dvcrn

14 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

Agree to disagree then.

Seriously, it's just vlogging. Any hybrid made in the past year will work more than adequately.

And it doesn't matter a whole lot what camera one uses in bad light.

Bad light is bad light.

 

it depends on how serious you take vlogging. For example if you care about high quality content and want decent audio, you need a camera with good preamps and a mic-in. You can of course stick your cage with external recorder on a mini tripod and carry that around but your arms might hurt very fast. 

Same goes for autofocus and shakey footage. You can take any hybrid, but the autofocus is mostly pretty bad and with vlogging since you don't really script anything, you don't want to have ruined footage because the camera decided to focus on the background instead of the target. Depending on how much you want to have in the frame at all time, you might also want a decent lens option. 

That's why if you care about quality you need a camera which does all of this out of the box decently in a lightweld body that you can carry around. And considering this, there are just not many cameras that are able to deal with all of this. The most popular ones are 70D and 80D. 

Though yes, this is mostly a edge-case. Most users are probably going to be happy with a G7X or RX100IV. I personally I found the audio too bad and the lens not wide enough. 

I think if vlogging is your focus, you need a flippy screen to see what's in frame. The M5 does not have that. Just get the 80D instead.

Edit: oh it has a down-flipping screen apparently. I would prefer a sideways though. Can't even put it on a surface/tripod and monitor at the same time?

23 minutes ago, DBounce said:

That camera looks out of focus and probably needs autofocus microadjustment performed. FYI, I cannot recall ever looking at my 1DXMkii 4k footage and feeling it lacked anything in the image department.  And I have compared it directly to my Sony A7Rii, Sony A7ii and Samsung NX1. To my eyes it handily beats all of those cameras. 

I have seen some nice looking footage from the 5DMkIV. But this footage in the video link you list looks off. I'm guessing it's related to the body he has, not all 5DMkIVs.

I agree with you on this. 1DXII footage is glorious! I wouldn't mind going in on Canon if it wasn't for that price tag. $6000 USD. I could get 2 A7RIIs with that money, or one and some amazing lenses. If they had a version without the stills capabilities but all of that video goodies for half the price, I would consider it. But that would have been the 5DIV before it got announced. 

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

I feel your pain @dvcrn! There really is no free lunch and it's very difficult to make informed decisions sometimes as there's so much noise you need to cancel out to get a clear picture.

Investing in glass is wise as lenses can basically last you a lifetime and resale is always easier with minimal loss, but it's still tough... Do you buy lenses that can move with you through each system if you need to change, or go native so you get the system benefits? I'm always chasing my tail on this one and have ended up with half my lenses being native m43 and half Nikon AI-S.

Clever move from Canon with DPAF, again strengthening investment in their glass. It's just a shame you have to spend at least £4k on a Canon camera to get solid and sharp 1080p in 2016!

All good fun!

This is exactly the pain I'm feeling. Glad to hear I am not alone with this

Fantastic responses. Thanks guys!

9 hours ago, Inazuma said:

What was your problem with the a6300? Ive not used DPAF on a Canon DSLR but I cant see how it can get much better than it is on that camera

Then I can highly recommend you to give it a try DPAF is a work of wonders. It's so smooth and accurate, if done right it can replace focus pulling when doing things alone. It's also one of the only AF systems I found that feels completely "natural" and doesn't have this weird sudden focus digital effect.

I had it often that with other cameras I thought the camera got it but as soon as something small in the picture changes, it suddenly focuses on something else. DPAF never missed so far. 

I indeed have high hopes in the EM1II but at the same time I'm trying to be realistic that it probably will be slightly under the a6300 in terms of AF performance. Just a guess based on recent development and Sonys power in the market. 

I don't mind having 2 cameras: One for when I need DPAF, one for when I don't. But then the question is lenses: Do you just buy FF lenses all the time and mount them on the MFT / APS-C bodies with adapters? Do you stick with APS-C glass but then reduce the chance of upgrading to FF anytime soon? MFT lenses would be optimal but you can't really mount them on anything else. Plus if you have a good MFT body with a adapter-ed lens, the autofocus will in return suck again. It's like a endless struggle :p 

Someone give me the perfect camera with glorious AF, great picture, 4k video, great low light and amazing in stills. ?

I currently own a Canon 80D. And it's a love-hate story. I absolutely love the 80D for the Dual Pixel AF and colors. Now with the inofficial C-Log profiles out there, it became a good amount better than before. I really would like to go "full canon" but can't get myself to spend the ridiculous prices for cameras that are actually 'good' in video. And because of that I can't get myself to invest more into EF-S lenses until I know whether I will stay with it or not. (I guess I could do FF glass but still). 

I am a huge fan of mirrorless cameras with a EM5II as my primary photo shooter. I nibbled around different cameras back and forth. Tried the a6300 which apparently has besides DPAF the best autofocus system out there but even that can't reach the beauty of the Canon ones. (Plus oh well, that rolling shutter)

So my question: Is there anything that comes close to DPAF? Is it "worth it" to invest into a company that seems to lack so far behind? I never used a pro-grade Canon camera but was waiting for the new 5D just to get disappointed. 

I was about to sell my MFT gear. Now I'm thinking if waiting might be better. This camera looks indeed amazing!

But as a previous guy, I really hope the AF is good. The reason why I'm with canon DSLRs as my main tool, even though the video is meh, is dual pixel AF. It's just THAT good. Not even the a6300 can reach it at the moment. Don't care about IBIS, but please superb autofocus!

Is competition allowed? James Miller just released his take on a C-Log profile here https://sellfy.com/p/ul1t/
Thoughts? 

All right, the samples here convinced me to gave it a try. Bought the set and can't wait to get home later to give it a try. 

I love the 80D if the image wouldn't be so potato. Here's to hope that this little profile makes it better

4 hours ago, dvcrn said:

Honest question - I'd buy this pack immediately but is this even worth it for the 80D? I was thinking about something like this but fear it will just turn the footage into a noisy mess. 

Phillip Bloom posted a very similar post a few days ago. I asked the same question with the answer that the 80D probably won't be able to handle it. 

Just bumping this again in the hope anyone can answer this

Honest question - I'd buy this pack immediately but is this even worth it for the 80D? I was thinking about something like this but fear it will just turn the footage into a noisy mess. 

Phillip Bloom posted a very similar post a few days ago. I asked the same question with the answer that the 80D probably won't be able to handle it. 

Are there any small screen options that you could slap on the cam? Preferable something "micro" and a little tinier than the small HD options

9 hours ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

I know this is illegal to say but, actually, the best camera for your needs is the Canon 80D. Flawless Autofocus, best IS there is (18-135mm USM IS), Portable, has decent audio and a headphone jack, clean good looking HD with great colour, great ergonomics, etc. Just take a look at it in a store/try before making a decision & you'll see what I am at. 

I spent the past days eating my way through camera review after camera review and slowly think the 80D might indeed be the camera that I will end up choosing. I have to wait until tomorrow before it gets put into stores here in Tokyo but will then definitely play around with it a little bit after that. Anyone here with insights on ML and how likely it will be that we see a version for the 80D? I heard canon patched the exploits ML relies on in all recent updates.

I'm also going to rent a some more MFT lenses and the Shure VP83f for my EM5 Mark 2 and see how the audio and focus compares to footage I get from the 80D. Though I started noticing a lot of ugly distortion and warping on the picture caused by the IBIS when the movement is too fast - something I didn't fully realize before. 

17 hours ago, DevonChris said:

Panasonic GX8. The stabilisation is good with Panny lenses, particularly in 1080.  The audio is very good and the continuous autofocus and face detection is excellent. This camera continues to surprise me with its versatilty and excellent image quality.

Thanks! I will check that one out as well!

27 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

I've been using the em100/EM5II for real estate "profile" videos.  Lots of talking heads and such.  Short shoots that last an hour or so.  I've done close to 40 of them so far.  While that real estate stuff isn't on my vimeo page, this one below is very similar in style and used the same em100/EM5II set-up:

 

First of all - great video! Though as a fellow EM5II owner I still hear the strong hiss signature whenever the subject is talking. I guess my ears got so used to hating that hiss that I can't ignore it anymore. Compare 0:12 vs 0:15 for example.

Does anyone know a very small external screen that is attachable to the body of a7 / nx cameras? Something like the swivi for 5dm3 that I found through google: 

It seems like the new 80D from Canon does nearly exactly what I want to do: 

• Blazing fast AF (maybe the best one in video in the market right now?)
• Flip screen
• The preamps seem to be "good" when using the +20db option on the rode videomic

What does EOSHD think about the 70D/80D these days? Canon seems to try to step up their video game. Though no IBIS. How are canon OIS lenses in video? 

All right I digged through some nxXXX reviews. The NX1 sounds fantastic, just the same problem as with the a7x that it doesn't have a fully articulating screen for me to monitor focus when I'm doing things alone. The NX500 is good as well but when mounting a microphone on the hotshoe, it completely covers the flipscreen which makes it useless as well

26 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

I've heard gripes about the lousy pre-amps in the EM5II, yet I'm clean audio with it and my Sennheiser em100.  I dial down the input to a minimum and then adjust the input level accordingly on the wireless mic.  It's not an impressive preamp, but I've found it useable.

I tried a handful of microphones but kept getting the same amount of noise independent of gear. It is good as a reference audio but I wouldn't consider it as clean. The audio is probably the main thing why I want to part with it. Can you maybe post a clip that used the EM5II preamps?

1 minute ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

The two that spring to mind are the Panasonic G7 and Samsung NX1. Good preamps, decent autofocus (the NX1 excels here), articulating screens, focus peaking, relatively lightweight, and excellent image quality. You might also look at the NX500, which has a big crop in 4K but all the other advantages of the NX1 and is smaller/cheaper.

Samsung was a brand I didn't have on my radar yet, thanks for that! Going to do some research about the NX range

Any particular reason why the G7 and not it's brothers GH4 or GX8?

Hi EOSHD folks! I need to ask for advice again for my next purchase. 

I am looking for a quick and compact camera for on the go static interviews, "walk and talk" interviews and travel related videos with the focus on being light weld. I bought the EM5II for that but the noise of the preamps makes this camera impossible to use with any microphone that goes directly into the body. I'd have to buy a some hot-shoe contraption to mount the audio recorder and the microphone at the same time which gives me even more different batteries to carry around, more weight and more equipment to carry around. 

I love the IBIS on the EM5II and the flipscreen is a huge help but at the same time the continuous autofocus is not very good. 

Now I've been looking around the market to find something that fits my needs more to potentially replace my EM5II. Nice to have things would be:

• Some way to check focus (articulating screen?)
• Good preamps to feed a videomic pro or wireless lavalier into the body
• IBIS or decent OIS with lenses
• Good autofocus

I adore the A7 line and the preamps are good but the problem here is trusting the autofocus without a option to monitor it. I was thinking about a smallhd monitor but that again means I have to mount 2 things on top. Did anyone see a modded a7 or something like that yet? I looked at the way the screen is swivelling and it doesn't seem too difficult to "mod" it but I'd rather not touch it myself. 

The a6300 with superb autofocus would have been an instabuy, giving up the focus monitor as I can trust it a little more. But the rolling shutter and shakey shakey of a non stabilised body makes handheld footage look very bad. (How does it perform with IS lenses?)

The new RX100M4 seems perfect as well except the fact that I can't mount a microphone and can't feed audio into the body. In body audio not good.

The EM5 kills 2 points here, that being the articulating screen and outstanding IBIS. The preamps are garbage and the autofocus meh though. 

What other cameras should I look at? Does the camera I am looking for even exist? Let's assume money is not important - what kind of setup would you advice me to go to? 

23 hours ago, animan said:

H4N on the camera is not really a good idea, without a shockmount youll hear your hands every time you touch the camera to change something.. Honestly I think it will be hard to beat your lavalier+H4N results with a camera mounted mic (unless you had a very cheap lavalier?). For dialogue or interviews a camera mounted mic will unfortunately almost never give satisfactory results. One option could be a minijack extension cord and then put the VMP on a small tripod or gorillapod as close as possible to the speaker out of frame?

One other thing to keep in mind, a shotgun mic (like the VMP) is sometimes the wrong choice for indoor shooting due to the way the mic picks up sound.

Maybe you can attach a short clip to listen how bad the signal:noise ratio youre getting is?

I like the lavalier but as said, needed something more dynamic. I'm of course willing to sacrifice a little audio quality for it   In my tests I really dig the Rode Videomic Pro (with external recorder) but not sure where I can tuck something like an h1 on the camera. 

I will try to record a little test snippet later when I'm back at home. 

8 hours ago, animan said:

You write youre an audio beginner but sorry if this is obvious, you have to keep in mind that simply buying a VMP and putting it on top of the camera isnt the recipe for good audio, audio is always about putting the right mic in the right place (most of the time as close as possible to what you want to record)..

My setup before was a portable audio recorder (h2n) with a lavalier microphone clipped somewhere on the target. I got the RODE in the hope to replace this setup with something more dynamic that can be carried around easier. I did my homework on audio but didn't think the camera preamp would play such a important role. 

Sadly for most of the stuff I'm doing, I don't have the power to set up a scene, position microphones and co. I was hoping for a very lightweld and portable solution that delivers good results without buying too many things on top. Adding a cage and a external recorder into the mix is already scratching the boundaries of what I want to carry around. 

Is there a smaller cage / rig out there that would just hold something like a h1 (or other portable recorder) without adding too much weight / width / height to the setup? 

Alternatively, is there a good shotgun type recorder (besides the vp83f) that I could clam ontop of my camera to substitute the RODE+recorder setup? (e.g. how would a mounted h4n sound like). I can still return the RODE back to amazon and if I find a more convenient setup I would do that right away. 

Again - sorry for the beginner-ish questions. I don't have that much money to spend and want to avoid buying more wrong decisions

Took some more time to experiment with the combo. No matter what I tried, the hiss was still too strong for me to consider the audio "clean". The best results were with the +20db settings and -10db inside the camera. Then lowering the volume in post. The hiss was a lot more silent, the audio "usable" but still not at the quality that I hoped for when I bought this microphone + camera. 

I have a older H2N laying around and taped it to my tripod for a little test and yep - the audio hissing was completely gone. Even with no boost on the microphone at all. Sadly this combo is not usable for the kind of on the go stuff that I planned with it. 

Is there anything else I can do? What are some good cameras out there with good preamps? (Preferably MFT / E-Mount with IBIS and articulating screen)

3 hours ago, animan said:

+20db on the mic, camera input level down, auto gain control off.. 

that's what I tried but no success. 

I wanted to avoid the H1 at all cost for portability reason. Is there some kind of recorder that I could put on the hotshoe but exposes a hotshoe itself? Something I can stack between microphone and camera? 

6 hours ago, Don Kotlos said:

Unfortunately e-m5ii is noisy. 

See here:

http://thedigitalstory.com/2015/03/external-mic-test-mod-em5-mark2.html

Your best bet is get a compact cheap external recorder like the H1 and sync in post. 

That is a huge bummer. I specifically bought this combo so I don't have to care about external syncing and external recording. Is there nothing else I can do about the noise? 

I've been eyeballing the new a6300 as well. Do you know if recent Sony cameras have this crazy noise as well or are the preamps better on their devices? 

Hi guys!

I am a audio beginner but wanted to finally step up my audio game. I got myself a rode Videomic Pro to use with my EM5II and spent the evening playing around with it. I messed with the camera settings and tested a couple of different things but no matter what I did - I couldn't get rid of the strong background hiss noise. It's so unpleasant that the audio is basically useless. 

My tests were done in a completely silent room. I tried different camera settings and turned all the in-camera audio control down to as low as possible (-10db for the EM5II). Also turned off all other audio shenanigans like auto gain the camera had to offer. The way I understand is, that this should leave the actual audio settings to the microphone and don't let the preamp mess around with it too much. Though no matter how I tinkered around with the camera - I still have this crazy background hiss. 

Did I miss some crucial setting in the crazy Olympus menu? 

Thanks for all the replies!

That is exactly how I feel with mine right now. Something in there is definitely grinding. That and all the outside things together clearly tell me that something fishy is going on with this one.  

I read that one too when I initially went for the lens. I really like the results but I guess I am just a bit worried that the replacement might have some flaw inside that I can't spot that easily like the outside notches. Especially for a non-professional. I don't want my lens to randomly break in the future because quality control took a day off on my unit. 

But then again, I think you are right and I would probably love the Voigtlander the same if I went with it instead. 

I guess it comes down to Image quality and not so good build vs high quality build and handling but a little less quality.

I think I'll give the SLR Magic another chance but if the replacement comes in a similar condition than my current one, I will try to avoid that company from that point on and jump ship to the Voigtlander. Fingers crossed!

Hi,

I recently invested into m43 with the 25mm from slr magic as my first lens. Upon arrival this lens was in a bad condition. There were scratches and notches everywhere and even the lenscap has a few damps in it. The aperture and focus rings feel really bad and around the fastest and slowest stop feel like I'm grinding something inside the thing. I read before that SLR Magic has some serious quality problems and that it's more a tend of luck if you get a good or a bad one but didn't know that this still applies. 

The lens goes back to bhphotovideo tomorrow but now I am questioning myself if I want to stay with this lens (a new one of course) or if I should go to something else. I also got the voigtlander 17.5mm and man! This thing feels absolutely incredible. The rings are smooth, the build superb. The SLR Magic's rings are good for follow focus but kind of hurt in the fingers a bit. 

In previous posts (including on this forums), the SLR Magic 25mm "won" against the Voigtlander. I was wondering if this is with the v2 version (which also includes click-less aperture) of the Voigtlander the same. What's your experience with SLR Magic vs Voigtlander?