IronFilm

Yay its arrived.. Battery was as flat as a tack. Got it on charge now. Visually it perfect, there's not a mark on it. Got a somewhat free day tomorrow.  i plan on taking photos of all the murals that have been painted on various walls in and around town. and some video as well probably.

@alsoandrew could use a remote record button to start / stop the recordings with, such as this:
https://www.amazon.com/Including-Trigger-Compatible-Panasonic-Fujifilm/dp/B0CP1PGWPX
That way they don't need to worry about their dirty hands touching their camera!
Just a 50mm? Probably won't be wide enough for everything they want to do. Thus why I suggested they get three lenses. 
 
If that's the standard you've set your expectations to, then yeah, a Panasonic GH5S/G9/etc is easily good enough.
If you're seriously committed to the idea of going FF, no matter what, then at least go for a S5mk1 instead of a Z6mk1.

You can film 4K on cheap v30 cards. You can get a 256gb SD card for under $40 and a 512gb SD card for under $60. I use them on my S5 and S5II X.

@alsoandrew could use a remote record button to start / stop the recordings with, such as this:
https://www.amazon.com/Including-Trigger-Compatible-Panasonic-Fujifilm/dp/B0CP1PGWPX
That way they don't need to worry about their dirty hands touching their camera!
Just a 50mm? Probably won't be wide enough for everything they want to do. Thus why I suggested they get three lenses. 
 
If that's the standard you've set your expectations to, then yeah, a Panasonic GH5S/G9/etc is easily good enough.
If you're seriously committed to the idea of going FF, no matter what, then at least go for a S5mk1 instead of a Z6mk1.

Given your budget constraints and the intention to have controlled lighting, the suggestions provided by @ironfilm are really strong. If you need to stretch your budget more, you may need to look at third-party used via eBay or FB marketplace (if you are in the US). Fredmiranda is a place I prefer to buy & sell but you need to get known there before you can PM people for purchases, which is a good thing. I picked up a perfect Panasonic 20-60mm there for $210 recently.
If full-frame is a requirement for you, the Panasonic S1 has no record time limit but the S5 does - 29:59 (although that limit might now exist with an external recorder). But the S5 does have a screen that flips out and twists so that you can see yourself and see your framing once you get to work and make any adjustments. Helpful. 
Is filming in 422 Log necessary? Probably not. I can't speak to Nikon and NLog but having filmed so, so many hours of Panasonic's VLog, it's been robust, flexible, easy to work with, produces a beautiful image. The 150Mbps 4:2:2 4K is honestly very efficient for the file that you get and I've never felt the need to record externally with my S1. 

I certainly have been thinking about that a lot! Especially as I'd like to use my Sigma 50-500mm sports lens with something better than a D90.
Unfortunately shipping all the way to NZ means I might need to add as much as nearly 50% extra on top of that sale price after purchasing it. (there are benefits but also drawbacks to living in the world's most remote city)
Currently keeping my eye out for a keenly priced D700 locally, but pickings are slim and most people want too much for it. (such as nearly three hundred USD for a well used and only semi functional D700)
But that's ok, the longer I wait, the more affordable the D750 will become 😉 
Ehhh... OG BMPCC / FS7 is preferable in my personal opinion / preferences. (which reminds me, I've got a Canon 50D for ML Raw, I probably should ditch it and pass it along to someone who'd like it. Doesn't work for stills!)
I would like having two Fuji cameras, either to use them for quite different purposes, or so I can use them both at once. 
Although I agree, the X-T3 is a big step up! But overkill for my needs.
I also have no idea what the pricing is over on The West Island 😉 😅
 
 
It's great also for high speed flash photography , if you're into that. 
The Nikon D50 does 1/500!! Not even the latest and greatest Sony A1 can manage that, instead the Sony A1 "loses" to the ancient and lowly D50 due to its 1/400 speed. For further comparison the Nikon Z9 is only 1/200
 
 

Sensor size is not your issue. 
Just get yourself the battery grip (to unlock longer recording times) for the X-T2 and you've got a good starting setup at a very low cost. 
oh well, that crosses out the X-T2 option.
Get a Panasonic S5 mk1?
$1.5K in total once you include everything? So only $500 for lenses/tripod/mic/lighting/accessories/etc??
Gee, spending $1K on the body is waaaaaaay too much. Especially as you're not making any money at all on this. 
Honestly I'd suggest you instead spend your money on getting a dirt cheap Panasonic GH4 (or perhaps a GH5S if you can stretch it, as I see the cheapest are nearly six hundred bucks: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126984184008 )
Then put the rest of the money into: lighting, tripod, lenses, media, audio. You'll find that money will very quickly disappear. 
Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 => https://www.ebay.com/itm/146362468802 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1725975-REG/ttartisan_c2520_b_m43_25mm_f_2_aps_c_compact.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1732932-REG/7artisans_photoelectric_a010s_m_35mm_f_1_4_lens_for.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1774976-REG/smallrig_3751b_ad_01_heavy_duty_tripod_with.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1852610-REG/tascam_fr_av2_32_bit_float_recorder_timecode_generator.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/850444-REG/Impact_ls_ct40mbk_Turtle_Base_C_Stand_Kit.html (two or even four+ of these)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1606022-REG/auray_bp_59a_5_section_aluminum_boom_pole.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/242661-REG/Audix_SCX1_HC_SCX1_HC_Microphone.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1155648-REG/rycote_037340_universal_shotgun_mount_for.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1488633-REG/trp_worldwide_4848uf_48x48_ultrabounce_floppy_with.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1484381-REG/aputure_lantern_360_degrees_softbox.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1753989-REG/amaran_apm022da10_amaran_cob_200d_s.html 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1387572-REG/genaray_blt_60_bullet_led_focusing_spot.html
etc etc etc
For a $1.5K total budget then a secondhand GH4 seems like the right way to go, or maybe a GH5S.
 

I'm a long-time Canon shooter and my next camera will probably be an R5C or R5 mk2. 
That said my on-going workhorse camera is an FS7 because it gives me work. 
Logic would dictate I get an FX3/FX6 but I'm just not a fan of the camera specs / price ratio in 2025:
No 6K/8K, No open gate, No RAW, No EVF etc.. with a price tag here in Europe still at 4500€ for FX3.
Sony's dominance comes at a price, to me they are the overpriced and under spec'd cameras today.

I'll quite often link to your past content when it's relevant, for instance when I talk about how Nikon was better in the past at video than people normally give them credit for, I'll link to your D5200 coverage (it's what made me get an D5200 back then!), or even the D750 review. 
Maybe invite people to do guest blog posts?
 
I'm saddened that all of the facebook group discussions are behind a Walled Garden, thus in the long run they're doomed to an extremely high risk of being lost to the mists of time. 
https://justapedia.org/wiki/Walled_garden_(technology)
Vs what's out in the open here on forums such as this, are more likely to saved by Archive.org and similar. 
Also searching social media posts is horrible, while searching forum posts via Google is still somewhat quite good. 
100%, I'd love to see more of this. 
It's one of the reasons I really like watching Tin House Studio, even though I'm not working in the photography industry but in a totally different niche, a lot of the business talk concepts he discusses are largely transferable to any other niche that's also an artistic field / freelancer. 
https://www.youtube.com/@TinHouseStudioUK  
 

Canon never would've priced the C70 that low but they probably should've. By 2020 the winds were already changing in the camera space, whether it was mirrorless or video/cinema cameras. People were a lot less willing to pay the Canon tax when everyone else started releasing cameras with everything they could put into them for the same price (or sometimes less.) ESPECIALLY when it came to full frame and how the market was swinging in that direction. 
The choice is easier if you were already a Canon or Sony shooter, but in late 2020 if you're looking to purchase a camera and aren't already a loyal Canon or Sony shooter, I think the FX6 probably won out for most people. 
And then when the FX3 came out, if you hadn't jumped on either the C70 or the FX6, you had a compelling option for even less money WITH a upgrade roadmap to the FX6 right there for when/if you decided to upgrade.  Nevermind when then the FX30 came out, adding another path you could take to get to an FX6. The C70 had a much pricier roadmap should you ever wanted to upgrade. 
I don't personally even like the image coming out of the Sony cameras. The Canon C70, in my opinion, has a much nicer image. But I'd still have gone Sony if I had to choose. As a tool it just made sense and was the direction the wind was blowing. Plus I know so many more people shooting with Sony, which would have made it easier to collaborate.
All of my friends who work for major sports leagues and sports franchises have switched to Sony for both video and photo. I'm talking people who work for WWE, AEW, the UFC, the NBA, the Boston Celtics, etc. Ten years ago they were all Canon.
Canon still wins with brand recognition. If you ask most folks to name a camera company Canon will still be the first one most people name. And if you look at your normal brick and mortar store, like Best Buy here in the United States, you'll see their best selling camera is the Canon EOS Rebel T7, a seven year old DSLR. At Walmart it's the EOS Rebel T100, another seven year old DSLR.
But on the professional end Canon is losing ground and has been for a while. 
I'll ask him, but my honest guess is he's expected to provide his own camera and is using what he had. If it's what he had, or if it's what he could afford, I get why he uses it over his phone. He can still get decent shallow DOF when doing interviews, and good enough quality footage. After all, Vermont is a very small television market!
It was still funny though; it feels weird to have so much nicer equipment to film my rasslin' events with than the local NBC affiliate uses to cover our event! But when people see it at home I don't think they really care what camera they used or if the audio sucks, as long as it's in focus and the sound is audible. 
With the way the journalism industry has collapsed he's probably not in a position to be able to purchase a nicer camera. Which is a bummer. 

2 Lumix S5mk2 x2 for work. Often one on a tripod connected to sound filming for hours and the other doing B-roll, interviews and photos.
Both being the same makes editing easier and quicker.

Fuji avoiding FF and sitting both sides seems like a good call to me also.
I have often thought about going back to them for cropped video and GFX stills.

I think the opposite. Panasonic was a very known brand in the VHS times - their camcorders were some of the best, their VHS recorders sold millions of units. Could not be recognized as a stills camera company, but as a video brand, was on pair with Sony (at least here in South America).

Lumix appeared with their point & shoot cameras. Is like Sony changing their logo in front of the cameras to "Cybershot" instead of Sony.

Every non-camera person that ever saw me with a Lumix always ask "what brand is this, never heard", I say "It's made by Panasonic" and immediately people make a face of "oh, THIS i know".

I will certainly look at it. Through my bifocals. After refilling my pipe and changing my pants, naturally, decorum and all that. One does not go on-line without upholding certain standards.
I will be surprised if there isn't one, although it could just be a load of wishful speculating chatter?

Can't say I agree. As a Leica user, I absolutely care about manufacturing, build quality, country of origin etc. 
Call me a purist but that's what I pay for not the badge, in fact my Leica MP has no badge/red dot.
I'll go even further and say the only real Leica's to me are the M, Q & SL series. 
As for Panasonic, they have a strong and long legacy both in audiophile world via Technics (started in 1965) and broadcast/video/cinema with the various ENG/camcorders & Varicam products. Video cameras like the DVX100 were cult among indie docs, film and music videos and game changers as they introduced 24p alongside 3CCD sensors in affordable packages.
Sony also has heavy legacy in video/film with DVCAM in the 90s and CineAlta the first digital cinema cams used by Lucas in the Star Wars prequels.
So while both Panny & Sony don't have CaNikons & Fuji photography background, they actually precede them in the video/cinema world hence the head start they got on that side in mirrorless.
Nikon up until basically Z9 was seriously lagging in the mirrorless video market. There were even bad speculation about their financial health and future viability. They made a surprise U-turn with Z9/Z8/Z6iii and the shock acquisition of RED. Still very curious about what RED will mean. Nikon didn't have a cine line to protect, now they do so will RED tech trickle down to the Z line or will it be more of a Z-mount ecosystem?

Hasselblad.
I think something will come from DJI that will make them more relevant video wise.
They might also be eyeing the fixed lens market (not to mention the eye watering prices X-Pans fetch) and thinking they could have a slice of that.
Let’s not forget that DJI are also L Mount alliance members so a an L mount full frame or APS-C (as no one is doing one) Hasselblad could also make a splash.
Although Leica would probably lose their minds over that possibility so maybe it is contractually forbidden to do anything other than DJI branded.

Sony and Panasonic without the film heritage but there right from the start with digicams.
Sony always put the Sony logo on the body.
Panasonic didn't do this, and I suggest it's Lumix that's the problem not Panasonic. "Lumix" doesn't have the worldwide brand recognition of "Sony".
The problem is Panasonic doesn't have the brand appeal of Sony or Nikon either. They were never quite there in Hifi, Walkmans, game consoles, and so on... Panasonic are bigger in white goods and appliances, like LG, where Sony has always put the emphasis on consumer electronics and gadgets.
I'd rate the camera companies brands in order of camera-ness like this...
1. Leica, they're as synonymous as it gets. Panasonic should buy the brand.
2. Canon, for they are the most popular
3. Nikon, for being second only to Canon in terms of success
4. Sony, for pioneering the digital market from the late 90s onward - but no SLR or film heritage unless you count the Minolta buy-out.
5. Fujifilm. Arguably should be higher but their film-era SLRs were rubbish and they didn't catch the mainstream wave of DSLR says with the niche S5 Pro and so on. They were known not as a camera company but for film. Nice digicams aside, Fujifilm are only a recent success story in digital. What saved them was getting into mirrorless with the X100 and X-Pro in early 2010s.
Then I rate the dead brands highly...
Kodak RIP
Olympus RIP
Minolta RIP
Contax RIP
Lumix RIP (only joking)
And then in no particular order there's a lot of variation between what's an active brand (Lumix) and what's camera-ness (Pentax). Obviously Pentax is a high-cameraness brand, you will hardly think of microwaves with them. But today they are almost anonymous on the market, from a top 5 brand to basically nowhere and nobody can decide if it should be called Rioch or not.
Sigma. Very high lens-ness, not so much cameras, still a niche.
OM System. Feels like a Temu Olympus
Panasonic / Lumix on their cherished 5% market share doing admirably but never seem to be capable of troubling the top 5 despite great specs, pioneering models and a loyal bunch of customers.
Did I forget anyone?

This is an interesting point about the lenses. Also Nikon DSLRs I seem to remember had weird quirks with the aperture in video mode which took them an age to change.
Cameras design has two major fields... ergonomics and tech specs.
Get both right and you have a good chance of producing something nice.
Which is what the Z8 has achieved.
The best ergonomics and best tech specs.
Now the third thing is price and if you can do flagship specs and the best designed camera for cheaper than your rivals can, the only things stopping people buying it are lenses and brand loyalty, which are tough issues.
Panasonic for example has a brand and lens mount problem, in a way they always had during MFT as well.
Nobody can decide if it's a LUMIX or a Panasonic. Or whether Panasonic stands for LUMIX or kitchen appliances.
Nobody can quite be comfortable switching wholesale to L-mount, they don't know how committed they are to it after the big gap between flagships and the focus on mid-range tittle tattle. Plus Canon and Nikon just have so much momentum behind them from the prior DSLR mounts whereas Panasonic have had to start from scratch.
Anyway I don't mean to keep knocking Panasonic, there's still life in the old dog yet, I just think they could learn a LOT from what Nikon are doing right now.

Nikon's zealousness in keeping backward compatibility for lenses made their early efforts for DSLR video almost fruitless and hurt them badly in market share. Canon's fully electronic EF lenses, on the other hand, made the DSLR video "useable" for the first time. Nikon's engineers were always ahead of competition in increasing the data bandwidth; the reason they managed to make D90, but the overall performance of a camera is dependent on many things, and bandwidth is only one of them. They're still amazing in bandwidth, as they introduced 8k60p raw with no serious overheating issue, and now they're not handicapped by ancient mount system. 
Every Japanese camera maker had a modernizing issue somewhere in the last decade. Nikon with modern lens, Canon with modern sensor, Sony with modern codec/storage media, Panasonic with modern AF. But there is one that all of them are equally incapable of: modernizing the menu and UI.

Without wanting to drag the topic off into DSLRs, I was talking about Nikon's history in mirrorless cameras starting with the 1" sensor 1 Series cameras.
The DSLRs from Nikon were never all that popular with video users. T2i > D90, 5D II > D800 and any number of cameras > D5200 but at the D5300 / D750 stage Nikon did at least start to take video more seriously.
But ever since the Z9 they have been giving us way more.
The Z6 III, Z8, Z9 and Zf are all better than Canon for video.
Z8 > R5
Z6 III > R6 II
Z9 > EOS R3/R1
Zf > whatever Canon has for the same price
Just overall better specs and handling.
So that's a big reversal since 10 years ago and the DSLR era for Nikon.
RED purchase only going to supercharge this trend.
They are ahead of Panasonic on value for money, specs and sensor tech, including especially AF and codecs.
They are ahead of Canon on specs, handling, ergonomics, mount, and dare I say it also value for money.
Ahead of Sony on some things too but perhaps not in terms of sales or user numbers.
And Fuji is a different kettle of fish altogether so it's harder to compare.

I fully agree the lack of RF cameras and lenses does harm Canon both now and recently. But the big shift over from Canon to Sony happened in the 2010's, and I think back then the lens/camera mount was less of a big deal. 
In fact arguably Canon's EF mount was a "strength" of Canon, on their side. (and I'd say is linked to why they were then so slow to transition away from EF, which is not to their detriment) 

I wonder if Panasonic's collaboration with ARRI means we'll see a resurgence in popularity in Panasonic mirrorless being used. 
It's a smart move by both Panasonic and ARRI. For obvious reasons by Panasonic, but it helps out ARRI too. 
At the moment it's too easy to go with VENICE as your A Cam, and be able to use FX6/FX3/FX30 cameras as chash cams, or even a B Cam. Or if you need to go do a week of pick up shots, but you're running out of budget, it's no big deal to use a FX9/FX6 instead, or even slum it with a FX3/FX30.
Does ARRI have these easy options?  Not really. If you've been shooting with an ARRI 35 then what is your crash cam? Or a B Cam on the cheap? Ok, you might say "BMD Pyxis" or whatever, but that then introduces new workflow hassles you have to be careful about. It's not quite as seamless as Sony's ecosystem. 
What if you need to run out of funds and need to do pick up shots for a week, what will you use? Get an old ARRI Alexa Classic on the cheap? But that requires a fairly substantial supporting crew... if only you'd shot on a VENICE you could now be grabbing quickly the shots on a FX6!
Thanks to the ARRI / Panasonic collaboration then a lot more people will be seriously thinking about Panasonic for crash cams / C cams / etc, and feeling more confident in shooting on ARRI on a shoestring budget knowing it will be relatively seamlessly easy to do pick up shots on a Panasonic if the worst happens and they run out of funds. 
Also for ultra low budget shoots, where you think you might be doing post in house, thus it could be argued "it doesn't matter" what camera you are shooting with, as whatever quirks the workflow has then you have the dedication to iron out the kinks, but....  what if you have hopes and aspirations that maybe you'll get an injection of funds so you can the finishing touches done by a proper Post House? It's going to be a lot easier if only you'd gone with say a Sony FX6/FX3/FX30 than if you were using a Nikon Z6mk2 / Fujifilm X-T3 / Panasonic S1H / whatever. 
So likewise they might now be giving more serious consideration to say a Panasonic GH7 over a FX3/FX30. 

One things no one has mentioned yet is Autofocus. FX6 and a couple of FX3’s make a pretty solid doc package on the cheap and might be able to eliminate 1-2 crew members/operators if depending on AF for talking heads and run and gun stuff. I’ve missed a few big shots on the GH5 on interviews using manual lenses. I was in a contrasty low light situation and thought I was ok with the focus range to be able to lock off a second angle on he GH5. I didn’t notice that the talent had adjusted their chair forward and about 20 min into the interview I looked over to see a soft image on the monitor and cursed myself for missing it. That would have surely been saved with Sony AF on the FX3. Same with AF for gimbal work replacing more expensive steady cam stuff with a 2nd AC operating a FIZ. 
The FX6 can be built up into a good looking full size camera to impress clients meanwhile the small size of the FX3’s can be used like @IronFilm mentioned as crash cams or car mounted stuff. Good rolling shutter and low light performance along with small travel bags for airplanes makes it all a pretty solid setup. 

I think a big part of why Canon lost to Sony in the low/mid segment is the change of mount & lenses. 
Canon were super slow to update their cine line to RF and still have this problem were only C70/C80 are RF and the rest is EF. On the Sony side its just E-mount through & through for over a decade. This consistency makes it a lot stronger to build and invest in the ecosystem. Not to mention RF mount has almost no S35 lenses and is closed to third-parties. That whole strategy just backfired on them big time imo. I still like Canon cameras and lenses but it's a much weaker ecosystem than Sony. 
Now Nikon have a chance to enter this market with Z-mount RED/Nikon cine line. Fuji are attempting with the Eterna but I feel that's going to flop, should have gone with a Fuji X APS-c sensor like the one inside XH2S.

I wonder if Panasonic's collaboration with ARRI means we'll see a resurgence in popularity in Panasonic mirrorless being used. 
It's a smart move by both Panasonic and ARRI. For obvious reasons by Panasonic, but it helps out ARRI too. 
At the moment it's too easy to go with VENICE as your A Cam, and be able to use FX6/FX3/FX30 cameras as chash cams, or even a B Cam. Or if you need to go do a week of pick up shots, but you're running out of budget, it's no big deal to use a FX9/FX6 instead, or even slum it with a FX3/FX30.
Does ARRI have these easy options?  Not really. If you've been shooting with an ARRI 35 then what is your crash cam? Or a B Cam on the cheap? Ok, you might say "BMD Pyxis" or whatever, but that then introduces new workflow hassles you have to be careful about. It's not quite as seamless as Sony's ecosystem. 
What if you need to run out of funds and need to do pick up shots for a week, what will you use? Get an old ARRI Alexa Classic on the cheap? But that requires a fairly substantial supporting crew... if only you'd shot on a VENICE you could now be grabbing quickly the shots on a FX6!
Thanks to the ARRI / Panasonic collaboration then a lot more people will be seriously thinking about Panasonic for crash cams / C cams / etc, and feeling more confident in shooting on ARRI on a shoestring budget knowing it will be relatively seamlessly easy to do pick up shots on a Panasonic if the worst happens and they run out of funds. 
Also for ultra low budget shoots, where you think you might be doing post in house, thus it could be argued "it doesn't matter" what camera you are shooting with, as whatever quirks the workflow has then you have the dedication to iron out the kinks, but....  what if you have hopes and aspirations that maybe you'll get an injection of funds so you can the finishing touches done by a proper Post House? It's going to be a lot easier if only you'd gone with say a Sony FX6/FX3/FX30 than if you were using a Nikon Z6mk2 / Fujifilm X-T3 / Panasonic S1H / whatever. 
So likewise they might now be giving more serious consideration to say a Panasonic GH7 over a FX3/FX30.