FS7: B-camera: need your expert advise :)

You may not like my advice and it is 180 from all this, but considering what you are planning to use the cameras primarily for....Forget about A7Sii , A7Rii, forget about FS7. Sell it all, get two identical 1" sensor cameras, such as Sony PXW Z150 or spend slightly more and get two Panasonics DVX-200 where the sensor is M4/3 in size. Live an easier life.
 
Analysis paralysis.

I bought 8 new cameras during the life of this thread.

I've only regretted two camera purchases; a JVC that doesn't do the advertised frame rates, and the Canon 50D. The 7D came out right after I made the purchase. I got a 7D and the 50D rarely gets pressed into service. I expect Sony will release the A7T as soon as you get the A7RII or A7SII, and it will be AWESOME.
 
Mark Watson said:
Analysis paralysis.
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Ha ha, but in OP's favor, 100 posts but almost 3000 views, so he isn't the only one standing paralyzed in front of the refrigerator.

I am a nice guy and I try not to judge other man's posts, instead I will give some useless advice:

There are roughly two solutions:
- be an early adopter, expensive but you always have the newest gear (for the time being).
- be a late adopter or a Laggard, buy what once was the best stuff.

So wait for the FS8 and make your FS7 a B-cam or buy a real cheap Betacam SP and keep the FS7 as your main camera :-)

But I am curious what the final verdict it will be. Pjotr, please keep me informed of your choice.

Cheers
 
OK guys - so here is yet another post on the subject; I'm really happy to provide you with a good pretext for kidding, pulling my leg, or just simply expressing your disbelief someone may need that much time for making a decision like this :). But after you're done with your mockery, please try to appreciate the fact that even though I knew what the reaction would be, I believe in your expertise so much that I decided to swallow it in hope someone will come up with a useful word of advise :) So here I go:

So I was already decided to buy the Sony A7Rii camera as a B-cam for my FS7, when Panasonic published the specs of the GH5 (coming in March). On paper, it looks awesome - 10bit 4:2:2 (with up to 30p on the SD cards and 50/60p on an external recorder); unlimited recording time, future firmware upgrades including "6K" for anamorphic lenses, V-log and HDR, to name a few... BUT: it still is just a 4/3 sensor camera (even though the GH5 will NOT crop it further in 4K video mode like the GH4 does).

So now I'm back at the starting point of my painful decision-making process :(... As I see it (not ever having any Panasonic camera in my life):

- A7Rii advantages over GH5: Full Frame and/or S35mm video recording flexibility; Sony colorimetry (important for cutting with my current FS7), great stills camera with a 42 Mp, FF sensor

- GH5 advantages over A7Rii: everything else (with 10bit 4:2:2, 400 Mbps codec being the most important one)

Please tell me: from the viewpoint of grading both in my 2-camera projects in Resolve (and I'm grading for HDR, mind you) are common Sony color science of the FS7 and A7Rii and flexibility of FF/S35mm frame prevailing over 10-bit codec of the GH5 and its other goodies the A7 cams don't have yet? TIA

Piotr
 
Oh, and BTW: whichever of those stills cameras I buy as a B-cam for my FS7, I wouldn't like to over-rig it - but nevertheless, some basic support will be required. I have two questions for you guys:

- stabilization: sure something like Ronin-M would be great, but I still have the complete Glidecam X-10 system with HD-4000 (I used it a lot with my FS100, now sold). Do you think it could be used with such a small and light-weight camera, or is it definitely an overkill?

- has anyone tried the Edelkrone stuff? Like the Pocketrig (https://www.edelkrone.com/eu/p/467/the-pocket-rig-2 ) with EVF/monitor holder ( https://www.edelkrone.com/eu/p/115/monitor-holder )?

Thanks,
Piotr
 
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In all seriousness the GH5 looks incredible and unless the new A7 has 10-bit internal I'd really think hard about getting one.
 
The GH5 is due for release in March and who knows what numbers it will ship in?? Also, many functions will only be available after a firmware update in the summer (where have we heard that before?). I don't see the point of delaying decisions based on what cameras are available in a few months. Get what you need now and get on with it. With that in mind, I just bought an A6500 as a gimbal/b-cam. It will have paid for itself by the end on next week.
 
I spilled coffee over my screen today twice. 1st when I read about the infinite story goes on with another option of the GH5, 2nd with Ben's GIF. Great.
 
moldcad said:
Please tell me: from the viewpoint of grading both in my 2-camera projects in Resolve (and I'm grading for HDR, mind you) are common Sony color science of the FS7 and A7Rii and flexibility of FF/S35mm frame prevailing over 10-bit codec of the GH5 and its other goodies the A7 cams don't have yet? TIA

Piotr
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Just my 10-cents on colour-matching different cameras (and disregarding the M 4/3 sensor size on the GH5, that IS disappointing). In my experience, it's not actually any more straightforward to colour-match an F-series camera with an Alpha-series camera than with any other. For example I'm just about to deliver a grading job that was only even given to me because the editor wasn't able to satisfactorily match the three different cameras used. The footage was from a) C-100 in STD (i.e. REC 709); b) FS7 in Slog3 and; c) A7sii in Slog2. Matching the FS7 to the C-100 was fairly easy, just tweaking temp, tint and curves to crush the Slog blacks a little, and round off the C-100's hot REC709 highs, plus lift out a little shadow detail. Matching the A7sii to EITHER of the aforementioned shots however, was a PROPER pain. I put this down to the strange/slippery differences between SLog2 and 3 (which granted could be seen as an effect of operator error), but also massively to the 8-bit colour. It's amazing how limiting it can be to true colour-matching to only have those 256 tones of RGB.

I recommend considering the GH5, it seems like it's a camera that's gonna keep on giving, and as for the M4/3 ting - it's just an excuse to get a couple more nice lenses - it's only a B-cam after all! ;-)

Thoughts?

jason
 
I found I could match stuff in terms of colour and contrast between most cameras but you're always going to have to sacrifice ultimate quality of the best to match to the worst footage, or least properly exposed. Main reason I hate doing car stuff with GoPros or other shoots with an unmanned camera. If sky is gone in a shot you have to use do you blow the sky in the others or let that one shot stick out?
 
Liam Hall said:
The GH5 is due for release in March and who knows what numbers it will ship in?? Also, many functions will only be available after a firmware update in the summer (where have we heard that before?). I don't see the point of delaying decisions based on what cameras are available in a few months. Get what you need now and get on with it. With that in mind, I just bought an A6500 as a gimbal/b-cam. It will have paid for itself by the end on next week.
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Nope, I'll skip the GH5 and the GH6 because the GH7 will of course match best with the FS7
 
OK, so Jason's and Ben's posts are the only 2 constructive answers to my last post. Well - better than nothing, thanks guys :(

And to those who still prefer to keep a facetious attitude: it's not that a new model is coming after GH5 (or A7S/Rii, etc.) - they sure do, but I'm not holding my decision because of that. I do it for exactly the reasons those two constructive posts mentioned:

- quality of a multi-camera final will only be as good as the weakest link in the timeline
- this weakest link is most probably going to be the 8-bit footage if the other is 10-bit

So - as much as I'd prefer to buy what's available NOW rather than wait for something only to arrive in March, I'm still waiting. My indecision might turn out ass-saving in my future grading attempts. But please keep on posting, guys - because as Jason admitted himself, his experience has by no means been conclusive: should both FS7 and A7 be used with the common gamma curve (i.e. either both in S-log2 or both in S-log3), it could have been much easier matching... Also, there is the other weakness of the GH5 vs. A7/FS7 which hasn't been addressed yet - the M 4/3 sensor size of the former; please let me ask this question:

- how much of a problem this is going to be if for my 2-cam shots, I use the similar Canon EF glass with Metabones EF/MFT T SB XL 0.64x Speed Booster on the GH5, and my current 0.71x EF->E one on the FS7? Not much, I dare say - but what do I know.... Would love to hear from you experts! TIA

Piotr
 
So what the catch with GH5 recording 4K 60fps with SD memory card ? and Sony FS7/60fps and XQD memory card ?
 
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