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@PannySVHS So Marty, now you just need to start putting it rigged with such funny & amazing inspiration : )
 

Still no footage from my F3. So it has to be coming from others.:) Love the creamyness and resolution of it.
@Josue Nunez would you mind posting some clips in motion if you are allowed to? That would be awesome!
 
 

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. 

Some screenshots from Pandemic time in 2020. Just ProRes HQ files and sigma 18-35. 

I don’t think simply fixing the AF situation alone would be enough.
It would be a start, but then needs some shouting about as a brand/system.
My fingers are crossed, but I’m not holding my breath.
The ‘savior’ of the DFD could be computing power from what I understand…but that’s not something I know too much about.
GH6 will be an indicator. 

yeah that's what i mean. the CUSP of perfection... on AF system away from it.

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. 

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.
 
 

Yes, the EOS-M with ML Raw is the digital Super 8 camera - aside from the fiddly handling and ergonomics, where original Super 8 cameras were much better.
The effective sensor size in 4:3 3x sensor crop is 6.62x4.96mm, which is slightly larger than Super 8's frame size of 5.79x4.01mm. When shooting 720p, the effective sensor size drops to 4.41x3.31, which almost exactly matches the older Double/Normal 8mm standard.
I've used the EOS-M with real Super 8 lenses (an adapted Schneider Variogon 6-66mm/f1.8 with Leica M mount originally made for the Leicina Special camera and an Angenieux 8-64mm/f1.9 with c-mount originally made for Beaulieu cameras), with the following results:
 
My workflow was different: 
- In both videos, Color Charts (X-Rite Passport Video) were shot for reference colors;
- the .MLV files were converted to .DNG and imported, edited, graded and rendered in Resolve;
- in the first video, no color correction/grading was done except lift/gamma/gain corrections + Neat Video on the low-light indoor shots at the end;
- in the second video, a LUT based on DxO Film Pack's Kodachrome 25 emulation was used, on the final color correction node, for tweaking/styling the colors + FilmConvert's grain emulation was applied (without FilmConvert's color filters).
Sound in both videos is out-of-the-camera, recorded with the internal mic.
It's a nice, low-budget solution (all the more since you can nowadays pick up a used EOS-M body for about $100 - so I do even have two bodies). Quality Super 8 lenses are sharper on the small image circle than Canon's APS-C lenses (when so heavily cropped to 1:1 pixel sampling), but difficult to find on the second-hand market since only very few Super 8 cameras with interchangeable lenses existed. A note of caution: the Fujinon c-mount zoom of the Fuji ZC1000 Single 8 camera is a great lens but can't be adapted because its base is too thick to fully screw into the adapter. A d-mount adapter for adapting old Normal 8mm lenses (which are plenty available for cheap) unfortunately does not exist for EOS-M.
Further drawbacks is the occasional funkiness of Magic Lantern, its incapability to memorize the movie crop setting upon startup, difficulty to precisely focus on the small display (since there's hardly any punch-in focus at 1:1 sensor sampling) and heavy file sizes due to uncompressed Raw recording. In addition, the Raw is not remotely as tweakable/pushable in post as the CinemaDNG recorded by the BM Pocket. But, of course, the Super 8 aesthetic is highly charming (and couldn't be emulated with the BM Pocket as well since you'd drop its resolution to SD in order to reach an S8 image circle on the sensor/use S8 lenses without vignetting).
How were you able to set 18fps in MagicLantern? I haven't been aware of this possibility (and always shot 24fps). I'm not familiar with FCPX, but for optimal results, you should set the timeline to 18fps as well or at least a whole-number multiplier of it (such as 72fps) to avoid choppy motion.

Yeah, saw some awesome stuff shot in cine4 with it and internal HD 8bit 420. So maybe one of us starts a thread with the best buys, and additional best buys which we ever hardly used plus the stories to not using them!
That´s right!:) But, at least FS700 got used for two paid gigs, one of them with internal HD SLog2. One of the two gigs was last year even.:) In 2021 I had to do two shorts with other cameras due to lack of rigging, time or due to request of the producer. At least my S1 got some use as a B-Cam and produced beautiful images. Last year it was BCam and even ACam to a C300II. But still, darn you are right.:)
My F3 waiting for an EVF and for its first legit footage. BMMCC getting ready for some digital Super16 anamorphic, but still waiting after a first test. Darn, but in a good way too, so much exiting tech!:)
I would hope CS was pretty good from my experience with my FS700. I heard that it either performs better under 5600K or 3200K, making a huge difference. The vari ND for sure would be a great thing to for some variation in DOF. Should browse vimeo a bit for some nice filmic experiments with it.:)
 
ANYWAY, the Varicam LT sold for 5500EUR!
It was completely rigged, with two P2-Cards, viewfinder, shoulder rig, handles and V-mount. Before, it was even offered by the seller for 4500, but seems like too many potential buyers offered more, so they put it back in for 5500. I was hoping the other way around.:)

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.

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.

There's always a bit of inertia when it comes to user habits, not everybody likes to live on the cutting edge and will prefer to pick up something they're familiar with, tried and tested.
5D IV will soon drop off though, give it a couple of years.

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.

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

Times have changed, I shoot almost exclusively with AF thanks to being farsighted and shooting in the sun a lot - which makes anything outside of the EVF difficult to judge focus. As a solo shooter I can't monitor through the EVF and conduct interviews at the same time. Sony's Real Time Tracking is easily as good and in many cases superior to Canon's DPAF. Its been a game changer for me and has actually sped up my workflow. I can get the shot faster. It can track a subject far better than you can with MF, even with super shallow DOF like with the 50/1.2 or the long end of a zoom lens. I was shooting someone walking down a path with the 200-600 at about 500mm LOL, and it stuck to her like glue. Just awesome.
If you haven't used it, you really don't have a leg to stand on with that argument. It reliably sticks to whatever you lock on to, and if there's a face or eye it'll track that with amazing precision, even with things like dogs or birds moving at speeds faster than most can follow manually. If it drifts a bit you can always cover it with Broll or use the drift as an edit point just like you would with any other shot that's out of focus since anybody manually focusing large aperture lenses can't nail focus 100% of the time. And with Sony's new breathing compensation you can easily eliminate any of the background movement as the AF tracks people moving. Its really a thing of beauty. Do I get missed shots because the AF misses, sure, but I get far less than focusing manually. That's saves me time, and time is money for me. I get it, some just don't want to embrace change or new tech, but these are just tools to get the job done and they do a damn fine job of getting the shot. As always YMMV.
Cheers
Chris

Ahh I was not aware of that, good tip. Doing video is just so addictive. Every shot you have a chance of getting top notch output. A worthy goal for sure. But it can be the most frustrating stuff also in the very next shot. Ehh what a hobby, a profession. Trouble is now as soon as you get good with the camera you upgrade to a better one and start all over. 

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.

Again man, just read what the OP wants and stop focusing on me. The RX0 clearly isn't it because he wants shallower DOF. I just mentioned 10-bit it since he's looking to cut footage with the s1h, 10-bit will give more flexibility in post. And in his words, the GH5 didn't cut it, so your RX certainly wouldn't either. This is the criteria, ignore me and focus on this:
 "I want another camera to cut to occasionally that is:

A - always in focus regardless of how animated the interviewer is. On some focal lengths even at F4 it's possible for an interviewee to lean in and out of focus very easily.

B - reasonably shallow DOF so it looks nice and not like a camcorder.

C- unmanned. I want to press go and when i come to edit, know it will be in focus.

Those three factors mean I need autofocus for that other camera. TBH I think the current fashionable dogma of "REAL film-makers don't use autofocus" comes from a sort of aspirational attitude, wanting to have a big crew etc. It's fine if you have enough people and time, but both cost far more money than gear. In reality I shoot lots of interviews a year often entirely alone. Autofocus would mean I don't have to hire someone else, something that would be prohibitively expensive budget-wise to get someone good. If you are on your own only holding focus on a face while moving, that isn't an "artistic" task. It's a technical one. We are at the point where computers do such tasks very well and will only get better.
I have already tried this sort of shoot with a GH5 b-cam and it didn't work. We aren't even talking about razor thing DOF, just not camcorder/mobile-phone deep. And still it always ended up hunting or pulsing at some point, in the end I sold it. Contrast based AF is just not up to the task. That leaves me with Sony or Canon.

My only real worry with Sony was cutting their 8-bit 4:2:0 against the S1H 6K 12-bit raw."

All this autofocus talk makes me laugh. Other than maybe the latest Canon DPAF 4th gen I would not trust AF if it is an important shoot for nothing. There is no such thing as set it walk away and it will be great. If it can go to shit it will.  Even if it drifts out of focus once it is ruined in my mind, just like crappy audio is a total turnoff.
If you get the right lens with the right sensor you can cover just about anything in MF. You find the right backdrop to use to mask unwanted distractions. Yeah one man band stuff is hard and most of it looks it. Why do people think you can just take a modern camera and shoot a full length feature film solo on it. The laws of physics have not changed that I know of, They have tape hooks on cine cameras for a reason. DOF charts abound on the web. Some of this stuff just sounds like laziness to me.
I have said it 200 times on here. Video is hard as hell to do. Every damn aspect of it is hard.  From storyboard to final cut. They have 20 people helping out for a reason. And your going to trust AF on something you probably can never repeat. What if he picks his nose, blows his nose, has a hell of a big nose and turns his head. You can't even use eye focus on a woman with long bangs and other types of long hairdos. Your asking for the impossible with AF. And you are even talking a Panny SIH, a hell of a camera with less than Steller AF. Yikes.

I missed Tokina having a small bump - also interesting.
The Angenieux EZ series is pretty interesting.  B&H have them listed for USD$14K each.  15-40mm T2 and 30-90mm T2 seem pretty on the money, and 4.7lb 2.2kg each is very reasonable.  Apparently this was shot on them..
A quick look through the B&H PL cinema zooms listing shows that Tokina have a bunch of price-competitive offerings, and also that the EZ zooms are faster and cheaper than the Zeiss CZ.2 series which are 28-80mm T2.9 and 70-200mm T2.9 at USD$22K and 15-30mm T2.9 at USD$26K.
I'd imagine they'll be very popular.  A set of these and a Komodo would be an impeccable image for a very modest price.

I had a friend who loved engineering and the possibility of things...  he'd always be talking about the "potential" of things.
I am the opposite, I want potential that is realised.
Partly by design, and partly by coincidence, all my cameras have been bought through necessity - the necessity of getting the results I wanted in the conditions that I shoot in.
My first camera was a disposable film camera I bought on a trip once, and when some friends asked for copies of several of the shots, I realised I wasn't completely terrible at it.  
My second camera was a $100 P&S digital camera I bought for my first overseas trip.  I knew I would take a lot of photos and so bought that as it would be cheaper than disposable film cameras.  ie, the upgrade was based on the situation and previous results.
I took lots of great photos with that, and after taking about 30,000 stills all up before I switched to video, a few from it are still in my top 40.  But it didn't go wide enough for WOW shots, and sucked in low light.  I realised I needed to learn how to stitch images together for the wides, but for low-light I needed a fast lens.
My third camera was the GF3, which shot RAW and came with the kit lens and the 14mm f2.5 which helped greatly in low light, and was *just* pocketable.  I took it through Europe and the US and Dubai and on full-auto took some spectacular shots, but the colours just didn't pop the way that full-frame cameras do.  
My fourth camera was going to be a Nikon APSC camera, but ended up being the Canon 700D because my dad had a previous model and gifted me the two kit lenses which he no longer used.  This camera was great to use and took wonderful pictures that had the nice canon colours and was much closer to the creaminess of the FF cameras I was chasing.  
Then came video.  Video from the 700D was spectacularly soft, which I realised was not due to the sensor or lenses, and so I learned about scaling and compression and bitrates.
Being a well-read stills photographer, I knew two things - you needed Canon colours, and you needed images to be SHARP.  They had to CUT YOUR EYES.  So, image stabilisation, 4K, Canon colours, and HIGH BITRATES were all requirements,
So the XC10 became camera number 5.  It was a dream to shoot with, but I realised I didn't love the images.  At the time I found the deep DOF to not be to my liking, and I found the colours to be difficult to work with when you treat it like a video camera and put it on auto-everything.  I also found the images to be very soft, this is because I was shooting with too little light and it was doing heaps of NR, or too much light and because it couldn't do fast shutter speeds like a hybrid, it would close the aperture down well into diffraction territory.  
I shortlisted the A73 and the GH5.  The A73 had poor codecs and the GH5 had unreliable AF.  So I challenged myself and I tried Magic Lantern and the Sigma 18-35, which had the shallow DoF I was chasing, but considering that the setup didn't have any image stabilisation and was terrible in low-light, I knew I needed buy something else.  What I did learn though, was that I could manually focus ok.
Camera #6 was the GH5.  The 10-bit files were night and day nicer to grade than the XC10, and the footage reminded me of watching a professional colourist play with cinema camera footage, it felt the same.  I shot bunch of trips on the GH5 and it's still my main camera.
Camera #7 was the Sony X3000 - the 4K upgrade to my GoPro Hero 3, which was letting the side down.  When travelling I wanted a second camera with a wide angle for POV shots and quick shooting when on the move.  I found that I would arrive somewhere, often having driven, and in the process of getting out of the vehicle, wrangling kids if they were with us, getting tickets and getting into a venue, I wouldn't take out my camera until I was inside wherever we were going to see. This means no establishing shots.  The X3000 is the shot-getter that I can quickly use to get the transition sequences that glue an edit together.  
The challenge with the GH5 trying to get great colour.  It's good, but not great.  But, with a good enough capture, which I believe the GH5 is, any look is a few adjustments away.  So I bought the BMMCC for testing purposes (#8).  It has spectacular colour, and was affordable.  I started filming side-by-side tests with the BMMCC and GH5 and bought a colour checker.  Learning to colour grade, and colour grade the GH5 in particular, is an upgrade in retrospective - it upgrades all your previous footage, not just the stuff you're yet to shoot.
Around this time, COVID happened and the biggest year of travel yet was gradually cancelled.  I started my Go Shoot project, which was about shooting trips around the place, just to keep shooting, and to learn more.  It resulted in me butchering my GoPro Hero 3 trying to fit a D-mount lens to it for a vintage look, and then buying the SJ4000 and fitting it with M12 lenses (camera #9).  I shot videos on the GF3 again.  I loved the look of the BMMCC, but it was too big.
Camera #10 was the OG BMPCC, which was meant to be my Go Shoot camera.  The form factor was great and I shot a few outings, but it was too slow to work with, and worse, the screen is black when I wear my sunglasses, which in Australia are not optional, so it's a PITA.  
Camera #11 is the GX85.  It has IBIS, shoots 100Mbps 4K, is pocketable with the right lens, and can take vintage lenses. Plus, it's small and makes me look like a happy snapper and nothing more.  
Every purchase was earned, by studying what happened before, how it went, what I was shooting next, what situations that would be in, and then making my next move.  I've shot dozens of trips, totalling hundreds of days, and maybe crossed over to four-figures in terms of locations.  More if you count the tests I do, and shooting my kids sports events, which is the other main use for my setups.
Lenses is a story for another day, but I could tell a similar story about using what I had 'in battle' before buying new things.
My underlying principle is work out what is needed, try and bridge the gap with skill and by putting in the work, and only then, if nothing else works, buy the solution.  It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

@kye
Exactely, to the point! I love the image quality from the BMMCC the best. I enjoy the promise of the F3 which is still untested. I dont consider my kitchen window a test of image quality.:) I think I enjoy the thought of possibility of testing and using all this gear and the thrill to buy them for cheap. Maybe we could start a thread with the best cam deals we made the last couple years.
BMMCC will be for my mini anamorphic set up and lushiest colors. F3 for the hunt for the magic underdog camera, the baby Alexa. FS700 for the ease of use and external Prores 4K60p with a speedbooster. In the end it is easy to gather gear over the years like i have in the last two and half years. So I asked the two questions in one topic. I think it makes sense to talk and write about the oddities and akward habbits of cinematography lovers and camera dreamers. I filmed two shorts this year, 7days all together, first one with the GH5 only, second one mixing a rented A-Cam C300II with a rented GH5 as B-Cam and my S1 as specialty Cam. With own equipment I always realize, I am missing rigging parts, reliable battery solutions, monitoring, etc. Why holding on to equpment which I am not using? Hard to tell. But that is why I imply in the title of the thread what I am, a dummie.
The Varicam question stands in relation to that but also for itself in relation to image qualiity and all the other important attributes. In the end I hope to have shared some questions of interest. The answers from you guys already were very satisfying and profound.
BMMCC and C300II grade the easiest from my experience. For the GH5 I have serveral Power grades in Resolve which work well for me. But S1 only really excells to me in lit sets or under low light conditions. I have not recognized any artefacts from the S1! GH5 though turns super mushy in super lowlight. I find the S1 harder to grade under natural lighting condtions than the GH5.
So the prospect of a Varicam would be, dynamic range and color response like my BMMCC, lowlight exellence and all the goodies of ergos and rigging, if bougth in a complete set. To buy a Varicam has only become a vague option to me, because I found a rigged out package, which is ready to film, with viewfinder, handles, shoulder pad and so. The price was very low for what this camera is. But seller raised the price again. So it´s out of my reach.