Benjamin Hilton

I'd give up resolution, viewfinder, any type of raw, photo capabilities. In my book the perfect camera would 14+ stops of real dynamic range, solid 4k up to 120fps, good IBIS, autofocus, ND filters... The only things that hits really close to all of that is the Sony FX6, but it's a bit out of what I can afford. Thinking of picking up a used FS7 one of these days as the prices come down

Yeah this is really accurate. People use the term "filmic" to describe something wide in variance. Are we talking about 1950s film, 1970s, slide photography, modern 35mm stock etc etc. I'm actually not a huge fan of the crazy 16mm filmic look that's popular right now, nor the 1970s look. I don't mind most modern 35mm stocks (Kodak 8323 and such) a whole lot, but kind of prefer a more modern clean grade overall. 

Here are just a few of the projects I've created recently

This is a no budget show we produced with mainly using the S1 with a little a7C thrown in:
 

Just a solid camera overall. Better colors IMO than the lumix cameras, good auto focus, good 4k codec etc. 
The DR is a stop or two less than the S1, but probably similar to the GH5s. A little bit worse in low light than the S1. 
For me it's kind of like a GH5 with more solid color and auto focus and no need for a speedbooster. Also been using it with a ND filter lens adapter, so been digging that too. Mainly been living with a Sigma 18-35 on it or a Canon L 70-200.
Technically I should aways go for the S1 because of the better DR and low light, but I keep finding myself go for the R7 because of the user experience 

Just a solid camera overall. Better colors IMO than the lumix cameras, good auto focus, good 4k codec etc. 
The DR is a stop or two less than the S1, but probably similar to the GH5s. A little bit worse in low light than the S1. 
For me it's kind of like a GH5 with more solid color and auto focus and no need for a speedbooster. Also been using it with a ND filter lens adapter, so been digging that too. Mainly been living with a Sigma 18-35 on it or a Canon L 70-200.
Technically I should aways go for the S1 because of the better DR and low light, but I keep finding myself go for the R7 because of the user experience 

Doing tons of work with our two GH5s and an S1 still. With our current color pipeline in post, they hold up very well. I even through in a G85 every once and a while when needed and it holds up great in certain situations. We also bought a Canon R7 this last year to do a long distance doc when we just needed another body. Honestly I would trade out all my cameras for more versions of that if I could, it's a really solid system for the price. When needed we through in some gorpo and iphone footage for specific things.  

Totally depends on your workflow. If you are shooting log and want the heavy grading workflow, in most cases 10bit is a must. If you are using a rec709 profile in camera and don't care a whole lot, then in most cases 8bit is fine. To me 10bit is simply an intermediate codec that gets us to an eventual 8bit final output, like log to rec709. 

Totally depends on your workflow. If you are shooting log and want the heavy grading workflow, in most cases 10bit is a must. If you are using a rec709 profile in camera and don't care a whole lot, then in most cases 8bit is fine. To me 10bit is simply an intermediate codec that gets us to an eventual 8bit final output, like log to rec709. 

Totally depends on your workflow. If you are shooting log and want the heavy grading workflow, in most cases 10bit is a must. If you are using a rec709 profile in camera and don't care a whole lot, then in most cases 8bit is fine. To me 10bit is simply an intermediate codec that gets us to an eventual 8bit final output, like log to rec709. 

I feel like for most projects the 150mb/sec on the S1 is about the biggest I'd comfortably go. I never feel like I don't have enough data to work with in that codec outside of raw, but it is big enough to really eat through some hard drives. I'm still editing off of small SSDs, doing all our long term storage on cheap 8 or 12tb HDDs. I really don't find myself needing more data compression wise on most cameras, but I do always use an external monitor with my color science LUT on it, so I'm getting pretty close to the final image in camera exposure and WB wise. I would love to shoot raw just from my experience with photography, but the file sizes make it not an option outside of Red r3d. 
 
I'd have to say, I've been shooting with a lot of cameras over the years on a verity of projects including a lot of high end cinema cameras. I am really really impressed with the image out of the S1 and the a7Siii. I've been shooting with them both recently and they are really gold mojo wise. Couldn't ask for much more unless I'm going for the specific Red or Arri look. Which overall doesn't matter too much because few people even know what that means outside of a small niche of cinematographers. 

Andrew I think some of this is right, but it really depends on what kind of films you are doing and what kind of workflow you use. I shoot documentary films and for me most of these features if used properly are a Godsend. You are right though, the way most people use them they might as well be a potato. For me, I have a magic color science LUT I use for most of my projects. I load it up in my monitor and shoot 10 bit log on my S1. When I get to post, I drop the same LUT on and do some minor adjustments, pretty easy. This is a look I couldn't get in camera no matter how hard I tried. Again, 10 bit is necessary for this workflow as 8 bit falls apart in log on the s1. But if you are shooting casual films with a baked in profile, then 8 bit should work fine. Just depends on what look you prefer. 
I do a lot of tripod and steady cam work where IBIS isn't' necessary. But for handheld work, I just can't get over how useful it is sometimes. I can be in the middle of a 10 minute take where my arms are giving out. In the old days my footage would start to get really shaky, but these days I can depend on the IBIS to cover for me. For me it isn't that IBIS is a bad tool, it's just been a problem of people trying to replace traditional tools with it. IF instead of replacing traditional tools, people use it alongside traditional tools, then it becomes magical. 
 
Auto focus is another tool that all depends on how you use it. If you take the time to learn it properly and use it correctly, it is immensely useful. Knowing how to setup smooth subject tracking, manually stop it when needed, and tell it how hard to stick to a subject can produce amazing results. But same as the IBIS thing, it has to be used properly along side of traditional tools, knowing when to use it and when to let it rest, and putting the time into learning how to use it properly. 
 
I guess all that to say that all of of these tools are amazing in and of themselves if used at their full potential. But you are right, most people don't use them properly and they just become an excuse for laziness. 

I went to an S1 from my GH5s, actually I still use both. The S1 has been amazing image and low light wise, although the slow motion is a bit aggravating. The GH5 could do really good down sampled HD, meaning the 1080p60 was really good. The S1 doesn't do HD very well, so you are kind of stuck with the cropped 4k60, which isn't as bad as I thought it would be, just have to be selective with what lenses I use. Other than that I don't have any complaints, the image is a huge step up from the GH5 for sure!

Yeah, totally agree with this. It seems to me that about 12 or so stops of dynamic range is needed if you want a high end look in bright environments. More is always nice, but not really necessary. Like you said, there isn't much of a point always being able to see out of the window. Less than 12 stops can definitely be doable, but seems to always be kind of frustrating, always just clipping out something I wanted to see. That was one of the huge things I noticed in the S1 coming from a GH5. I suddenly realized all most all of my documentary scenes weren't clipping any information I actually wanted. Anytime it clipped it was something I'd expect to be clipped, the sun etc. Pretty crazy stuff!

I'm pretty sure the setup from Sony's video is just that, the initial setup for choosing framerate. (the same thing you have to do on a mirrorless camera) Once you have that loaded all you have to do is push the S&Q mode then the record button to be shooting your high frame rate. I don't see the clunkiness here but maybe I'm missing something. Seems to be about the same as most mirrorless cameras, maybe faster since they actually have a dedicated S&Q mode. To do that on my GH5 would take a dive into the menus to select basically those same options as on the FX6, only I have slow motion assigned to a custom function, basically like the S&Q mode.
 
I do really really wish manufacturers would start giving us built in NDs on mirrorless cameras though, seems to simple to do comparatively and so incredibly helpful.

I'm pretty sure the setup from Sony's video is just that, the initial setup for choosing framerate. (the same thing you have to do on a mirrorless camera) Once you have that loaded all you have to do is push the S&Q mode then the record button to be shooting your high frame rate. I don't see the clunkiness here but maybe I'm missing something. Seems to be about the same as most mirrorless cameras, maybe faster since they actually have a dedicated S&Q mode. To do that on my GH5 would take a dive into the menus to select basically those same options as on the FX6, only I have slow motion assigned to a custom function, basically like the S&Q mode.
 
I do really really wish manufacturers would start giving us built in NDs on mirrorless cameras though, seems to simple to do comparatively and so incredibly helpful.

Honestly if Panasonic created a camera with the following I would be completely sold, all I need for quite some time to come:
4k60p 10 bit S1H dynamic range and color Native duel ISO Super 35 or full frame sensor Built in NDs h.265 and prores codecs IBIS Duel pixal autofocus I could honestly care less about 6k or 8k, raw and the like unless it was a good compressed raw like r3d.  A rich cinematic image, built in NDs and a reliable body would be top of my list.
 
I currently shoot with GH5s and speedboosters and they are the closest things I have ever gotten to that list, really just add NDs, good auto focus, nail down the color science and low light a bit more like the GH5s but with IBIS and they would have the "perfect" camera in my book. 

Me too, honestly the S1 is really tempting at this point, although I can get really close to what I want with the GH5

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project

When are ND filters coming to their smaller camera bodies, this seems like an essential but is strangely being overlooked by all camera manufacturers.  Variable NDs are a pain, period

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project

Honestly if Panasonic created a camera with the following I would be completely sold, all I need for quite some time to come:
4k60p 10 bit S1H dynamic range and color Native duel ISO Super 35 or full frame sensor Built in NDs h.265 and prores codecs IBIS Duel pixal autofocus I could honestly care less about 6k or 8k, raw and the like unless it was a good compressed raw like r3d.  A rich cinematic image, built in NDs and a reliable body would be top of my list.
 
I currently shoot with GH5s and speedboosters and they are the closest things I have ever gotten to that list, really just add NDs, good auto focus, nail down the color science and low light a bit more like the GH5s but with IBIS and they would have the "perfect" camera in my book. 

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project