herein2020

Yeah the R7 as a B-cam to your R5 may work better for you and all the others that chose to buy an R7 for whatever reasons suit them. Other folks just might not want a crop sensor on their EF/RF lenses. 
And yes there are compromises with the R8. But as gt3rs pointed out, the R6ii takes care of all of them. you just have to pay extra. The R8 is a cut-down R6ii, wether or not it appeals to you is a different matter but rest assured there is a target market at that price point. As someone else pointed the RP is still a big seller on Amazon and such, despite super outdated specs.

I guess I just look at it the other way, I don't consider the crop sensor to be a compromise at all and I use it with FF glass every day; in fact, I did not buy a single new lens for the R7, even my EF-S glass works with it.  I actually consider it a strength since it produces identical IQ as the R5 up to 3200ISO, but with better battery life, better IBIS, and better heat handling.
What I do consider a much bigger compromise is the single card slot, worse ergonomics, no IBIS, etc of the R8 just because it is a FF sensor.
I do agree, no matter who this camera appeals to; consumers win in the end with more choice.

The A7c is like 3 years old. We're setting the bar awful low if "it's a better value than a 3 year old camera" is all it takes to praise Canon. It seems like any time they don't release a complete lemon people feel the need to praise them like you'd praise a dog for going to the bathroom outside while potty training them. (sorry, I'm currently potty training a pup!) 

Switch to Davinci Resolve....problem solved.  Just kidding (but not really). I used Premier for years, got tired of paying the subscription fees, learned Davinci Resolve in 1 week, best decision I ever made. If you shoot LOG with a DR supported camera, DR's managed color is another real time saver; there's also tutorials that help you do the same things you do in Premier in DR; I used a few of those, a few of Blackmagic's training courses, especially on color grading and project setup, and within 1wk could do everything in Resolve that I used to do in Premier.
No more endless subscription fees, no more weird render failures, no more crashing, no more forced updates leading to project instability, etc. etc. 

Holy **&t you are shooting Paris FW? Now I am seriously jealous, I shoot all of the big fashion shows here in FL with the biggest being Miami SW. I was invited to NYFW and Paris FW, but no one was willing to pay for my travel. For fashion shows I've got my kit down to a single Lowepro bag and a tripod....I shot Miami SW with the C70 and R5. This year I plan on trying just the C70 and R7.  In the bag I've got my mini XLR shotgun mic, Sennheiser wireless transmitter/receiver + lav mic, side handle for the C70, C70 in a cage, and R5 is just rigged with a shoulder strap for photography. I was able to shoot all of Miami SW, interviews, vendors, models, promo videos, etc. with just that setup.
As far as color grading VLOG goes, I think anything can seem like anything if you pixel peep, if you just get out and shoot and grade until the footage looks good to you and your customer that's all that really matters. When looked at from that viewpoint, VLOG was no worse for me than CLOG.
This year I plan on trying the R7 to see if I can add a bit of walking as well without a gimbal and to be able to switch between the R7 and C70 for video. The R7 will take over for handheld video and photography, C70 for interviews and the runway walks. I tried the monopod thing and couldn't make it work, monopods feel so limiting and still not as stable as a tripod or as dynamic as handheld, even without IBIS I would rather handheld over a monopod.
It does sound like the R3 checks a lot of boxes for you as well, you definitely cannot go from a fully rigged R5C to photography very easily. I don't get why the R5C is so bad on battery life; it doesn't have to power IBIS and its the same sensor as the R5. You could set it up like I did with the C70, where it slides easily into a nato rail V-mount battery setup for long form and slides off into a handheld setup for shorter shoots and gimbal work. That is also how my R7 is setup.
Below is a picture of my setup. The S5 is in the picture but the C70 and R7 both slide right into the same top tripod mount. I use the bottom tripod plate to mount the whole thing to a tripod. For fashion shows I setup the tripod and nato/v-mount (and to hold my spot in the pit), then slide off the camera and go shoot b-roll until the show starts. Of course you still would have that IBIS problem with the R5C and the slower AF......so there's no way around that if you go with the R5C
 
 

Switch to Davinci Resolve....problem solved.  Just kidding (but not really). I used Premier for years, got tired of paying the subscription fees, learned Davinci Resolve in 1 week, best decision I ever made. If you shoot LOG with a DR supported camera, DR's managed color is another real time saver; there's also tutorials that help you do the same things you do in Premier in DR; I used a few of those, a few of Blackmagic's training courses, especially on color grading and project setup, and within 1wk could do everything in Resolve that I used to do in Premier.
No more endless subscription fees, no more weird render failures, no more crashing, no more forced updates leading to project instability, etc. etc. 

Your previous camera was an R6, you don't need 8K60, but a frankenrigged R5C is still attractive to you? Sure the R5C has some cool features, but you didn't have them before in the R6 and you are losing IBIS which IMO is more important than most of those video assist features combined. Just my opinion, but if you were able to deal with the R6's overheating, and its limited tools then the most natural replacement would be the R5; which overheats less than the R6, has more video options, higher resolution, and a normal battery grip that will power all video modes. 
Sure the R5C has more video options, and will definitely handle heat better, but no IBIS and major battery limitations sounds like a poor upgrade path from an R6 especially since you don't need one of its main features over the R5; 8K60P. Non line skipped 4K60 sounds pretty good too, but in real world shooting it truly is not perceptible. 
IMO there's other downsides as well to the R5C; long reboot time, fan that draws in dust/dirt, somewhat clunky form factor which could make shooting photos a bit ergonomically unpleasant, and the same DR as the R5.  I think you also lose the stickiness of the autofocus from the R5 when you reboot into the Cinema OS. The C70's AF is still far behind the R5's, I would imagine the R5C's AF isn't as good as the R5'ss as well but not sure about that one.
The video tools sound pretty cool and all, but I have them all in the C70 and barely use them, I just use the WFM in the C70 for exposing. Internal NDs and XLR audio is what makes the loss of IBIS bearable for me with the C70. For the R5 and R7 I just use the histogram kind of like a WFM. I'm guessing though that the R5C's video assist tools don't all disappear from the screen once you hit record especially the electronic level (personal pet peeve of mine); assuming of course that the R5C even has an electronic level when in video mode which is another major thing missing from the C70.
I think you are hung up on the line skipped 4K60FPS as well; here are two sample videos that I found that had a decent variety of footage out of the R5 shot at 4K60FPS and/or 4K/120FPS both of which are line skipped. The first video is a little annoying; obviously 4K60 and 4K120 look identical until you slow them down, but he does have a decent variety of detailed footage that shows the R5 shooting something other than a test chart at 4K60FPS.
 
 
 
 

I really don't think the line skipped 4K60p is that big of a deal; its not like its obvious within the video. IMO only during side-by-side comparisons and even then only when you zoom into a scene which has fine detail is the differences even visible.  Obviously, yes on paper non-line skipped is better, but in practice I personally don't see a difference.
Of course if you are shooting at the TV commercial level with perfect lighting, full rigging, and fine details, then yes in those scenarios 4K60 line skipped might be noticeable, but at least for my projects its perfectly fine.
I know you can't wait that long, but I get the feeling the R5II is going to come along and really set the bar to another level, maybe the R6II would be a good stopgap until then since you consider the R7 a downgrade. 
I think if I had to do it all over again I would get the C70, R7, and wait for the R5II.  
This video is a mixture of 4K60FPS (line skipped) and 4K30FPS HQ (down sampled from 7K), using the R7 and I don't even remember which was which without looking at the source project. I would imagine the R5's line skipped 60FPS is even better but in most side-by-side comparisons, the IQ out of the R7 is nearly identical to the R5 at ISO800.
 
 

When I used the S5 with audio I swore by the DMW-XLR1; but that was mainly because my highest quality mics were all XLR. In your situation, I would just test out the Sennheiser straight into the mic port. The quality of the audio will mainly be affected by the lav mic more so than what port you use on the S5II. For the cost of the DMW-XLR1 you could get a pretty nice lav mic.
The trick with the mic port is to turn down the gain within the S5II to almost as low as possible, then use the Sennheiser G4 setup to bring the levels within the -6dB range. On the transmitter side set the peaks to -12dB, on the receiver side use the receiver to boost the signal until it just taps on -6dB at its peaks within the camera. That will nearly eliminate the camera's noisy pre-amps and rely on the Sennheiser which is going to be cleaner. If you are worried about clipping then turn the transmitter down to -12dB peaks as well.
Personally, I hate post synching audio so whenever possible I keep things simple. I've also found that Davinci Resolve isn't always that great at syncing audio tracks later which is an even bigger PITA when I need to do it manually. 
I am not an audio guy, in fact I hate most things audio, but I do need to record it quite often so when I do I keep it as simple as possible. Shotgun camera mounted mic whenever possible, lav mic to Sennheiser G4 whenever a lav is needed, or straight XLR wired into a MixPre6 with the stereo mix sent to the camera via Sennheiser G4. None of those setups need a post audio sync. 
Shotgun camera mounted mics into the mic port of the camera works surprisingly well if you can get close enough to the talent, as long as they face the camera, and there isn't too much background noise. I've been using them more often lately to do quick run and gun interviews for events vs handing them a mic or fiddling with a lav mic.
BTW, an absolute lifesaver for me in Davinci Resolve is the Carity Vx plugin. I actually can use my shotgun mic more often and can make it sound like a lav mic with that plugin because it cleans up the background noise so well. It has literally saved some bad audio more than a few times for me.

I am with you on the S5II, fantastic in every way, but too late for me. Once you buy that first RF lens you are locked in way more vs an adaptable EF lens. Not sure if it matters to you, but one big thing the R5 is lacking vs the R6II and R7 is the hybrid hotshoe for audio. 
 
I think I got my quirks worked out with that final EVF setting that was added as an option in one of the FW updates. Also, it is winter here in FL so I have been using the R5 more for video. I just completed a commercial shoot and used the R5 as a B cam to the C70 instead of the R7, mainly because the R5 already had the 70-200mm on it and I needed that lens for the shoot.
The R5's IBIS is definitely amazing, I can easily handhold the R5 with the RF 70-200mm at 200mm and it looks like its on a tripod; not for long periods but enough to get the 30s or so that I typically need. In fact, the only camera that I've ever shot with that has even better IBIS ironically is the R7 (not counting GoPros). The R7 is the first camera I've ever shot with that I can walk for brief periods and it looks like I am using a gimbal when paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm F4 IS L lens.  For the commercial shoot the only lens I used on the R5 was the RF 70-200mm and it was all handheld, no problems getting the tripod like stability I needed for all of the shots.
As far as vertical shooting goes, I really dislike small cameras and I shoot vertical (for photography) about 90% of the time since I am mostly filming people, so the battery grip for the R5 really fixes everything for me (makes it bigger, adds battery life, adds vertical shooting buttons). 
IMO, I would definitely pick the R5 over the R3 any day, and just add a battery grip to it (which is exactly what I did). Another feature that I really like for photography with the R5 is that those 45MP files when using cRAW are actually smaller than the 32MP files that used to be produced by my 5DIV. 
To me the R3 is just too focused on sports/action and you pay a lot for that. It does have some great video side benefits and of course I've never heard anything about overheating with the R3. I'm still not 100% convinced it is fixed in the R5 for Florida summer heat.
Its kind of funny, I have kept the R5 in 4K HQ mode since I got it (which disables and hides all of the 8K options in the menu), so I never bothered looking at the 8K options, I thought it only shot 8K RAW, but somewhere mixed in with all of those FW updates it now has RAW, RAW Light, ALL-I, IPB, and compressed IPB for 8K.  Unless you have an M1 Mac,  you would definitely need proxies for the compressed 8K files. 8K RAW though I can edit with no problems in DR.
Below were the available recording times with a 51GB CFExpress card in the R5 when set to 8K-D (8192x4320) @ 29.97FPS or 8K-U (7680x4320) @29.97FPS:
8K RAW - 24m 19s 
8K RAW Light - 37m 15s
8K ALL-I - 49m 55s
8K IPB - 1h 35m 32s
8K Compressed IPB - 3h 11m 11s
The 8K compressed IPB almost looks small enough to be useable to me, I might have to try it out one day on a shoot.

I am with you on the S5II, fantastic in every way, but too late for me. Once you buy that first RF lens you are locked in way more vs an adaptable EF lens. Not sure if it matters to you, but one big thing the R5 is lacking vs the R6II and R7 is the hybrid hotshoe for audio. 
 
I think I got my quirks worked out with that final EVF setting that was added as an option in one of the FW updates. Also, it is winter here in FL so I have been using the R5 more for video. I just completed a commercial shoot and used the R5 as a B cam to the C70 instead of the R7, mainly because the R5 already had the 70-200mm on it and I needed that lens for the shoot.
The R5's IBIS is definitely amazing, I can easily handhold the R5 with the RF 70-200mm at 200mm and it looks like its on a tripod; not for long periods but enough to get the 30s or so that I typically need. In fact, the only camera that I've ever shot with that has even better IBIS ironically is the R7 (not counting GoPros). The R7 is the first camera I've ever shot with that I can walk for brief periods and it looks like I am using a gimbal when paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm F4 IS L lens.  For the commercial shoot the only lens I used on the R5 was the RF 70-200mm and it was all handheld, no problems getting the tripod like stability I needed for all of the shots.
As far as vertical shooting goes, I really dislike small cameras and I shoot vertical (for photography) about 90% of the time since I am mostly filming people, so the battery grip for the R5 really fixes everything for me (makes it bigger, adds battery life, adds vertical shooting buttons). 
IMO, I would definitely pick the R5 over the R3 any day, and just add a battery grip to it (which is exactly what I did). Another feature that I really like for photography with the R5 is that those 45MP files when using cRAW are actually smaller than the 32MP files that used to be produced by my 5DIV. 
To me the R3 is just too focused on sports/action and you pay a lot for that. It does have some great video side benefits and of course I've never heard anything about overheating with the R3. I'm still not 100% convinced it is fixed in the R5 for Florida summer heat.
Its kind of funny, I have kept the R5 in 4K HQ mode since I got it (which disables and hides all of the 8K options in the menu), so I never bothered looking at the 8K options, I thought it only shot 8K RAW, but somewhere mixed in with all of those FW updates it now has RAW, RAW Light, ALL-I, IPB, and compressed IPB for 8K.  Unless you have an M1 Mac,  you would definitely need proxies for the compressed 8K files. 8K RAW though I can edit with no problems in DR.
Below were the available recording times with a 51GB CFExpress card in the R5 when set to 8K-D (8192x4320) @ 29.97FPS or 8K-U (7680x4320) @29.97FPS:
8K RAW - 24m 19s 
8K RAW Light - 37m 15s
8K ALL-I - 49m 55s
8K IPB - 1h 35m 32s
8K Compressed IPB - 3h 11m 11s
The 8K compressed IPB almost looks small enough to be useable to me, I might have to try it out one day on a shoot.

I did finally edit a first version of the SA video.

Canon R5c, DJI RS3 Pro, RF 70-200 2.8, RF 100-500, RF 400 2.8, EF 24-70 2.8. All shoot 8K RAW 50fps other than the Cheetahs running that are at 4k 100fps.
 
 

25 fps, only lens IS, lens Canon RF 400 2.8 IS (rented). I don't use EIS as I'm RAW only other than when I need 120fps that I need to use 10bit log. 

On long lenses 70-200, 100-500 and 400 in my experience IS works better than IS+IBIS, and as you cannot turn off IBIS and keep IS on the R5 I always use the R5c for long lens work especially handled. 

Truly incredible camera, they took what was already my favorite camera and made it perfect by fixing the AF. I do hope its not too little too late. If that AF system had shipped with the original S5 there is a strong possibility I would be all in on Panasonic right now for both photos and video. 
I am still not sure though if CAF works with the Canon EF adapter, if not then EF lens owners would still need to buy L mount lenses to really take advantage of the AF.
I watched Gerald Undone's review of the S5II, the one big thing I wish he had tested was the additional stability option which was Boot IS option which I believe uses AI and additional processing for stability.  I really wanted to see if it was anywhere near GoPro's level of stability.
I think the perfect hybrid might finally exist and it is the S5II, my absolute only gripe would be having to buy L mount lenses and for me having already gone all in on Canon its too late for me to turn around. It is definitely a great time to be a photographer and/or videographer no matter what system you choose.

But my problems with the "alliance" actually does not apply to every other camera manufacturer. When you buy a camera body and native lenses from that camera maker you will get the best user experience; I think we both agree on that. I think we also both agree that both Sony and Canon produce every lens you could possibly need in your collection. Notice I said "need" not want. 
My problem with the alliance is that if you buy an L mount camera each individual vendor has a limited lens selection meaning you will have a higher chance of needing something from another vendor which may not perform as well as the native lens you need that doesn't exist. If you take the marketing hype from the alliance at face value then it is easy to assume that you will get a native lens experience from any lens maker in the alliance. This is in contrast to buying a Canon or Sony body then buying a 3rd party lens. Most people I know who bought 3rd party lenses for their Canon/Sony bodies were due to cost not due to lens availability from their chosen vendor. 
I see the alliance the same way I saw the Canon R5 overheating fiasco; Canon heavily marketed the R5 as a very capable video camera when in reality it was not fit for purpose due to overheating. The alliance still markets heavily to consumers that any lens in the alliance will meet the user's expectations when mounted to any L mount camera body. It is easy to extrapolate that into thinking any lens in the alliance will perform the same as native lenses from the individual makers.
The thing is my purchasing decision was far from the minority here when you look at market share; for 2021 all of the alliance members combined market share was less than 11% with Panasonic taking 4.4% of that. When you take out non alliance members, DSLRs, MFTs, etc. the total L mount market share is probably less than 5% and it is only that high thanks to Panasonic's 4.4% contribution and that is assuming Panny owners are buying L mount lenses vs adapters and taking an educated guess at Panny's Point and Shoot numbers. Of course, I wish the alliance well, I am a consumer just like everyone else and more choice is always a good thing but an alliance whose members are competing with each other and impacting the user experience for the purpose of advancing their own brand is a dead alliance in my book.
IMO a real alliance would have been one where they all collaborated on lenses and released non vendor branded lenses where every member made a percentage of the profit from lens sales. That would have ensured maximum compatibility regardless of camera body manufacturer and given them all incentive to provide strict adherence to the specs. Of course, that type of alliance only exists alongside fairy tales and unicorns when you are talking about for profit corporations.
But you are just proving my point, Canon has literally every lens I need and adapted EF lenses including 3rd party EF lenses work just as flawlessly for me as native RF lenses.  With that said, the one impact it did have on me was I decided not to get the Viltrox speedbooster for the R7. Even if I got my hands on one there was a risk that a future FW update would disable it so I didn't want to take the risk. So was it an annoyance; absolutely, but it was a nice to have not a necessity. 
All of this is strictly my opinion, I don't expect it to be shared by anyone else (although the market share numbers show it is shared by nearly everyone else 😄) but I did feel I should provide context behind how I reached my conclusions. 
Anyway, it definitely was not my intention to hijack this thread 🤣, I did forget two entries on my wish list for the R7 and R6II that would help make them the perfect cameras:
Dual Native ISO - The S5's second native ISO is 4000 and I found that incredibly useful in low light. The R7 doesn't have dual native ISO and I don't think the R6II does either Global Shutter - While we are dreaming I might as well add this one to my list.  
 
I agree with you if you do not already own tons of Canon EF glass, but for those of us that do, its great to just have to buy one of Canon's recent bodies and every EF and EF-S lens you already own work just like it did with the EF mount. With that said, it would be very mentally difficult for me to go buy a brand new EF lens today knowing the mount has reached its end of life, but the adapters are a great stopgap for lenses that are still optically excellent and still perform like the day I got them.  EF lenses even have some advantages over the RF lenses such as speedboosters, drop in ND filters, etc.

Truly incredible camera, they took what was already my favorite camera and made it perfect by fixing the AF. I do hope its not too little too late. If that AF system had shipped with the original S5 there is a strong possibility I would be all in on Panasonic right now for both photos and video. 
I am still not sure though if CAF works with the Canon EF adapter, if not then EF lens owners would still need to buy L mount lenses to really take advantage of the AF.
I watched Gerald Undone's review of the S5II, the one big thing I wish he had tested was the additional stability option which was Boot IS option which I believe uses AI and additional processing for stability.  I really wanted to see if it was anywhere near GoPro's level of stability.
I think the perfect hybrid might finally exist and it is the S5II, my absolute only gripe would be having to buy L mount lenses and for me having already gone all in on Canon its too late for me to turn around. It is definitely a great time to be a photographer and/or videographer no matter what system you choose.

Primarily because I owned the S5 and did a ton of research before deciding not to go all in on Panasonic's lenses and ecosystem; the #1 reason of course was the dismal AF but the second was the lenses.  You are focusing on the numbers but not the user experience. 
What I found in my research was that sure tons of lenses and multiple vendors; but each one was tweaking their lenses to work optimally with their own native cameras. So the "Alliance" is primarily in name only and yes the physical mount is the same across cameras, but in reality unless you owned a Sigma body and got Sigma lenses or a Panasonic body and got Panasonic lenses then there was no guarantee that you would have the best user experience. This would manifest itself in everything from FW support to AF issues to working properly with adapters.
So, if you go right back to square one and focus on only the lenses from each maker working optimally with their own bodies then yes; your lens selection is in fact limited again unless you go all in on MF lenses or just don't care about AF or adapters. Dead is probably a strong word, but to me, converting my entire camera ecosystem to something like that while trusting that the lenses and adapters that I need will all work properly was definitely an idea that was DOA for me.

That's not just an L-mount issue though. Sony is starting to do the same thing, where if you're not using Sony lenses you miss out on things like focus breathing correction. A big selling point for Sony was how open the mount was, which resulted in tons of third party lenses when Sony themselves didn't have much of their own lens selection. We're now seeing them becoming a bit more closed off with features that only work with their lenses. And Canon is trying to cut out every other third party completely. Granted, they aren't in any "alliances" but the end results are the same: if you're not using their lenses you're taking a hit with capabilities/performance.
The thing about the L-mount alliance is that things can literally turn around in a moment for them. IF Panasonic finally go the PDAF route, I think you'll start seeing a ton of third party lenses for the mount, like you've seen for Sony and Fuji. Ideally the alliance would have more cooperation, and I hope there is more of it moving forward, but even if there isn't it's not really any different from what every other camera manufacturer is already doing.

I agree with you, they are all very close. My own list for perfection would be to start with the R7 or R6II and add:
eND WFM GoPro level of digital IS Panasonic S5's level of menu customization 32bit Float Audio XFAVC codec Add all of FW features from the R6II to the R7 (focus guides, false color, etc.) Add the R6II's back dial to the R7 and add the R7's wheel around the joystick to the R6II Add a built in wireless flash transmitter to the R6 and R7.  This would be awesome for quick off camera flash setups Honestly though, for me the R7 is already close enough that I don't really need any of those things and it is as close to perfect for what I do that it already is the perfect hybrid camera for me.  But nice to haves will always be nice to have 
 
 
For me its just minor ecosystem optimizations that are on my wish list. The resolution, lowlight performance, DR, and codecs of any modern midrange mirrorless are more than sufficient for anything I need. And when I need more I have the C70.

Not possible with the given budget, time and venue. I brought the MixPre6 with me but wouldn't have been able to mic all of the instruments with only 4 XLR channels and no setup time. Only the mics were ran to an amplifier, everything else was live. Plus I'm not a sound guy, I would have later had to mix them in post which would have taken me a long time so once again not possible given the budget. For paying projects, budget is everything, when you start turning it into a passion project you start losing money in the form of time.
I think most music videos are at least half passion projects anyway, you definitely do not shoot them for the money; but they are great to push your creativity.
 
I agree, I would have liked to have had more b-roll to add to the footage; but there's that budget thing again. I even thought about shooting some b-roll at a different venue on the way back from the shoot but it was already dark and the rest of the budget was allocated for editing.
The two cameras mix perfectly at least to me. I am not a pixel peeper or Hollywood colorist so all I did was WB them the same, same LOG profile (CLOG3), and exposed the same (both were set at F2.0) to keep it simple.
I used AF on the R7 for all of the indoor shots, I used MF a few times outdoors to get it to focus on what I needed but indoors even in the lowlight it was perfect. I kept it simple as usual and used the center crosshairs only, no fancy face or subject tracking.  All of the band performances was a single take so no camera problems from either one.
The C70 of course was locked down and set to MF, no way would I have trusted that camera with AF in that lighting (yes it really is that bad at lowlight AF) plus I didn't need it anyway with the 24mm lens on it and stationary.
 
Yes, that mic is awesome, I was a little skeptical since I wanted a Rode mic, but that one is one of the few mini XLR shotgun mics available and I hate fiddling with extra wires and adapters if I can avoid it so I got that one instead.  BTW mini-XLR has really grown on me, I think it was a really good decision by Canon and I believe BM did the same thing with their smaller cameras. It really makes the handheld form factor more manageable without dropping all the way down to 3.5mm.  For my Sennheiser wireless receiver, I got this locking mini-XLR cable which pairs with the camera and receiver perfectly.
 
 

Awesome production, it truly had all the feel of the start of a Hollywood Christmas movie. Even more impressive considering the crew you were working with.
 
@kaylee that is pretty incredible, I've never even heard of something like that, I had to reread your post just to figure out what I was looking at.
 
It sounds like this is the Christmas thread so here is my contribution; much less exciting than both of yours but it fits with the Christmas spirit 😀 For the following video I used the Canon C70 as the A cam (wide shot) and the Canon R7 for the closeups. The C70 was shooting 12bit raw, with the Canon EF 24-105mm and the speedbooster. The Canon R7 was set to compressed IPB, 4KFine with the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8.
Both cameras were set to CLOG3 Cinema Gamut, post processed in DR and color graded using DR's managed color. The opening detail shots were shot with the Canon R5 since I had already set up the R7 and C70 on their tripods.
 
 

I know, totally left field here but someone had to do it so might as well be me 😀 but would the Ronin RSC 2 not work for you? I know it is heavier and probably larger than you are looking for but at the end of the day no one comes close to DJI for reliability, stability, and performance. I've had a love/hate relationship with their gimbals for many years now. I started out on the original Zhyiun Crane; switched to DJI's Ronin S and have never went back. I now have the RS2 and there is nothing more that I could want out of a gimbal.
The thing is, your starting rig is pretty heavy, so putting a rig on a gimbal that is anywhere near its maximum payload is asking for trouble; the payload capacity could be overstated, the motors could simply die sooner, or you could just get jittery footage. The RSC 2's payload capacity is nearly 50% more than your planned payload so it will be able to handle everything you throw at it.
Every other gimbal maker feels like they are just trying to be as good as DJI (but failing) so for me I'd rather buy once and use for many years vs always looking for something "almost" as good as DJI. 
As far as fatigue goes, you probably know all of these but there's many little tricks to reducing it. I stick the end of the gimbal into my belt anytime I am not shooting with it or have to stand for long periods of time, you can get a shoulder strap for them, there's even a shoulder strap mounting rig, etc. Working out helps greatly too, a few dumbbells and hammer curls each day will make your payload feel weightless and help with the fatigue within just a few weeks.
Also, I don't know your particular typical project, but for me I've pretty much ditched my gimbals altogether and really enjoy handheld. I only use gimbals when I need to walk or run with the talent or need complex camera movements. If you do a lot of interview type stuff you could try a monopod or even a shoulder ENG style setup which are all less stressful than a gimbal. Obviously if you are only shooting complex camera movement and need what a gimbal offers then a gimbal is your only option; but for me personally I have gotten much better with my handheld technique and the gimbal usually never leaves the bag.

I know, totally left field here but someone had to do it so might as well be me 😀 but would the Ronin RSC 2 not work for you? I know it is heavier and probably larger than you are looking for but at the end of the day no one comes close to DJI for reliability, stability, and performance. I've had a love/hate relationship with their gimbals for many years now. I started out on the original Zhyiun Crane; switched to DJI's Ronin S and have never went back. I now have the RS2 and there is nothing more that I could want out of a gimbal.
The thing is, your starting rig is pretty heavy, so putting a rig on a gimbal that is anywhere near its maximum payload is asking for trouble; the payload capacity could be overstated, the motors could simply die sooner, or you could just get jittery footage. The RSC 2's payload capacity is nearly 50% more than your planned payload so it will be able to handle everything you throw at it.
Every other gimbal maker feels like they are just trying to be as good as DJI (but failing) so for me I'd rather buy once and use for many years vs always looking for something "almost" as good as DJI. 
As far as fatigue goes, you probably know all of these but there's many little tricks to reducing it. I stick the end of the gimbal into my belt anytime I am not shooting with it or have to stand for long periods of time, you can get a shoulder strap for them, there's even a shoulder strap mounting rig, etc. Working out helps greatly too, a few dumbbells and hammer curls each day will make your payload feel weightless and help with the fatigue within just a few weeks.
Also, I don't know your particular typical project, but for me I've pretty much ditched my gimbals altogether and really enjoy handheld. I only use gimbals when I need to walk or run with the talent or need complex camera movements. If you do a lot of interview type stuff you could try a monopod or even a shoulder ENG style setup which are all less stressful than a gimbal. Obviously if you are only shooting complex camera movement and need what a gimbal offers then a gimbal is your only option; but for me personally I have gotten much better with my handheld technique and the gimbal usually never leaves the bag.

I recently completed a music / band performance video project where I was asked to shoot 3 videos in 2hrs without even seeing the venue. To make it even better, the audio was not pre-recorded so I had to record it live during the band performances. The venue was actually a junkyard with a rehearsal stage in one of the buildings, so definitely challenging all around. Below are the first two videos, I haven't released the 3rd video yet.
The stationary A camera was the Canon C70 shooting 12bit Cinema Raw LT at 30FPS with the Canon EF 24mm F2.8 lens because there was no room to get the camera further back from the stage (very small venue). The B-cam was the Canon R7 with the Canon EF 24-70 F2.8 lens and lens adapter; all shots with the R7 were handheld with IBIS enabled and digital IS disabled. The cover photos were taken with the Canon R7. Both cameras were set at ISO800, CLOG3 Cinema Gamut.
The audio was captured by the C70 using an Azden SGM-250MX shotgun mic. Everything was edited in post with DR and managed color. A light creative LUT was placed over the top at the end. The lighting was all over the place, I did not bring lighting because I thought we were shooting outdoors so I just had to make do with what the venue provided.
Fun fact; the venue was about 90F during the recording so blazing hot and we had to turn the fans off to capture the audio; definitely would not have trusted a camera that overheats for this shoot.
 
 
 
 

I recently completed a music / band performance video project where I was asked to shoot 3 videos in 2hrs without even seeing the venue. To make it even better, the audio was not pre-recorded so I had to record it live during the band performances. The venue was actually a junkyard with a rehearsal stage in one of the buildings, so definitely challenging all around. Below are the first two videos, I haven't released the 3rd video yet.
The stationary A camera was the Canon C70 shooting 12bit Cinema Raw LT at 30FPS with the Canon EF 24mm F2.8 lens because there was no room to get the camera further back from the stage (very small venue). The B-cam was the Canon R7 with the Canon EF 24-70 F2.8 lens and lens adapter; all shots with the R7 were handheld with IBIS enabled and digital IS disabled. The cover photos were taken with the Canon R7. Both cameras were set at ISO800, CLOG3 Cinema Gamut.
The audio was captured by the C70 using an Azden SGM-250MX shotgun mic. Everything was edited in post with DR and managed color. A light creative LUT was placed over the top at the end. The lighting was all over the place, I did not bring lighting because I thought we were shooting outdoors so I just had to make do with what the venue provided.
Fun fact; the venue was about 90F during the recording so blazing hot and we had to turn the fans off to capture the audio; definitely would not have trusted a camera that overheats for this shoot.