Hi Serggio

How do you know that video was shot at 25P?? Even 25P will still handle motion reasonably well
If you look really carefully you can see a tiny bit of blur on the car closeups.

Are you talking about the subject moving or you moving??

Thanks Dave

Simple answer here .. I don't like Canon ... dunno why but their video cameras do nothing for me and they are overpriced. That camcorder also is a handheld off the tripod so one is likely to get wobbles at weddings.

I'm not asking too much from my EA-50's I just want an awesome F1.4 zoom up front that weighs in at 200 grams not nearly 1000 grams.

Any reading Serggio's post above I get get a stack more light into the camera shooting at 1/25 instead of 1/50 plus IF I can find a speedbooster that does Nikon to e-Mount I could easily get away with an F2.8 lens which is half the weight of my Sigma and the balance might be restored.

This entire "changeover" might not even happen this season as I am getting shoot requests now for next month and I cannot afford to be playing around with new gear when I have work to do ... so it might go on hold until next Winter ... no big deal but I still might treat myself to an FZ1000 and play with that in conjunction with the Sony's ... Haven't found anything really that could be classed as an easy replacement and stay within my budget.

chris
no offense
probably did not know to stand out in video 25p and 50p see the rims of cars that spin,is 25p or 30p
If the camera you have succeeded in entering the same as in the video 50p to buy your camera
this video is NOT 50p is 25p or 30p I bet about that
and most importantly there is no trace of moire and aliasing
I saw this video, I bought the camera,but others the shows the Sony and another sells
why does not answer the Sony how lens and rec mode speed etc. is this video

Hi Serggio

Have you tried some footage shot at 25P? Is there a problem???

I have used 25P which defaults the shutter to 1/25th and apart from some blur if you pan too fast I didn't see any problems at all??

Chris

Chris, there are a couple things you should know about the FZ1000 if you are considering this cam.

1) The stabilization does not work well in 4K. I originally thought with mine that stabilazation was not
available in 4K but was told by someone on another forum that it was. Either way I don't find it helpful.

2) The manual focus ring needs to be turned at such a speed as to make acquiring focus smoothly and quickly difficult. By having to turn the ring at a speed fast enough to engage one tends to overshoot. AF is very fast and accurate but doesn't hold well. With even small movement in the frame it loses and re-acquires.

3) With that heavy lens hanging out there on a small body the cam is very poorly balanced which for me
makes the cam difficult to use handheld combined with the other two issues.

I pre-ordered my cam so have one of the early ones which was made in Japan. The new ones are made in
China if this is a concern for you. Maybe these issues have been addressed in newer models.

Having said all that I really like the cam and actually use it more than my GH4. Great burst rate, excellent
time laspe, good video images, good slow motion. Either or both stabilization/AF very noisy (much more so than the FZ200) so off cam mic a necessity.

Winter Fun on Vimeo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 120fps on Vimeo

Thanks so much Tom

Roger has already ordered one so he will appreciate this advice too ..he is upgrading from his FZ200!

The China thing is a bit worrying ..I used Panny cameras for 25 years until they switched to China with the AC series and were complete rubbish compared to the Japanese made ones .. I sold my AC-130's after 3 months ..hopefully things have improved.

Roger gave me a manual and yes that mentions operation noise as well as limit to OIS at 4K

I'm sticking with my Sony's for now BUT I want an FZ1000 for my stedicam ..at present I shoot on the Sony and then slow down in post ..doing it in slo mo will be awesome!!

Chris

Hi Serggio

How do you know that video was shot at 25P?? Even 25P will still handle motion reasonably well
If you look really carefully you can see a tiny bit of blur on the car closeups.

Are you talking about the subject moving or you moving??

Hi Chris
I got the answer for video
The frame rate IS 24fps with Nikon Lens 70-300 -50-and 35 without any picture profile

Hi Serggio

So what you are saying is you get no moire or aliasing if you shoot in 24P?? I thought that was a sensor issue rather than a frame rate issue?

If it works for you the by all means shoot in 24/24p but just remember the shutter will default to 1/25 not 1/50 so you will get a bit of blur with the slower shutter if you move the camera too fast.

I still shoot with the profile very flat (PP3) as the "no profile" will push the black level way too much ..Guys in black suits end up with no detail at all so it's better to keep the detail and then add a colour curve in post.

Chris

So what you are saying

Am I the only one here that doesn't understand what Serggio is trying to say? :) Not sure what the framerate/shutter, pictureprofile or lens used in that video has to do with Chris his question what replacement camera's to get?

I will keep the ea50 on a tripod for static shots with 25p will simultaneously shoot a Canon 5d mark ii (I want to go to Canon 6D) have gh3 and think about buying a more gh4 or Sony A7s

Hi Noa

Don't worry I have no idea either.. I'm guessing so I suspect it's a language barrier and Serggio speaks better English than I speak his language ... From what I have fathomed out so far is that the sample video he inserted a few posts up done by Sony had no moire and no aliasing in it and Sony didn't say what format it was shot in so he is figuring that the reason must be the format ...he found out later it was shot in 24Pand has now posted that he will use 25P on the EA50 combined with various other cameras including a 5D, GH3 and then maybe a 6D and GH4 and Sony A7 ... Sounds very complicated ! There is another post in my Profiles and Colour Curves one too .. dunno why

Chris Thank you for the correction does not speak very well English
my another post in (Colour Curves and Pricture Profiles) there was a mistake apologize.

Hi Serggio

I cannot speak your language at all so you are doing great!! If you are shooting at 25P just remember that in low light the shutter will change to 1/25th not 1/50th so be careful with fast pans in this mode. 25P does also give you the advantage of better low light with the slower shutter ...in 50P a scenario that needs 15db gain at 1/50th only needs 9db at 1/25th so you halve the ISO required.

Chris

Thank you Chris use manual shutter speed 1/50 with 12db with PP3 I have not tried to 1/25

If you shoot in full auto 25P will default to 1/25th automatically until the gain drops below zero then it will change to 1/50th ....1/25th indoors needs a 6db gain decrease so at higher levels you get less noise!!

Am I the only one here that doesn't understand what Serggio is trying to say? :) Not sure what the framerate/shutter, pictureprofile or lens used in that video has to do with Chris his question what replacement camera's to get?No you're not! And nothing as far as I can see

Dave

Ok back to the original post now since Serggio has been sorted out!

Stage two will swing into action over this weekend .. I will put the first EA-50 body up for sale over the weekend ... and then see what happens ...the plan is to drop one of the EA-50 bodies first and get a FZ1000 .... if I use this one as an A-Cam what I will do is pop it into a cage so it gives me someone to mount a mic and receivers and I'll also add one of the new DSLR style Beachtek XLR units to sort my audio gear and to also overcome the fact that you cannot adjust audio levels while recording.

I think that something simple like a Rode VM Pro on the hotshoe should be good enough.

With regards to selling I figured that splitting the body and lenses and any other bits and pieces would keep the newbies away so only genuine videographers will consider it! Is that wrong or right or would you sell it as a ready to use setup with a lens??

IMHO. You already sold your kit lens. It is not a ready to go camera no matter what you do. Selling it with a dumb adapter and a nikon or after market lens is not going to add much value. You need a buyer that knows and wants an EA50.

Steve

Hi Steve

Both actually so I will get a better result as a body only .. the FS100 and FS700 can be purchased as body only cameras but not the EA-50 ... I'll see if I can get someone who already has lenses (either e-mount or Nikon) A complete stock standard camera tends to attract amateurs who think a pro camera is going to make them experts ...I would prefer to sell to a videographer/photog who knows what is involved. Extra Nikon lenses are easy to sell on eBay !! Tons of wannabe photogs out there!!

A while back on eBay I wasn't using my rails and follow focus and you wouldn't believe how many people wanted to know what it did and will it automatically focus my DSLR ... trying to avoid those sort of people!

Chris

deleted, for good sense

Aw Steve

You know you cannot upset me and I know how much you love your cameras too so if you want to yell at me... I'm tough and can take it!! They are still awesome cameras I know but I need a change... who knows? they might not sell and I'll stay with them!!

Pete Rush seems to be getting old too! He is doing a downsize as well as it's really a lot of gear to lug around at wedding venues !!! With your more commercial shoots you don't have the pain of running up and down stairs with all the gear. If I was doing controlled commercial shoots I wouldn't change a thing.

Chris

deleted, for good sense

haha, common Steve, don't hold back, we all appreciate your brutal honest opinion :)

Hi Noa

It might be brutal but Steve and I have shared many heated discussions on the forum so I'm sure if anything is said on impulse we will forgive each other.

OK, there is another reason I want to drop the Sony's and that is my weddings shot 2 years ago on my cheap Panasonic HMC82's with it's tiny 1/4" chips to me looks a lot better than my EA-50 footage ...I have used Sony lenses, Sigma lenses and Nikon lenses on both cameras yet the footage still doesn't shine like my Panasonic's shooting 50i at 17mbps .... I'm sure it's a technical thing or might be a picture profile thing but my weddings did drop off in overall quality with the Sony's ... I have no idea why and the footage is sharp plus the EA-50 is a delight to use and has everything that opens and shuts BUT my wedding footage still looks better on the older cameras.

I have never been able to figure out why but that's the sad story! Any commercial shoot I have done however has been pristine and clients loved it ...maybe it's just not a wedding camera but better suited to commercial work??

Chris

Hi Chris,

I love the look of my weddings from my little Panasonic's, which is why I have kept them for so long and why I will continue down a similar replacement route starting with the FX1000.

Roger

I think it's a camera that needs a little nursing to get the best out of it and a fast paced wedding doesn't give us the time to do it - when I use it for an afternoon reception and have a few hours to get guests relaxing and having their photos taken etc it shines, but when I'm using it for the guests all arriving at once etc or the mad and badly lit evening reception I struggle as I'm sure the camera can cope, but I don't have the time to coax it to get the best out of it (am I making sense here?)

Also I think we all are pretty much using it with manual lenses where focus is concerned and whatever anyone says - in a fast paced wedding event autofocus has it's place! If the kit lens had been f2.8 constant it might be a different story.

I'm now looking at using my A7s with a nice Ziess zoom as my main camera of choice - but for next season.

Very true Pete

I did an all day shoot on a school promo and it was brilliant as I had lots of time and my choices of camera positions too ... 90% was on stedicam so I could go where the light was good ..That doesn't happen at a wedding ..Yeah my receptions are better as well ...also the controlled light helps ..with ceremonies you are placed often in the far from ideal places!!

Even if you don't have AF running you can still half press the shutter on the A7S surely to grab focus?? That's more accurate and quicker than trying to get focus and also toggling the magnify function at the same time. Whatever I have done, the EA-50 has never given me really sharp outdoor footage but that's probably me not the camera!!

Chris

Interesting comments Chris and reinforces what I always feel. I want to be able to leap straight in and grab a shot as soon as I see it, without having to worry about whether the camera is in focus the exposure is right or if I have to change the lens. I am not embarrassed to say that I use auto focus and exposure a lot of the time providing it is giving me exactly what I want.

My attention needs to be on the day not whether the equipment is functioning correctly or not, so total trust in my gear is paramount.

Roger

Brides notice that too! I was on a wedding forum and when asked about her shoot she replied "the guy spent more time fiddling with his frigging camera than doing his job I paid him to do" If something good happens you need to be on it in a flash ... Back on the FZ1000 I notice it's startup time is a mere 0.9 seconds which is great when you are caught unwares ! I have often spotted the limo coming around the corner and turned on my camera and by the time it's ready to record the car has stopped ... lately I just leave it in standby otherwise it's easy to miss a shot!

..I don't have the time to coax it to get the best out of it (am I making sense here?)
.

Perfect sense Peter :)

I took my RX10 with me just to give it a wee go at a wedding the other day.
I haven't had a good chance to use it at a wedding yet.
Anyway I was "futtering" with the ISO, white balance etc when the guests started coming into the reception room.
I decided to put it on full auto and let it record away on a light stand.
Nothing to loose, I was only experimenting with it anyway.
Boy was I wrong, the footage turned out great. and I was able to bang it into the timeline along with my other clips from the two other cameras.

Hey Guys,

What I deleted was just a bad joke that could have been taken wrong. A couple of years ago Chris Hurd published an article I wrote about my career and i make fun of all of us with my satirical humor. But he has limits, and yes, I have been slapped on the keyboard a few times for both my bluntness and bad humor. To be clear on a few things: I don't need to yell at anyone here for anything. I do not fall in love with gear, cameras are just tools to me. I can not be insulted by what anyone says about the choices I make. What we each choose is and should be an important personal choice that meets are own needs. On this forum we are able to help each out by getting real word advice from each other from those who use what we may be considering. I think that is awesome.

Chris, You have said many times you have me pegged as an indoors shooter that works only from sticks. Yes I do work in ballrooms and I do shoot executive interviews and such. In reality I am an "event coverage" videographer to be more exact. What I shoot is not as far from a wedding as you may think. I shoot dark receptions from the shoulder, I shoot jeep tours in the desert, I have worked from horseback, on snowmobiles, from race cars, motorcycles, and watercraft. I have shot reality TV while suspended from a rope 200 feet off the ground for three hours. I worked for NASCAR auto racing for seven years covering a one mile oval track with both stills and video on foot or sometimes from a golf cart. Golf carts don't climb stadium stares : ) : ) :) Bottom line, I never know what I will be shooting next or how I will do it. Sorry, too much about ME.

Back on topic. You guys mentioned AF. Now that I have the Sony 18-105 F4 G lens for my EA50 I can tell you it finally made the EA50 what it should be. It follow focuses and is tack sharp. In fact it is so sharp and the image is so beautiful I can not match it with the old kit lenses. I have to match it with my canon L glass. The more I use it the more I like it. And being F4 instead of f2.8 like my Canons it is light and does not add all of that front weight the Canons do. It really is a dream lens for this camera.

I do not find the EA50 to be too heavy when I am shooting with it (most of the time). But all of the cases and bags and lenses and accessory's I deal with gets to be to much. I can load a truck. I know Noa can work out of a backpack and that blows me away! Here is what I don't get about your logic Chris. I think the ergonomics of the EA50 help save my train wrecked back because it is semi shoulder mount. If you go with a DSLR and just a lens I get it. But once "rigged" with audio, a light, and a cage, how is it going to help your back?

Steve

Chris,

Edit: 6/20/15 This clip is poorly compressed and does not reflect the real footage.

The more I thought about that Sony F4 G the more I think it might help you. I know it is only F4 and that is slow but you’re not going to find the lightweight fast lens your dreaming about. What makes a lens fast is lots and lots of big heavy glass to let all that light in. But you know that. The Sony 18-105 G is constant aperture, lightweight, and native to the camera so everything works and no adapter weight either. It is a good compromise. You say 90% of your weddings are outdoors. Here is one.

Here is a clip of it follow focusing and I am zooming the whole time. First I am zooming in because part of my style is to always be as tight as possible. I am an old pro sports guy. Shooting tight is pounded into us. Then she almost got away from me so I mashed it full speed wide to finish the shot. I know, bad camera work, a person walking across a frame should never get to the left side like this, you should always be leading them but she grew wheels. But the G lens zooms fast and saved me. The old kit lens would not be capable of this shot, it would fail on follow focus and zoom speed. When it cuts to the second camera that is the original kit lens so you can see the difference. This is the original untouched footage so you can see it as shot. Both cameras are in auto exposure at 24P. I hate 24P but I gave it another try because I am editing on a new rig and premier is having audio problems in 60P, my preferred frame rate. Also, with my Canon L lens I would not have been confident enough to zoom so tight and manually follow focus her moving so fast. So the Sony 18-105 G was the only lens I had to get the shot I wanted. I never thought I would sound so glowing about this lens. I was skeptical at first but take a look for self. It is NOT a kit lens.

This is from the only wedding I have ever done, it was a few weeks ago. As you guys say it was fast and I worked my tail off as a SPC. Yes, I missed my truckload of gear and a four man crew ;-)

Steve

Password is: Sony Lens
The Vimeo compression really makes it flat. I shot it with no profile so it is not that flat.

Private Video on Vimeo

Steve just a note about the lens comparison between the two cameras. I do agree that the 18-105 g is sharper than the older stock lens. However I wonder if the image from the second camera is softer due to the excess sun glare shooting from that angle.

I resurrected an old post the Chris posted a while back about EA50 focus issues with sunlit backlighting outdoors. I experienced the same issue with the 18-105 lens recently when i had to shoot a speech at noon in a room with windows all around. So I had to shoot the speaker with a sheer curtain pulled and backlight issues.

I shot with 2 cameras, one being a Sony NX5U which was sharp as a tack. My EA50 had an issues getting proper focus and I as even informed with peaking that the camera was focused. Got home reviewed the footage and nope not in focus. So I wonder if some of the soft image might be attributed to the sunlit angle the second camera was shooting and not being able to focus correctly.

Just a thought.

BTW I'm watching this thread closely as I am looking to add a DSLR to the mix with my EA50M, which I love,a s I finally got the form factor that I can shoot comfortable with all day long. I want a small camera for moments like preparations and detail shots (with slider, gimbal etc) where the EA50 is too bulky to use. But for me the form factor of the EA50 is a pleasure to use.

Hi Steve

I actually tried a wedding a while back with no profile and the blacks were so crushed that I lost all the detail in the guy's black suit BUT that was an indoor wedding last July which is Winter and it was raining. I still find the camera gives me a soft image most times we do an outdoor sunny wedding ... even when it's not backlit ... maybe the answer is somewhere but I haven't found it yet! It's mainly on the fixed camera that is around 20' from the couple ...If I do cutaways much closer of the guests it's sharp. I can look at the footage with my little SJ4000 action cam and it's stunning which is somewhat annoying as the SJ4000 cost $100 and My EA-50 cost $4000!!! I even gone to the extent of swopping cameras over and making the A-cam the B-Cam and viceversa and there is no difference ... Michael has also noticed that his NX5 had much sharper footage than the EA-50 in bright light. Maybe one needs a heavy ND filter the moment you go outside ?? I have no idea ... Does the NX5 have ND filters??

When I mention "cage" that would be a simple aluminium frame just to provide somewhere to mount wireless receivers onto and that would always be on a tripod .... Handheld might have a bracket if a video light is required for the first dance but that's about it .... Currently I have a handheld/shoulder mount camera which is a delight to use until you put a fast lens up front! Then it becomes a heavy monster. The new lens however looks a lot lighter so the body would be better balanced.

For now I'm playing with options (I have 8 clear weeks before the next wedding) and annoying you guys

At least I feel a bit better that Michael has discovered the fact that his camera does have a soft focus when the light is tricky .... It would be interesting to see the EA-50 and the NX5 compared in bright light and then see if the EA-50 in fact does need something done to it in bright light or backlight??

Chris

Michael, I am aware of that other thread and responded to you there about a week ago.

Next:
First, the clip I posted is not a fair comparison of sharpness for the two lenses because I DID miss focus a little bit. The bride and groom were not in place when I set up the shot. No one was there but the trestle. When they took their marks in front of the officiant (the guy with the beard) they were clearly soft because they were out of depth of field. The original kit lens is sharper than that clip shows. I do not consider it a soft lens. I consider it a cheap kit lens, it can not stand up next to a Canon "L" series lens or a Sony "G" lens. But if you take it for what it is I have defended it several times. It is not a bad lens, it is a KIT lens.

Second, cameras do not generally have "focus issues" because of differing lighting conditions without an explanation. Focus is up to the SHOOTER not the camera. I missed focus because I was not behind the camera as it should be! I think you guys are missing focus because you are counting to much on peaking in tough lighting. It is up to your eye to confirm proper focus through proper monitoring and tools such as expanded focus. Focus is not a function of the camera, it is up to you. You have a long thread about so called "focus problems with the camera" but no where in that thread do you say "I absolutely visually confirmed focus and then when I went to post it was soft". You are talking about the cameras focus aids in tough lighting and then blaming the camera. Focus is your job, not the cameras. There is also the real world case that you guys may be experiencing lens diffraction. That may even be likely.

Chris, You have defended your cameras picture quality and many other things for two years. I find it peculiar, now that you are done with them you are repeatedly saying your $100.00 Chinese go-pro knock off with a ultra wide angle plastic lens is out shooting your EA50. Really? I would think that if that was consistently the case you would have been on this forum screaming very loudly saying "Help my $100.00 POS out shoots my pro rig!" I have not heard you say that until this thread.

Now, with all that said, I could be wrong. Maybe my bride and groom were soft because I did experience exactly what you guys are talking about. In which case I will eat a lot of crow. But I don't think so. How can you adjust critical focus when you are not even behind the camera? I always blame myself first until otherwise proven. I have seen a million situations where guys want to blame gear for everything, not me, I look at myself first.

Steve

Hi Steve

If you look back to April you will see I was having issues with focus. No it's not the camera or lens but I feel it might be that the peaking is inaccurate! Ok, so that's an operator error sort of but not really as I'm using peaking and checking the peaking carefully in both 4X and 8X expanded focus modes. As an operator I'm trusting the peaking to be accurate ... this is as previously said, ONLY in bright light ... indoors I have no issues at all and the focus is sharp as a tack. What do you figure the problem is??? You obviously pre-focussed before you left the camera so it was in focus as far as you were concerned.

It's not a DOF issue either as I have tested using an F2.8 aperture and high shutter right up to F16 and it all looks much the same to me. Sorry but your entire video from either angle definitely looks soft to me ..that's just a friend to friend observation ..Go indoors and I bet it's way way sharper!! Your vimeo clip with the dentist talking about not being able to make a conference? What that the EA-50?? That footage is razor sharp!!!

Hi Steve

If you look back to April you will see I was having issues with focus. No it's not the camera or lens but I feel it might be that the peaking is inaccurate! Ok, so that's an operator error sort of but not really as I'm using peaking and checking the peaking carefully in both 4X and 8X expanded focus modes. As an operator I'm trusting the peaking to be accurate ... this is as previously said, ONLY in bright light ... indoors I have no issues at all and the focus is sharp as a tack. What do you figure the problem is??? You obviously pre-focussed before you left the camera so it was in focus as far as you were concerned.

It's not a DOF issue either as I have tested using an F2.8 aperture and high shutter right up to F16 and it all looks much the same to me. Sorry but your entire video from either angle definitely looks soft to me ..that's just a friend to friend observation ..Go indoors and I bet it's way way sharper!! Your vimeo clip with the dentist talking about not being able to make a conference? What that the EA-50?? That footage is razor sharp!!!

I understand what Steve is saying Chris, but isn't that the whole point? If you are struggling to get what you want from the camera, it really makes no difference whether it is the camera or the operator. You only get one chance with many shots at a wedding so if you are missing or spoiling shots it may well be time for a rethink.

As I have said before, I really need to have total confidence in my cameras and my ability to get exactly what I want instantly and accurately. If you haven't got that confidence in the camera then your are constantly upping the stress levels, particularly with weddings.

Roger

I get you loud and clear Roger and that's exactly what is going on ...I have enough issues at weddings with the couple and the guests to keep me busy so I don't want to have to worry about technical issues on top of that. Ok point and point isn't exactly frowned on here but I think people expect you to be a little bit of a tech head. If a point and shoot full auto camera allows me to get better content (and we KNOW that content makes or breaks a wedding) then I have no shame in using it in that mode.

Even on my EA-50's the camera is in full auto all the time!! The only thing I have to do is focus and push the button which is the way I want it ...If Sony had a 17-70mm F1.8 lens in e-Mount I would be using autofocus too!!! Do I care that I'm not running everything in full manual like an expert? Hell no if that gets me better content then I'll do it that way! If shooting with 4 GoPros gives me great wedding content I have no issues using them for weddings. An experienced wedding videographer with a Handicam is likely to get better footage than a novice with a Red Epic. I actually had a bride once who booked me instead of the guy that did her sisters wedding because (her words) "he spent more time fiddling with his frigging camera than doing what he was paid for" (Oops sorry I have already used that quote but it does push home a point!!)

I think that is a good enough reason for me to use the camera that suits me best

Thanks Chris,

I just looked at the clip I posted above. I blew it someplace, it is very soft. I will have to look at my export setting and vimeo settings, that's where I went wrong, I was in a hurry and just banged it out. You can not judge anything from that clip, the footage does not look anything like that.

I do not keep that Vimeo page up to date. The testimonial video you said was sharp is about eight years old. It is from my DV tape days and was shot using two Canon XL2s. That is why there is even some really old 4x3 stuff on there.

When I get time I might start a thread and tell you what happened at that wedding. You will get a kick out of hearing all the things that fell apart. Including audio! I am the one that is always trying to be helpful here with audio because it is something I am pretty knowledgeable about. This one did not go that way but that's another story.

Focusing outside in sunlight is always more difficult than indoors. Also, I am under the impression you have a great fondness for wide angle lenses. That adds another layer of difficulty. Even though they have tremendous DOF I find it is always harder to visually confirm proper focus because of the lack of detail. For example with a telephoto you can focus on the eyes. If your wide you can barely see the eyes. What focal length are you at for the ceremony shots your having trouble with? I am sincerely trying to help you. Obviously I don't think it is a camera problem. I'm wondering if you counting to much on a huge DOF and missing it because you can't visually confirm it well enough in sunlight. Even at wide angles, out of focus is out of focus. If you miss just a little you get a big DOF that is soft all the way through. Do you have an external monitor? With a hood they can help some, even outside.

Steve

Wow, quite the thread I missed. Chris, I'm interested to see what you sell the EA50 for. I sold mine and ended up piecing it out, smart adapter, body, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, lanc control, and carry bag. I got $1800 for the lot. I could have held out for more but I needed to move on and go forward.

Hi Aaron

Not really just lots of discussion mainly about Panasonic's new bridge camera. I think you are correct about piecing the EA-50 when you sell it ...it works a lot better as people can choose what they want and you are more likely to get buyers that know what they are talking about.

It also gives me a chance to go thru my cupboards and put all the other stuff on ebay that's lying there gathering dust. Hmmm I think I MIGHT be asking a bit much for the EA-50 bodies only?? I have them up for $1800 and that's just the bodies ! I'm not too fussed about price ..as long as I'm not seriously out of pocket, I'm happy!!

Hope the FS100's are doing well???

Chris

Hey Steve

I usually shoot the B-Cam at full wide and focus it never an issue. It's the A-Camera that was giving me issues sadly and that is the tighter shot! That cam is on the tripod about 15 -20' away and zoomed so the couple is nicely framed with the priest and then during vows, even tighter!! I always try to get focus peaking "sparkles" on eyes too!!

Chris

Hope the FS100's are doing well???

Chris

Thank you Chris. Yes I love them. shot my first wedding with them... I didn't do as well as i wanted as there is a bit of a curve getting use to the full manual and positioning. I do think I made a great move for me and hope to show you guys some of my work with them soon.

Great!

I actually took your advice and broke one camera up for sale and the one body only went today ..I advertised last week as a "package deal" with all the bits and pieces and no takers .. you tend to get more if you sell individually!!

the 'want v need' issue will always be there but I think you have to evaluate too, I started out with two cams that I no longer have as I didn't get satisfactory use from them!
They looked the part ok but just didn't live up to the marketing and I quickly realised that i didn't need them.

I have two CX series small Sony cams that are great and I am sometimes struggling with focusing issues on my PMW 200 and a Canon 70D (which I wanted), the two small Sonys outperform the other two consistently in lots of areas, in terms of 'Fire & Forget' these cams with their internal memory and big batteries will run unattended for up to eight hours if necessary.

I wanted to get the EA50 when it came out first, but decided that i didn't need it!

Chris what are you going to want/need next?

:-)

Hey Rob

Want just isn't going to happen .. it doesn't make economic sense .. just the same as I WANT a Lamborgini but I know I'm not going to get one. I'm getting older and feel gear is getting heavier (it isn't but it feels like it) so I need to downsize a bit. At this stage (it's our Winter "shutdown period") I have the luxury of having no weddings as it's cold and wet until August so I have a 6 week window to look at solutions.

I'm looking so far at Panasonic's new bridge camera (FZ1000) which shoots stunning video including 4K and slomo but with a fixed zoom I will struggle with dancing so would have to use a video light. The main issue with the EA-50's is that with decent lenses up front the cameras are VERY front heavy and kill my poor ageing arms and back!

Chris

I have two CX series small Sony cams that are great and I am sometimes struggling with focusing issues on my PMW 200 and a Canon 70D (which I wanted), the two small Sonys outperform the other two consistently in lots of areas, in terms of 'Fire & Forget' these cams with their internal memory and big batteries will run unattended for up to eight hours if necessary.

:-)

Hi Rob, do you mind me asking what are those cameras?

Thanks

Well I'm taking a big step here - after yesterday's wedding juggling the A7s for bride prep, the CX730 to follow the bride/bridesmaids down and into the ceremony area and the EA50 for the ceremony I thought 'I must be mad!!!' 3 cameras and that's before the ceremony starts!

So I've just run a side-by-side test and I've found that my A7s with kit lens that came with the EA50, outperforms my EA50 with Canon L 24-105 F4 (shooting at 2.8 thanks to the adapter) in low light. As I've been using the Canon/Metabones/EA50 setup for ceremonies for over a year this makes me very happy - I was thinking I might have to be the very expensive full frame Zeiss 24-70. It does mean that I'll be using the A7s in APS-C mode for most of the day but that's not a bad thing as I don't really go for the ultra shallow DOF stuff.

In a nutshell then this setup will do for low light and moments that need autofocus. It's a lot lighter rig than the EA50 and stabilises nice with my eye against the cup. The downside is the 29 minute recording restriction and the fact that the A7s eats batteries and they are slow to charge. Also only one card sot is scary as my EA50 has the FMU. I'd like to have a strap on it also but it's the same camera I use on my steadicam so that's a no.

The Swivi viewfinder just about fits (was for my 5D) - I need to make a rubber gasket about 5mm to finish it off.

Another plus is power zoom if I need it - dare I take a risk at the next wedding???

Pete

Hi Pete

Go for it!! I'm using the FZ1000 as my main camera now ..I just have to remember to reset after 20 odd minutes but that has become a habit for me anyway so I see no issues. The only thing I have done is turn continuous focus OFF on this camera so I set it up on the tripod use the half button press to grab focus and I know I will not have an issue with focus shifting from the couple to the altar during the vows. For readings and such I will just swing the cam over to the lectern and again to a half press to focus so it locks there for that duration!

My second camera has continuous focus ON so I can use it for the bridal procession and then wide shots and guest cutaways. My third cam is still the little action cam front and centre at the first pew so I get wide shots of everything as well as speakers walking up to the lectern.

I reckon you will have NO problems using one A7 for the bride and groom and then handhold the other but I would seriously turn auto focus off on the static camera. I assume you have seen my rig photos on the wedding forum ... much the same as you except one camera has two receivers attached.

It will make your life a whole lot easier !! Where did you get TWO PZ18-200 lenses ?? I thought you only had one EA-50???

I think it will work perfectly and so easy to carry too!!!

Chris

The A7s has a little button which when you hold in overrides manual focus and engages auto for the duration it's held in - the autofocus is very smooth. I have this lens from my EA50 but I also have a VG20 which has the non-motorised version of the same lens. I may still go down the route of getting the Zeiss 24-70 F4 which will be fast enough on the A7s but I'll trial this setup first. My other cameras are still the CX730s

My next wedding is a hotel which will be a good trial but the week after it's a full Catholic mass - over an hour. Re-timing will slow my workflow down but the benefit of not faffing with several cameras (and the EA50 is not particularly light) makes up for it :)

I understand your pain in having to deal with too many camera's :) During brideprep I now use a panasonic gh4 with a 42,5 f1.7 which is stabilized for all beautyshots and a rx10 for general stuff that is going on, non of these 2 camera's have anything added and are used as bare as they are which works fine for me, I use both handheld now all the time.

Once I do longer continuous recordings like a ceremony I use two cx730's and one ax100, they are failasfe camera's and allow me to come home with good footage from beginning to end. I also use just one tripod that has a clamp attached to it with a separate head so I can mount 2 camera's on it.

Once reception starts a gh3 with 12mm f2.0 gets a permanent place on a steadicam and I again use the gh4 and rx10 handheld maybe 90% of the time and only use a tripod during speeches.

I have managed to trim down my gear to a point where I can move to and from locations with just one bag if needed.

My ideal setup however would also be a a7s which could replace my rx10 and gh4 if it had a stabilized fast enough zoomlens with decent autofocus but I am not going to be making such an investment anymore as I plan to build down my weddings to a point where I will stop doing them altogether.