salim

I'm near San Fransisco in Bay Area California. 

It looks like it would cost $17.50 to send it to you.  I was thinking you could just borrow it, but I don't think it worth the near $40.  I'm also hesitant because I believe you'll just come to the same conclusion I came to.  Once you start rigging out a DSLR you increase all your points of failure, problems, etc.  The day you put your hands on a C100 or similar camera will be the day you want to get away from DSLRs rigs.  Of course, many people rig up cinema cameras.  However, they still work the best for a single shooter, which it sounds like you are.  

I actually bought the Atomos first for my Sony A6300, etc.  It was useful for that LOG analysis stuff I did (a disheartening thread somewhere here on EOSHD--I discovered LOG is a weird religion to a lot of people).  Anyway, for actual shooting it was just a pain in the ass.  I knew the guy I bought it from had a C100.  He sold it because he said he stopped using it because the SD cards were fine.  Then a few months later I saw an ad for the C100 and it was the same guy!  He was getting out of wedding videos altogether to focus on his job.  

If video is still experimental for you, the Atomos might be nice for you to have, for all the reasons you mention.  If you're going to do video in any real way, get a C100 or FS5 (F3, etc).

I love Sony cameras for my needs, I have an A6000, A6300, A7 and 7R.  But if someone begged me to do some wedding or an event where I'd have to get shit done, I'd get a D810 or D850.  If you shoot professionally you know how precious even half a second is.  How just having to worry about one more battery (in the Atomos say) can distract you into screwing up.    

Sorry for blathering on.  Anyway, if you really want the Atomos you could borrow, eventually buy it I guess.  

Not "blathering" at all! This is very informative and I am so appreciative you're taking time to reply me with your personal experience. 

My goal is to make a short film as a stepping stone of making a full featured film. This is mostly a personal life-long ambition. I'm going to make money from it and I don't think I will. 
I did some professional wedding stuff in the past, but I realized I rather keep photography as a passion and keep my day job for making money. Mostly because professional photography is more about being a great sales person than being a great photographer. 
Anyways. I did one simple fun music video with a talent in Belarus (she attended GITI in Moscow which is equivalent for our Juliards).  I also shot 4 cover/music video with a singer talent. I shot most of them with A6000 and the sigma 19/2.8 and some with the contax/zeiss 28/2.8 on the gimbal. One of the cover music video I shot with the D810 and sigma art 50/1.4 which put the gimbal to its limit and I basically ended up using it as a tripod.  That being said, I really loved the colors out of D810 with the sigma 1.4. However, I after I focused on the talent, I had no idea if I was keeping focus or not. In contrast using the A6000 even with the contax 28/2.8 the focus peaking was very helpful. It allowed me to move and yet keep my focus on the eyes. 

So I'm returning back to Belarus and I'm planning to shoot a short 3-5 min film with the acting talent. I have most of the scenes in my head and I'm just writing it down as a script.  I was thinking of getting an A6500. Mostly for it's AF capabilities and also for it's IBIS. I would want to even avoid the gimbal if I could. At least for some shots, especially in the metro where the Belarusian police might start harassing me.  I initially figured I shoot in 4k and downsize to 1080 and I thought A6500 might work really well for me. It's discrete, does well in low light and it has some level of IBIS. 

But I'm seeing new cameras coming out including a pozsslibe A7SIII and decided maybe I should just stay with the A6000 I have and combine it with my D810 to shoot the short film. This is what made me look into monitors that would give me access to focus peaking. So I can use my D810 and be able to know if I'm in focus or not as I move the camera around. 

I'm giving the long winded story, just to give you context and also solicit some feedback and advice on how I should approach it. 

Thanks again,

Salim