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I recently purchased a tiny set of microprime (5 lenses). I've only done some minor testing though. Still I think for the price, they are very very nice. They are compact and quite well-built. The focus ring is pretty smooth. The images are beautiful, with a slight vintage feel, but the lenses are not very sharp, especially at the widest aperture. It really depends on your taste or the project.

Unfortunately, looking professional does matter to some clients. They have to look for something to justify hiring an "expensive" videographer. But I also believe it is more important to have a camera set up that works for you. Rigging up the camera to impress at the cost of usability is stupid, IMO. I don't really have this problem because I usually bring my FS7, but I've seen people rig up their mirrorless camera to a point where it is absurdly big and heavy to use properly. The client may be impressed by his look. I highly doubted the client will be impressed by the video he made though.

It's amazing to see what people are doing with this little camera! The EOS M always has a place in my heart. For some unknown reason, it just comes with great colors. It only requires some minimal effort to get it to look good in my taste. Not to mention you can install Magic Lantern and add in many useful features. Anyway, a camera which can shoot RAW costing around $100 is unbelievable. It's unfortunate I had to sell it last year. Maybe one day I would buy it back and play with the RAW feature more😅.

It really comes down to what kind of work you're doing. Event videos, corporate videos, short films...etc. All of these requires a tripod, while a gimbal may not be essential. The YouTube community makes many believe working in video production professionally is about making cool shots with gimbals or any other fancy new technologies. Making those shots are cool, but the majority of works are usually done in a more traditional, even boring manner. And I'm not even talking about working in a proper film set (I have only worked in no budget short films). I usually work solo or with one or two partners. It is safe to suggest I am the average (or below average) working professional.

I'm looking forward to the movie. And it's a great idea to go back to the root of filmmaking, which is to actually make a film. And I'm really interested in the new direction of the forum. Talking about gears and technologies is great, but sometimes, it is easy to get caught up with all these things and forget filmmaking is so much more than just cinematography. It was after I started to make my first short film have I realized there is so much to learn about filmmaking. And with each short film I make, I learn something new. This is much more rewarding and exciting than talking about gears all day.

After using the Sony A7S3 in one occasion, I quickly realized how reliable and convenient modern AF systems have become. It makes me question why I have decided to stick with my FS7 and not upgrade to a A7S3 or FX3 (well, because I have no budget😆). The new AF system just saves so much time. Why Panasonic still doesn't offer a good AF system is beyond me. Almost always the improvements on the AF system are for stills. For stills, that system is great. Very accurate and fast. Somehow the AF for video mode is just bad, and in my experience, worse than even some older contrast detection AF systems. I suspect the problem is not entirely the DFD system. Panasonic cameras are always very close to a perfect camera. IMO, they just have to fix the AF system, and they can easily out sale other brands.

The FS5 is indeed a very capable camera, even in 2022. The eND is a great feature to have. RAW output is nice to have as well, but the FS700 also has it. But the KEY is to find a secondhanded FS5 with all the upgrades. Without the upgrades, the FS5 is kind of meh. The only exciting feature is the eND. And the offical upgrades are far too expensive. In my local market, a FS5 with the upgrades usually doesn't cost more than $1700 USD. I've got mine for $1300 in 2020. I wish Atomos would releast a smaller version of Shogun Inferno, say, a 5 inch version. It will make so much more sense ergonomic wise for the FS5 and FS700. The Shogun Inferno is just too big and heavy, IMO.

As a clean out. The job was to do a long interview so I had to use an external recorder for my Sony A7 III. I pressed record and left it unmanned to operate another camera. What a mistake. Missed a lot of focus. Luckily I had another camera angle to cut to so it wasn't too obvious. That was a long time ago though. I find manual focus for interview looks more natural, given the subject doesn't move like crazy. But I guess that's purely personal taste. The cameras I own right now can't do proper autofocus at all anyway.

Sadly, I learned it the hard way. Almost ruined the whole interview. 😆

IDK. Where I live, the rental houses don't even offer Nikon. Nevertheless, if certain brand is popular and beloved, the retnal houses are going to buy tons of units of that brand because these products are profitable. At the end of the day, profit is what matters for most businesses.

The 8bit S-Log2 is not going to cut well with the S1H. The differences between the color science and codec are too big. It is possible to match them but takes too much time. Shooting with a deeper DoF with MF is much more doable. If you want a blurrier background, just create as much distance between the subject and the background. The real issue is budget. Within that price range, you can only get 8bit internal, let alone the highly compressed codec, from Sony (or Canon?). I find recording with an external recorder helps a lot, even though the HDMI output may still be 8bit only. But a recorder adds a lot to the cost and for certain Sony cameras, the face detection simply doesn't work with an external recorder.

I wonder why the Canon 5D Mark IV is at number 2? Even for stills, the R5 and R6 are both better. Nikon is not doing well, kind of as expected. It's sad to see. I still remember the days when Canon and Nikon were the most popular brands, but Sony and Panasonic were doing the right things again and again while Nikon waited and did nothing.

This is such a great idea I wonder why no one had started such a thread. 😄 Buying quality gears for cheap is probably the most exciting thing for a videographer, especially one with GAS. It's not very healthy for the wallet though. And my girlfriend ande I used to have quite intense arguments because of that, until she gets GAS herself. Anyway, I think the BMMCC is already a great camera. I used to want it very much but could't get myself a good deal. I really like its form factor and what it is capable of. The sensors of older Blackmagic cameras are almost magical. The Varicam, on the other hand, has a very unique look. Very vibrant color, but the skintone might be a bit too meganta. However, I believe it is better than the EVA-1 in this regard. The EVA-1 has great color except for skintone which almost always requires some tweaking in post. The FS700 you own is also a hidden gem, IMO, even more so than the famous F3. Pair it with an external recorder, it is as capable as any modern camera. I even use it without the recorder for lower budget jobs and the clients love it.

EOS R makes the most sense to me. The crop in 4K actually works in your favor because the majority of your lenses are EF-S lenses anyways, which are APSC and not full frame. It is much easier to adapter vintage lenses with the RF mount too. So the EOS R is more future proof. Or you can try out other brands as suggested by other posts. Panasonic and Sony are both great camera brands for videography, for example.

I have watched the movie a few days ago with my girlfriend in the cinema. And what a disappointment. Didn't really have a high expectation but still the movie managed to disappoint me. The acting is quite good. The cinematography... just meh. The story though, is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad. But for me, the hyper realistic, video game like look in the matrix world kinda works. It looks funny and ugly and uncinematic, but probably this is what the directors want the image to be? The cinematography in the real world is fine, maybe a bit boring.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who really enjoys using kit lenses. I have a Canon EFS 18-55mm which I use all the time, both causally and professionally. I've changed camera bodies many times throughout the years, yet this lens still stays on. Kit lenses are lightweight, sharp and most importantly for me, often have image stablizations (because I don't like IBIS). Low light is an issue though, but for more serious works I'm going to light the scene anyway, and for less serious works, I can always denoise the footages in post if they are too noisy. I've found the denoising in DaVinci Resolve more than enough to clean up a moderately underexposed image. Of course, primes and fast zooms are nice to have, but they are much more expensive. The money could be more well spent on other things, such as lighting equipments and production designs.

@Danilo Del TufoI'm so sorry for your lost. RIP.

Thanks. I am looking at the Video Assist now. Hopefully I can find one in good condition and cheap price. BTW, can the Video Assist convert the raw signal of the FS700 through the SDI into ProRes or other codec? If it can, it will be a perfect choice for me.

For the work we do right now, there is not a lot of need for a two camera setup. However, once things are back to normal and we can do event videos again, a two cam setup is very much needed. Is there any recommendation for external recorders? I usually rent the Atomos Shogun Inferno, but it is a little bit too heavy. Thanks.

Thanks. I do shoot high frame rate occasionally. That's why I bought the FS700 at the first place. The majority of work is still in 1080 24P or 25P. I rent an external recorder when I need 4K and slow motion. As for the adapter, I can buy one from the seller. It's about $100. The camera comes with the PL mount adapter, but I don't own any PL lens. My girlfriend and I like the image of the F3 very much. However, if they can't match very well, this is extra work on our part and could potentially slow down the workflow. Should we wait for the price to drop? And invest the money in an external recorder instead? Again, thank you for all your valuable opinions.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I will be using the view finder a lot so that should not be any problem. I was hoping the color science could be similar though. Thanks! The price for that FS700 was really cheap. It has the raw option and comes with a cage as well. In my region, the OG A7S is still quite expensive. It's still around $500 USD. I guess we Hong Kong people just love the A7S. I've even seen used A7S2 selling for $1000-1200 in 2021. The A7S is a good camera though. I used to rent it for all my jobs. Would definitely consider it now since the price spike of the F3. For now, 4K is not really needed. A good 1080P image is enough for most of the work I do, but having the option of 4K is always nice.

The Fujifilm X-T3 + 18-55mm f2.8-4 is a great combination. Great colors, great codec options, beautiful image, good for photography too. No IBIS though. Panasonic G9 with a kit lens or G85 with the 12-60mm f2.8-4 are good options as well. Personally I have never used the G85 but heard many praise it. I have used the G9 for a long time and the image quality is very very nice. The Panasonic cameras have very bad AF though. May not be suitable for total beginners.

Recently I've got the Sony FS700 as the main camera (after I sold almost everything a few months ago) and since it was much cheaper than I had expected (around $600 USD), I now have some room to get another camera. My girlfriend and I are looking at the Sony F3 right now. It's about $800-$950 around here, and actually a bit more expensive and makes me hesitate a bit. So before we pull the trigger, we would like to ask for some opinions. Is there anything I should be aware of before buying? Is there any component or parts that easily becomes faculty over time? Are the color science similar with the FS700? Any opinion on the ergonomics? Seriously, can the F3 replace my FS700 except for slow motion? We mostly do event videography before the whole COVID thing. Now we are doing mostly short films and online content for clients. We have a few EF lenses and vintage lenses, and no e-mount lenses at all. You guys' opinion are most valuable for our decision making. Thank you very much.

Interesting, but normally cameras from HK have the same firmware and thus have the same recording limit (if there is any). I could be wrong though.

I don't know about the noise reduction thing. Is it really this bad? I may have to look at it. This definitely can be a deal breaker for many.