Mike Chen

Thanks bud. It's quite a relief to know that since I'll quite likely build up a system just for photography in the near future. Funny thing is, I never took autofocus seriously till the point I tried those 2 cameras and started recording people on the street, a place I anticipate to document. Focusing from one person to the next in fluid and unobtrusive fashion was quite important, and I couldn't make it look decent with the Nikon. Autofocus hunts way too often and slowly, and the manual focus ring, as opposed to G6's trigger/touch screen, make the video slightly jittery. Again, I'm not knocking against the actual IQ, it's brilliant, the camera either isn't right or I just lack the appropriate skill. I'm looking at the GH3 and G6 at the moment, do you have any experience with the two, in terms of stills and video? Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks very much for your input, Danyyyel. The reason I ruled out the Nikon after some trying it doesn't have anything to do with its ability ---- the pictures and videos spit out of my Sandisk was *very* impressive. Video's on par with the G6 in my eyes, and photo is clearly superior. However, I'm a rookie photographer/videographer with only a point-and-shoot LX5 as my previous camera, handling the Nikon felt somewhat difficult. The G6 has a zoom trigger and touchscreen which makes handling video very smooth and silent. The biggest reason, is that Nikon lenses are expensive. When a CAD$999 lens like the Olympus Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 can pretty much have me covered, the price of a Nikon zoom lens (or multiple fixed lens combined) starts to look pretty scary, a 24-70mm F2.8 is a whopping CAD$1886......... Coupled with the fact that its autofocus and tracking was off the pace compared to the G6, maybe I'm incapable of handling it the right way, but it doesn't feel like it's built for me.

Andrew, quick question, in your comparison video, did you turn Gh3's bit rate to the max at 72Mbps? And what format was the G6 video, MP4 or AVCHD? Thank you.

Hi Andy, thanks again for your input. I finally got the chance to go to Lozeau, the only local store that sells both the G6 and D5200. Right of the bat the Nikon was out. The lack of touch scree just didn't speak to me after I shot some footage with the G6. The sales person also suggested me to try the GH3, which had just dropped to CAD$999, as opposed to G6 at $CAD 720. Now that's tempting. I don't much fancy an alloy body nor HDMI out (weather proof is nice though). I only care about video quality. Do you know how much, in reality, is the video IQ difference between the G6 vs. GH3 @ 72mb/s? And can G6 produce video at 25%~300% speed like the GH3? Is G6 able to produce something like this:

Thanks so much for the article, Andy, I guess I paid too much attention to the specs (like all newbie would at some point) and haven't got a clue how they translate to real-world use. I'm going to test both the G6 and the D5200 with my own SD cards in a store here in Montreal. Unless the D5200 really have a significant edge in stills like some claimed, I think G6 would be the way to go.

Hi Andy, I'm *VERY* close to picking up a G6, thanks largely to your strong recommendations. Just a few more questions, have you run into moments where you think "time to change to a bigger sensor camera"? And if you have/foresee, what extra equipment do you prepare yourself for the transition? I'm talking about lenses, adapters, etc which I have zero experience with.

I just noticed one things from a number of Nikon5200 reviews, stating that it doesn't have aperture control in live view. For those of you who's been shooting for a while, is this a big issue? Can it be worked around? And does the G6 have that function?

Thanks a lot, Andrew, I don't much need AF, I have used manual focus on other camera plenty of times and though I'm by no means an expert, I very much enjoy the process. As a still camera, is D5200's larger sensor size yield *significantly* better image quality, and/or shallower focal length? By "working on anything" you mean Nikon lenses can be used on any bodies with an adapter, without any shortcomings? The lense system is currently my biggest concern, and unfortunately, something I have zero experience with.

Hey guys, great advice. Truly appreciated. And Ben, I don't think I made myself clear with regarding to body and lens. I actually thought of that, so here's a more detailed breakdown of my potential filmmaking set budget: -Rode mic ~150 -Filters <$50 -Camera body <$800 -Lenses <$800 I really should have titled this thread "what's the best set up for all together under $1600" instead of just asking for the camera body. And yes, my biggest concern, other than the image/video quality, is which lens system I ought to start building. What are the benefits of EF vs MFT (and potentially N mount) lens systems, especially a few years down the road?

That's a very helpful list, thanks Andy. For video I'm planning to shoot a mixture of indoor and outdoors, documentary/short films would be my end product. I don't foresee myself shooting something in extreme distance, though on the other hand, macro might be needed at some point. By recommending the Canon FD, are you saying that MFT works well with adaptors, as in distortion/lost in IQ is minimal?

Thanks Andy, so is it safe to say that G6's still image is (somewhat) comparable to the 5200 while providing superior video? The user interface is quite well designed, according to the video reviews. What lens would you recommend for MFT?

Also, any lens to recommend if I were to go ahead with the MFT system?

Thanks for all your input, guys. Could you elaborate on what makes the G6/D5200 better than the other models, despite similar specs on paper?   And, does bit rate matters in terms of video quality? One reason that makes me consider the GH2(hacked) is that it's capable of very high bit rates.    To Andy Lee: That's one of the reasons MFT system got me interested. My question is, when I do get a bigger budget, should I look at a bigger sensor size as the priority? Or is the system design much more important?

Hey guys, newbie here, really enjoy the knowledge this site has to offer.    I'm looking to buy my first all-around camera, with equal emphasis on photo and video(slightly more on video since I also have a budget for Rode mic and ND filters). My previous camera was a Lumix lx-5, which served me quite well for street photography, but now its speed, IQ, and lack of video features made it inadequate.    My budget for the camera is $800CAD(pretty much on par with UD$ now). And I've considered a number of options after spending countless hours reading reviews and watching test footage. I'm at the stage where I realize the research should stop and a decision ought to be made. Any input or pointers from you guys would be appreciated.    Things I need do to photography: -Image quality, color accuracy, sharpness, dynamic range (I'll potentially be making some mid-size to large prints) -High quality in both raw and jpeg -Low light -Decent speed (street and in-door photography is my main thing, not looking to shoot sports)   Features I need for videography -24fps 1080p -Dynamic range -Details, low moire and rolling shutter   Other qualities: -Some level of weather protection (I know I can't get full weather sealing at this price) -Articulating screen would be nice for a more stealthy street presence, but not essential.    These are the cameras within my budget: Panasonic G6, GH2(used), Nikon D5200, Nikon D7000(used), Canon 60D (new/used).    One question: I plan to do this for the long term and I will move on to better systems in the future, as in higher-end Nikon/Canon/MFT/Blackmagic cameras. Should I be set on a lens system now and aim to upgrade camera bodies in the future, or should I just get whatever suits me?    Any input, hands-one experience and comparisons would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for your patience to read through my rambling.