jgharding

Here's a first pass at matching up the ZV E10 and S1H, it's not perfect with the shirt and a slight tonal difference, but getting there, definitely will be close enough once I have it finalised, so I'm pretty happy. It didn't miss focus for the whole shoot. Which is more than can be said for me.
The rolling shutter is so bad though that if someone sways back and forth their head bends HAHAHA
But in general it's great, so if sony ever release a new APSC sensor cam with faster readout I'll likely upgrade to that. Or possible an A7S3 if I find I really start to enjoy the Sony more.

After using the Sony A7S3 in one occasion, I quickly realized how reliable and convenient modern AF systems have become. It makes me question why I have decided to stick with my FS7 and not upgrade to a A7S3 or FX3 (well, because I have no budget😆). The new AF system just saves so much time. 
Why Panasonic still doesn't offer a good AF system is beyond me. Almost always the improvements on the AF system are for stills. For stills, that system is great. Very accurate and fast. Somehow the AF for video mode is just bad, and in my experience, worse than even some older contrast detection AF systems. I suspect the problem is not entirely the DFD system. 
Panasonic cameras are always very close to a perfect camera. IMO, they just have to fix the AF system, and they can easily out sale other brands. 

So you may have see that Olympus latest M4/3 camera the OM-D EM1 iii (I'm not sure I could come up with a worse name as a joke) has "1053 phase-detect Cross Quad Pixel AF". 
I feel this is going to be the make or break generation for Panasonic. I recently bought a b-cam for the S1H and went for a Sony, not a Panasonic S5, due to the AF alone. In the latest Sony bodies it is nigh-on flawless for interviews, you can leave it on its own, wide open and it doesn't miss a beat. On the S1H i pull it myself, and the massive HDMI delay means I have to use the tiny screen to do it. Rumours for GH6 say it still uses DFD autofocus, now adding "AI" to the end of it and claiming this works five-times better. Which I assume means a future S body will also have some variation of DFD too... I'm waiting to see what happens, but don't have too much hope. If it isn't as good as Sony's I don't think I'll stay in the system regardless of Panasonic's superior colour and DR.
I do know the mantra "pros don't use AF" but that's just untrue in the real world, it's typical forum dogma. Pro does not just mean "working with a massive crew for a cinema film or Netflix", it means making a living from moving image making. Not everyone has a focus puller, most people don't. Professional crews are smaller these days, and AF is really useful in more circumstances than not and thus translates to sales, which translates to camera being supported, updated and made in the first place. I'm not just speaking for myself when I say AF is going to end up making me pick an inferior image quality for more convenience, it's all over the Panasonic groups too, loads of people jumping to second hand A7S3.
As much as one can worry about cameras, I worry that Panasonic will stick rigidly to their contrast AF, pretending as they do that it is usable for video or even in the same league as their competitors... I get it, it allows the sensor to remain unadulterated, but as it stands it just... doesn't work. I'd love to be proven wrong but... I think I'm out of faith.
I just think it's such a weird hill to die on. We know the other system works. Why persist with trying to fix something broken, when you could switch to a system that performs said function properly?

Nailed it. They can maybe get away with DfD in the GH6 but if their next FF S-series camera does not offer a major upgrade to AF reliability, consistency, and performance then I am of the opinion LUMIX will be on its way out. We now have cheaper cinema level cameras available with less need to buy something like the S1H for cheaper and put up with its limitations. Other video people, driven mostly my YT'ers, will buy something with amazing AF like a Sony or Canon, and maybe even Fuji.
It is literally the only feature that matters for them. They have all the rest. But it will remain a mystery why they don't put PDAF in their cameras.
At this point it would make a good investigative documentary. 

Maybe it’s a corporate level suicide pact? 🤪

I’ll only buy a new Panasonic camera if I can get continuous AF with my Helios 44M. Everything else is for amateurs.

I think you'll find that the new camera is the OM Systems Olympus OM-1 and the camera name you have quoted is a couple of years old, but otherwise, yes, Panasonic are probably doomed unless they sort the AF out.
I'm not part of the tin foil hat brigade but the few individuals who do have their heads screwed on, don't make up enough of any market to really influence it.
The simple reality is Panasonic have a fundamental marketing problem that comprises 2 parts:
Part A is that their 'ambassadors' seem to be jumping ship in recent times, mostly I presume as they individually wish to move to other camera systems.
Part A2 is that none of them are trendy YouTube influencers.
Part A3 is that they do not allow comments on any of their official channels, ie, kill any kind of community, so all 'community' is unofficial channels such as Facebook groups and a handful of YouTubers.
Part B is the AF tracking issue. It doesn't matter whether it's real or not real or it's adequate in some instances or total shit in all, it's a HUGE reputation/marketing issue directly affecting sales.
And before anyone says, "how do you know it's affecting sales?"
Because it's fucking obvious to anyone who has even the slightest understanding of how business works!
The bottom line is it may already be too late and it's just a question on time now, but the issue isn't contrast vs phase IMO, but simply one of whether it works or not that is the issue.
I don't care if the next gen is DFD, providing the AI bit does what they claim.
And what they claim is slightly vague... 5x faster.
5x faster than what?
I don't know if they even said 'faster' but they have stated it's 5x something along those lines and implying they have something they are confident in.
I hope so anyway, because I'm also a S1H/S5 user for video (and S1R for stills) and really don't want to have to move to another system for a whole load of reasons.
And am not as things stand, at least for this year, but at some point, new kit will happen because I'm a business user and what I have will not work forever.
Let's see what the GH6 is first and go from there...

So you may have see that Olympus latest M4/3 camera the OM-D EM1 iii (I'm not sure I could come up with a worse name as a joke) has "1053 phase-detect Cross Quad Pixel AF". 
I feel this is going to be the make or break generation for Panasonic. I recently bought a b-cam for the S1H and went for a Sony, not a Panasonic S5, due to the AF alone. In the latest Sony bodies it is nigh-on flawless for interviews, you can leave it on its own, wide open and it doesn't miss a beat. On the S1H i pull it myself, and the massive HDMI delay means I have to use the tiny screen to do it. Rumours for GH6 say it still uses DFD autofocus, now adding "AI" to the end of it and claiming this works five-times better. Which I assume means a future S body will also have some variation of DFD too... I'm waiting to see what happens, but don't have too much hope. If it isn't as good as Sony's I don't think I'll stay in the system regardless of Panasonic's superior colour and DR.
I do know the mantra "pros don't use AF" but that's just untrue in the real world, it's typical forum dogma. Pro does not just mean "working with a massive crew for a cinema film or Netflix", it means making a living from moving image making. Not everyone has a focus puller, most people don't. Professional crews are smaller these days, and AF is really useful in more circumstances than not and thus translates to sales, which translates to camera being supported, updated and made in the first place. I'm not just speaking for myself when I say AF is going to end up making me pick an inferior image quality for more convenience, it's all over the Panasonic groups too, loads of people jumping to second hand A7S3.
As much as one can worry about cameras, I worry that Panasonic will stick rigidly to their contrast AF, pretending as they do that it is usable for video or even in the same league as their competitors... I get it, it allows the sensor to remain unadulterated, but as it stands it just... doesn't work. I'd love to be proven wrong but... I think I'm out of faith.
I just think it's such a weird hill to die on. We know the other system works. Why persist with trying to fix something broken, when you could switch to a system that performs said function properly?

That electronic ND is the best though, really wish it was in every camera.

I think Dual Pixel AF will come to Panasonic's next bunch of cameras.
A lot of people here I am sure would love to shoot with an Alexa, Digital Bolex or RED with manual focus lenses or anamorphic LOMOs so autofocus isn't even the top priority for most but I do 100% agree it's very useful for every day work
I really think the R5C should have these too, being a Cinema EOS camera and likely $6000+?
It's more likely to be exact same hardware as R5C just with the fan and firmware update to remove the artificial record timer.

My two cents too, vimeo vids shot with tech pre 2015 are much nicer thought out, are more felt with an artists sensibility and competence, more interesting done than with hightech stuff from the later years. Low budget HD cams beginning with the likes of GH1, Canon Ti and so on showed an approach more connected to the possibilites and impact of visual cinematic language than these days. I am talking about semi pro stuff. Pro ads and big money productions are not of interest to me when it comes to the short form of film.

Hi all,

Many thanks for all the extra input, I can't really go through and reply individually to all the points but it was good to get more input and insight.

I have the ZV E10 now and am in testing to try and make myself a post-pipeline and LUT setup to make colour matching as painless as possible, so there isn't so much repeat work.

TBH the autofocus is pretty phenomenal with native Sony lenses. It really has come so far now, I don't think I could match it unless I were only doing the job of focussing and practiced a lot. The robots will have us beat in not too long for most circumstances. It's very impressive on a gimbal too, I ordered the new Zhiyun Crane M3 and all put together it is very light and easy to use.

The ZV E10 rolling shutter is utterly horrific in 4K mode though, but for the most part it should be fine. I mean it's really bad, as in if a subject sways to the side quickly their head bends!

I guess that is the downside of Sony trying to squeeze as many models as possible from this old sensor.

I did own the original RX10 back int eh day, and still have the RX100 MK V, though I will probably sell it now. I think they're useful cameras, but the 1-inch sensor definitely has a certain crunchy look to it. It's quite cool and 16mm like, but I reckon the APSC will cut better TBH.

Hey JG good to see you back. I think it's RIP DSLRs because they are taking sales away from EOS R lenses, as people like us already do, a lot of people still buy EF because we can use them on all the new mirrorless systems.
So if they nuke the entire line-up and EF mount cameras, they bait everyone into switching systems.
Some thoughts on that:
https://www.eoshd.com/news/eoshd-outlives-the-canon-dslr/
A lot of money in pros switching and having to rebuild their entire EF mount lenses in R mount.
It may however backfire on Canon as some will see it as an opportunity to dump Canon DSLRs and take their EF lenses with them to Sony, Nikon or Panasonic.

Well I use an S1H as my A cam and a ZV1 for my static longer form stuff, so an even smaller, simpler and cheaper solution.
However, I don’t mix the footage but use it for a separate purpose.
I picked it up to replace my previous same 1 inch sensor camcorder that had been my workhorse for the same purpose for the previous 5+ years, sacrificing the much longer zoom lens (didn’t need anyway) for the tiny size and better AF.
I think the only way you are going to know if it will work for you however is to try one and see?
I tried my S5 in this role for all of this years 6 jobs (should have been 30 so fuck you Covid, but that’s another matter) with the ZV1 mounted on the hotshoe to capture the same scene.
Used the ZV1 footage only on each occasion.
The Pros:
Smaller, lighter, cheaper, very good 4K 25p footage, excellent AF, no recording limit and can be powered off a power bank whilst recording.
The ‘Cons’:
The footage is not as malleable as it is with the majority of cameras as it is ultimately a 1 inch sensor, but you are looking at it’s newer and slightly larger sensor brother so…
I think as tempted to change myself to the ZV E10 but then asked myself why?
I can’t find enough reason to upgrade but if I was starting from scratch I’d probably go ZV E10.

I had a think about this last year.

End of the day an Alexa classic is a massive heavy 1080p camera which, although it produces a phenomenal image, was designed for crew work and is losing ground now.

I now use an S1H recording externally to BRAW, plus GH Alex LUTS and it's close enough for me, plus i can shoot entirely solo and get good results.

So TBH I think they need to come down a bit more in price.

it seems to vary camera to camera, the whole 8-bit vs 10-bit thing,

Like Panasonic S1H the 8-bit in vlog has the weird banded magenta thing and can render it unusable, Sometimes even in non-vlog profiles, but the 10-bit is great.

But the 12-bit BRAW for the Video Assist is just excellent! Such a huge jump up if you're going to do keying and heavy grading and so on.

it seems to vary camera to camera, the whole 8-bit vs 10-bit thing,

Like Panasonic S1H the 8-bit in vlog has the weird banded magenta thing and can render it unusable, Sometimes even in non-vlog profiles, but the 10-bit is great.

But the 12-bit BRAW for the Video Assist is just excellent! Such a huge jump up if you're going to do keying and heavy grading and so on.

This image shows the upcoming Sigma Fp-L, with the new EVF-11 module attached which gives it a nice rangefinder-style form factor.
Cleverly, the EVF attaches directly to the HDMI port with no cabling. It's able to communicate via USB C and is powered by the camera.
Since the Sigma Fp-L (and original) have quarter inch threads on both sides of the camera, a 1/4" screw secures the module in place (as if it were attached directly to a cage).
New blog post:
https://www.eoshd.com/news/sigma-evf-11-is-a-masterpiece-of-design/

Again, a great point I forgot about. I did have two of these, and now I record on Ninja V exclusively, so had forgotten, but yes it's a travesty. To allow this in their top DSLM body and just not address it other than tell people to buy new cards, then start blaming card manufacturers etc... it was all terrible.

I just switched to Ninja and carried on. There's no visual gain from ProRes at all, even if you push the footage into a pixelly mess of colour it's the same, you just have bigger files and slightly easier compatibility.

I'd prefer to use internal but I don't trust it, so yeah I see what you're saying.

The Ninja is a good tool regardless, but I wouldn't want to carry it around for a wedding, you'll wanna stay light I guess? I've never shot a wedding.

I don't think I'll need another camera for the next couple of years.
I own 2x S1 and 1x S5 at the moment, and they are exactly what I  need at the moment.
The only 'downside' is that the camera's can't record 4:2:2 10-bit and full frame at 50 fps. But, I have now invested in anamorphic lenses and these camera's offer great anamorphic support. In camera desqueeze and even the IBIS takes the squeeze factor into account. Also nice is that the 4:3 crop of the sensor is a bit higher than the normal S35 / APS-C crop (and slightly narrower) and that means that the crop factor when shooting a 1.33x anamorphic lens is reduced with about 20% as opposed to shooting in s35 mode. That's close to APS-H territory which is IMO, all you need for video.
Add to that the great photo quality and decent AF (for photography), the relatively small filesizes, the great DR when shooting in V-LOG 10-bit and the price... I really can't complain.
Well if I have to complain, it's the lack of an OLPF. 

Yea, I would buy an S1H if it wasn't for all the people complaining about corrupt .mtd files, camera freezes, etc. I also had those with my 3 S1 bodies. Many times and I was furious when it happened during weddings. But since I changed to CFexpress recording, I have no more problems. The S1H does not have that option, only SD-card recording. Which frankly, I don't dare to use anymore on paid gigs. Especially weddings...
Now there are many people without problems, but some never had problems and then all of a sudden, boom, a corrupt file. Did you ever have anything happen?
The Facebook groups of 'S1 and S1 users' are full of those posts.

I got an S1H before lockdown, it's not been used a lot but will pay for itself in some time.

I've been on the Red Komodo pre-order list for 4 months or so with no word. TBH I may cancel it as work is light. I'll see how I feel when i finally get the "do you want to complete your order sir?" call...

The S1H for me is like a baby Alexa, such a good image. But I prefer Komodo post pipeline due to the raw codec. That's it though, TBH the S1H is better for everything else. Maybe I will cancel it TBH, seems like there's little benefit at the moment.

I got an S1H before lockdown, it's not been used a lot but will pay for itself in some time.

I've been on the Red Komodo pre-order list for 4 months or so with no word. TBH I may cancel it as work is light. I'll see how I feel when i finally get the "do you want to complete your order sir?" call...

The S1H for me is like a baby Alexa, such a good image. But I prefer Komodo post pipeline due to the raw codec. That's it though, TBH the S1H is better for everything else. Maybe I will cancel it TBH, seems like there's little benefit at the moment.

New blog post here!
https://www.eoshd.com/news/eoshd-podcast-episode-2-an-interview-with-michael-moores-producer-jeff-gibbs-and-their-new-film-michael-moores-planet-of-the-humans/
And new podcast can be streamed here:
https://anchor.fm/eoshd/episodes/The-EOSHD-Podcast---Episode-2---Jeff-Gibbs--Director---Michael-Moores-Planet-Of-The-Humans-epsucf

He is so scary in Sexy Beast. That and Paddy Considine in Dead Man's Shoes are some of favourite intense performances.