Anyone Else??

[mercer]

12 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah the G7 is not a DR king for sure. And low light is pretty poor also. You are not getting an Arri for 400 bucks LoL. But for the average audience they probably will never notice the difference truth be known.

Porn films come to mind now on Digital or 60 years ago on 8mm. Nobody was looking at the films from an artistic viewpoint, they were looking at the content LoL! Good material wins over great film making any day. Now if you have both that is called a smash hit Oscar winning movie. Hard to do that.

Yup, for the money, the G7 cannot be beat. Well, I actually like the image from my D5500 moreso than from the G7, but that's irrelevant to this discussion, the point is that when using this level of equipment you're never going to get the best of everything. The $400-$1000 camera market is a confusing beast. I've been searching for the best camera, for me, in that price range, and everything is a compromise. I've settled on the idea that I want a couple cameras for different jobs, because none of them will do everything you need or want. But in the end, story is king as they say. 

[webrunner5]

15 minutes ago, mercer said:

Yup, for the money, the G7 cannot be beat. Well, I actually like the image from my D5500 moreso than from the G7, but that's irrelevant to this discussion, the point is that when using this level of equipment you're never going to get the best of everything. The $400-$1000 camera market is a confusing beast. I've been searching for the best camera, for me, in that price range, and everything is a compromise. I've settled on the idea that I want a couple cameras for different jobs, because none of them will do everything you need or want. But in the end, story is king as they say. 

There is a guy over on dvxuser selling a Sony FS100 for 700 bucks OBO. Now that is a buy for a camera that you can make a good movie with!

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?351098-Sony-FS100-with-Canon-EF-FE-Adapter-700-OBO

[mercer]

To add, spend a few minutes on Amazon Prime under the horror category... the production value of some of these movies look like they were shot on a Flip cam and the stories are even worse... you will be hard pressed to find a story that doesn't involve "a paranormal investigation team" or "after the loss of their child... they moved to an old country farmhouse." Sometimes the two are combined. So my point being is that sometimes you don't need good production value, image quality or a good story, you just need the balls to go out and make something. It reminds me of the line from Ed Wood... when speaking to a producer about his latest film, the producer told Ed that his movie was horrible, maybe the worst he ever saw, Ed Wood went on to proudly say... "The next one's even better."

[Dustin]

I was just shooting christmas stuff around the house last night and got inspired simply because it was very easy to get an actually decent image just off the bat. Again like those earlier said story is king. I am going to invest in some lighting gear and support gear this year.

This camera game is very interesting though. As a parallel example take Guitars for instance. This is from my experience in years of playing. Take 2 guitars- a $400 takamine and a $1500 Martin. Yes the $400 Takamine acoustic is a perfectly capable, decent instrument. It will sound pretty darn good, you can set it up to play how you like, it will do the job fine. But eventually, you will start noticing the little details like maybe the sound while great could be a bit more full, and well rounded. Maybe the frets are a little rougher than you'd like, and the neck profile is thin, resulting in your hands cramping ever so slightly at times. Maybe, the acoustic preamp sounds a little tinny. Its only when you realize for what you play you've outgrown the instrument and actually need a better acoustic, the $1500 martin. Sure you don't NEED it, but it makes what you do easier and provides a playing experience the $400 Takamine simply cannot.

Cameras are interesting because while a 3k Sony A7S etc. may provide 120FPS, 4k, S-LOG, all features you will not find in a $400-600 Nikon/Canon, you can't like the guitar say you NEED these features because it depends on the project/situation. So in the guitar case its kind of a natural progression for many people start cheap, change tastes/styles eventually upgrade to the expensive guitar. With cameras you MAY need a RED Epic for a project but the $400 used Nikon camera on the shelf at the local shop might also be all you need. Its very interesting I think!

[mercer]

46 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

There is a guy over on dvxuser selling a Sony FS100 for 700 bucks OBO. Now that is a buy for a camera that you can make a good movie with!

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?351098-Sony-FS100-with-Canon-EF-FE-Adapter-700-OBO

Yeah, that's an awesome price for that camera and it's a very capable tool. The Panny AF100 can be found pretty cheap now too... I almost bought one for $600 last month, but for only a little more you can get the a6300 and have slog2 and 3 and a temperamental 4K. Or a G85 with 4K and IBIS. I am actually pretty content with good 1080p, but 4K is a nice option to have, even if I rarely use it. 

[mercer]

19 minutes ago, Dustin said:

I was just shooting christmas stuff around the house last night and got inspired simply because it was very easy to get an actually decent image just off the bat. Again like those earlier said story is king. I am going to invest in some lighting gear and support gear this year.

This camera game is very interesting though. As a parallel example take Guitars for instance. This is from my experience in years of playing. Take 2 guitars- a $400 takamine and a $1500 Martin. Yes the $400 Takamine acoustic is a perfectly capable, decent instrument. It will sound pretty darn good, you can set it up to play how you like, it will do the job fine. But eventually, you will start noticing the little details like maybe the sound while great could be a bit more full, and well rounded. Maybe the frets are a little rougher than you'd like, and the neck profile is thin, resulting in your hands cramping ever so slightly at times. Maybe, the acoustic preamp sounds a little tinny. Its only when you realize for what you play you've outgrown the instrument and actually need a better acoustic, the $1500 martin. Sure you don't NEED it, but it makes what you do easier and provides a playing experience the $400 Takamine simply cannot.

Cameras are interesting because while a 3k Sony A7S etc. may provide 120FPS, 4k, S-LOG, all features you will not find in a $400-600 Nikon/Canon, you can't like the guitar say you NEED these features because it depends on the project/situation. So in the guitar case its kind of a natural progression for many people start cheap, change tastes/styles eventually upgrade to the expensive guitar. With cameras you MAY need a RED Epic for a project but the $400 used Nikon camera on the shelf at the local shop might also be all you need. Its very interesting I think!

I think it depends on what your needs are. I take everything from a writing standpoint and how I envision the project. If you're writing an action film, you may just need the 120fps.

I'm a cabinet maker by trade and like carpentry you need the right tool for the right job. A lot of people can make due with what they have, but the proper tool makes the job easier. This is why I have resigned myself to having 2 or 3 cheaper cameras with a couple lenses for each one... different tools for different jobs. But do I really need 2 or 3 cheaper cameras... of course not... it's just the projects I am planning require different features that not every camera in this price bracket has. So need and want is subjective.

[mercer]

Btw, @Dustin what types of filmmaking do you do? Narrative, Documentary, Commercial/Industrial, Real Estate, Travel, Event? The reason I ask is because all of my decisions are based upon low budget... no budget narrative filmmaking and then my own personal situation and skill set (which isn't a lot) so like everybody's advice to you or others... YMMV.

[Dustin]

33 minutes ago, mercer said:

Btw, @Dustin what types of filmmaking do you do? Narrative, Documentary, Commercial/Industrial, Real Estate, Travel, Event? The reason I ask is because all of my decisions are based upon low budget... no budget narrative filmmaking and then my own personal situation and skill set (which isn't a lot) so like everybody's advice to you or others... YMMV.

It really varies. I would say more often than not, documentary, event, and narrative. I like the idea of having multiple cameras for the job. I do this with my 35mm film cameras. I have an olympus om2n that is my baby with a 50mm lens. Then I have a nikon from the 80s with autofocus and a 2.8 35mm lens but not exposure controls and is great for fun shooting. Might do the same to my video cameras some day 

[Vesku]

7 hours ago, mercer said:

Sometimes, when you shoot wide and you want to nail exposure on your subject, you decide to let the sky, or something else, run a little hot.

My GH4 dyn range survives much better in similar scenes than G7 in this example video.