Covid camera!

M

morgan_moore

Major Contributor
Ive been going for my daily walk and also bumped into stuff like Banksys upgraded artwork (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10219636310430613&set=a.10201584527747328)

Im thinking about finding a better camera to film some of this stuff. Ive been doing a few shots with my EX1.

Basically Im looking to replace my EX1 with something with similar capabilities to my EX1.. but 25% of the mass and size. I might want to shoot ultra low prfile or had the camera off to another party (maybe a care worke, nurse or who ever)

I would not expect to deliver in higher than HD but find compressed '4k' is a good route to HD. Ideally Id like some chunk in the codec to build a look in post.

I need ND, compose in the sun, half decent audio, the widest lens, the images to be in focus.

My list is open, varied and wide. Maybe $1500

-Canon XC15 - cheap and I like the posture looking down the chimney - worries.. old AF
-Canon XA 50, 55 - wide lens, I guess DPAF is the best AF (max budget) - probably great
-SOny z90, we like this kind of (having one in the office) personally I dont like the lack of wide lens and dont like the single ring layout at all. Also its overbudget

All of the above cams have ND

No ND..
Nikon z50 and used 16-80 lens - worries - no ND - hard to hold without a rig.
I like nikon and have loads of glass to make use of this camera for other work

Phone.
Shooting on a phone makes me feel ill, but maybe the iphone11 or something should be thrown in the mix

Go pro
Again they make me feel ill but maybe the latest is worth a consider - worries no telephoto option (maybe) or ND option.

I will downvote anyone who says P4k - well maybe I wont given a good argument.

I have an FS7 for other jobs.

Any thoughts?????
 
Interesting. Kind of. All of this stuff makes me feel ill!

Yep 70 is OK for a long end. 100 would be better.

Reminds me I should get out my nex5 which I quite like with the 18-55 kit lens. At least with a zoom you only have to put on ND once.
 
If the XA50/55 are considered then the G60 should too

Whats the catch? No Handle/XLR?

Also there is a canon 405 seems to be same price as XA55 ??

To me the appeal of the canons is I guess thier DPAF focus is the best?

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Dunno what I think of no XLR, I have an old Rode and also have a SDevices recorder that could come out of the bag. I could even Lav a talent and leave the recorder on the side or on my belt.
 
No ND (and never needed it so far.) but very low profile and light. Panasonic G7. Wide range in lenses I mostly use 14-60mm
microphone rodevideomic pro flimsy but does work ok.
I use it for my youtube channel, 1.200.000 views, not one complaint about quality. Best camera I ever had!
 
Yeah, the 50/55 have the XLR handle and XF-AVC (8-bit).

The G60 only has a 3.5mm mic input and 150mbps H.264 (no slouch and truly would never notice a difference).

Canon's DPAF works great (all three above have face-tracking), but Sony mirrorless cameras like the a6400 are just as good (and has a larger sensor).

Canon's 400/405 are older models with DPAF and 4K/60p. (A prime example of Canon's meticulous evil...omitting 60p on the newer ones for whatever reason.)

I had the G60 and used a Rode VideoMic Pro. Turned the gain down in the camera, +20dB in the mic, and only the best-of-the-best would hear a difference. Sounded excellent.

___

If I had to pick a small travel camera from the current choices then it would be a Pocket.

The way I see it (I guess my argument) is that if no one wants to provide us an ideal camera with a larger sensor, IBIS, great AF, and ND filters then I might as well not have any of them and just go for the absolute best quality possible (and for a very reasonable price).

Runner-up would be an a6400 (a6600 has IBIS but Sony's IBIS stinks). World class AF with a large sensor. A lot of E-mount glass.
 
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Why do the Sony’s not float my boat? I even have the nex5n it’s the same with worse codec - I just never used it apart from car mount.
 
Same with BM I have a micro and worked on jobs with bm4k ursa and silver BM - all great on a set but horrid as walkabouts I think it’s the non flex screens and u can’t do gut cam
 
The NEX-5N would look extremely dated side-by-side when looking at the a6400's best 4K quality captured by someone who knows what they are doing, but besides that (and AF), not much difference. [BM's Micro with its 1080p sensor is dated too at this point.]

And the a6400 also has a terrible rolling shutter, no IBIS and no 4K/60p.

A dark horse for you may be the new full-frame Nikon D780. Started shipping two months ago or so.

Not many features but does have a full-frame sensor, great AF, electronic IS, and pretty Nikon colors. 10-bit LOG via output for future work if you can use it.

EDIT: Actually the D780 is more expensive than I remembered.
 
FWIW, Canon loaned us a pile of XF400/405s for shooting our docu series as on-boat cameras. While they are not a great pro level camera, they are pretty good looking in daylight shooting, have the XLR inputs, can shoot 4K 60p.
There is a considerable amount of XF400/405 footage in our series. I don't have a huge need for small servo zoom fixed lens camera, but if I did, I'd buy one. Put a little Hoodman H400 on the screen, the big batteries and a big
card with an AT-875r in the mic mount and you have a little servo zoom camera that's light and small, good quality. I liked it.

We have three Sony PXW-X70s for our live stream setup and they too are pretty impressive little prosumer cams. I like them too.

Panasonic makes a dizzying amount of these little 4K capable servo zoom handicams that are also pretty good. Pick your poison.
 
ahalpert said:
But what is your priority? Small size so you can always carry it? Or just all-in-one versatility/convenience factor?
Click to expand...

Well Ive posted a thread to get other opinions. You know I was chatting on the phone to an ex colleague an he said what about an iPhone 11 - my partner said the same. Personally I find it hard to concieve something much smaller than the sony z90 being (an almost) proffessionally usable tool.

I think I can take DPAF over a 'proper ring', im trying to get moving photos that are in focus, exposed and framed, Im not after complex cinematic moves of focus or camera during a shot.

I can probably live with a 3.5 jack/rode rather than XLR (I could do dual sound for more considered interviews - I have that kit)

I guess I need a small enough rig not to look like a 'pro' - but having a proper mic and fluffy will risk looking pro even with the smallest cam. (another argumanr for dual sound)
 
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puredrifting said:
FWIW, Canon loaned us a pile of XF400/405s for shooting our docu series as on-boat cameras. While they are not a great pro level camera, they are pretty good looking in daylight shooting, have the XLR inputs, can shoot 4K 60p.
There is a considerable amount of XF400/405 footage in our series. I don't have a huge need for small servo zoom fixed lens camera, but if I did, I'd buy one. Put a little Hoodman H400 on the screen, the big batteries and a big
card with an AT-875r in the mic mount and you have a little servo zoom camera that's light and small, good quality. I liked it.

We have three Sony PXW-X70s for our live stream setup and they too are pretty impressive little prosumer cams. I like them too.

Panasonic makes a dizzying amount of these little 4K capable servo zoom handicams that are also pretty good. Pick your poison.
Click to expand...

400/405 is one of the three canon models on the radar. Im concerned that I have seen a spec of 25.5mm wide* (good) and also 28mm wide (fail)* - which is true?

I just dont gel with the sony (z90) although we have used it for good work - its the only palm cam I have experience of maybe Ill gel with none of them.

WIth panny Im just not trusting the AF - my worst nightmare is a cam that wander to infinity half way during a chat with a subject and I dont notice because Im concentrating on the subject not the camera.

----

*FF equiv
 
Seems funny to me that you're concerned about ergonomics and leaning towards a standard video camera body - but you would still entertain the notion of an iPhone? I would think that the ergonomics alone would disqualify the iPhone.

But if you don't want to look like a pro, you can't do better than an iPhone. Why not use a DSLR/DSLM? You can shoot with camera-to-face like a stills photographer and not look pro, and the EVF lets you shoot in daylight. You said you don't need to do fancy camera moves, so the unrigged body probably won't impede you. You won't get a servo zoom (or a good one at least) but again, you said moving photos. With a flippy screen, you can shoot from the waist. You can put a mic on top when you need to.

I think all the current Canon and Sony bodies have very good AF. Sony even has eye AF (does Canon have that anyone?) Sony SOOC color seems to have improved lately. Don't know if either brand has good codecs in the lower-end and fixed-lens bodies though.

I think you may look pro with any dedicated video camera with a top handle and a servo zoom. But I don't know where you're shooting and what degree of discretion you require.
 
Seems like the Canons are calling your name. You really don't have other choices with reliable AF and ND filters.

Maybe also the EOS R with a drop-in ND filter (which is also one of the models that has excellent eye-AF).

[I also made an edit to something I said before: The 400/405 do have DPAF, it's the 40/45 that don't...mixed them up.]
 
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