Simon Bailey

Keep up the good work Andrew. 
I hadn't realised that about those groups of youtubers that review cameras being selected by the companies but your right. They all tend to be glowing reviews now that I think about it whatever the camera was. I've seen more than a few by iPhondo for example and always very positive reviews with some token comment here and there to appear unbiased. 
As for Trolls and Brawley dont loose sleep over that lot. The launch sample footage was total crap (not the cameras fault). I have my Pocket 4K and absolutely love it. A very capable camera that fits the spot for those of us that want DSLR size but want a pro camera. 
Cheers,
Simon Bailey
Colourberry.com

Keep up the good work Andrew. 
I hadn't realised that about those groups of youtubers that review cameras being selected by the companies but your right. They all tend to be glowing reviews now that I think about it whatever the camera was. I've seen more than a few by iPhondo for example and always very positive reviews with some token comment here and there to appear unbiased. 
As for Trolls and Brawley dont loose sleep over that lot. The launch sample footage was total crap (not the cameras fault). I have my Pocket 4K and absolutely love it. A very capable camera that fits the spot for those of us that want DSLR size but want a pro camera. 
Cheers,
Simon Bailey
Colourberry.com

​Film, music video or commercial dont automatically equal cinematic. There are plenty of those that look more video than filmic.  And on the other side there are plenty of corporate films, weddings etc that look cinematic. There are no rules and no need to even have titles. Cinematographer sounds sounds wanky and videographer doesnt quite cut it. Its easier just not to bother with titles. 

So far this is what you guys have said are the benefits of the 1DC that warrant $8,000
 
18MP stills
Low light  (Nope)
Super compact
Long battery
Uses EF lenses  (So does A7s)
Extremely light  (Nope)
Canons colour science  (Nope)
Internal 4K vs Shogun/O7Q
Metal body   (A7s is more than strong enough)
 
So After ruling out the features that the A7s matches or excels at your left with these
18MP stills    (Meh nice but not worth an additional $6,000  also I have a D800 with 36MP stills which has better dynamic range than a 1DC yet I prefer the stills from the A7s because its dynamic range more than makes up for pixels)
Long battery    (Meh nice but not worth an additional $6,000)
Internal 4K vs Shogun/O7Q    (granted but a shogun isnt a burden, its a fantastic monitor with excellent exposure tools)
 
P.s. Just my opinion but I crossed out Canon colour science because its a myth and I dont know where that saying started. I dont call redish skin tones good colour science. C100, C300 and C500 are fine but their DSLRs like  5d's have contrasty unrealistic colour. 
 

​Where did you get the idea that everyone is shooting feature films?? Feature films are a small part of the production industry. The majority of cameras are used in commercial and corporate projects. Areas where slow-motion and 4K are very desired (not necessarily for 4K delivery). 
It doesn't make us morons or amateurs.

Thanks for the link but I'll keep the $1500   I'm not keen on adding more adaptors than absolutely necessary as they can add chromatic aberration, softness etc.
The comparison shots of the woman  are a bit misleading because the majority of the background being the cityscape is so far away its going to have much the same blur no matter what its shot on. The railing thats closer the difference is more apparent.
I agree with what your saying but I love my A7s more than my F5. I can't believe I would ever say that after 18 months with the F5 and about 8 months with the A7s. 
Friday I had a shoot in the city and I'd lent out the A7s and I remember thinking "I'll have to use the F5"  Have to!! as if its a sad thing to have to use the F5.. How interesting is that. To me the F5 was about the most perfect camera I could imagine and bam along comes this little A7s and the F5 gets left behind.  Its not full frame vs super 35 why I like the A7s. Its the speed I can work with it. How customisable its menus, buttons and the function page are. How small it is. How well the Shogun works with it. And how beautiful its photos are. How I can remove it from its cage, put a 20mm pancake lens on it and slip it in my pocket. How accessible the SD cards are compared to SXS.  The F5 is technically better (although visually indifferent to me) but the A7s is more fun to use. Faster, less menus to dig through to change anything.

First of all, please honorably accept this month's Victim Award, just wonderful talent for whining and conflating sarcasm with hate there.
Short answer to your rant, - if you're gonna use the word "cinema" in your professional title, it better be related to the art of storytelling, not just filming an event. That's what a wedding is. A live event. That you are covering. It is basically a fucking local news report with shallow DOF, no light and a bit more angles. It lacks both the art of storytelling and the craft of lighting. Yes, it sure feels creative. Making a tuna sandwich in the morning makes me feel creative too. But it isn't cinema. So don't call it that. That's all.
 

I'm an old salt. I've worked in film most of my professional life, primarily in labs (gigantic and small) , post-production and editorial. The past fifteen years, I've been in film restoration. I have literally seen and handled hundreds of millions of feet of film in my life, dating from the early 1900's to, well, negs shot just a couple of years ago.
In my work, we use traditional photochemical and digital technologies hand-in-hand. There are things digital can't possibly achieve, and things traditional photochemical processes choke on that digital wins as undisputed champ. And I LOVE my digital tech. I'm no luddite.
In the end, though, I feel posts like this one (and on other blogs) re: the film issue are an exercise akin to arguing how many angels can dance on a saltine cracker. Or, to put it more directly, "You can't argue taste." It's a tool in the arsenal, just like why someone would shoot video with an 8-bit codec at 720P. Because they can/need to/like to. Right tool for the job. Everything else is academic. If YOU, the media creator, make the format choice that you believe is correct from an aesthetic, technical and budgetary standpoint, so be it. You are the artist. If it is to be 4K HFR 3D, great, if you want VHS, okay. If you want film, rock on.
As to the dated, anachronistic aspects of the film medium, I agree it can be frustrating, unwieldy and time-consuming. I also happen to think performing live music with a band is a pain in the butt just for the sheer aggravation of moving a truckload of instruments, cabling, amps, etc. around, setting up, tearing down, but I would never advocate trashing it all for a keyboard and sampler just because it is cheaper, more convenient and "is just as good."
Just one man's opinion...

i'm a wedding photographer/videographer! Simon's "entry level" comment has a lot of truth in it. All you need to do to start weddings is borrow your friend's handicam. Or borrow a DSLR and call yourself a "cinematographer".
But I think it's worth noting -- at the high end, ie guys who are charging $20k+ a wedding, they're often still using 5DMk3s, though they might own C100s, C300s and Red cameras.
In terms of DSLR vs proper video camera, well, there's a number of advantages DSLRs give you -- low-light, discreet, full frame and shallow depth, requires easier gear (lower end steadicams, lighter tripods) and gives you the ability to buy nine of them if you have to for multicam coverage on a ceremony (though, usually, people won't use more than 3-5).
In terms of which DSLR, Canon vs the rest, well some companies actually do use one or more 1DC cameras... For the rest of us, a7s is probably the best DSLR, but one huge advantage of a Mk3 is that the ML hack lets you record past 30 minutes, which is a surprisingly big deal. Otherwise, if you have a lot of cameras to mind, you find yourself running around pressing record over and over, instead of shooting.

Agree on the 720p unfortunately when I was shooting I didnt have a comparison in mind so I didnt ensure both were 1080p or even 4K. But if its not immediately obvious that one is 720 without me mentioning it then its a testament to how nice the 720p in on the A7s.
​The cage is from Motion9 called the A7s Cube cage. I can honestly say this cage is AMAZING!! Sounds silly to say about a cage but this cage is so well thought out and so well machined and finished.  I have a Movcam top plate on the F5 and it was very poorly machined with sharp edges. Machining aside the Motion9 cage is precision and a very snug fit around the A7s and the thumb rest is excellent. They also have rails and their own battery option. 
The Shogun was positioned with a Noga style arm. Easy to reposition.
The box to the left of the cage is actually part of the cage. It is an ingenious way to clamp the HDMI and other cables exiting the camera. And its a handle!!
 

The metal plate is a Manfrotto base plate. The smaller one found on stills tripods. I like using those a lot. I have it there because I have a small Manfrotto ball head mounted on the top handle of the F5 when I use the Shogun with the F5 it just clips on.
It was the Noga style arm that was holding the Shogun flat like that.  Also I saw a Manfrotto arm today and it was AU$340!!! Crazy price. I bought mine from eBay for about $20 noname brand. Works perfectly.
The colour difference between the A7s and F5 I posted are due to me having slightly different colour temps set between the two cameras. My mistake. A slight grade tweak of either would correct it. 
Also anyone with an A7s notice on my tripod handle the little black thing with buttons? Its a Sony shutter release with cable and it has movie record button. I really recommend it. Doesn't cost much and means with velcro (yes velcro!) you have a repositionable record button from tripod to top handle to front of camera wherever you want or the shot ergonomics dictate.  I will have to update more pics tomorrow.