Ty Harper

I also must add, I've been lubricating the leg sections and it has helped to slow the breakdown of the plastic. 

Woah, good to know!
I've had mine for less than a year with no issues but I can totally see how all those connecting parts could become a problem over time if it wasn't constructed well.
Thanks for putting this out there!

I highly recommend the Sirui P204S. 
I had the Manfrotto video monopod for years and it was good for what it was at the time.
I actually sold it on kijiji for more than I bought the Sirui for new. 
Manfrotto was great for breaking new ground with the video monopod concept but the Sirui has built on that template and is just better, with much more features.

Good to know!
No question Zoom's pre-amps have gotten consistently better over time (I was down with Zoom for a minute. Had the original H4 and then the H4N), and what they lack in sound quality they make up for in very practical features and portability.
But if audio quality is your priority then the Marantz PMD661 (Version 1 or 2) and the Fostex FR2-LE are still the best bets in the sub $500 price range imho.
Unless you really need 2+ XLR mics.
And actually the Marantz goes for like $300 used nowadays. I just got a 2nd unit with the Oade Mod for $300 (which makes the amp's even better).
It's interesting cuz these two units hardly get mentioned on video-centric blogs, even though they've out performed Zoom's newer H line releases on sheer sound quality over and over again and have maintained their rep (particularly the Marantz) in the pro audio/run n gun radio broadcast world.
All that said, I wouldn't mind seeing some proper F8 comparisons to the PMD661 and the FR2-LE because I'd love to downsize + have more than 2 XLR mic channels at my disposal.

Ty Harper, the H4n had shit shit pre amps. But the H5/H6 pre amps are a leap forward.
 
And the F8 preamps are better than anything Zoom has ever made before!
And the F4 pre amps are the same as the F8.

I know the Zoom line has pretty much become the go-to recorder for prosumers, and even a lot of pros, but the preamps on these units have always been disappointing imho. Then again I'm looking at capturing audio that sounds great as part of a larger visual/soundscape and equally as great solo for radio broadcast where there's nowhere to hide. I still recommend the Marantz pmd661. Its amps are way better than the Zoom line, the sound is broadcast quality level, but it isn't as big or expensive as one of the Sound Devices units.
 

The 35-70 2.8 AF was a top-line pro Nikkor back in the day and they're reasonable and have an aperture ring. Just have to watch the veiling flare on those, use a good hood and make sure your copy doesn't have haze internally. I shot several music videos with that lens. Pro-build, all metal, 2.8 all the way through.
I really liked it for stylish music vids - I could use the top flag on my matte box to dial in (or out) flare from visible lights, had a cool look. Replace with the 28-70 2.8 though.

Try to get the constant f3.5 version, it's is ahead of the other Nikon 35-70 lenses in ways including distortion.

Just buy 'n try. It's not like it's going to lose its value should you decide it's not your thing and put it up for sale again.
Two fun 35-70mm I always keep an eye out for are from Angenieux and Leica. But you might need to wait a century for a real bargain to cross paths... I think the Nikon will do fine though, it's good value. The 24-105mm is a practical lens, mostly for stills, but I understand you'd want to spice it up a bit, so really go and explore your options... you might even want to think about replacing the Canon with the same range Sigma... that might change things up enough for you as well.

Had it at one point and it was good, but ultimately replaced it with the Olympus 35-70mm f/3.6, which may be sharper and doesn't rotate when focused.

Short EPK I did for Toronto activists/musicians LAL, who are close friends of mine.
Constructive criticism is welcome.
Shot, edited and produced by Ty Harper.
cameras: Canon 5D III, Canon 5D II
lenses: Canon 50mm f/1.2 L, Canon 100m f/2.8 L, Canon 28mm f/2.8 IS, Canon 80-200mm f/2.8 L, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
audio: Sennheiser G3, Marantz PMD661, Sescom line out to mic in audio cable with attenuation
additional equipment: Lowel Rifa-Lite EX88, Konova K5 slider with the Basic Pan/Tilt controller, Glidecam HD4000
shot using Magic Lantern's RAW hack and edited entirely in DaVinci Resolve

Hi Ty,
It should fill the card if you trigger the flag in the    Ml raw menu to record in exfat. I am using firmware 1.1.3 of the 5d3. Check out ml forum for more info on exfat recording. Your card also has to be formatted as exfat when that mode is triggered. 

It probably makes sense if you're shooting at 30p. The numbers seem roughly correct. If you shoot at 24p you should be getting 49min of 1920x1080 on a 256gb card.

http://rbrune.github.io/mlraw/

It's a known issue that 5D3 1DX 1DC and other Canon DSLRs don't work well with 256GB cards, better have multiple 128GB cards.
1DX II however improved support for larger capacity CF cards.

Yeah a 5D is a no go. Even just an NX1 is 1200g without lens.

No idea.

Blu-ray is cheaper per GB than hard disks. No matter which medium you pick, you want to make sure you have backups if it is important footage. Optical media can get scratched - or can be faulty so that the discs deteriorate over time, while hard disks eventually will die one way or the other - so you want redundancy by RAID, and perhaps backups to optical discs anyway.

I've used this with the 25GB discs for a good while and it's great. Still using a hard drive just to be sure since no one ones how long it will last, but I love it. 

I'm no expert either but I'd think the sound quality of the two Zooms would be the same. But if I'm understanding the other part of your question, and your mic is going directly from that xlr connection into your camera, then you're depending solely on the sound quality of your camera's amps, which usually isn't the best quality compared to if the mic was going into a dedicated preamp and then into your dslr/mirrorless (unless  dslr/mirrorless cameras have much better amps now?? I'm still on a 5D III/ML). The point of buying a dedicated preamp is to bypass the camera's preamps right? So for me I use a Marantz PMD661 with the Oade mod which gives me a great preamp + a second HQ recording. But somehow I feel like you already know this and I'm not really understanding your question. Either way interesting find!

I have this lens... Currently selling it on eBay. It's a nice lens. Constant zoom with the zoom mechanism inside the barrel. Good macro. I haven't used it with a 5d, but most Nikon lenses work well with Canons. 

This trailer is for a feature documentary (80 minutes) I shot that was projected at three different theaters for festivals. I screened on Blu-Ray for the festivals because DCP wasn't an option for one reason or another. To qualify what I write, I made tests of DCP vs Blu Ray for another film at a theater and found that Blu Ray washes out color without losing much in resolution. I have also projected two different films at festivals occasionally on Blu Ray, one shot on 35mm and another on the Alexa.
In my experience, 5D Raw has noticeably less resolution than the Alexa and 35mm (with 2K DI). It looks great on my large computer screen but the lower resolution was surprising for me once it played on the big screen. For me, it didn't seem good enough (with all due respect to what others have said), but this is very subjective. I haven't had a chance to compare it to the C300 or any lower end cameras. I still use my 5D for casual shooting, but in the future, I would try to film on the C300 for any documentaries. The C300 seem to be fine on large screens, and the ergonomics and workflow are so much better for documentary filming. The price for these cameras used are so cheap now, and they are not huge cameras.
If you do go ahead with the 5D, I noticed that anything I filmed 400ASA and under held up much better. And on the positive side, you save a ton of money if you already own the camera, and the film will look great on smaller screens. No one at the festival screenings seemed to be bothered by the cinematography in our doc, and we received many compliments on it.

5D RAW is good enough for projection on a big screen. Made it several times with always good results. DCP in jpeg2k and you're done. Just have to upscale your size from the native 1920x1080 to 2K. Projectors accept only DCI standards and no 1080...
 
Concerning the project : a doc. For documentary for sure i'd go with an A7SII and not a 5D RAW... By far. I've got the two bodies at home and as jcs said, the only major drawback of the A7SII is the jello effect from the Rolling shutter technology... Too bad really. Annoying even on tripod with micro jitters. But when you know it you do with it. The A7SII has by far more little files, has better dynamic, and better low light abilities... Everything i would go with for a documentary. Get a power bank like an Anker astro E7 26800 mAh and you have more than 2 days of shooting with you.
 
After using the A7SII, i never use anymore my 5D for video... I only use it for pictures, where it shines a lot compared to the A7SII.

I watched 70D internal H.264 projected on the big screen (major theater) and it looked fine. 5D3 RAW will look even better.
After a bit of matching the A7S II to the C300 II in 4K, 5D3 RAW is finished for me. I can now get better skintones with less effort (and tiny 100Mbit/s files) on the A7S II with SGamut3.cine+Slog2+16 Saturation and ARRI Alexa SL LUT in PP CC (plus additional tweaks which are easy once learned). The C300 II is of course better, but not by much for YouTube delivery (AF, RS, audio, and post gradability are vastly better on the C300 II. A7S II can't AF any Canon lenses in video mode (also not usable for stills: the 5D3 rules for stills)). For ultra gradability in post, 5D3 RAW is still a player with amazing performance for the cost. It will look great on the big screen (full 1080 ML RAW capture).

I am in a similar situation and would like to read some opinions. Thanks