Here we are again, the time purchasers love and retailers love to hate (they make no money people!).
This years buying dynamic started with a couple of real needs.
A tripod, my fifth as it goes, is an identified need because I have had call for 5 video cameras at once on more than one occasion (limited by realistic camera options) and I just ran a school course where I supplied 80% of the tripods and could have done with more.
A lesser need is a video specific model with more height.
The 73” Smallrig 3751 AD-01 was chosen at a decent price ($160au with about 30% off). So something sorted, universally useful and different to what I have already.
Probably the Elephant in the room is storage, but that is boring.
My wife and I are still sitting well under the $800 per head national average for BF sales, so I thought I would playfully float the idea of a Pyxis 6k, going at the moment for an astonishing $3500au.
That failed to launch for all the right reasons, but it got me thinking.
Here I am again, same questions, same worries and plenty of hours and dollars put into dealing with both, resulting in well chosen fixes that I seem determined to undermine.
Yes, the P6k is a scary nice entry level cinema camera, but it produces much the same results as the BMPCC6k that needs fewer accessories, which in turn is comparable to a S5/S5II shooting B-Raw into a BMVA 12g and these have the benefits of AF, stabe, better battery life etc, which in turn are not streets ahead of a BMPCC4k (recently upgraded yet again), which after weeks of exhaustive comparison tests is roughly equal to a GH5s shooting B-Raw and so on**.
Degrees of difference, all under the umbrella of “good enough to do most projects and even fool some in-the-know viewers if used well, but not the equal of big dollar cine cams”. Any cam these days has tons of quality, the end product more often than not coming down to so many other things.
Looks like a Pyxis (Video Assist to be added) and actually acts like one as well, apart from the bonus of second articulated screen, AF, decent battery life, articulating main screen, the option to use it as a stills camera, V-Log or Flat as lighter options etc. Basically, this is the sensible option for a hybrid shooter with a thin attachment to video.
It’s a bit like comparing models of family car if the core question is only “will they get me and three friends where we need to go safely, comfortably and on time” while acknowledging that each will do some things better or worse than others and the user/driver is the main variable.
Sales can be hard to restist. The “but it will cost my X% more if I miss out” logic can be troubling and force us to re-hash old thought processes. My answer to this is what you are reading now. If I commit my thoughts to a post, it tends to cool my desires with logic. I hope.
If I were to commit to something right now?
A third BMVA 12g, probably a 7” simply because of the sound options it adds and silent fan* for so little, or maybe a 5” if cheap enough, but the normal $200 saving is pointless if losing the better pre-amps, quiet fan, bigger screen etc. A BMPCC4k is also not out of the question for a little more (3 = 1 sale P6k!).
I have three cams that can take a BMVA (possibly 6 or more if ProRes RAW is available), which is sometimes useful. I am often limited to either 3 V-Log cams for a 2 static/1 floating, interview camera setup (all I can handle on my own), or mixing Log with RAW footage.
The other option could be the BS1H box cam, available for as little as $2300au new. This is on the Netflix list, is a S1H without the bulk and eminently rig-able. It would effectively free up a S5 for stills, so double benefit.
A Pyxis, or anything native Black Magic would be….. a complication to be honest, possibly leading to another for consistency and so it grows again.
I committed to upgrading Panasonic hybrid cams to B-Raw for several reasons;
I can reverse the process and use any/all as stills cams, even the GH5s with only four BM video specific items to sell off (BMVA 12g 5” & 7”, speed editor and micro panel).
I can change cams and upgrade them with off-board recorders, including box cams as needed.
The overall cost is therefore lower (replacing one or the other as needed).
They come with varying levels of stabiliser, better battery life, AF and other luxuries.
Accessories tend to be fewer, are more consistent, sometimes shared and cheaper or not needed at all (come with built in view finders, grips, articulated monitors, etc).
There, itch scratched……. again ;).
*The 5” has an audible fan, the 7” does not seem to.
**Some of the research.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_r3qiGXTlo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_qAfdYppZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl3GagDc-Jw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVWhIRgqxpE