webrunner5

I must admit I had to look up the model number to figure out what it was. Nice to see someone using an actual camcorder. Looks promising. Thanks for posting.

This is a link to a person I follow because he uses the E-M1 mk III, I have a mk II. He is a crusty old turd like me. And he did this video on it and a couple Smartphones. It is surprisingly good on the smartphones. Sure, the Oly is not a low light champ but they are not crap also. Go to his Flicker page and you might be suspired.

He is seeing what I see, they have moved a lot in the last couple of years. I have a lot of cameras to compare them to.

I will agree to that. But they are not really that great for photography. They are better than most people think, but not a first choice for it. Plus the A7s has wonky color science. A7s II better CS. I have had both. Still have the MK II.

1 hour ago, Django said:

@webrunner5 I have an iPhone 13 lol.. night mode just uses slow exposure trickery, nothing revolutionary.. but hey let me lift that 1DC paper weight artefact off your shoulders, I will give it a good home I promise !

More people and more people now use Smartphones for Astro Photography, they are that good at night photography. And I am not talking about Night Mode.

Tell me any camera the OP can afford to buy with a fast lens that is good at low light. And I am not talking about cheap ass MF Chinese lens.

7 minutes ago, Django said:

smartphones are still terrible at low light. all that AI stuff is horrible. shooting manual is cumbersome.

 

You are just spreading a bullshit opinion.  This forum has become a place for a lot of total misinformation. It is becoming embarrassing. A lot of the new ones are better at low light than real cameras. The Apple iPhone 13 Pro and the Samsung Ultra 22 are great at low light.

16 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Or perhaps a Sony RX10mk2, goes for $500ish on eBay secondhand. 

Simple, compact, all in one, camera that does it all. 

Panasonic FZ1000 is another to consider, even cheaper. 

Covers the main situations which a smartphone does not: when you need lots more reach.  

Any semipro/pro Canon/Sony/Nikon/Pentax DSLR from the last decade still puts more power in a person's hands than 99% of people are capable of fully uralitizing. 

I have a Canon 1DC I know what a good Canon can do, and it weighs a freaking ton, the good lenses are HUGE and you stick out like a sore thumb using it. And in reality it produces not much better photo output than my phone. Video sure it is great but a total pain in the ass to use with no AF and using live view with no waveform, histogram on and on. 

My phone can shoot Raw video, it can shoot photos at 20fps, HDR, HLG, .264, .265 video, shoots DNG files, has 3 built in lenses, IBIS, 4k OLED 10 bit screen @120 hertz, Venice CS, on and on. DSLR's are a Dinosaur.

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

"help me choose a hybrid camera for amateur use - family and travel"

So many seem to answer these questions as what they would buy rather than reading what the OP's actual requirements are...

He's not shooting a Netflix series. He's not shooting plastic bags on the moon. He just wants something decent to document his life and kids.

Personally...if it was me...I'd just get a decent phone and be done with it.

Great video, great pics, great connectivity, have it with you at all times.

But otherwise, one camera, one lens, not a unit for video and another for photography and then what happens if while in the park, you do get asked to shoot a movie because Villeneuve called in sick? I reckon nothing less than that new Arri is going to cut it...

And I told him in the beginning to just buy a late model Smartphone that does all as you say also. They have reached a point that in a lot of circumstances now they are better than a high end camera. They have Really moved ahead as of late.  Other than long reach stuff I see no reason to own a real camera anymore for what he is asking to do. And now that applies to about 98% of all people or more.

My Sony Xperia Pro-I puts my Olympus to shame in everyway other than telephoto stuff and maybe DoF at times. It is not even close anymore.

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

And yet, not a single Canon/Nikon/Sony DSLR on the planet has IBIS. 

And hardly anyone uses one today either.

5 minutes ago, TomTheDP said:

for you

This is not 2012 Tom. People do not use tripods for photos anymore. And Fuji has the worse lens line up for video there is. And adopted lens always suck compared to factory ones. Plus he doesn't have the budget for Fuji Lenses.

The Fuji has No IBIS, that is a total deal breaker for a photo camera.

My suggestion, buy a Blackmagic PK4 for video and a Olympus E-M1 mk II for photos. Problem solved. You can use the same lenses for both.

The OP had to determine what is more important, Photos or Video. NO camera is great at both for the money he is going to use, or the lenses he is suggesting. Kit lenses on average suck for either.

I also have the Olympus E-M1 mk II and it is great for photos and pretty good for video, and the Panny G9 would be just the opposite.  

https://bitbucket.org/Dannephoto/magic-lantern_jip_hop_git/downloads/

Magic Lantern has to be the most Unreliable thing ever invented. You would have better luck guessing the Lotto numbers than using Magic Lantern often. If you don't cuss you will.

With the lens choices you are stating you could do all you want with a newer Smartphone.

Doesn't get much better than that! Thanks. Wow that bottom cat has a really different coloring to it.

That would be a pretty dope walk around lens for sure.

I don't know how it is as of late in the USA or the rest of the world, but when I was younger you could not believe how much the Mob controlled, and what they were involved in, and the overall control they had. They had their hands into everything. If there was money to be had they were into it. And I am talking big and little cities. It was crazy.

I had several friends that were in the mob, and once you are in you are in, only way out is to take a fall for some big guy, jail time, or get killed. I knew guys that were bone breakers, hit men you name it. You can bet your ass they still control a lot of stuff. They were involved in the garbage collection business, Hazardous Waste removal you name it. They control the loading docks at harbors, trucking, on and on. You talk about evil, that is it. Now you have gangs doing a lot of the same.

Sad to say but most governments, local and national are corrupt as hell also. Any time there is money involved all bets are off. It might start off well be never ends well. Very little in life is fair, death included. Humans are about the worse thing ever invented.

Oh my God there is not an honest large company in the world. They all are looking for an edge, it is called competition at any cost. If everyone cheats you Have to cheat. 

Sure it needs to be regulated, but it is never going away. Paying a dinky fine is better than going out of business. You think China plays by the rules and you are just going to not do anything to try and level the playing field. You must have never been in business I guess. That is why so many small businesses go out of business because the bigger ones bust your balls. The big boys don't play fair, not at all. The world is crooked as hell like it or not. Always has been always will be.

If you take off the magnifier the Zacuto screen is really not that big, and I use a damn small battery on mine, and it last a Long time.

Who cares about something that happened 18 years ago? If that is all you have to worry about you must live on a different planet.

Lucky person to have that happen, I am a big Opera fan believe it or not. Classical music is the ultimate music of all time.