GH5 Panasonic EVA1 New Cinema Camera from Panasonic

Thomas Smet said:
That is a bummer in your situation but keep in mind some GH4/5 professionals have moved away from m43 glass a long time ago and use EF lenses with a SpeedBooster. There is a pretty significant percentage of GH4/5 users who already own EF glass and a good cine set from Rokinon doesn't have to be all that expensive. But yes moving to a all EF lens world from a m43 native lens world is an extra challenge for those invested in m43 glass. I think the amount of native m43 users who would realistically move to a $8,000 camera might be more of a niche market than you think however. I'm not talking those who would love to make the move but those who will actually pull out the credit card and do so without getting murdered by their significant other. Typically if somebody can afford the move to an $8,000 camera without blinking that means they pull in enough revenue each year to also not care about a set of EF lenses (assuming people in that type of market position haven't already moved to EF lenses and a SpeedBooster). Not sure where you get $14k from since a good Rokinon set of cine lenses can be had for under $2k. That puts a complete package at $10k. I'm sure you have your own unique set of lenses you feel you would need to replace. If that is the case selling your native m43 lenses is always an option.

EF lenses are honestly kind of the way to go now. BMD cameras use EF mount, Canon cinema cameras use EF mount, Panasonic Varicam and EVA1 now use EF mount. Sony cinema cameras, Sony DSLRs and m43 DSLRs are now the only ones not using an EF mount in the serious video world. Sure there is Nikon but not really a serious contended in the video world. If you ever plan on moving to BMD URSA, the Canon c200 or the EVA1 you will need EF glass. m43 will likely forever be limited to DSLR cameras and that really makes sense as EF is now kind of the unofficial universal lens standard. Like it or not it is what it is. I also love native m43 glass but it is hard to ignore the industry impact EF now has.
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I don’t disagree that the move to EF glass is the current trend and that many MFT camera owners have purchased speed boosters to accommodate EF glass. For them I say the advantages in doing this are well documented.

On the other hand, for those that chose to stick with their MFT cameras and lenses remember that a really good cameraman can create world-class images with the tools he has. Throwing money at new cameras and lenses will not make you a better cameraman.

The EVA-1 is now bunched in with Canon, Sony and BMD and will stand or fall on its ability to compete. I wish it well but would have preferred MFT Cinema Camera to replace my AF100 at a price point around 4K.
 
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Vardalos said:
I don’t disagree that the move to EF glass is the current trend and that many MFT camera owners have purchased speed boosters to accommodate EF glass. For them I say the advantages in doing this are well documented.

On the other hand, for those that chose to stick with their MFT cameras and lenses remember that a really good cameraman can create world-class images with the tools he has. Throwing money at new cameras and lenses will not make you a better cameraman.

The EVA-1 is now bunched in with Canon, Sony and BMD and will stand or fall on its ability to compete. I wish it well but would have preferred MFT Cinema Camera to replace my AF100 at a price point around 4K.
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Nothing stops you from continuing to create world-class images with a GH5 and m43 glass that is equally good to what you could do with the EVA. Image wise I doubt there will be a huge difference between the cameras. Moving up to a larger camera like this is about so much more than just image quality and has more to do with form factor and the speed of use without slapping on other gear like ND filters.

Yes a larger form factor m43 camera would be nice but we have to think about the potential market share for such a camera. If a lot of pros with deep pockets have already made the move to EF or moved away from Panasonic all together for the c100s c300s and URSAs it makes sense for a camera in this class to follow that trend. EVA has the potential to pull users away from URSA, Canon and Sony and not just target the GH5 users who actually earn enough a year to justify a more expensive camera.

m43 really makes the most sense as a compact format and not so much on a larger form factor camera. M43 should stay in the DSLR world and leave the larger cameras to use the larger sensors and lenses which make a lot more sense. I just don't see the big deal about upgrading a lens collection. If moving to a larger camera makes financial sense then buying a new set of lenses shouldn't really be a big deal either.

My advice to any person who starts off with a m43 DSLR is really think about where you want to be someday. If a GH5 is a stopgap until you hit the big time then invest in EF glass right away. If you are like me and love shooting stills as much as video and love the compactness of taking an entire m43 system traveling the world and want amazing in body optical stabilization then stick with native m43 lenses. The GH5 still has many big advantages over the EVA.

1. Size and weight.
2. Extra telephoto reach.
3. IBIS.
4. A small bag can carry a body and many lenses.
5. You can bring it to a lot more places without getting in trouble.
6. Easier to buy 3 or 4 for multi-camera productions.
7. Shoot stills.
8. Shoot timelapse in raw at 5.2k.
9. Use it for family vacations.
10. More financially viable to upgrade each generation.
 
12. But still not the good features of a Super35 mm Sensor. ;)

I have here both the GH4 and the Shogun 1 with mft 18-35 and 35-100mm f 2,8 glases, but also the FS7 with speedbooster and EF Canon glases. I think both systems have advantages and disadvantages, and since there is no "best" camera but only a camera that fits nice to a specific situation it is great to have some choice. So it will add not much value to such a discussion to list up endless features.
 
The thing to be noted with EF mounts is that many lens manufacturers have either made EF mount versions or are planning to.
 
ANY ideas about Dynamic Range? Still 11-12-ish?
BlackMagic is hitting 15 now for $6k...
 
Wouldn't it be expected to get similar DR as the other Varicam cameras as this one will probably shoot the same LOG gamma? But more importantly than an absolute DR number is how highlights are compressed and handled and if it's free of noise patterns and such things when looking at the final image.
 
I would be shocked if the EVA doesn't have slightly better DR than the Gh5. It's a bigger sensor and it pretty much has to have more DR to use the full V-log curve.

To put things into perspective the new Canon c200 is only delivering 13 stops with the H264 recording which 90% of the users of that camera will end up using due to ease of use and cost. It can only get 15 stops with raw recording. We have also seen a lot of comparison videos between the GH5 and other higher DR cameras and so far none of the videos showed the GH5 getting destroyed in terms of DR. The DR is lower on the GH5 but 90% of the criticisms of the DR come from those just reading the spec. Real world results are what really matter so even if the EVA makes a specific claim it is important to actually look for side by side comparisons. One manufacturers 14+ claim is different than another's 14+ claim. Even if it only delivers 13 stops that is not a bad thing at all and a lot of cinema cameras have created high earning productions with 13 stops?
 
Is this slated for an IBC release? If the answer is yes, then everyone can relax for at least a month. My guess is that this will be similar to the LT, but slightly lesser in more than a couple of ways to keep people wanting the LT. But I bet it will still be a great camera.

The EF mount is only a small issue, plenty of good lenses in EF. Would have been nicer to have a short flange base and a range of different mounts available (E, XF, EF, PL, etc.), anything that would cover the entire sensor would have been welcome.
 
Greg_E said:
Is this slated for an IBC release? If the answer is yes, then everyone can relax for at least a month. My guess is that this will be similar to the LT, but slightly lesser in more than a couple of ways to keep people wanting the LT. But I bet it will still be a great camera.

The EF mount is only a small issue, plenty of good lenses in EF. Would have been nicer to have a short flange base and a range of different mounts available (E, XF, EF, PL, etc.), anything that would cover the entire sensor would have been welcome.
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The EVA1 will ship in the Fall. So yes, you have some time.
 
Well, better now than never!

I think it's just great there's so many different options today and coming later this year. I also think one can scrutinize the image from any of the S35 cameras and find faults but with the right operator nice things comes out of all of them.
 
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