I get carried away. It’s a thing. Sometimes I catch myself before something silly happens, sometimes not.
Serious choices especicially tend to snowball, stagnate, re-animate like a tired zombie that can hardly be bothered eating free brains, then I often settle quietly on the right choice or the cycle continues and a decision is never made (which means to me, take the hint and don’t make one). Often the choice, if made, was staring me in the face the whole time!
If you asked me what I would have liked two weeks ago for video, I would have answered “continuous recording and a choice of better codecs, but nothing that makes my current gear irrelevant or incompatible”. The camera that would have come to mind as I said this would have been the GH5 or GH5 II or maybe the G85, which I have always had a soft spot for.
The reality is, I am more than happy with my current video kit, with the exception of the continuous shooting issue which is rare, but sometimes unavoidable and the lack of a LOG format, even a light one, which forces careful shooting and an acceptance that some things cannot be retained.
So far, my processes on the G9’s have settled on 1080p, 10 bit, 422, Natural or Standard, occasionally Cine-D and a concerted effort to get it right in the camera. The quality is lovely, but sometimes I am forced into a situation that stretches this past my happy place. This does not however tax my system or my skills if all goes well. I am basically looking at the best I can get with the straightest and simplest path.
The little email trigger that my local B-a-M camera store sent me was for a heavily reduced GH5 mk2 (sub $1600au). It quickly turned into entertaining ideas of equally reduced GH6, S5’s, then to the BMPCC4k etc.
Remember, continuous recording, better codecs, system consistency…….. .
Of the three contenders, the one that made the most intellectual sense was the GH6. This has been pushed aside simply because it does not feel like a balanced choice and has some major hurdles to overcome unnecessarily ($300 cards needed for backup, for features I will not use). It is easy to get caught up in the “big talk” of 6k, ProRes Raw etc, but this is all well beyond my needs, or even my capabilities to use. 10 minutes of 6k 422 10 bit would see my system have a little break down and no client I have would be well disposed either. 4k, usually down sized to 1080 or just 1080, 422, 10 bit is my limit. So, no GH6 for me, even at the current price.
*
The most exciting idea is the S5, which not only fixes the main issues I have, but also adds massive increases in dynamic range, ISO performance, full VLOG and even a new lens for the same body price as the GH5.2 (lens extra). The only accessory this needs is a cage, as the basic battery performance is impressive at 2hrs+ recording in 4k. I have a universal cage at hand and maybe a lens or two down the track, maybe no. Lenses are dearer on the whole, although the 50mm is actually not and legacy glass is a 1:1 conversion.
The S5 is a G9 upsized, but also to an extent a GH series with more video-centric features, then getting the job done with minimal effort. All reviewers agree, it gives you the goods easily and quickly, which for me is important and it has the best battery life.
Never going above 200mbs (V30 cards), it delivers something special even in 1080p, Natural, 8-bit, 420, and some of its negatives are actually positives, like 50p 4k cropping (increasing the effective reach of the fast end of the kit lens). Remember I have other cameras that do their thing well, while this does its. If I need to in the future I can up-grade to off board 6k, 12-bit RAW, but I seriously doubt I would ever need this.
If it has a concern, it is that the G9’s etc may not be up to matching the footage as B cams, but I feel they will when treated well, being essentially GH5.2’s without a few bells and whistles.
*
The gut choice, the one that nagged the loudest was the GH5.2, not because it is the best value, nor the best performer, but because it is simply more than enough and had the fewest “conditions” attached (the G85 is probably enough even). The only accessory it may need is a power pack or second battery for long term recording for under $100. It sits in the middle of the pack in most important areas, but it does feel like a compromise, or more to the point a missed opportunity.
The GH5.2 is effectively the match of the G9, just the video-centric hybrid with all the above conditions met, but in real terms (for me), not a major jump up. It is of course a good partner to these, but for just a little more, I can improve and deepen my kit, even address a few small issues like adding linear focus and full frame stills.
Overall the S5 seems to offer the most and threatens the least system wise. It means Trunnigntwo systems, but is that such a bad thing if the benefits are delivered effortlessly. I do not need another M43 camera, so why not introduce a different growth path?
Hand held run-and-gun or B cam, sports and street stills? G9, EM1x, OSMO.
Better low light, high DR, best upgrade path (the G9 is often not fully compatible with Ninja V’s etc), highest DR stills, easily controlled best quality, and/or long recording, then the S5 is the one.
We all need help to see the way sometimes.
This is me being real, not “hypothetical” me. Hypothetical me may need to buy a better video camera one day, but not this year and Panasonic is about to drop a lot of goodies on us, so a bad time to spend too much unwisely. A new S5 has been announced and with it will likely come firmware updates for existing models. Maybe these will trickle down to the S5, GH5.2, even the G9, maybe not, but again, it is enough.
*
When you look at the card and storage needs of higher res formats, the reality quickly dawns on you that even increasing to 422, or 10 bit, or 4k, let alone all of these, puts you into painfully heavy storage space bracket. Massive cards get dumped into massive hard drives and computers groan under the weight of it all, then often only turning out 1080p for a client.
Shooting codecs are more important. RAW sits at the top, full LOG formats come next, then light LOG, down to HLG, Flat or Cine-like until you finally get to regular picture profiles, Natural being a Panasonic favourite.
The video I get out of my G9’s in Natural or Standard, especially with a 1/8 black net filter is impressive enough to my customers. More is simply for me to fix errors, help control the uncontrolled, fiddle or show off. Just like in stills, a perfect jpeg is the end point, not a step. The S5 effortlessly adds more safety net, without massive overheads.
The big question is, which is better, M43 All-i 1080p VLOG-L or the S5’s Long-GOP with a bigger sensor and VLOG full? The GH6 and S5 seem to be a close match, but often the S5 is not trying as hard and still wins in DR and ISO performance. S5 for me.