EA50 - B camera ideas

[Ryan James]

Hi all,

I've been following this forum for a while and have been both enjoying and educating myself!

I joined up to ask a question about a suitable 'b camera' to accompany the EA50 - My heart and head is set on the EA50 as it ticks a lot of boxes for corporate/wedding/broadcast work.

Mainly for the wedding work I will also need a 'b camera' - I'm hoping someone here can give personal opinions or suggest a few suitable options.

I'm leaning towards the Panasonic GH3 - but I was also considering the Sony NX30. I've mainly worked with Z1's before this so to have these options to hand now is a huge jump in picture quality. Feel free to throw out other suggestions that may work - max 1800euro/2000USD. If cheaper options available I'd consider buying 2 x 'b cameras'

At the moment though, my main question concerns matching footage between the EA50 and the GH3/NX30: Would it be a tricky ongoing issue or a simple process once established? Would love to "sign off" on this once and for all as I don't think I can spend much longer researching stuff online!

Thanks in advance.

[James Manford]

To match footage you absolutely cannot go wrong with either a Sony NEX 5N (cheap as chips), VG20 or VG30.

I would personally go for the VG20 purely for the fact a pre-owned one on ebay can be had for well under £1000 now.

[Steven Digges]

Get the VG20 or 30. A good sensor march like that is hard to find. And the new VG30s come with the same lens as the EA50 so your golden.

Steve

[Gabe Strong]

I have a FS100 for my A camera. I found a VG20 on eBay from a video dealer ( out of respect for
DVinfo sponsors I won't name names) for under $1000 and it was a demo unit, practically
brand new. It has been a fantastic B cam, I will be posting comparison footage soon.

[Ryan James]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

The vg20 and vg30 were both options I looked into after reading this forum but the Panasonic won me over as I can use it for timelapse and stills - and it's readily available from an EU supplier. I'd prefer to buy new, as opposed to second hand or grey import - have been stung before...

The NEX-5N is an impressive little camera! Thanks for that, I found this clip which makes it even more worthwhile considering:

wedding video with sony nex 5n - YouTube

I was speaking with someone last night and they said that unless you have two of the same cameras, the image will not be the same, so there will always be a need to adjust/match footage. Makes sense. I'm sure a Sony option already suggested may be closer to the EA50 than a Panasonic GH3. Or am I over-thinking it?

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Ryan James

Thanks all for the suggestions.

The vg20 and vg30 were both options I looked into after reading this forum but the Panasonic won me over as I can use it for timelapse and stills - and it's readily available from an EU supplier. I'd prefer to buy new, as opposed to second hand or grey import - have been stung before...

The NEX-5N is an impressive little camera! Thanks for that, I found this clip which makes it even more worthwhile considering:
wedding video with sony nex 5n - YouTube

I was speaking with someone last night and they said that unless you have two of the same cameras, the image will not be the same, so there will always be a need to adjust/match footage. Makes sense. I'm sure a Sony option already suggested may be closer to the EA50 than a Panasonic GH3. Or am I over-thinking it?

Very true.

If were talking about buying new. Then I would personally go for the NEX 5N due to price. It is also a fantastic, discreet little camera. Very unobtrusive. And perfect to take with you on holidays as well !

That wedding video above is awesome ... and just shows what it is capable of in the right hands!

[Noa Put]

That wedding video above is awesome

I had been thinking of getting a nex6 and supply it with a 14mm wide angle for my blackbird steadicam untill I saw how much moire it produced, much worse then the ea50. The footage in above trailer from the nex5 does look ok but I don't like how the camera handles highlights, then I think the bmc pocket camera would be a much better alternative as it's just a bit more expensive and from what I have seen so far it's sharper and handles highlights much better, but no 50p on that one unfortunately.

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I had been thinking of getting a nex6 and supply it with a 14mm wide angle for my blackbird steadicam untill I saw how much moire it produced, much worse then the ea50. The footage in above trailer from the nex5 does look ok but I don't like how the camera handles highlights, then I think the bmc pocket camera would be a much better alternative as it's just a bit more expensive and from what I have seen so far it's sharper and handles highlights much better, but no 50p on that one unfortunately.

Seems like every camera has it's pro's and con's.

The BMC Pocket has the same form factor as the NEX 5N so will be a good option too.

[Don Bloom]

Originally Posted by James Manford

Seems like every camera has it's pro's and con's.

The BMC Pocket has the same form factor as the NEX 5N so will be a good option too.

Yep, there is no such thing as a "perfect" camera. I've said it for years, different tools in the toolbox for different jobs.

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

Yep, there is no such thing as a "perfect" camera. I've said it for years, different tools in the toolbox for different jobs.

This quote could not be more relevant.

From Philip Blooms facebook page:

"Don’t get it. Bought same tennis racket as that Federer fella yet I am still sh*t. #NoMoreAnalogies :) learn with what you have!!!"

[Ryan James]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

Yep, there is no such thing as a "perfect" camera. I've said it for years, different tools in the toolbox for different jobs.

Thanks for posting this - I'm still leaning towards the GH3 as a 'b camera' as it offers more options being a video camera and alternate DSLR-type camera. It can get confusing looking up the multiple options - they're all good for something! But I think the EA50 and GH3 combination will best suit my workload this year.

Thanks everyone for all the input, much appreciated. Won't be using both cameras in combination until mid summer but will post up some clips for reference when I have them.

[Dmitri Zigany]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Get the VG20 or 30. A good sensor march like that is hard to find. And the new VG30s come with the same lens as the EA50 so your golden.

At least here in Sweden, the VG30 costs almost as much as the EA50, so then a second EA50 would be a better buy. Personally a used VG20 without lens would be the best if the price was right.

[Erik Wittbusch]

As far as I know, these cameras share all the same sensor:

NEX-5 + VG10
NEX-5N + VG20 + NEX-5R + VG30 + EA50

I like the ability to tune your image via the picture profiles with the EA50. With no pp, I really don't like the picture out of the EA50. Very harsh highlight handling, very poppy colours, sharpening artefacts... All in all very videoish or DSLRish. With some tuning or profiles from Abel Cine like the JRE45cine2, the picture is much more cinematic with the ability to save highlights and shadows in post.

Please correct me, if i am wrong here:
The VG line does not offer any picture profiles or similar funtionality, absolutely nothing.
The NEX-5N/R offer some picture profiles, which are very poor and simple but nevrtheless better then nothing. I believe that I can produce a more cinematic look with the 5N/R so one of these will be my future B cam.
Some input to tweak the 5N/R here:
Flaat Picture Styles fot the Sony NEX-5N - www.similaar.com

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Erik Wittbusch

As far as I know, these cameras share all the same sensor:

NEX-5 + VG10
NEX-5N + VG20 + NEX-5R + VG30 + EA50

I like the ability to tune your image via the picture profiles with the EA50. With no pp, I really don't like the picture out of the EA50. Very harsh highlight handling, very poppy colours, sharpening artefacts... All in all very videoish or DSLRish. With some tuning or profiles from Abel Cine like the JRE45cine2, the picture is much more cinematic with the ability to save highlights and shadows in post.

Please correct me, if i am wrong here:
The VG line does not offer any picture profiles or similar funtionality, absolutely nothing.
The NEX-5N/R offer some picture profiles, which are very poor and simple but nevrtheless better then nothing. I believe that I can produce a more cinematic look with the 5N/R so one of these will be my future B cam.
Some input to tweak the 5N/R here:
Flaat Picture Styles fot the Sony NEX-5N - www.similaar.com

The VG30 has picture profiles ... don't know if it is similar to the EA50's PP.

And I agree about the video quality of the EA50 with no picture profile selected ...

It's too bright, colourful in my opinion and video-ish as you say!

I like my modified PP3 I think it's the CineAble look.

[Erik Wittbusch]

Originally Posted by James Manford

The VG30 has picture profiles ... don't know if it is similar to the EA50's PP.

As far as I found out, there's nothing like the EA50 picture profiles on the VG line, not even something close.
I really cannot find any information about this. But I know, that the VG10/20 don't have this feature. They have just 1 "cine-like" thing with no further tweaking possible. DIal it in or not...
This is my biggest complain together with the rolling shutter, which was way more on the VG20 than with the EA50.