What's the best new camera addition to a 5D Mark II/7D combo, based on intercut-ability of looks, investment: GH4? A7s? 5D Mark III? others?

[Ty Harper]

Hey all :-)
Looking to upgrade to a new camera.
I'm not one to chase what's hot, new and trendy. In fact, I still use a 5D Mark II/7D combo as my A/B Cam (respectively). So based on my situation, if you were looking to pick up one new camera - primarily for short doc use - and wanted to keep at least the 5D Mark II in the mix as a B-Cam, what newer camera would you pick up right now? The GH4? A7s? 5D Mark III? Other suggestions? 
My main concerns are: being able to match the new camera's look with the 5D Mark II, overall work flow (like many, I'm a one-man band), the long-term value of any new camera I invest in, and the degree of 4K future-proofing I can attain with this purchase. I'm a newbie when it comes to color correction and grading, but my aim is to get better at it as I go along. Additionally, all my lenses (100mm Macro IS f/2.8 L, 80-200mm f/2.8 L, 24-105mm IS f/4 L, Rokinon 35mm 1.4, Tokina 11-16mm 2.8) are Canon mounts.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

What do you think about image sharpness/resolution? How inportant is that element for you? Look at some GH4 footage and see how sharp it is and how much you would appreciate that... And then see if your current 5D is too soft for your needs or not, as the 5D mk III is basically the same resolution/sharpness.

[Inazuma]

I don't know what camera to suggest to you but I will say I did a shoot a couple months ago; It was a 3 camera shoot with a GH3, Canon 6d and 550d. The colours were indeed quite different and I chose to grade the GH3 to look like the Canons (mainly because it was 2 against 1). It turns out that matching the colours between the cameras wasn't all that difficult. I am new to grading but with Adobe Speedgrade I managed it fairly easily.

 

I don't think I'd recommend getting a GH4 or A7s unless you plan on getting two of them. The reason being that they're so much sharper than the 5D that it will make those clips look out of focus if you're intercutting.

[Ty Harper]

What do you think about image sharpness/resolution? How inportant is that element for you? Look at some GH4 footage and see how sharp it is and how much you would appreciate that... And then see if your current 5D is too soft for your needs or not, as the 5D mk III is basically the same resolution/sharpness.

Ebrahim, thanks for your thoughts/suggestions. I've looked at the GH4, and so far what I've seen, look-wise, has not won me over. As for your other suggestions, I kind of figured sharpness would not be a key deciding factor when thinking about how well a 5D Mark II could match - look-wise, overall - against an A7s, GH4 (etc). Of course simply going for a Mark III would make the most immediately practical sense, given my outlined criteria, but working with its RAW files (when the need to up my quality arises in the future) would be cumbersome and comparatively limiting, it seems. The A7s is what I'm more gravitating towards, but having to rely so heavily on my ability to properly color correct and grade + match camera looks, this early in my understanding of that discipline seems a bit much right now, especially for efficient turnaround times.  

[Ty Harper]

I don't know what camera to suggest to you but I will say I did a shoot a couple months ago; It was a 3 camera shoot with a GH3, Canon 6d and 550d. The colours were indeed quite different and I chose to grade the GH3 to look like the Canons (mainly because it was 2 against 1). It turns out that matching the colours between the cameras wasn't all that difficult. I am new to grading but with Adobe Speedgrade I managed it fairly easily.

 

I don't think I'd recommend getting a GH4 or A7s unless you plan on getting two of them. The reason being that they're so much sharper than the 5D that it will make those clips look out of focus if you're intercutting.

Mmmm, this sharpness issue is likely the same thing Ebrahim was getting at, although wouldn't sharpness be a relative issue regardless of which camera I choose? And wouldn't overall color matching be more of a potential distraction harder to compensate for in post? At least sharpness is something you can adjust a lot easier. 

[Inazuma]

Yes but you cant make the Canon footage sharper. You'd have to make the A7s/GH4 footage softer.. in which case, why buy into another system at all? They are easier cameras to use for video at the time of recording, but will be time consuming trying to match the cameras in post for every video you make. So I guess the best thing is to just buy a 5D III or 7D II? The 7D II has 60fps recording btw.

[Guest]

If you use the Canon with a long lens and the Panasonic for wider shots, the difference in resolution becomes less apparent. In fact a bit of softness for close-ups is probably desirable, as is nice Canon colours. The resolution of the Panasonic cameras are their strength, so it makes sense to use them in that combination. With shallow depth of field, the codec on the Canons can put a bit more detail in to the in-focus areas, and the 'pop' of the image gives the illusion of sharpness anyway. I used my Nikon and Panasonic in this combination a lot and it worked great. You need to think hard if you can work like that though ...

[vas]

It honestly depends what you're final delivery medium will be. If it's mostly web based then going with a 5dii and GH4 isn't that much of a issue. We shoot with a GH4, GH3, GH2 and 60D and have no issues since most of the projects are web based. I doubt your audience are pixel peepers like most of us are lol. Short doc use I'd go with your 5dii/GH4 with EF metabones adapter. The battery life alone on a GH4 compared to a A7s is a big plus. 

[/p/]

Fuck trying to match an a7S and any Canon camera... Sounds awful.

Why stick with Canon at all? I mean, sure you have some gear already.. And they aren't exactly "bad" but there are so many better options right now.. Amd let's be honest, Canon aren't going to cannibalize their Cinema EOS line with a decent DSLR (or even mirrorless) any time soon.. It has never been part of the Canon philosophy.

My point is this.. It just seems silly to drop so much on a MkIII when both the GH4 and a7S are better and far cheaper....... You can also adapt your Canon glass to either of them if you wanted too.... Why not just get rid of the MkII and 7D buy a GH4 or a7S and adapt your Canon glass? You might even save some momey in the long run bh not having to drop so much on a MkIII that aren't even in the race any more.

Obviously try the GH4 and a7S before hand... Or wait for the a7S II or a9.. SONY release a new camera every month it seems.

Both companies also offer better firmware support/upgrades, Panasonic especially.

[IronFilm]

I'd just sell both the 5Dmk2 *and* the 7D, while they still have some value to photographers and you can get a decent price for them!

Then pick up an A7s as your A cam, and two Sony A5100 as your two extra B & C cams to cover the extra angles. 

 

A5100 is the best APS-C hybrid camera on the market, in my eyes (with the possible exception of the NX1 of course). I just picked up one myself, but not only are they the best... they're dirt cheap too!

As for the A7s, I don't need to say anything about it..... everybody knows how good it is!

[Ty Harper]

Thanks for all the advice. I'd def like to sell the 7d at least but the 5D is imho worth just keeping. I was just really hoping I could get by with a new camera/5d Mark ii combo a bit longer. I've talked to pro-editors that feel like matching these cameras isn't a big deal but for now I guess I'll wait for more info. The A7s is def my first choice right now tho.

[hmcindie]

I'd go with the A7s. I've done several videos with shots from the 5dIII and A7s and have had no serious problems matching them "in the ballpark". Some people have even confused some of my A7s shots to be from the 5dIII and vice-versa. Don't believe the internets too easily.