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I never have and was going to cycle from UK to India once, but in the end flew and backpacked it. I do have a few trips planned, but skipping the bike for all of them. Probably…

Ha I dare you. But yes it is very inspiring stuff, have done a fair few bike packing adventures but this is next level

Your checklist is a good start however everyone has their own perception of what defines "cinema". People have been chasing cinematic vibes long before DSLRs and mirrorless cameras were a thing. This forum has been part of that journey, evolving alongside gear and trends. Online, “cinematic” usually means widescreen bars, shallow depth of field, slow-mo coffee shots, and the latest LUT everyone’s hyped about. Anamorphic lenses are popping right now, which probably explains why a lot of camera bros are jumping ship to Lumix to chase that look. My point I guess is that there’s no single “cinema look.” Real cinema is about intention and personal choices. It’s the lighting/exposure that sets the mood, the colors that tell the story, natural dynamic range, and framing that pulls you in. The texture your gear adds, your lens choice, and how you pace things.. that’s what really gives something its look. That’s why directors like Lynch, Soderbergh, and Baker sometimes break code and ditch the big rigs for DV, iPhones, or 35mm. Not because they can’t get a polished image, but because they want immediacy, rawness, and the happy accidents you just don’t get with giant setups. Baker’s Anora used 35mm not for nostalgia, but for the discipline and energy it forces, kind of like his iPhone stuff on the reverse end of the spectrum. Whether those projects click with you visually is personal, but that doesn’t make them any less cinema. Sure, high-end productions lean on ARRI, RED, or Venice with top glass. But smaller cameras get their day too. The FX3 showed up in The Creator, F1 & Severance because of its low-light chops, portability, and multi-cam flexibility. When matched up right, it can hang with the big boys. Chasing the cinematic look is totally valid, especially if it fires up your creativity. Again, your checklist is legit, but remember it’s always evolving and should serve what you want to say. Sometimes the weird or unexpected choices end up making something fresh and your own.

I don't know if I dare click on that because based on just the thumbnail, I want to go and do it. Tomorrow.

100% agree about the size, and when compared to the GH5 the difference in the hand is a lot more than what it looks like in pictures, so it's sort-of deceptively chunky. By the time you're looking at a GH7 "small camera" territory is so far off you can't even see it in the rear-view mirror! Perhaps the compromise is that the GH7 has an integrated cooling fan whereas neither the R5 nor Z6 III have it, and will be a larger again by the time you add on additional accessories etc.

The reason that I've been avoiding (and maybe others have to) mentioning the GH7 has nothing to do with low light and everything to do with it being as large and heavy as a lot of FF bodies. If you're willing to go that big, you could also get an EOS R5 or a Z6 III.

I would check out Martijn Doolaard on Youtube, he filmed this on his own with drone and mirrorless camera and phone camera and it is seriously beautiful and high quality visually, and he has a very engaging way. He obviously has a good eye but it's amazing what can be done as a single person. He used a GH5 for this, it was a few years ago, the last 3 years he has been filming himself doing up a cabin in the Italian Alps, I think using a version of Sony A7 and drone. He releases a film each week and again it is beautiful to watch, is both mesmerising, educational, inspiring and medative, good for the soul.Highly recommend

I've never owned a Fuji camera myself, but one major reason I haven't is that many of their cameras don't support 'plug-in power' for external mics, which some camera-mount mics need (or can detect to perform auto mic on/off). You need to check the user manuals carefully if that's important to you. The X-M5 does appear to support it (but e.g. the X-T50 doesn't), so maybe future cameras will as well.

I agree completely. With smaller/lighter lenses like the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 APS-C I find the S9 well balanced and easy to hold, with left hand under the lens and right hand around the body. I have (but don't use very often) the Sirui grip, which is deeper than the Smallrig one and has a high-grip surface on the 'bump' - this is someone else's comparison photo of (top to bottom) the Sirui, JJC and Smallrig grips Even with a (small/light/decent sounding) Sennheiser MKE200 mic mounted on the cold shoe the combo still feels relatively small and light, which is exactly what I wanted when I bought the S9.

I can vouch for the GH7 as a workhorse. In terms of low light, I'd say it's fine. Here are a couple of stills from the GH7 with the Voigt 17.5mm F0.95 lens. I can't remember if the lens was fully wide-open or not, but I think the GH7 was at ISO 1600? These have a film grain applied, so the grain is deliberate. GH7 ISO tests are available online if you want to see the grain at various settings. Also remember that NR exists in post, and compression does a pretty good job of NR as well. The first shot is lit from the candle and the light of the fridge: and this is just the candle: Here's are some shots from the OG BMMCC from 2014 at its base ISO of 800, the 12-35mm F2.8 lens and shot at a 360 shutter to cheat an extra stop. These locations looked about this bright with the naked eye, and I have excellent night vision. You actually need far less low-light performance than most people think. Thanks! The issue is that you're either showing a very wide FOV, which will have significant distortions, or you're cropped in to the point where the quality is low because you're cropping out most of the data. IIRC, If you have a 100Mbps 360 image then by the time you crop to the FOV of a 24mm lens you're down to something like only a few Mbps. This is why I said the bitrates are what matters most.

I never used the GH7, only the GH6, but I found it to be great in low light; just not "no light" situations. Both of those cameras are mostly about 4k 120fps. The GH7 is about that and the AF in video and Hybrid Zoom. If the cost and size aren't the determining factors, the GH7 is the most fully-featured M43 camera for video today. Want the same features as the GH7? Go for the G9ii something smaller and cheaper, just no insanely long clips. In fact, the G9ii might be my last M43 camera as I don't see a point in anything more.

Yep and is still currently my A cam. It’s going to become C cam after the next job, but only because a pair of S1Rii’s will be in the house by then and my future approach of shooting hybrid 2x identical units albeit with a different focal length on each and in 7.2k open gate allowing me to additionally pull the highest res stills I can whilst retaining open gate for 16:9 and 9:16 edits. If they ever do make a mkII version with nothing more than the S1Rii sensor, I’d be all over that. But they won’t as the S9 body has no fan. I would like to see a cinema style body a la FX line though…

Yes 👋 My name is Simon. I was a full-time Fuji user from 2011-2020, but I then managed to kick that habit and have been 1537 days Fuji sober. But seriously, whilst there is not that much difference in body sizes, depending on the body such as a full-frame 6k open gate shooting Lumix S9 is much smaller than some more recent M4/3 options, it’s the lenses where the biggest difference tends to be. APSC obviously sits between M4/3 and full-frame and I personally think it’s now a bit of a meh option, being somewhat ‘less’ than full-frame and not having the ‘smallest, lightest, fastest’ ability of M4/3. And when I say fastest, I am referring more to AF speed if that is important to you because from experience, the Olympus/OM options trump Fuji in that department. I still can’t see past a mint OG (digital) Olympus OM-1 with perhaps a single one & done lens, the 12-40mm f2.8 giving you FF equivalent of 24-80mm. Plus the action cam. I would happily set off tomorrow to travel around the world for a year with that Oly option.

Had one of my first intense shoots with the S9; this was a concert with a well-known rapper in the Christian Music scene. Used the Panasonic S9 with my Sigma 18-35 (haven't sold it yet). So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenominal and noise performance isnt bad. I filmed using the 3.3k 4:3 mode which is lovely and allowed me to really easy make a 9:16 edit while still framing for 16:9 or 2:35:1 as well. It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase. I am content with this mode so don't have a massive urge to sell my Sigma 18-35 and get proper full frame glass. Eventually i will though. Double aspect ratio markers on the S9 is sweet; I had a 2:35:1 AND 9:16 aspect ratio marker going at once making framing for both mediums so easy. IBIS is so good; I filmed 90% with e-stabilization set to high; this did crop pretty heavy but you forget about it when shooting, and the performance was so good I rarely had to post-stabilize and could easily replicate gimbal tracking shots with a heel-toe walk and holding the camera a bit loosely. The cage and hand-grip definitley helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on. I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip. Other notes: Battery life is great. Only used two batteries for the entire shoot filming multiple concerts over a few hours. Didnt' even fully run through the second. Lack of viewfinder is not a dealbreaker for me as I only do video; screen could use to be a bit brighter but still usable in direct sunlight. The rear dial feels so cheap; you can easily nudge it half-way between its click points. I don't like it. At least it's very functional. I do find the function button placements to be good, and i can efficiently change settings. A joystick would have been cool. Lack of hot-shoe a non-issue for me as I am 98% video. If I really need it I can whip out my Nikon Z6 for photo work. Camera never overheated once, and it was a very hot day. Definitely love this camera. I do see myself picking up an S5 II on ebay down the line, but I don't see myself ever needing anything better; just would like weather sealing and a more robust build. But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine. Given that I paid $860, its easy to overlook the flaws of this camera.

Does anyone have anything to say about the Fuji XT cameras?

I just saw my first 360 material from a bike last night and although it was interesting to be able to cut back and forth from multiple angles, I just couldn't get past how distorted everything was on the wides... and it seems to me that this doesn't go away when cropping in. Maybe I need to check out some other material to get a better sense of things... but I like it that you've thrown this option into the mix. Thanks!

Thank you for the FX suggestions... I'd overlooked these units. And yes, the decision on how to store and backup files certainly comes into the picture. I guess it's a matter of price and connection speed which are the variables. I'll keep your Blackmagic suggestion in mind. Hard work... yes! It's one thing to show up somewhere, rent a flat, and then plug into a city for material. Quite another to do it from a moving bicycle. The good news is that others have done it with impressive results.

Thank you for pointing this out eatstoomuchjam. Entirely true on the dust factor... I'd say that this can actually be more important that rain.

Well said Kye, thank you. I've seen your work over the years, it's impressive just how much you are able to ring out of your bodies and lenses. Seriously. And yes, the S9 and 28-200 seems like it can deliver as a smaller unit. I wonder how much larger things get when professional audio comes into play.

Good to have your extra and revised insights here John. Thank you. Yes, a combination of an action camera and a decent smaller unit seems the way to go. However, I think we'd agree that it would be great to have just one robust unit that we know and trust. But, of course, everything is a compromise. With so many variables, I never put much faith into 'weather' sealed ratings. Sometimes one just has to spend and put these things through their paces until they just no longer work. Then grab a new one, and keep going. "There are so many good choices. It almost makes you say "screw it" and just use whatever you have with its limitations. If you're a creative, this is usually better." - This! Finally, at the end of the day, we know a camera should be mostly intuitive to use... and get the hell out of the way. I know that @Kye like the GH bodies... but notice no one here has said much about the GH7 as a work horse. It would be such a solid contender if they could get that low light up a bit. Correct?

Well said. And truth be told, I've never felt exactly comfortable in front of the camera... but I do like to be taken by the hand by other filmmakers as they lead me through unconventional stories that move the heart and imagination.

Not yet. Last job (this weekend) and next (Tues & Wed), in a 2 job transition phase until the second S1Rii arrives and then I will be properly. Well, next job after the second S1Rii should have arrived, I'll be making a final final decision, but I think I'll hold on to it purely, as above, spare/gimbal/slow mo as the 2x S1Rii's take over the principal clip capture role. But if I decided to sell, outside of MPB, I'll sell it to my favourite purchaser of my used gear 😉 Yep. Very high quality build. There are 2 charger types and they look almost identical, except the built in power bank version is slightly bigger. They have options for various brands but the Lumix power bank version is not available yet. Battery life also seemed better this last job because over 2 days shooting >1500 Jpeg + Raw's, I only went through approx 1.5 batteries, so getting close to 1k stills per battery?

I’d also be interested in the pwer bank charger. When I’m out and about I use a normal Lumix charger with a power bank but a all in one solution sounds good! The company is called Llano?

Have you used the S1Rii for video? How is it? If you do sell the S9 I might be interested. Josh Cameron on Youtube recommended the Tilta multi battery charger. I bought it and it’s been a great change. Only 50€ as well.

Exactly my feelings about this dealbreaker, despite the rest: