Nikon Z8 or Canon R5C to combine stills and video

[kayasaman]

Hi everyone,

 

a while back I was looking into the Canon C70 and C80 as I wanted to add a 3rd dedicated video camera to my lineup of Pentax K1 II and Nikon D500 stills cameras.

 

Currently circumstances have changed as I realized that on a multi day hike it's impractical to have too much equipment and now I am looking at a single system to combine and consolidate  my stills photography needs with video where I can additionally make simple nature/wildlife documentaries as well as vlogging.

 

Has anyone got any experience with the Nikon Z8 or Canon R5C? At the beginning I was leaning towards the Nikon as it is a powerhouse but the negatives for me is that there is no fully articulating screen and I have heard reports that like the R5, the Z8 can potentially overheat while recording video.

Does the Z8 even feature videos scopes like the R5c?

I'm not sure how the R5C compares to the AF of the Nikon in stills mode or even video mode, though reports state that the R5 has better video AF then the R5C version. How significant would that be when videoing wildlife for example or tracking people or vehicles?

 

I do like the Canon lens lineup and in particular the 200-800mm lens idea as I find I can never have enough focal length as my Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 definitely comes up quite short on the APS-C sensor in the D500. Though I'm totally confused what the best options for me would be in the mid range... 28 or 24 - 105mm , 28 or 24 - 70mm , 70 - 200mm ; then f2.8 or f4 version in all cases?

 

These videos were really helpful to me but I think in both cases use the 100-500mm lens:

 

 

[Andrew Reid]

I considered the same dilemma myself a few months ago and it boiled down to this:

My need for pro-video features = less, I am a purist when it comes to shooting moving images - no peaking, no zebra, no elaborate extras, no clutter on screen, I have very basic audio needs, far more need for a fast operating nimble camera that can switch quickly between the highest possible video specs and nicest possible ergonomics for stills, so for me the EOS R5 was a better deal than R5C, far less money used, it behaves in a more nimble way for smaller scale creative endeavour and filmmaking, with better AF and is a superior stills camera, the overheating aspect is much improved vs the launch, and the hardware was never really limited very much by raw thermals anyway - it was all silly firmware trickery.

So I recently went R5, but the mount just doesn't do it for me.

With the Nikon Z8 I can use many more adapters, many more of my existing lenses, far more comes off my shelf and is happy on the Z8, especially for stills.

So it really boils down to lenses and whether you'd be happy with a normal R5, before considering the Z8 as a step up from that.

[eatstoomuchjam]

46 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

With the Nikon Z8 I can use many more adapters, many more of my existing lenses, far more comes off my shelf and is happy on the Z8, especially for stills.

Are they Sony lenses?  Or are you including things like the autofocus adapter for M mount?  Which other lenses can be adapted to Z mount that can't be adapted to R?

[BTM_Pix]

2 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Which other lenses can be adapted to Z mount that can't be adapted to R?

Nikon F with full as native like electronic control is the big one for me.

FujiFilm X mount is also available now with full electronic control. Limited to APS-C by the nature of the lenses of course.

Dumb mount MFT is also available. Again, limited image coverage but OK up to APS-C as most of the MFT lenses you'd want to use offer that wider coverage.

In theory, there is enough space for someone to do a Hasselblad XCD adapter but no one has actually done it as far as i'm aware.

There are a couple of other interesting ones between the Z and the RF as well, most notably Canon's own EF-M and of course the RF mount itself !

[kayasaman]

Thanks for the input!

 

I don't think I'd be able to use any of my lenses as outside of the 200-500 f5.6 which is a little short and the Sigma 105mm macro (which sadly isn't weather sealed) the other lenses I have for Nikon are DX APS-C based.

The Pentax K-Mount lenses wouldn't work either on the Z8 and there is no articulating screen which is really bad news. The Z6 III has that but a much lower pixel count too and I think it might struggle for landscape and even wildlife as even at 600mm I think the focal length is way too short.

At 750mm equivalent FoV on my D500 I'm constantly cropping a *lot*.

I think the only thing I would be able to use with the Z8 would be my Solmeta GPS receiver which is great for Geo-tagging stills or even video, though I have a Garmin GPSMAP 67i that can be used with TelemetryOverlay.

 

I'm thinking the RF 200-800mm lens is attractive especially with a 1.4x and 2x TC. Sure things will get a little soft but can be corrected in post with sharpening.

 

Just been working on going over my drone footage from Scotland and color grading it properly this time. I think the R5C has both CLog2 and CLog3 which would definitely be of interest, I'm using Davinci Resolve Studio for editing:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VewQSP0gCb2MICn8ZJEvg9QnNfxJm325/view?usp=drive_link

 

If I went Nikon I'd probably go for the 14-24mm f2.8, 24-120mm f/4, the 100-400mm, and the 105mm macro (which has weather sealing)

 

Canon has a 100mm macro that has a 2:1 ratio, so all I'd need to do is get the proper XPro transmitter and I'll be able to use my Godox MF-12 macro flash system.

I'm also interested in a few Venus Lens Laowa specialty macro lenses like the 24mm 5x or the probe and even the 10x-50x microscopy lenses.

 

For multi day hikes I'd probably be looking at the L lenses: 15-35mm f2.8, something in the middle - either up to 70mm or 105mm f2.8 or f4 (no idea which is the better lens to go for), and then the 70-200 f2.8 or f4 with TC's to save weight, plus the macro mentioned above.

 

For stills the R5 and R5C seem to be the same but for video is where things become different. I wonder if the R5C II will feature improved video AF?

I'm also liking the Tascam XLR adapter with 48V phantom power, though I'm thinking of using an external video recorder instead so I would need Timecode sync too which the R5C has the capability.

 

Maybe I should just wait for the R5C II though I have no idea of the release date and since I'm not in a rush might be worth it?

 

It's really a bang your head against the wall situation..... lol

[eatstoomuchjam]

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Nikon F with full as native like electronic control is the big one for me.

 

Ooh, good point - that one is really big.  I always forget that there are millions of electronic F mount lenses in the world since I've never had a camera that could use one.  😅

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

FujiFilm X mount is also available now with full electronic control. Limited to APS-C by the nature of the lenses of course

Well, that's just plain cool and probably makes the Z mount Komodo-X a much more compelling option!

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Dumb mount MFT is also available. Again, limited image coverage but OK up to APS-C as most of the MFT lenses you'd want to use offer that wider coverage.

If there are also any Z mount cameras with APS-C, this can be an interesting option for a speed booster.  It's the combination that I tend to use on my E2-S6G - MFT mount with 0.64x speed booster and FF lenses.

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

There are a couple of other interesting ones between the Z and the RF as well, most notably Canon's own EF-M and of course the RF mount itself !

I suspect that either of them would result in somebody getting sued into oblivion, though!  😅