perhaps a Sony RX10 mk2 or even a Panasonic FZ1000? Get yourself a monopod too :-)

[dvcrn]

All right I digged through some nxXXX reviews. The NX1 sounds fantastic, just the same problem as with the a7x that it doesn't have a fully articulating screen for me to monitor focus when I'm doing things alone. The NX500 is good as well but when mounting a microphone on the hotshoe, it completely covers the flipscreen which makes it useless as well

26 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

I've heard gripes about the lousy pre-amps in the EM5II, yet I'm clean audio with it and my Sennheiser em100.  I dial down the input to a minimum and then adjust the input level accordingly on the wireless mic.  It's not an impressive preamp, but I've found it useable.

I tried a handful of microphones but kept getting the same amount of noise independent of gear. It is good as a reference audio but I wouldn't consider it as clean. The audio is probably the main thing why I want to part with it. Can you maybe post a clip that used the EM5II preamps?

[IronFilm]

Use a flash bracket to mount your microphone and keep it clear of your flip up screen.

 

If a flip up screen is very important to you then consider a Sony A5100 or Panasonic G7 /  G6 / etc

[fuzzynormal]

45 minutes ago, dvcrn said:

Can you maybe post a clip that used the EM5II preamps?

I've been using the em100/EM5II for real estate "profile" videos.  Lots of talking heads and such.  Short shoots that last an hour or so.  I've done close to 40 of them so far.  While that real estate stuff isn't on my vimeo page, this one below is very similar in style and used the same em100/EM5II set-up:

 

I don't have the EM5II spec sheet in front of me. I don't know what Ω it prefers, but it plays nice enough with the Sennheiser.  I'm not going to say it is wonderful audio. I've got gear that does better, but it's not horrible either --and it works well enough for me to use it without any stress that it's going to fail.

[dvcrn]

27 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

I've been using the em100/EM5II for real estate "profile" videos.  Lots of talking heads and such.  Short shoots that last an hour or so.  I've done close to 40 of them so far.  While that real estate stuff isn't on my vimeo page, this one below is very similar in style and used the same em100/EM5II set-up:

 

First of all - great video! Though as a fellow EM5II owner I still hear the strong hiss signature whenever the subject is talking. I guess my ears got so used to hating that hiss that I can't ignore it anymore. Compare 0:12 vs 0:15 for example.

 

Does anyone know a very small external screen that is attachable to the body of a7 / nx cameras? Something like the swivi for 5dm3 that I found through google: 

 

It seems like the new 80D from Canon does nearly exactly what I want to do: 

• Blazing fast AF (maybe the best one in video in the market right now?)
• Flip screen
• The preamps seem to be "good" when using the +20db option on the rode videomic

What does EOSHD think about the 70D/80D these days? Canon seems to try to step up their video game. Though no IBIS. How are canon OIS lenses in video? 

[DevonChris]

Panasonic GX8. The stabilisation is good with Panny lenses, particularly in 1080.  The audio is very good and the continuous autofocus and face detection is excellent. This camera continues to surprise me with its versatilty and excellent image quality.

[dvcrn]

17 hours ago, DevonChris said:

Panasonic GX8. The stabilisation is good with Panny lenses, particularly in 1080.  The audio is very good and the continuous autofocus and face detection is excellent. This camera continues to surprise me with its versatilty and excellent image quality.

Thanks! I will check that one out as well!

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

I know this is illegal to say but, actually, the best camera for your needs is the Canon 80D. Flawless Autofocus, best IS there is (18-135mm USM IS), Portable, has decent audio and a headphone jack, clean good looking HD with great colour, great ergonomics, etc. Just take a look at it in a store/try before making a decision & you'll see what I am at. 

 

[dvcrn]

9 hours ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

I know this is illegal to say but, actually, the best camera for your needs is the Canon 80D. Flawless Autofocus, best IS there is (18-135mm USM IS), Portable, has decent audio and a headphone jack, clean good looking HD with great colour, great ergonomics, etc. Just take a look at it in a store/try before making a decision & you'll see what I am at. 

I spent the past days eating my way through camera review after camera review and slowly think the 80D might indeed be the camera that I will end up choosing. I have to wait until tomorrow before it gets put into stores here in Tokyo but will then definitely play around with it a little bit after that. Anyone here with insights on ML and how likely it will be that we see a version for the 80D? I heard canon patched the exploits ML relies on in all recent updates.

I'm also going to rent a some more MFT lenses and the Shure VP83f for my EM5 Mark 2 and see how the audio and focus compares to footage I get from the 80D. Though I started noticing a lot of ugly distortion and warping on the picture caused by the IBIS when the movement is too fast - something I didn't fully realize before. 

[IronFilm]

EM5 Mark 2 isn't the peak of video tech from m4/3, if you're going to compare with an 80D then get yourself a Panasonic G7 to compare with (is cheaper too!)

[Ivanhurba]

On 21/3/2016 at 7:07 AM, fuzzynormal said:

I've been using the em100/EM5II for real estate "profile" videos.  Lots of talking heads and such.  Short shoots that last an hour or so.  I've done close to 40 of them so far.  While that real estate stuff isn't on my vimeo page, this one below is very similar in style and used the same em100/EM5II set-up:

 

I don't have the EM5II spec sheet in front of me. I don't know what Ω it prefers, but it plays nice enough with the Sennheiser.  I'm not going to say it is wonderful audio. I've got gear that does better, but it's not horrible either --and it works well enough for me to use it without any stress that it's going to fail.

Fuzzynormal have you tried the FLAT profile in your videos? I still have to see a good real use of it as the interwebs are clean of any footage from this camera lately, It looks it came too late to save the EM5II from oblivion, even though I still think it's the best all around Olympus camera.

It's funny the 80D is starting to be mentioned a lot now. I thought I was set on the a6300 but the overheating could kill me in events and the touchscreen and variangle would be greatly missed; I would consider the G7, but Dual pixel AF still has an advantage over it. At the end it's what I always thought about Canon; too little, too late, they take away features like log, peaking and zebra but damn if their things keep working. I hate them for that but probably I'll end up buying 80D too.  Let's hope it peaks some interest in the ML developers to hack it.  

[IronFilm]

1 hour ago, Ivanhurba said:

I thought I was set on the a6300 but the overheating could kill me in events and the touchscreen and variangle would be greatly missed;

Sony/Panasonic/Samsung however are the only ones really pushing hard forward. Not Canon. 

 

And Sony has better specs sometimes than Panasonic, but Panasonic cameras are priced cheaper and better polished (such as no overheating issues, better laid out menus. Also, why the hell does the A6300 not have a touch screen?? The A5100 does!). So I'd say G7

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Don't rely on ML to hack it when making the decision. ML has slowed down and really shifted. So buy the 80D knowing you will have no focus peaking or zebras, you have the (great) 1:1 punch in assist, but only before hitting record. That's for manual lenses. For Canon AF lenses you'll find it so good with the fully swivle touch screen that you won't manually focus or punch-in anymore. That's what I found with the 7DII. 

The peaking problem is solved by PDAF/Punch in and the EVF problem is solved by a cheap LCD Loup. 

The 80D is a complete camera, extremely mature ergonomics and body built quality, much bigger battery life vs mirrorless, OVF and high-end AF & stills, it's just had a bad reception due to the 1080p resolution , if it did 4K it'd have been a perfect beast. While the others are making 4K shooting cameras that overheat (unusable) with cell-phone ergonomics/size and tiny batteries that steal the 80D by specs in announcement, Canon is making a steady well-thought out APS-C option and improving 1080, with big batteries, DPAF, articulating LCD, much higher end construction, reliable infinite recording, and lenses with much better stabilization than IBIS (which steals the headlines) while steady, sharp, cheap, dead-silent STM lenses don't. The 80D is one of the best hybrids for shooting ''anything'' from stills to all video types as long as you don't need UHD. Getting a UHD m43s camera with lower end stills, tiny battery, small size and cell-phone like operation, overheating, weird colours, and missing with speedboosters & manual glass & Da vinci resolve & power/heat is a completely different way of shooting that yes will produce sharper video, and The 80D with a kit 18-135mm you just put a card, touch a face to focus, record, get good looking HD files with zero touch up,  just very different operation mentality. And each has their users, the mirrorless stuff being creative tinkering hardcore filmmakers and 80d DSLR for straight up video shooter who want no fuss or tinkering.

[Ivanhurba]

33 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Sony/Panasonic/Samsung however are the only ones really pushing hard forward. Not Canon. 

 

And Sony has better specs sometimes than Panasonic, but Panasonic cameras are priced cheaper and better polished (such as no overheating issues, better laid out menus. Also, why the hell does the A6300 not have a touch screen?? The A5100 does!). So I'd say G7

The G7 is a near perfect camera, but for my needs it lacks the headphone jack and the DFD, which is a pity. I loved my Vitaliy'd GH2 and I hope the GH5 will even include the hybrid stabilization for it's price point. This could be my last Canon camera, which I'm happy about it. 

 

19 minutes ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

Don't rely on ML to hack it when making the decision. ML has slowed down and really shifted.

 

I agree, I don't count with it; in fact I agree that nobody should buy anything on a manufacturer's promises, if something fits just buy it, if it don't then skip it. But ML would be a nice have.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Yes It'd make the camera very very high-end in this class, the 70D is actually capable of very nice 14bit RAW recording, so the 80D is even better. With ML peaking, zebra, waveform, crop guides, intervalometer, 14bit raw HD, dual pixel AF, Good audio & headphone with touch level control, 60p, coupled with the extraordinary STM cheap ultra high performing lens line-up, Canon colour science, is a very unique proposition at this price.

They did hack into the 70D quite lately, so going into the 80D is actally very probable in the slightly distant future, just not 100% guranteed so the buying dcision shouldn't be made upon it. 

To balance, while has all these durable features in a robust body, however lacks that extreme detail of the GH4/D6300 video, the Electonic VF without loup, the 4x slomotion and the peaking feature,

but it also lacks the over-heating, the tiny batteries, the miniture body, the non-pleasing colours of the D6300 for example, and vs the nx1 has a vastly superior and cheaper and bigger lens collection along with an OVF, bigger battery life, better colours, better 3200+ ISO performance, and DPAF, against higher video resolution, 4x slo-mo, EVF without loup, pick your poison!

No one camera will have it all, unless they somehow put both the mirrorless EVF and DSLR OVF in one body so you'd have both options of higher battery life/OVF or short/EVF, switchable, with all the mirrorless features available in Liveview...