The Right Camera for The Right Job

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

As a continuation to @HelsinkiZim topic, we decided to expand the topic to a comprehensive poll covering all genres and all cameras available. This could be very well an end to all the questions we get flooded by everyday on what camera should I chose for X. Or even more annoying, what camera should I chose period.

There isn't an answer to that. There is a right camera for the right job. If you ask me what's the best camera period? I might say Alexa Studio, but you can't use that for making a documentary of a wedding video, therefore it's the WORST camera for YOU. That's the logic behind this Poll. 

Please: Only choose based on knowledge of the cameras. I will help by listing the main points of each, but don't just choose something because you own it or so. This would destroy the poll.

Chose what you think is THE RIGHT CAMERA FOR THE RIGHT JOB. 

On EOSHD, the largest member base is people buying camera at maximum of 5000 USD price, so that's what we'll go for. Feel free to conduct another poll for >5000 USD ones. 


Contenders: 

- GH4: Unlimited record time. Smallish sensor = easy focus. Perfect ergonomics. Insane battery.

- A7S: FF look. Insane lowlight. 

- NX1: Modern sleek image, very sharp. Perfect ergonomics and good battery and unlimited time. NX mount. 

- D750: Great FF 1080p and class leading Stills

- 5DIII Raw: Internal 14bit RAW, argued to be the best 2K image on the market. It's a hack with enormous files. 

- BM 2.5K: One of the most ''filmic'' images ever made in digital era. Bad ergonomics, audio, battery. 

- BM Ursa Mini 4K Basic: Extremely filmic and nice image in well lit studios and daylight. BAD lowlight/shadow performance with FPN. 

- XC10: Small sensor = easy focus, Fixed lens with long range, great HD and UHD, high DR, good battery, broadcast approved by EBU. 

- RX10III: Small sensor = easy focus. Fixed lens with long range, great HD and UHD, high DR, bad battery. Compared to XC10 a MUCH lower end codec and overal IQ. 

- C100 MKI: Best ergonomics out there. XLRs. NDs. Waveform/histogram, audio knobs, 15 buttons, huge battery, s35, great lowlight. NO slomotion and bad EVF.

- AF100 (used): Small sensor = easy focus. XLRs/NDs/Audio knobs/many buttons/huge battery/60p Slo motion. Bad lowlight and unappealing video-ish image.

- FS100 (Used): S35 sensor. Great lowlight. XLRs, many buttons, huge battery, sharp 60p. No NDs and awkward ergonomics. 

- F3 (used): Extremely Filmic image. 10bit 4:2:2 S-Log ProRes to cheap ninja2. Huge battery. 60p 720. NDs/XLRs. Big, heavy, FZ mount. 

- 1DC (Used): One of the best 4K images. Very high data rate/codec quality. C-Log, high DR, Great colours, No video assist function and fixed LCD to shoot with. Very large files.

- A6000: Good sharp 1080p. EVF/ Tilty LCD/ 60p/ Zebras. Bad battery life. Prone to overheat. Very small. 

- A6300: Good sharp 4K. EVF/ Tilty LCD/ Zebras. Bad battery life. Prone to overheat. Very small.

- LX100: Sharp small filed 4K. Great colours. Fixed lens with nice range. Small camera to carry. Bad battery life and no Film gammas. Limited DR and Audio. 

- RX100IV: VERY small. great 1080p. Fixed lens with good range. 120p/240p Slowmotion. Bad battery. Bad audio. 

- G7 MKII/G80: IBIS. Enough said. small sensor = easier focus vs FF. bad battery life and Audio. 

- 80D: DPAF with articulating screen. Good enough HD. Great stills and ergonomics. S35. Medium battery life and audio. 

- Xpro-2: Colours. 1080p has moire/aliasing. Poor audio and battery life. 

- NX500: Very small sensor = Easy focusing. Poor audio and battery. 120p 720p. Good colours. Limited DR. NX mount. 

 

[Justin Bacle]

17 minutes ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

- AF100 (used): Small sensor = easy focus. XLRs/NDs/Audio knobs/many buttons/huge battery/60p Slo motion. Bad lowlight and unappealing video-ish image.

Wait what ? Unappealing video-ish image ?
http://www.zacuto.com/great-camera-shootout-2011
Even if camera shootouts aren't everything, The AF100 is difficult to set but can deliver great image !

PS : I don't see the A7S in the poll but you mention it in the first post

[Liam]

A7s and nx500 aren't actually in your poll. And yeah, it's an interesting thought, just a little unsatisfying. In one category i checked way too many boxes.. tons of room for specific needs to throw this off. And a lot of budget variation concerns too. Anyway, as a sad, camera forum addict, I'm still sort of interested to see results or discussion from this..

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Corrected, 

About the AF100, I just didn't care for the image no matter how I set it up. It has a large sensor so knocks the background out of focus and has very nice colours and skin and is high resolution so yes it CAN make great images.

But the overall image aesthetic of contrasty Low DR (I tried to correct it in post with an inverse S curve to get a more filmic look but the highlight go crazy), highlight roll off is the ugliest I've seen and it turns yellow, the m43s DOF aesthetic is something I hate too (I much prefer s35), plus the very limited lowlight performance compared to FS100 and 5DIII.

I think these are the reasons I didn't like the files once imported. They look much more video than FS100 and even 5DIII H.264 which I was comparing aganist at the time and preferred. 

Anyway this is the kind of discussion we want, 

[Jonesy Jones]

One camera you did not include in the 3rd group, and the one that I use for those things, is a GoPro. I love this thing. It's possible the x1000 is better, but I only have experience with the GoPro, and I love it. I use the GoPro 4 2.7K. It's fun and easy and quick. Can easily take video or stills or time-lapse. I love photography and selfies and group shots with the super wide. So much fun. With my phone or any other camera the 3rd category is a pain for me. With the GoPro it's a pleasure.

[Mattias Burling]

Could have had more cameras like the c100ii, c300, Red One, DB, etc, etc. Which are sub $4000 or even $3000.

But I get it, can't include everything. 

BTW, when I voted 5Dmkiii in one, I don't mean only for raw. The regular avchd is still good for lots of applications.

[Liam]

For something like this - so broad, trying to be definitive, and unable to list everything - I think it might be better even to look way out of reach at the absolute best, dream setup, then adjust for your budget and resources, keeping in mind what was so appealing about the big dogs.

Maybe people could just write in for one or each category, what they wish they could get and what they'd realistically get if filming started in a month and why

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

So far people are seeing the best for films: BM 2.5K camera. Weddings/docs: C100. Family/YT/Vlogging: 80D.

Interesting. Keep these votes coming please. This is a great resource. 

[tomekk]

So I can vote on cameras I've never used in fields I've never worked in... makes my vote really credible. 

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

If you believe your vote is incorrect then don't vote. For credibility, I included the option for people to see who voted, as many names here are known to be reliable sources and have extensive hands-on experience with these cameras. But I also want the votes of the average joe, what would you choose if you were going to shoot a film, a wedding, a family party? 

Your vote is helpful. 

[dbp]

If there's one that's the best when combining all 3, I think it's the GH4. Not the single best in any category, but solid in each.

Fantastic doc camera. Fantastic travel camera. And while there is a better, it's still a fantastic film camera in the right hands, especially with a speedbooster and the right lenses. 

[jax_rox]

23 hours ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

As a continuation to @HelsinkiZim topic, we decided to expand the topic to a comprehensive poll covering all genres and all cameras available. This could be very well an end to all the questions we get flooded by everyday on what camera should I chose for X. Or even more annoying, what camera should I chose period.

There isn't an answer to that. There is a right camera for the right job. If you ask me what's the best camera period? I might say Alexa Studio, but you can't use that for making a documentary of a wedding video, therefore it's the WORST camera for YOU. That's the logic behind this Poll. 

Please: Only choose based on knowledge of the cameras. I will help by listing the main points of each, but don't just choose something because you own it or so. This would destroy the poll.

Chose what you think is THE RIGHT CAMERA FOR THE RIGHT JOB. 

On EOSHD, the largest member base is people buying camera at maximum of 5000 USD price, so that's what we'll go for. Feel free to conduct another poll for >5000 USD ones.

I said it in the last thread, and I'll say it again. The 'right camera for the job' depends on so many more things than just the type of job. There is a right camera for you, and there is a right camera for your project, that's for sure. But there's no definitive 'right' camera for a particular job. Again, it depends, and the more we suggest that it's cut and dry, the more people get disappointed because this camera doesn't do this or that, or doesn't work the way they like. In the end, they blame the camera system, when it's not really the camera system's fault.

To your point, an Alexa Studio can certainly be used for making a documentary or a wedding video. Is it the best choice? Well, that depends on you. Do you own an Alexa Studio? Do you have clients willing to pay to be able to access that quality of footage? If so, then maybe it is the best choice for you. If not, and you're looking for a camera for weddings, then it's going to depend on a number of different factors. I know wedding shooters who still shoot on prosumer 1/3" sensor cameras like the Z1, NX5 etc. I also know wedding shooters who shoot on A7s'. I know wedding shooters who shoot on F5s and REDs.

I know BTS shooters who shoot GH4, and I know BTS shooters who shoot Alexa.

It depends.

The 'what camera should I get' question may be annoying, but the reality is that people asking that question are better served once you know what their needs are, rather than selecting it from a chart. Big DPs when deciding what to lens a movie with, they don't just go to a chart that says 'Feature - Alexa Studio' and choose that way.

If you really want to serve these people, you'd be better off having a thread that outlines the pros and cons of each camera system, and has a preamble about how to ascertain what you need in a camera system.