Oliver Daniel

Well it’s just like TV really. 

Most of it is nonsense and garbage, however there’s plenty of brilliant content in there. 

I think the problem is, it’s much harder to find the quality stuff, and people get hypnotised by the low quality click bait stuff, and the good stuff barely has space to breathe. 

The way I use it though, I find it a great resource. Plenty to see. 

Is this the first and only feature film created about a video editing application? 

Website for the film here.

I've not watched it yet, but I can see the creators have passionately made this film to prove people wrong about FCPX. I agree! 

4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Terra + BMPCC4K?

I pre-ordered a BMPCC 4k that minute it was announced, too good to miss! 

Well so far, this is how the race is going:

1. Panasonic EVA1 + GH5's. 

2. FS5 mk II + (A7S-III) + A7

3. Kinefinity Terra 4k + not sure. 

4. RED Monstro + RED Gemini + Arri Alexa Mini + Varicam 35 + Sony Venice + GoPro. 

5. Cinemartin Fran + dishwasher. 

1 hour ago, mercer said:

It seems the EVA1 is really the only choice if you need the 240fps.

As far as Canon goes... yeah I guess... the RawLite out of the C200 edits natively in both FCPX and Resolve. Sure it eats data, but I am seeing more and more shooters using the RawLite for wedding videos and they go through way more footage than you probably will... plus I believe you can use CFast2 to SSD adapters... or I vaguely remember reading that somewhere?

And also remember that a lot of reviews have stated that the 8 bit 4K Canon Log files have more latitude in post than the 10bit files from the GH5.

Anyway my point is that don’t disregard the C200 quite yet... I think you’ll find it offers a lot of what you want/need... except for the 240p... but almost no camera has that, so it’s kind of a bottleneck for your choices. 

Last thing about the C200 and then I’ll stop... a feature that goes unmentioned is that it exports 10bit 2K from it SDI port. So with an external recorder you can get some juicy 2K ProRes with it.

Okay, I’m done. Good luck with whatever you choose. 

I'm with you on the C200, it seems like a great camera, but it lacks that essential feature that I'm looking for:

Solid, beefy, thick HFR up to 240p that won't fall apart in post. 

The C200 simply doesn't have it, and if it did, I'm a customer! 

On 7/20/2018 at 12:38 PM, IronFilm said:

Can your style of productions be suitable for an easyrig?

As if you can use an easyrig then you could even use say a beefy F5 (well I say "beefy", but it is actually quite "lightweight" for a cinema camera) and your back can be fine with hours of handheld shooting. 

What mistakes have you personally made in the past?
Often you can learn from your past to guide your future. 

 

Got plenty of lights then? As you need to use a fast shutter for HFR!
And a more capable low light camera wouldn't be bad either. 

 

Easyrig... possibly. Think I'll need it at some point. 

Mistakes... buying gear that I don't use. Also being indecisive about my cameras. 

I have loads of lighting. Probably too much. 

On 7/20/2018 at 7:47 PM, webrunner5 said:

I think this sort of sums up the new Sony FD5 mk II.

"There has been a lot of people that seem unhappy with the FS5 II. I think many people want a Sony Venice for the price of an FS5. Let’s be realistic, that isn’t going to happen. 10 bit recording in UHD would be nice, but that would need higher bit rates to avoid motion artefacts which would then need faster and more expensive media. If you want higher image quality in UHD or 4K DCI do consider an Atomos recorder and the new ProRes Raw codec. The files are barely any bigger than ProRes HQ, but offer 12 bit quality."

 

I may look at this again. Very curious about the new A7SIII. That could be a decisive point. 

On 7/20/2018 at 7:03 PM, mercer said:

It’s quite simple really... it’s the Panasonic route with the EVA1 and GH5/s. 

Or

The C200 and 1DX Mark II. Other than media costs, the C200 gives you the juiciest files in camera with Raw video and DPAF. And then for gimbal work you have the 1DXii.

EVA1 is in pole position (given my VLOG workflow) at the moment, but there's no massive rush. I'm way more experienced with Sony, up to F55, so the door is always open.

Canon would be a no-brainer if only they took more features out of their ass and put it in their cameras, such as decent codecs and HFR. They are a very frustrating company!! 

@Sage, just installed your new Verde version and about to have a play. 

I'm considering the EVA1, do you think you'd provide a profile for this? 

On 7/18/2018 at 10:05 PM, wolf33d said:

No hesitation for me the FS5 choice. 

Great slowmo. Prores Raw is sick. Best B and C cam with the incoming a7siii with great AF for gimbal shots. 

 

I had an underwhelming experience with the original FS5, minus some brilliant shots I did accomplish with it. Maybe I didn't get the best out of the Atomos linkage. I juts found teh GH5 experience so unbelievably liberating. 

Totally with you on the gimbal AF for Sony cams, yet I do love the GH5 10 bit and video centric design. @Sage Emotive Alexa LUT makes it sing! But that AF on Sony.... damn you all!

Logically my best bet would be the EVA1, although I'd secretly like to get my hands on the Mavo! I have to make the right business decision. I've f***ed up on gear choices too many times!!

Essentially, the A-cam must:

• Be compact and lightweight (I'm very handheld, my back needs light). 
• Have very thick quality HFR (as it will be used a lot for the Chromaflex green screen). 
• Have that client sex appeal (give these brand video guys a high end impression, it does suck, but it works!)
• Have seamless integration with B and C cams (same workflow, brand, lenses etc). 

I'm in no rush and have time to monitor these options, as it has to be the right decision that will last years of service (or my finance manager will kill me). 

Also - Canon, Arri and RED are not an option. Too much £ and hassle. 

On 7/18/2018 at 9:31 AM, IronFilm said:

The FS700 4K 120fps (or 2K 240fps) is in a totally different world.

The FS700 can just look beautiful: 

 

Wow the FS700 is kicking ass here! (with a highly skilled operator). 

On 7/18/2018 at 8:59 AM, nigelbb said:

It depends what your requirements are. The king for cheap HFR is the Sony RX100 V. You can record 1920x1080 120fps all day or 4-7 second bursts at 240fps.

I'd cope with just the GH5 however my requirement is really thick, chunky files for HFR - which the small little Sony's can't get close to. 

On 7/18/2018 at 6:39 PM, Zak Forsman said:

 

EVA1 has a 1.5x crop Super35 sensor and does not crop or window up to 120fps in full DCI 2K (not just HD), but does crop to m43 for 240fps. it also will shoot 2K 10-bit up to 120fps, but 8-bit for 240fps.

Thank you for clarifying! Shame it crops to m43 at 240fps, although not a dealbreaker as a lot of cameras do that anyway. 

@Sage, you've definitely turned the GH5 into a different camera with this work, you're a magician, very well done! This update makes the GH5 look like a £15k + camera. 

At first, I was struggling with the Gha LUT as I was getting a lot of red in my images, but from the later version and my increased obsessive approach to better white balance, I've been getting much better results, and I'm now using it pretty much exclusively. Not been using my own LUTS at all. 

I've been making my own personal "quick looks" with extra styling using the LUT, wondered if you've thought of making some for your product? 

4 hours ago, mkabi said:

What is your budget like?

You need 240fps in 1080P? What about 4K? Happy with just 60P?

Obviously.... the GH5S is good enough, but sensor size is becoming a limitation? Otherwise, I would recommend the Z Cam E2.

In my opinion, if you weren't restricted by a budget and/or if you were cool with RED, check out Used RED Epic X on Ebay. You can't go wrong -> Super 35, 5K @ 120fps, 4K @ 150fps, 3K @ 200fps & 2K @ 300fps. And, all in compressed RAW.

Yeah, saw a Scarlet-W package for £9k today. I find the older REDs too heavy really.

Would love 4K 100fps continuous (Kine cams do it), also love the lightweight build. 

2 hours ago, William Husker said:

How about this as another choice?

Choice 4

Canon C200 (A cam) - Many clients love the canon color and find it to be quite pleasing, plus canon cinema cameras just scream professional for clients in general.

Sony FS700 (Slow Motion Cam) Treat this as a specialty cam for slowmo, you can get 2K DCI 240fps if used with an atomos recorder for very cheap, not to mention the in camera burst.

Panasonic GH5 (B Cam) Great all rounder that can be used in most situations, just not great auto-focus and you already own it.

Pros: You're covered in every aspect, you can have the C200 to please clients and get the best autofocus on gimbals, the FS700 will get you some of the best slowmo under 10K and cost you around 2.5K and you already have the GH5 as a great all rounder you can take into every little corner and get a great image.

Cons: That's three different color sciences to deal with, while I personally don't think this is much of an hassle, some might struggle with it. Also three different mounts but sticking with EF lenses and using adapters on Sony and Panasonic shouldn't be much of a problem.

Thanks. 

C200 is a no as HFR options aren’t beefy enough. 

FS700, too old now. Used it loads!! 

I’m so far favouring an EVA1 led Panasonic setup, although the relish of Kinefinity is whispering in my ears...

2 hours ago, DBounce said:

Well apart from the 240fps why not the Canon C200? The Canon route makes the choice for B (1DXMk2) and C (5DMkIV) cams easy. 

The C200 HFR options are simply not up to scratch, otherwise it would be a no-brainer. 

2 hours ago, AaronChicago said:

FS5ii is an interesting camera. The new Venice color science looks really good in an HDR or REC709 container. Pair it with an Atomos recorder and get ProRes Raw. I'm planning on trying it out with an EF-E SpeedBooster and some full frame primes.

Yeah, the colour looks a lot better than before and I'm wondering whether ProRes RAW will be better than what was before. The original FS5 output via an Atomos was disappointing. The A7 cams have great autofocus for gimbals although 8-bit. 

46 minutes ago, JordanWright said:

Have you considered the Ursa Mini Pro? It might not be as small and light as the other offerings but it should pair well with a P4k

Yes. The HD windowed 120fps isn't what I'm looking for though, and it's a bit on the heavy side. I like the idea of putting one of the cameras on a Ronin-S for the odd shot. 

1 hour ago, webrunner5 said:

I would talk to Zak about the EVA1. His output is really damn good. Ought to go well with the GH5 like you said. But not so hot auto focus wise.

If you want AF on a Cine Camera it pretty much is DPAF or go home. Trouble with Canon is the C200 sucks ass on a middle Codec, and the Canon C300 mk II is still expensive as hell even used. Another problem with the Canons is what you going to use for a B, C cam with them. The 1DC, 1DX mk II is expensive as heck and and gas hog on Media to feed them. The 5D mk IV,  Ugh, not my idea of a winner either with the crop factor. But there is like a million used lenses out there for them, and they are built like a tank, as is the bodies, which is good.

I think I would want a Sony FS7 over the Sony FS5 mk II. The FS7 mk II is hardly worth the upgrade other than the Variable ND filter thingy. But the FS7 is pretty big for Gimbal use. The FS7 is just a hell of a great camera though.

I've got a lot of experience with the FS7 but still a bit too big for what I'm looking to do, plus to output to an Atomos you need that extension thingy. 

Having got a GH5 and a VLOG workflow, I am looking at the EVA1 more closely. 

Do you know if this crops in HFR modes? 

I've been shooting on the GH5 pretty much exclusively for everything. It's a lovely camera! (I since sold my FS5 + Atomos). 

Ironically, now my business has changed tactics - brands in fashion, sports and lifestyle are knocking on the door with serious projects. 

One of the main features of this new model is a wide studio Chromaflex LED green screen, and these type of brands love slow motion. We'll be using it a lot.

With this in mind, with beefy high frame rate recording required, I now have to look at this camera segment again..... 

What would be really ideal, is that I have a set of matching cameras (A, B and C cams) to cover a wide range of possibilities - such as multi-cam, audio, stills, run-n-gun, gimbal and motion control. 

HERE'S THE PROBLEM.... you can't simply get all the features you need. It's trivial......

So, help me decide. Haha. 

Ideally I need:

• Very high quality 4k capture.
• High frame rates up to 240fps (10 bit and higher) 
• Lightweight and compact all round. 
• Decent to awesome dynamic range. 
• Great colour.
• Decent stills. 
• Great audio. 
• Good autofocus for gimbals is highly desirable. 
• Ability to fit all cameras on Ronin-S and Edelkrone Motion Kit. 
• Easy to hire to others as a kit. 
• EF lenses compatible. Also got great M43 glass. 

Choice 1

Panasonic EVA1 (A cam) 

Atomos Sumo (clients want big monitors) 

Panasonic GH5 (got it) 

Panasonic GH5S (B Cam) 

Issues: Unreliable autofocus for gimbals, prefer the look of S35 and full frame sensors. Can cope though! 

Choice 2

Kinefinity Terra or Mavo (A Cam)

BMPCC 4k (B cam, pre-ordered with small deposit) 

GH5 for everything else. 

Issues: Lesser known brand, hard to get, no gimbal autofocus, never used before. LOVE the image. 

Choice 3

FS5 II (A Cam)

Atomos Sumo 

Sony A7SIII (B-cam if it's good) 

Sony A7III (C cam and stills) 

Issues: Had FS5 before with Atomos Shogun, FSRAW and ProRes were barely any better than the internal XAVC-L. I do know Sony VERY well though. 

What do you think? 

And no, I'm not getting a RED Raven or a Scarlet or whatever. ?

18 hours ago, Sage said:

5-10-18 Update to V2

- Emotive Color component branched into three routes: Main/Soft/Pop

- Main/Soft have V1-like luma placement (for brightly exposed footage)

- Pop maximizes highlight range (for base ISO darkly exposed footage)

- Relaxed Noise Floor

(The default no longer requires luma placement for bright exposure, à la V1)

Awesome. 

I've used this on my previous 2 videos and I'm loving the results. 

Just something to think about @Sage.... ...

I feel V-log can really hurt Variable Frame Rate footage, so I've been capturing it in Cine-V with the highlight /shadow curve on -2 / +2. In post, I've used a Cine-V to V-log conversion, then I've used your "Main" GHa conversion before any extra styling. It can look very clean and pleasing compared to shooting VFR in V-log. There's no room for error on exposure though! 

Wondered if you've thought about doing anything similar for your product range? 

16 hours ago, Kieran said:

I don't much like the hyper-real, ultra-crisp digital look of the GH5, but other than that, tremendous job - and I can't imagine how you managed to do all the post in 4 days. Well done. 

I'm known to be very fast at cutting music videos, had a lot of practice really. 

Plus I'd say FCPX was a huge influence - the multi-cam is brilliant, the Chromatic grading plugin is brilliant, the effects and plugin support is brilliant. People still dismissing this program need to grow up. 

3 hours ago, Davey said:

This. You'll generally find that those making the most noise about gear make very little themselves of any worth to anybody.

Indeed. Just make stuff. 

1 hour ago, j-oc said:

Great stuff. What’s the location?

Koko in London. 

43 minutes ago, Teemu said:

Great work, nice images! This was done under Jäger Music right? I noticed the Jäger logo in the beginning. Could you share what kind of budget that Jäger Music was providing if involved. But I understand if you can’t share that information.

Shot on what glass?

My experience to fight against this a lot talked about ”digital look” is done by choice of lenses to use. Quite obvious. But that, lighting and art design makes a big difference. My recent music video shot with GH5 with Kowa anamorphic:

 

I'm not sure I can share budget information on a forum. I could get in trouble. 

Jagermeister did sponsor yes. 

Glass mentioned above. 

I feel you in the vintage glass. Love using it, however they can be frustrating to use after prolonged use. Still vibe more off the images more though! 

On 4/27/2018 at 4:46 PM, sam said:

Is this an accomplishment of some sort? An anomoly?  Aren't  IPhones, and gopros also used?  The "big guns" could deem dancing around the security cam at your local Tesco adequate, no?  As you mention, you dont like everything about the asthetic.

The aesthetic an imaging system provides is whats being debated day in and out on every forum. The dismissal of these arguments, in which you yourself particitate, accomplishes what?

The post is just a demonstration of the GH5 being used for a music video. 

iPhones and GoPro's are very capable devices, but are certainly not the right tool for the job on this one! 

"Big guns" often require higher end cameras, but "lower" end tools have proven to be more than enough on many productions. 

The aesthetic I don't like isn't the GH5, there's a few lighting / grading tweaks I would of liked, maybe I'll replace the video with the tweaks given time, not that anybody would notice!

On 4/27/2018 at 4:48 PM, Don Kotlos said:

Excellent work Oliver. I was wondering why one of the ladies was almost left ungraded but it made sense once I finished the clip  

Glad you got it! 

On 4/27/2018 at 4:54 PM, sanveer said:

Excellent. What's more even impressive is the turn around and how it was shot.

Please share details of lighting and setup.

Thanks in advance. 

 

Bulk of the lighting was balanced via a lighting desk which controlled the entire stage, took a while to get it right for video use. 

The holograms were filmed against a Chromaflex on location, using Vinten Flowtech 75 tripod. (awesome gear!)

The GH5 was shot in V-log, monitored using the standard Panasonic Rec.709 LUT. 

B-roll was Sony A6500 shooting in S-log 2, using the 18-105mm f4. 

The portable lighting was Aputure Lightstorm and Lupolux LED's. 

Lenses were Sigma 18-35mm, 50mm ART. A few Olympus 40-150mm f2.8. 

Stock footage and voices were supplied via the public domain. 

Edit, grade, and VFX all done in FCPX - using Chromatic for the grade (FAR FAR better than Color Finale). 

Gimbal was the Zhiyun Crane V1. 

23 hours ago, jindrich said:

The video looks really great, and to be shot and finished by a single person in such a short time is quite an achievement. But the image still looks "digital" to me, which is mostly the main problem with ANYTHING but ARRI, under artificial lighting. My question is, for such a professional project (and I know how cash trapped labels are these days), isn't there an additional 700 quid for the overall budget, to rent an ALEXA Mini (includes set of primes, MB, FF, Sticks etc) for one day? An AMIRA is even cheaper to rent. Thx.

I could of softened the sharpening a bit. But didn't. Woops.

There was no budget for an Arri I'm afraid, plus a larger setup would have slowed down the process a lot. We didn't have a big crew, only 4-5 inc make up artist! 

2 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

Very well done Oliver and congratulations. Looks big time. No one would watch that and guess GH5. 

Nice. 

Cheers sir. 

I don't like everything about the aesthetic, however it's very liberating to be able to make great images with this camera. Plus the GH5 is good enough for the big guns. Arguing over which camera is best these days isn't even worth the debate. 

15 minutes ago, Sage said:

As always, its a free update. My way of saying thanks  ; )

Awesome!

Got a release date yet? 

13 hours ago, dbp said:

A rant. I mostly shoot on DSLRs for my work. Got a big yesterday with a Sony FS7, big ass tripod, monitor, the works. Ohhhh fancy stuff by my standards!

But here's the thing. It drove me nuts. Moving, positioning, getting shots was so damned cumbersome. Shot some Broll of a guy on a sailboat.

I garauntee I could've gotten way more and frankly, way better and more interesting content with my trusty GH4 and gimbal. Blah blah specs, I don't care. Footage would've been nicer and more interesting to 100%  of audiences.

I know there'll be some "back in my day, cameras weighed 1000lbs" folks who will scoff, but you know what? Fuck large camera systems. Fuck them. 

I've been using FS700 / F55 / FS7 / FS5 + Atomos for years, but I started to feel your pain too, and I've only shot on mirrorless cameras since. I have no plans to buy a larger camera in future. 

8 hours ago, Sage said:

@tihon84 V1, especially Daylight, is not bad. V1 Day with VLog in Resolve is quite good. Notably, the Emotive Color component is quite different in exposure handling (which is apart from LogC accuracy). Emotion II is especially egregious, because it features pre-release GHa (pre-Blue and other updates), and the original 8bit PRE, with a hasty midnight grade. I knew (and noted then) that it was a poor technical showcase, but something that I wanted to make for some time

That being said, V1 did have an important flaw (apart from the limitations of that process). That flaw was related to the fact that I did not own the Alexa, and had a single window to get the measurements right. I opted to use different lenses, which I thought would be sufficiently neutral. I didn't get a PL adapter for the GH5, and only realized that this would be a problem upon reviewing the results of the shoot. It turned out that Zeiss CP.2s are quite poor in color rendition, but my Sigma 18-35 was excellent. So, I neutralized the grayscale white balance... a kind of continuous white balance shift throughout the grayscale, to accommodate the difference

Subsequently, I bought an Alexa (really), to make it perfect. This has proved vital, because I have redone the measurements countless times now, tweaking and tweaking again (same lenses all the way). V2 is approaching the theoretical 'perfect conversion' because of this, and because of the new process, which features 25 times the number of samples, and the code I wrote to handle that unwieldy sample count to a new standard of accuracy and smoothness (previously out of reach with the given degree of intricate transform)

I purchased the first version and I've used it often.

Is this a free or paid update? 

2 hours ago, jonpais said:

Your post isn't pointless, but it's full of conjecture.

Well yes, I did say I'm not a camera technician or scientist. My post is connecting the dots I see to how the motion feels in an image, to how it was captured. There will be far more qualified people to explain, far better than my ramblings. However I trust what my eyes see, and I see a variation of "motion cadence" between cameras. Definitely. 

 

1) We're assuming the video is shot at 24fps and delivered in 24fps, not speeded up to 30fps.

Yes, because that's what film pioneers have made the standard and for good reason. Go up to 30fps, and the motion blur is lost. Higher? SOAP OPERA. 

2) Can you show proof that some cameras are shooting 'false progressive'?

I know the Canon XL2 did or a model like that back in the day, point being though, progressive isn't made equal. I can see that with my eyes.

3) Right, televisions and computer monitors can affect motion.

Certainly. Have you ever used a broadcast Panasonic monitor? The images through it look like a motion cadence dream! Why? I've no idea!

4) I've watched lots of movies most of which I assume were not shot in RAW and never noticed unusual motion artifacts or weird cadence.

Good. I was just saying that RAW>ProRes as a capture codec, yields the most pleasing results for "motion cadence". 

5) Can you provide evidence that lenses with electrical contacts with IS and 'all that jazz' affect motion cadence? 

Not right now, I've just experienced this with my eyes while shooting videos. 

6) Does Universal Records require you to shoot in RAW with cinema lenses with no electrical contacts? If what you are asserting were common knowledge, as fussy as they are, why wouldn’t they make that a requirement?

No. ProRes (as the final delivery format) is the requirement. As long as the image passes the list of regulations, you're in.  

2 hours ago, jonpais said:

Just for the record, I’m not disputing that IBIS can produce undesirable effects. I experienced that today while out on a shoot. But shaky camera movement is much worse!

Well the Universal Records submission had IBIS footage. How incredible! 

Here's a screenshot from a recent submission, there's loads of stuff that fall under these categories but give you an idea:

@jonpais, I recently submitted a broadcast file via the Universal Records system and you have to pass numerous quality checks. One of them, is motion cadence. 

You can't submit a video that has 4:1 cadence, which has 4 progressive frame of video, and every 5th frame is a repeat of the 4th frame. (This is more to do with people using content shot at a lower frame rate (like 24fps), and converting it to 30fps incorrectly). They are preventing the video motion from looking unusual or low quality with this check. 

I'm in NO WAY WHATSOEVER a camera technician or scientist but I'll explain my understanding. Apart form the obvious frame rate / shutter speed / global shutter / codecs influence on motion cadence, all cameras capture and interpret frames differently. Some cameras may capture in a "false progressive" (interlaced frames which mimics progressive video), frame capture that is made up of some progressive frames or some interlaced, or cameras that have a truly progressive frame capture. 

Now there's motion blur. Motion cadence on modern TV's is destroyed because they are defaulted to a special motion setting (like TruMotion), which manufactures say makes the images look clearer and smoother. The setting when turned "On" makes the image feel like there's a bunch of new frames thrown in, eradicating motion blur and giving us the dreaded "soap opera effect". 

With all of this considered, an attractive, cinematic motion cadence is the ability to capture full progressive frames smoothly with intricate motion blur (as long as your frame rate is half your shutter and if it's global then BONUS!). To do this, you must start with the right codec first (the best of which, to my experience, is uncompressed RAW converted to ProRes).  

It's no coincidence that expensive cinema cameras (and BM cams) have this motion cadence (very high shutter readout, RAW and ProRes, high bit rate) and consumer cameras do not at all (besides the 5D Mk 3 Magic Lantern). 

An external factor I find is the lens. A lens with electronic contacts with I.S and all that jazz, usually overly sharp and contrasty, hurt motion cadence. I feel it's because they heighten the "electronic" factors (sharpening, aliasing, moire, noise, jittery look). Lenses with a smooth rendering, regarded "creamy", very often manual glass and high T-stop really smooths out the motion of the image and hides the electronic factors that make our images digital looking. 

So in a nutshell, for beautiful motion cadence, shoot in RAW at 24p and 1/48s with a very fast rolling shutter /global shutter, with manual "proper" cine lenses and finish in ProRes. Come think of it, I now find my post pointless, as I thought we all knew that anyway!! 

I'm loving this M43 revolution...

Got the GH5 (not the S). 

Pre-ordered the Pocket 4k. 

Will try out this E2 thing. 

The dawn of not having to spend more than £2000 on a professional level camera, ever again, is here. (more budget on lenses and lights then!)

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Well didn't I already reply? The H4n is awful. 

It is like choosing to film video with a Nikon D90 in 2018, wellllll sure you could make pretty images with it still.  But why bother with the hassle when a D5200/GH2/NEX-5N/Z Cam E1/etc are all so dirt cheap they're practically free, or a Panasonic G85 / GH5 / BMPCC4K etc don't really don't cost that much more. You'll get better results, with less hassle. 

But if you really must stick with the H4n, then make sure your signal coming in is strong enough you don't need to lean heavily on the H4n's pre amps at all.

Haha yes, you missed the bit where I said I don't use the Zoom H4n. I have one, But don't use it. It's old. And cheap. 

To give more clarity, I'm trying to get clean sound recording straight into the GH5, either via a Saramonic Transmittor with lav mic.... and/or a Rode NTG-1 straight into camera. Then setting up the levels properly for a basic interview scenario. I can do it fine with the FS7 - just the GH5 scenario that sucks. But I want to make it work as I've seen it done. 

Thanks @fuzzynormal for your unorthodox methods.