ntblowz

Glad I ditched Sony completely last month (FS5 A7s etc) and switch back to Panasonic this year

Glad I ditched Sony completely last month (FS5 A7s etc) and switch back to Panasonic this year

This is just Panasonic proving to me, yet again, that I made the RIGHT decision when purchasing the GH5 over the A7S II.  I will probably never use most of the new features (I am going to have to get an HDR TV now, thanks Panasonic), but it's amazing to know that they're there if I need them.  This is a camera that I think I'll grow into, instead of growing out of.  I love that Panasonic is listening to its customers and giving them features that the camera didn't ship with.  

I do wonder WHY the ALL-I codecs look more filmic.  There was always something so beautiful about the videos from my GH2.  So beautiful, in fact, that I didn't even bother upgrading to the GH3 or GH4.  I can't say what it is that makes the images from the GH2 look the way they do, but I haven't seen it in any other camera.  Maybe it was the noise, always bouncing around on the screen, like the Digital Bolex.  The GH2 was a fantastic camera and I'm really looking forward to seeing what ALL-I looks like on the GH5 at 4K.  

Wow, just wow... Respect for Panasonic just went up big time. Canon who? This is amazing, Panasonic have gone above and beyond my wildest expectations with this update. My decision to invest in the Panasonic system now justified. Canon never did anything like this for us. I am still waiting to see what EVA1 brings, but if the lowlight performance is there, I can see it making a nice addition to my tool kit. If not, another GH5 will be in the cards. In any case, this is massive. The competition is surely looking stupid right now. Hey Sony, Canon, Nikon etc... this is how you earn customers business and repeat business.

This has been my life in the last 2 hours....
"I must sort out getting that time lapse app for the RX100 so I can do the total eclipse later"
Goes to camera
Sets up wifi painfully with on screen keyboard
"Account? Of course you want me to set up a Sony account you personal detail gathering junkies"
Set up account on computer after having to do at least half a dozen of those bastard Captcha things
Put debit card details in....Declined
Text from the bank asking what I'm up to and that they've helpfully blocked the card until I tell them
Sort out the bank, card unblocked
Try again....Declined
Try again....Declined
Bit of lateral thought, go to Amazon and buy instant code for Sony Network
Put code in....done
Buy app 
Test app by putting it on balcony to do some moving clouds
Return to it after 30 minutes and nearly burn my hand off as its pretty much molten lava with a lens attached
Playback results....not bad
Search the NASA interactive map to find out what time I'll need to be setup
Discover that its only going to be visible in America.....
 

Panasonic 35-100 2.8 with tiffen promist filter and slrmagic vari nd, that filter works really well on modern lens

QFTT!  Save your money for house deposit or next travel, if you are happy with what you got there is no need spend money.  I am saving up for newer car 

QFTT!  Save your money for house deposit or next travel, if you are happy with what you got there is no need spend money.  I am saving up for newer car 

Too much fanboyism, envy and hate out there...Too many self proclaimed (but clueless) camera business analysts...And THIS is simply useless for interested people.
Real interested enthusiasts and working shooters are gone - now replaced by "gear lurkers only". They spend weeks upon reading reviews, then buy, use, read even more reviews, then upgrade, replace, resell gear and finally repeat this process ad infinitum...without even producing only one piece of really useful content. Nothing wrong when doing this - just useless for people mainly interested in shooting and NOT in endless talk...
In fact, the indecision of gear talkers is the factual bread-and-butter for most review sites. During the old days, I got much inspiration from many sites. Now...I am mainly disgusted by hate, envy, misconception, factual misinformation or even misleading and false statements...Gear talking became more and more boring and useless...
BUT...Though there still are many useful sites out there with people who really help and inspire one...
Yep...My POV: Shoot first and talk then...

For all the time I spend wasting on forums, I never could get into No  Film School. The few times I've been on it, something just seemed... I don't know, childish? Perhaps that's being too judgmental. 
This place has the perfect blend of a small and active community. It's kinda rare to have both. Too many people is often not a good thing, as the signal to noise ratio gets really bad. I used to go on dvinfo and creativecow a lot but both seem dead.  Even bmcuser has slowed down like crazy.  
I do enjoy a lot of the film based subreddits. r/editors,  r/videography, r/filmmakers and r/cinematography.
This is still my favorite video related website.

It's getting a ton of coverage this week. That alone is enough traffic to drive sales. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but if we are to believe what they said on RED's forum - that they can't keep up with manufacturing, I just wonder why they'd expand and create longer backorder times. Unless Apple is helping with manufacturing.

Thanks for your review! If you don't mind, I'd like contribute my experience:
I'd add to the pros list:
S-Log view assist "proper audio" (I think this gets overlooked a lot when comparing to mirrorless) Easy to break down/put together (esp. compared to its big brother) Battery life Dual card slots "Clear image" zoom can be used with the zoom rockers. And I'd add to the cons list:
Can't adjust jack-shit once you turn on super slomo. And no histogram during slomo- wtf, Sony? No waveform Low res EVF (in addition to being small) Shutter speed changes seem random when going between frame rates/resolutions. It needs the ability to set angle!! Seriously, why no shutter angle option? I think this is worth two bullet points :P Controls for XLR2 get covered by the handle. (Or maybe it's XLR1-can't remember) And, to me, I don't find the footage difficult to grade (maybe because I use S-Log 3 and SGamut3.Cine instead of 2/SGamut?), and I've been exposing +1.5EV and haven't had an issue with noise even in HFR.
Curious what lenses you use. Since you were getting marginally better resolution in 4K out, my first thought was maybe you're reaching the resolving limit of the lenses, but the fact that the a6500 is getting better results (with the same lenses, presumably) counters that idea. Great video, btw!! Is that 4K/100?

I've had this kit for nearly a year now, so it's time to review it. 
Thought I'd share a mini review from some notes I've written down. 
Intro
I've been mostly a Sony shooter since 2012 when the FS700 came out. Got the FS5 as an A-cam all rounder, and soon updated it with the raw update and Inferno. Mostly shoot in Slog2 alongside other Sony alphas like the A6500 and A7SII. 
Best Bits
Electronic ND!! Nice ergonomics. Lots of HFR options.  Internal XAVC-L HD holds up really well.  Really nice monitor (Inferno) - easy to use and quality screen.  Continuous slow motion is useful for longer scenes.  4k 100fps - looks great! Raw images look very thick and tasty.  Worst Bits
Menus are complicated.  Internal 4k is nothing to shout about.  White Balance, especially in Slog, never looks right (Colour can either be too cool or greenish yellow. ) Often difficult to grade images (but can get great results).  Inferno monitor battery life is very poor.  Camera is heavier, bigger and harder to use with the Inferno. Continuous slow motion is very noisy.  Raw to ProRes 4k is only incrementally better than the Internal XAVC-L HD.  EVF viewfinder seems a bit too small.   
Perspective
The idea behind FS-RAW and the external recorder is very attractive, however some users may end up being disappointed with the experience. This is a very stable and reliable camera setup, however if you like to move fast and have a lot of freedom with your tools, this is likely not the right setup for you. 
To use the FS-RAW update is expensive, and I've found that if you don't plan to shoot RAW but ProRes instead - the difference isn't worth the extra money. It might be to some for special purposes, however I didn't feel the benefit enough. 
The A6500 beats the FS5 raw to ProRes ProRes image in 4k. Not so much in 1080p. 
A lot of us think that the more lucrative the setup, the better our images will be. It's definitely possible. But as our smaller, cheaper camera have limitations - the bigger boys also come with significant limitations too. You need more crew, more hard drives, more muscles, bigger tripods, bigger gimbals, bigger sliders, bigger batteries, and a much bigger wallet. 
If you're thinking of "upgrading" from your mirrorless, be prepared for a much different experience.
For me, I do find purpose in using this setup. For some shoots, there's not a better option. But for the majority - being more compact is definitely more favoured. 
Here's a video I produced on the FS5 with the Inferno:
 

I got the audio adapter on my GH5, easier to use than C100MKII's top handle, especially when camera is mounted fairly high.
 

Rent or borrow an Alexa, shoot something great, problem solved? You'll include camera and gear rental costs in higher end gigs.

* Bitrate of at least 240 Mbps (at 23.98/24 fps) recording
So after the '400Mbps' firmware update, 4K 10-bit log GH5 should be good to go!

screen grab from a sequence I shot last week (last airbender fan film), it will have quite a bit of vfx once finished

so cool!

Good to see my old school hall !

Good to see my old school hall !

screen grab from a sequence I shot last week (last airbender fan film), it will have quite a bit of vfx once finished

screen grab from a sequence I shot last week (last airbender fan film), it will have quite a bit of vfx once finished

My experience with the specific Metabones that you are after for M43 cameras is mixed.
The work I'm doing on my hardware focus controller for Panasonic cameras has involved me creating a calibration procedure and the number of focus points for a native M43 lens is on average around 200 depending on the lens. On an EF lens via the Metabones its less than half that. And often much less than half that. This doesn't mean that it doesn't focus necessarily just that its very coarse in its points and the camera is returning some errors from it when trying to drive it too quickly between points. 
Now, all that might not seem to necessarily matter in terms of normal operation because I'm doing something completely different with it but it does tally with what I'm seeing from it when I am using it in normal operation where it is being a bit skittish. And this is using it with a variety of lenses from Canon including some short and long L lenses as well as more lower end ones like the nifty fifty and EF-S lenses but also the Sigma 18-35 1.8. 
Optically its fine, the aperture control is fine and the AF is generally OK but I would definitely advise that you try one out with the specific lenses that you will be using it with and see if it is right for you. Unfortunately, thats tricky depending on where you are as even in London I found nowhere that I could demo one.