Is the EVA1 popular or not?

Clermond said:
there is almost nothing what you can rig on the FS7 to get the colors the EVA1 has straight out of the camera.
Sold my FS7 for these colors. For everything else you are free to choose accessories.
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I don't disagree with you. And I really like the EVA1 images I've seen so far.

But that alone does not make it a camera that will get you hired. Producers often stick to what they know, and they know the FS7. They know there's lots around so it's easier to match them for multicam shoots, or get a backup if the main cam goes down. They know they can hire it everywhere and even if a kit only includes the bare-bones body, they can still shoot with it pretty effectively. They know the editor & colourist will know what to do with the footage. Before the FS7 it was the C300. Before that, the 5DmkII (shudder...) and before that, the EX1/3. Nothing yet has come along to disrupt the FS7's place at the top of the pile (for run 'n' gun, corporate, doco, etc). Of course if you're a OMB who produces/shoots/edits all in-house this is not a concern, but for a freelance cam-op, it is a primary consideration.

That is what I mean when I say there has not been an FS7-killer yet.
 
It’s on pretty big discount now on Black Friday so that can be and inclination it’s not doing too well... (interestingly the new Canon EOS R is as well, and reviews for that have been less than stellar).

EVA1 looks like it’s producing fabulous images. But it’s not that versatile with very limited AF, the EF mount etc... and speaking of mounts... the Panasonic line up is a mess in that regard. GH5 is MFT, the Varicams are PL, the EVA1 is EF and now their new FF mirrorless will be Leica L-mount... and look at Sony, I’m pretty sure that whatever replaces the F5/F55 will have e-mount in a similar way the VENICE has it... and then the whole range of Sony cameras use the same mount, from a lowly a6000 to the VENICE... in that ecosystem you can really build yourself upwards, without changing everything for each step...
 
Yes, we’ll put. But, you can change out the EVA1’s EF mount for a PL, with the Wooden Camera mod kit.
Cheers
 
I don't see a better image from the Eva1 compared to the other S35 cameras. This must boil down to personal taste.
 
deltoidjohn said:
But that alone does not make it a camera that will get you hired. Producers often stick to what they know, and they know the FS7.
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I don't get hired as DP. We produce in house full service videos for industry and corporate clients.
Clients don't care what's behind the lens as long as they don't have the impression you show up
with a DSLR but ask for Arri prices. For us there were two points important considering the EVA1:
is the client happy with the result?
How fast do we get this result

1st point is definetely yes. One of our clients realized that we swapped
from Sony to Pana and we told him that's le dernier cri in color and he came
back after finishing the film and told us how great it was.

2nd was our personal main reason. We shoot now over 50% scene files
which was not possible with the FS7 because either it looked like Sony or
took too much work in post. Lack of custom wb with the CineEI FS7 made a lot
work in correctiong colors. Workflow speed has totally increased and overall
colors of the EVA1 are also superior to the FS7. That's what we see and the
clients see that too.

As a freelance DP I probably wouldn't put all my money on the EVA1 because
it's not too popular for production companies. Pana was just 3yrs late for the party.
But honestly I see so many freelance DPs struggling also with FS7 or C300 or RED.
I am very happy with our full service business model.
 
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For my situation I run a studio and we shoot products for a toy company. I've used the FS7 and the EVA1 for the same work and for our uses the EVA1 is superior for our needs. On top of the great WYSIWYG colour for quick turnaround projects the sharpness of a oversampled sensor made a huge difference when punching in and reframing in post which is often done to the material we shoot in order to re-purpose for other projects. I love how easy it is to record ProRes to external recorders and having TC out to sync with sound is a bonus. We also shoot a lot of macro miniatures and need to shoot high iso in order to get realistic DOF and I find the EVA1 cleaner than my FS7.

I do miss a few features with my FS7. I miss having 2 SDI outs. I miss how easy it was to switch into S&Q mode. I miss the versatility of E mount.

I thought I would miss 10bit 4K 60p but honestly because of the ease of colouring I haven't noticed the 10bit vs 8 and no one on our post team has either.
 
As a small production company the camera is not always the first thing we consider, we have a pool of cam ops with C300mk2's, FS7's, EVA1's, GH4/5's. More important for us that the op knows his camera inside out, is a talented shooter and works well with clients.
We tend to steer away from FS7 as we've struggled with grading the image a couple of times in the past. Most common set ups we use are EVA/GH's and C300Mk2/1DX for multi/single shoots. AF100/AC160 for lower budget event shoots.
 
I agree, you need the right camera for the job. I would love to have a EVA1 with a PL mount, but have decide to use BAlackmagic Ursa Broadcast for my event work, replacing the AF 100 for most event work, so I could have the option of using B4 ENG zooms, in addition to PL lenses.
Cheers
 
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OnSet said:
It's amusing to see the disparity of TimeCode comments... For anyone who works with a sound person who uses a modern mixer, TimeCode is an absolute necessity. When working in documentary situations I've found that the sound person will record more than two tracks most of the time -- unless it's a single person sit-down with only the boom and a single lav. Sometimes I'll get a wireless hop from the mixer, sometimes I'll be on a hard-wire snake, but in either case the audio recorded in the mixer can prove important. Not to mention just having camera mic when shooting on a Ronin... So for me, I no longer consider cameras without TC input (which is one of the reasons I bought a GH5s to go with the EVA1 - though I'm not wild about the TC input sync implementation on the GH5s... but that's a different thread).
Does TC make the camera 'popular' -- ? No, not particualrly... But for those who need the feature it's an absolute necessity. For me, 90% of my shoots have a sound person, so the TimeCode requirement was a no-brainer.
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I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about the TC on the GH5S? As it hasn't been widely discussed much yet (even though it is a very unique feature! The first of its kind to have it built in as an option)
 
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Yes, and too bad Panasonic didn’t include this option on the EVA1, even if it added an extra $100-200 to the cost.
Cheers
 
I can't speak to all things everywhere, but in the world Im in EVA1 has had a great impact. The EVA1 came at a time when the market was already pretty crowded and busy, but Im seeing it more and more in people's hands around the place. I've also noticed a few with higher end expectations jump on it since Prores raw was released. If people havent used it they should at least be looking at it. The prores raw on EVA1 image is exceptional.
 
NorBro said:
As mentioned above, the Pocket 4K is doing that now (but many will still never trust the camera)...
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I honestly cannot understand how BM gets away with its absolutely atrocious lack of QC in its camera manufacturing process. People have received BMPCC4k cameras with white ghosting on the screen, buttons installed backwards (seriously, is anyone checking these cams before they go out the door), that don't turn on or shut off....etc. I asked this reviewer to do the BMPCC and guess what, the camera he received was defective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULDtgsGr4BU Any conversation about BM cameras has to include their QC/dependability issues, and that is why I wouldn't touch any of their cameras for professional work with a 10 foot pole. Sorry for the tangent.
 
A friend came by with an EVAI today, curious to see how well it worked on my Ronin-s. I was very impressed with the camera and the light weight. Stripped down, coupled with a high brightness external 7" monitor mounted on the Ronin-s, it was up and balanced with a pancake 40mm lens in minutes, even put a Sigma 10-20mm zoom on it.

Won't be selling my GH5/s cameras for it, due to the ecosystem I have around them, and the greater versatility in what those two GH5 cameras can do for me, but really nice! The next generation of EVA will certainly be on my radar.
 
Carlos13 said:
I honestly cannot understand how BM gets away with its absolutely atrocious lack of QC in its camera manufacturing process. People have received BMPCC4k cameras with white ghosting on the screen, buttons installed backwards (seriously, is anyone checking these cams before they go out the door), that don't turn on or shut off....etc. I asked this reviewer to do the BMPCC and guess what, the camera he received was defective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULDtgsGr4BU Any conversation about BM cameras has to include their QC/dependability issues, and that is why I wouldn't touch any of their cameras for professional work with a 10 foot pole. Sorry for the tangent.
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Because their cameras are cheap and most of their customer base is more concerned with price than quality.
 
I've owned a small fortune of BM cameras over the years and have been pretty lucky myself (some quirks here and there), but I for sure have seen and read it all.

A common consensus in the original BM community (before the rest of the world found out they existed after the Pocket 4K's release) was everyone was petty much willing to sacrifice anything - including QC - for the image quality and price because there was nothing that could compare at the time (this was 2012-13-14...even into 2015), but as cameras improved drastically for much less money (2016 was the start, IMO) it makes it harder to justify the potential inconvenience.
 
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