Nick Hughes

​Isn't 34ms RS a spec? Maybe we just need more specs!

Yep, it's a great camera. In fact, I find myself bringing it with me for photos more than the GH4 because it's so tiny. The EVF is nice, but is really contrasty for some reason- you don't a fully accurate picture but I don't mind so much and it's better than no EVF. a5100 is also supposedly a very nice cam- not sure about still quality but it has a bigger sensor, slightly better low-light and slightly better AF, but worse color (subjective). As far as lenses go, you have more options available for the GX7 in the lower price range, but Sony has a lot more high-end options (which probably isn't relevant to you at the moment). GX8 will very likely be announced next week so prices could drop even further. I always recommend renting a camera before buying it- lensrentals.com is very good if you're in the US.

​I usually disregard complaints of CA because it's so often such a minimal thing, but damn is it strong in that footage.

​I was always under the impression that for absolute best quality, denoise before grading, particularly when using LUTs. With that being said, I usually do it the way you described for simplicity and it usually works out fine. BTW, how do you add handles in Resolve?

​The big feature you miss out on is noise reduction. Everything else is pretty much there. It's easily the best 'free' version of any software ever.

​It may be something they reserve for the GH4 line. The GX7 doesn't allow for external monitoring.

While the specs on this are a underwhelming, there's still potential (especially for the 2nd gen). Lots of production companies have an arsenal of GoPros available- having a few of these would be nice. If you only have $400 to spend, this probably isn't the best choice.

I don't think it's necessary to change anything. People post their own reviews on the main forum from time to time. If it's a well-writen and thought-out, it gets plenty of good attention.

​For those of us who don't have the luxury of always and only doing cinematic work, stabilization can be a godsend during corporate/wedding/boring work. I use a monopod pretty frequently during those kinds of gigs, and the 24-105 IS gets a lot of use because I can easily grab stable shots at 105 while remaining versatile. For cinematic work, the IS goes off (or more often, I ditch the 25-105 completely). It would be really nice to have IBIS available for all my lenses, so Sony definitely has my attention right now. There are going to be amateurs who never turn stabilization off, but abuse by amateurs isn't a reason to exclude a feature.​ ​I have yet to see and kind of in-camera/in-lens stabilization that allows for natural pans, slides, etc. The tech is meant for stills, so it tries to keep the sensor/lens in place. Trying to execute a nice motion will cause a weird robotic jerkiness most of the time. You can sometimes get it right, but in my experience it's pretty unpredictable.

Canon 70-200 is not parfocal to my knowledge (Parfocal meaning it maintains focus during zoom). 16-50 probably isn't either. The adapter/camera setup may be amplifying the problem on your canon lens.

​Another step up in price is FS700 + 7Q for RAW. Supposedly 15 stops, but I doubt it amounts to that in practice. FS7 does RAW as well, but I don't know of anyone shooting it in RAW. Maybe Oliver has?

Wow. Huge difference here, in a very good way. Your new grade has a lot more emotional punch to it. The windows and reflections also look much better now that they aren't so blown out. The new grade made me feel more connected than the other two did. It is pretty amazing how subtly powerful color can be in a film. The most minor adjustments can make us distrust or fall in love or feel comforted or angry. It's dangerous- if you shoot a film and just send it off to a colorist to "make it look cool," you are potentially losing the soul of your film. ​Have you seen Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling? Beautiful, beautiful movie, but it really missed the mark in most other areas of filmmaking. I think Gosling was trying too hard to be arthouse and it really made the movie fail in my opinion. I wasn't connected to the characters or what was happening. Dull acting, minimal character development, meandering plot. It's a shame because the premise is actually pretty good. The fact that it was shot so well made it even more disappointing.

Wow, my bad. I see enough shitty footage on here that sometimes it's hard to tell who's doing it on purpose and who doesn't know any better. Now that I know you're in the former group, I'll be sure to leave you to your own devices from now on.

I'd say knowing how to use a glidecam-style stabilizer is a worthwhile skill to have. Lighter so you can use it for longer and you don't have to worry about batteries or the myriad of technical issues that come with a brushless gimbal. Don't get me wrong, the tech is amazing and getting better every day, but I've seen a ton of ops who can't even seem to get a steady shot with a computer helping them. There's a skill to it no matter what, and if you can master a glidecam, you can move up with relative ease. As far as glidecams go- the money for an HD-2000 over a $120 Chinese variant is well spent. While there are some decent cheap ones, most are built like garbage. Glidecam is just a solid brand and won't give you any trouble (once you know how to use it).

Your grade is creating really strong halos. Does not look natural- look at the edges of the treelines or mountains. Also, your footage is way too shaky for shows of nature. Sorry, I know you didn't ask for a critique, but I'd recommend working on those things before moving to a different camera.

These guys are right that it all depends on what your needs are. With that said, I'd personally go for the G7 with Speedbooster XL + Sigma 18-35. Rokinon 85 would probably come shortly after that whenever budget allows. Cinegain's advice on getting vintage lenses with cheap adapters is also a very good route to go- it will save you money, but takes a lot of research. In my experience researching old lenses takes way longer than modern lenses (i.e. looking at serial numbers to see which era a certain lens came from because each era has different lens coatings, etc.).

It's a testament to the tech that this is possible, but the IQ is pretty awful in my opinion. I'm conflicted because while I'm excited that films like this are being made, it's also pretty hard to watch.

​Forgot about the pocket. Duh.

​If you're doing the kind of kind of work that demands a log style, you probably shouldn't be looking at $800 cameras in the first place. As far as I know, the cheapest log available is in Sony's RX100IV for $1k, which is pretty groundbreaking already. Complaining that the G7 doesn't have log is pointless because there is 0 precedent of a camera in this price range having it. We'll get there soon, but at the current moment we may as well be complaining that the G7 doesn't shoot 6k internal or that it doesn't have XLR inputs.

There's the 30min record limit, which kind of kills it for me as a BCam. Anyone know if it can be exceeded in 1080 mode? If not, I'll likely be keeping my GX7 and waiting for the GX8.

​Use a battery instead of the internal phantom power- it helps a bit. Otherwise, you just have to deal with it until you get a better setup going. I hear the NTG-3 has plenty of signal, but of course, I'm interested to hear more about the NTG-4+

How do you like that combo? I have a DR-60D with a NTG-2, but am thinking of doing minor upgrade to the setup you have. The main issue I run into is that I really have to crank the gain to get decent levels out of the Rode.

​While it's not impossible (I'm sure we'll have plenty of high MP low light monsters in a few short years), if the A7rii bested the A7s in low-light performance, I'm sure they would be plastering it all over their their marketing.

​No, I'm sure it will be decent, or even quite good, but won't be close to the same level as A7s.

​Better low-light, high frame rates in 4k, ANY log options. Looks like the A7Rii still has that awful record button placement. Still, can't wait to see more images from it.