Best bang for the buck.

Amadou

Amadou

Carbonite Member
If you're going for cinema cameras that can handle 4:2:2 in 4K... these are the current low cost contenders:

Panasonic EVA
FS7
CANON C300 MARK II
CANON 200
FS5 WITH METABONE AND ACCESSORIES
URSA MINI PRO AND ACCESSORIES
RAVEN AND ACCESSORIES
SCARLET AND ACCESSORIES

Why do I get the feeling the FS7 is still the best bang for the buck?
 
C300 II and if you want/need to shoot raw (which takes a lot of storage unless you transcode), the C200 (only recommended for cinema if shooting raw). If you need some e.g. wide shots that need max detail, the C300 II can shoot ProRes raw with an Atomos, which is similar to RAWLite on the C200. Otherwise the C300 II’s 4K 422 10-bit or 2K 12-bit RGB 444 (which scales nicely to 4K) are sufficient.

While AF isn’t typically needed for cinema shoots where an AC is available, boosted MF is still helpful, and for some moving shots, DPAF can save a ton of time, especially when light is precious during golden hour. Only the C300 II and C200 have DPAF on this list.
 
If you asking a question like this, I'd just recommend getting something cheap like a Black Magic Pocket 4k and shoot with it a while until you know what you need in a camera. Each of those cameras have their pros and cons, so shoot on something cheap until you know which features are worth it to you and worth spending $10 on a kit for.
 
I'm seeing really really nice EVA-1 images from other people's projects. But it kinda depends what you're after. Me, I currently own a Canon C300mk1 (and have owned various other cameras in the past), will probably buy a small camera for a particular verite project soon (perhaps a GH5/GH5S, maybe a Panasonic AG-180, maybe something else), may buy a sub-$10,000US camera within a year (not sure yet if that makes sense for me) and then rent (and hire really good camops/DPs, etc).

If you live somewhere with a good rental house (and I don't know the scene in Mali), why tie yourself down to one camera if you're not sure what's going to be best for the jobs you get? Maybe work with a few different cameras over the next few months, decide what you like and don't like about various models in different sorts of gigs, then maybe decide if for the work you're doing buying a complete camera kit makes financial sense (as in: can you earn back the cost within 2-3 years?), or if continuing to rent makes more sense. Things are still changing fast; different cameras are better suited for different gigs...and for different styles of shooting, preferences, etc...
 
If you can handle working with manual focus the EVA1 is a great cam - 100% the best bang for buck out of the cams you listed, lightweight, solid 422 codecs from 1080 to 4K, great image etc
only drawbacks are the supplied LCD - its ok indoors but unusable outdoors in sunlight, and the Auto Focus is lacking, I don't rely on auto focus so its a non issue for me.
 
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