KnightsFan

I don't see how the external recorder market can be sustained. I used a Ninja Star around 2015 with the 5D3 and whatever A7 version we were on, and even back then with the clear visual benefit of ProRes, the ridiculousness of using a HDMI cable and bolting a box on the camera was apparent. At that time, anyone could tell that external recorders were a short term investment--never more than one or two generations ahead of internal recording specs. If I worked at Atomos, I'd push leadership to build some new products. Edit: I suppose Atomos does make decent monitors which will continue to be a market. However, I wouldn't call them the top of the tech game, even for that, compared to a lot of the monitors with builtin wireless these days.

Interesting. Well, I guess depending when I need that 2nd boom setup and the release dates, both will be in the running. One thing that I do like about Tascam which I almost wrote in my original post, is that their app supports connecting to multiple devices, so you can rec/stop on a bunch of units with 1 phone. This is nice if you use any kind of plant mic or bodypack on a talent. I also think that, just judging from pics, the body design and button layout here is better than the F3. So even if Zoom adds timecode and wireless monitoring, Tascam has a decent advantage imo. Either way, competition is good for consumers.

Tascam did a great job with the feature set on this. I'll definitely buy one if reviewers don't find anything silly, and the sound quality is comparable to the F3. Timecode is great, plus builtin wireless monitoring eliminates one more device to mount and power. If it weren't for the FR-AV2, I considered a Sennheiser EW-DP SKP, but one of these is way cheaper than a transmitter/receiver setup. My goal is to have two boom mics, where each has a recorder directly on the boom pole, and the op uses wireless headphones (one will continue to use my F3). What I have found on amateur sets is that A. boom ops are not skillful enough to consistently swap back and forth during dialog. Training an extra person on the day of the shoot and having independent booms does actually sound better than an intermediate-skill person booming 2 people. B. lavs don't work perfectly--we simply don't have the skill or resources to hide them securely and properly C. it's impossible to understate the efficiency value of each boom mic being completely wireless. Letting a boom op put their mic down and quickly help with something else speeds us up. Wireless headphones are an important part of that! D. gain staging--wireless in particular--is difficult for beginners to nail every time. Wired 32 bit is easy to nail every time. I know all the audio pros are going to squirm reading that, lol. But for my triangle of price/required skill/output quality, this might be it.

Even worse: a manager used ChatGPT instead of hiring an intern to do it.

This is great. I'm surprised it took this long for anyone to make a mount adapter with integrated swinging filter, to be honest. Lucky E mount users, haha--too bad there's no version for the Pyxis (yet?)!

Duh... Forgot about the F6 Pro!

I wasn't even talking about current, nor that they necessarily ship together in the same box. I'm can't think of any 5+ inch monitors that also have camera control and power over a single cable outside of maybe some studio broadcast equipment.

Well, whether it's rebranding or 1st party or partnership, the fact is that various RED packages used to include larger RED branded monitors that integrated by design into their DSMC lineup. For all I know, Blackmagic's is modified version of something else. All I meant is that Blackmagic has a nice history of using big screens, all the way back to the old BMCC 2.5k. It's nice that they've now moved to something detachable that still has single cable, 1st party support. Sony FX or Canon C models usually have smaller monitors. Personally I don't want any screen built onto the camera. It's not a huge deal, I just can't see myself ever using it. When I shot with Z Cam I never used the screen, always a monitor or phone. It's not that I'd avoid the Pyxis because of it, but I'd prefer it weren't there.

These cameras seem more marketed and designed for sports or industrial uses, than for cinema or content creation. They are obviously the same design as the previous box cameras, but Panasonic went so far as to rename them to market them even farther away from the GH and S lines. That's my take anyway.

Looks great! Lots of extremely nice details. I love that Blackmagic makes large monitors. Unless I'm forgetting someone, RED is the only other company that makes first party monitors (integrated OR detachable) that are 5" in more? Locking USB C cables are great, and I would love to see them get standardized as the single power/signal/control cable on all cameras. The mounting looks well designed as well. It does highlight, though, that the fixed screen on the body is sort of redundant. It's so hard to imagine using it often at all. If I was using a Pyxis, I'd rather have mounting on the left side for a handle or whatever, instead of a big piece of scratchable glass which will inevitably remain off while I use the proper monitor they just announced.

I wonder if they ran the numbers and figured it would be too expensive to take existing Komodo inventories, and change them Z mount without redesigning a brand new camera?

@Ninpo33 What exactly is your point? Is it that the DJI Ronin 4D is a good camera for me, individually (responding to my 2nd post here)? Or are you saying that DJI should market and sell a hybrid primarily on image quality instead of their cool focus and wireless tech (responding to my first post)? Because all I'm saying is that I consider as many options as I can with the info I have, and that the Ronin 4D is not among the top viable choices that I have for the projects that I am writing. My group and I discuss every option, from renting an Alexa 35, to buying a 4D, to getting a ton of mirrorless cameras and saving time by shooting multicam. Hybrids are on the table, but generally lower than a Ronin 4D in terms of pros/cons. I'm only saying what makes sense for my wallet and projects, which I don't think is being unnecessarily skeptical nor am I disrespecting people who use DJI cameras. Outside of my personal purchasing, I don't believe that the wider film community currently flocks to DJI as a leader in "color science" in the numbers that rally to "Canon color" or "Nikon color." So my opinion is that a DJI-brand photo camera will gain more traction if they include and advertise innovative accessories, rather than their image quality. Specifically regarding the video that you shared, I do find it a bit monotone and flat colored for my taste, which can obviously be grading. But like I said, the nuance is not whether the image is "good" its "how good" vs. the competition vs. ease of use (in many scenarios) vs. cost vs. upgradeability. My comparisons are all over the place because I try to consider every angle, and I don't have the money to do all of them! It's like deciding whether to hire a CGI artist, or a craftsman to build a miniature, or plane tickets to shoot on location. Totally different options with almost incomparable pros and cons, but ultimately they have to be compared.

I thought it was obvious reasoning, I was clarifying my stance on the image as being "meh" compared to cameras half that cost. I'm not saying it looks bad, just that you really have to need the compact gimbal for it to be worth buying over cheaper options with better images. I'm not talking about hybrids. Considering used prices for all models referenced, C70's, Komodos, and 4.6K G2's are considerably cheaper than 4D 6K's. C300 MkIII's are slightly cheaper. Z Cam F6 (which imo is a similar kind of good-but-not-great-image) is a fraction of the cost, and that one in particular is high value since it includes wireless monitoring and control. I do disagree that after rigging it "won't be as modular," since I think it's more straightforward to rig a Komodo on a gimbal than it is to rig a Ronin 4D on a traditional tripod setup with heavy lenses and matte box. You can also go fairly extreme and get a I totally agree with this statement. It's just not the right bargain for me.

I had an E2 which I traded for an M4 when the flagship came out. Unfortunately my film group fell apart shortly after, so I didn't get to use it much. I always wanted an f6 but I just haven't shot much the last few years. I'm getting back into it this year though! Absolutely, and I've watched a couple sell used for under $1800. Wild value. My next few projects are very action and vfx heavy. A global shutter would make our virtual sets a little easier. Maybe if used komodo prices drop a bit more I'll get that. But I'm in no hurry, no big projects are imminent yet unfortunately.

That's what I mean. The 6k is a $6800 camera that to my eyes doesn't offer an image above cameras half its price. And I fully understand that it's valid to look at it like a $2k camera with a $4.8k lidar, gimbal, and wireless kit, and that it's a great deal in that sense. For some people, this is the best camera for their job. It will absolutely make good images, same as everything that uses that sensor and has decent codecs and log recording. In my opinion, the footage I have seen out of several of Canon and Blackmagic's cameras looks better or is easier to work with than DJI's. So if I need stabilized shots, I'd rather spend less on the camera, put extra cash into rigging, and retain my non-vendor-locked upgrade path than commit fully to DJI and hope that someday they have a different camera (for example, one with faster readout). Downside is of course that my rigs are less integrated and convenient, but that's a tradeoff I'll take. Now if DJI's sensor and image pipeline was closer to the top of my list already, then the pros/cons would change. That is of course a personal weighing regarding my budget and shoots. Others will land in a different place.

For sure, and I definitely agree about applying that to every company. I never buy new products anyway, so they're pretty visible before I shop haha. With Z Cam I'm not worried about dishonest vaporware, so much as the company going under or being bought up and discarded. I really hope they make the M5G and that it sells well, I do like that company a lot. A used F6 is still high on my radar, for sheer price/performance value. I hope they continue the Flagship style body and don't go all in on the Pro.

Interesting. I don't check the FB group anymore. Considering it was announced a year ago, and then Z Cam quietly stopped talking about it, and made no update or announcement, I'm definitely in the "believe it when I see it" category.

Not surprising. It's hard to sell cameras at long-term-investment prices when no one knows what the new owners will do with that product and there are so many other brands on the horizon. As much as I would love a global shutter box camera, I don't know that I would spend half those prices on Red cameras, unless Nikon releases a product or two that proves their commitment to those lines. Also, I made a mental note early this year that 2024 would be a uniquely poor time to buy a camera. At that time we knew Nikon had bought Red, and there were rumors of a new Canon C-camera. Here we are a few months later, and on top of both of those, Blackmagic announced a truckload of cameras, Z Cam has presumably cancelled the M5G, and rumors are swirling about successors to the FX6 and S1H. It's quite the year for low-to-mid cinema cams.

I meant the visual image quality coming out of the camera, specifically the Ronin 4D's. I totally understand that you're paying for the unique gimbal, focus, and monitoring solution, but for $6800 I'm not taken with the image quality. Without having done any research, it seems like the 6K uses roughly the same sensor found in all the modern 24MP consumer cameras. So what I meant was that if that's the level of their image in a high end camera, they might find it difficult to enter the hybrid market unless they're (once again) leveraging unique peripherals. Which is not a bad thing. I'm just musing out loud that if they make a generic Panasonc-S5-clone with DJI branding, I don't know that I see the point. For comparison, I think the C70/C300III/C500II, anything recent from Blackmagic, and the Komodo have good images. I'm not unfairly comparing to really expensive images.

I started researching the 4D camera a little closer and I have to say it rally hits a lot of the points I want in a camera. I can't see how they are possibly breaking even on this stuff, but I really hope they continue to make more of those. I'd have to assume that if they enter the hybrid market, their angle will be these cool accessories, like wireless video and Lidar autofocus. Because the one thing they don't really have is a great image. I mean there's nothing wrong with their image, there's just nothing special about it.

I saw that rumor a while ago and forgot about it. That's definitely one to keep an eye on. The Ronin 4D is such a creative product. Wide lenses are very sensitive to back focus changes, I'm skeptical it would work to not have a clear option. Hopefully mechanical shutters are on the way out anyway, with sensors readouts increasing in speed. It may be another couple generations before we're there though.

Imo we've plateaued in what a camera can deliver, and I would prefer companies start looking at ecosystems instead of specs. There are so many ways we can creatively apply modern technology. And I'm not talking about AI or any of that crap, I just mean quality of life improvements. Look at Samyang's Cine AF lenses. I haven't used them so I don't know about their image or build quality (they are suspiciously cheap...), but the innovation of switching between normal fly-by-wire AF in a tiny form factor, and then popping a front piece on and having proper hard stops and a 300 degree throw is amazing. Imagine putting a wireless receiver in a front piece for a follow focus without a gear or rails or rigging. There's no reason that approach can't be used for expensive, high quality lenses. There's also no reason that can't be done completely in body either by companies that create both bodies and lenses. Panasonic has my respect for putting 32 bit into an XLR adapter for sure. They should make one that also has a wireless receiver and digital transmission of that recording from an XLR or lav module. Synced, clipless, wireless audio directly in the video file would be amazing. Obviously everyone talks about NDs. I don' think there's room in a FF hybrid to fit an ND module with a clear option. One thing that was an eye opener when I owned a Z Cam was how good their app was and how much I relied on it. Wireless low latency monitoring and control with no extra boxes or batteries. It's sort of unbelievable that they are the only camera company that nailed their app. None of those suggestions are all that difficult. None require any technological innovation. But I would personally find those much more useful than incremental AF or dynamic range improvements past the excellent offerings we already have.

I like the Panasonic S5, which I found used for about $800 (€717). If you keep an eye on used markets, you might get pretty close to your budget. Low light video was one of my considerations and I'm very happy with it. It will be easy to keep any existing EF lenses, too. I won't pretend to have used enough cameras to say its the best option, but if you'd like some night photos in Raw or Jpg so you can judge for yourself, I'm happy to grab some.

Fair. On narrative sets, swapping front filters isn't much more trouble than swapping rear filters imo. Most (all?) adapter-based options either have artifact-prone polarization-based ND adjustments, or require the physical filter to be swapped to change levels. So I don't think that gives me much benefit. I've lived without internal NDs for so long that it's not a huge deal to me. But it would be convenient to have them. On the other hand, every other project, I have bad rolling shutter artifacts in 1-2 shots...so not particularly common, but common enough that the Z6III's sensor looks pretty good to me right now.

It really looks like Panasonic is getting some momentum with improved AF. Hopefully their extended time between releases just means they don't want to bang out incremental upgrades. From my admittedly distant view, the S1->S5->S5II releases each brought a substantial upgrade, more so than many other product lines. With the new XLR2 module and 32 bit float, they entered a whole new realm of camera feature, and it would be odd if they didn't bring that to their FF L-mount line. I hope Panasonic adds 3 things to a new S1H or BS1H model. 1. Faster readout--this is the only image recording upgrade I care for, compared to the S5 2. Compatible with their 32 bit float XLR module. I assume any flagship cameras will support it going forward. 3. Internal NDs. I guess at this point I'm fine living without them, but we can always hope, right?