Sony z7 and what else ?

[Glen Frank]

hi all, i have a sony z7 and use this for a couple of weddings, but really want to start offering clients a 2 camera setup...i have about £1000 in my budget all in...im thiniking of using the z7 still for the ceremony and speeces etc but need sometyhing lightweigth to do the rest/candids probably on a glidecam/monopod etc...im thinking a dslr is the way, but would it blend well with the z7 once ive played with it in post ? are the 600d canons any good for this with the cheapo is lens they come bundled with ? im thinking of at least a 17-55mm lens or somilar for htis price as well - if not should i just hire another z7 ?...thanks for your comments...

[Jeff Harper]

In my opinion, an FX1000 would be best thing to do short of going with a new main camera. A DSLR would work well as a third camera, but would be more problematic as a second. In my opinion the Z7 technology is outdated and that is the first thing I would replace. Your Z7 is 1440x1080, rather than 1920 like the tapeless cameras, and this is further reason that matching will be a pain in post, you'd be shooting in two different resolutions.

Can you do it? Of course you can. There are those who probably do this all the time who are happy.

DSLR is not fun for most people to integrate with a videocamera like the Z7. The learning curve will take up huge amounts of your time. The footage, depending on the lighting, will sometimes match better than others, but most of the time it will not.

An FX1000, in my opinion would be a good inexpensive replacement that would match your Z7 perfectly.

[Glen Frank]

great thanks, will give that a look...ive experince with stills slr and had a 5dmk2 a tyear or 2 back before i got back into video - should of probably kept it ! i use the cf recorder on the z7 so no tape for me. my worry over going comp[letly to dslr is the extra bits you have to lug around to do the job of a proper camera (xlr audio etc) and are they really ok once they have been hacked so they can record for hours at a time ?

[Glen Frank]

if this is the case then i might get 2 dslrs...and one of those beachteks

[Jeff Harper]

I shot with 4 DSLRs for awhile, it was a nightmare, but for one person it's too much. I now use 2 + 2. I can't imagine going to DSLRs for main cameras, but people do it every day. It's just a lot of work.

[Glen Frank]

thanks, 4 dslr ? blimey...im thinking that the z7 might be heading for ebay...its a great camera, image quality is great and is what im used to using but im gonna have to do some more reasearch before it does get sold as no idea what to replace it with...

[Jeff Harper]

I am a huge fan of the Canon XA-10. For the money you cannot buy a more flexible camera with XLRs. Images are superb. The images really match up well with DSLR footage, but it only shoots 24p and 1080i, I believe. It shoots up to 20db gain with virtually no noise.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Your Z7 is an amazing camera, I wanted one for a long time. I'm sure the XA-10 would seem very limiting with it's lack of manual controls, so you really do have a chore in front of you in selecting a new camera.

Video review of the Canon XA-10, XF100 and XF105 | Philip Bloom

[Glen Frank]

ive heard good reports on the gh2...if i sold the z7, and bought 2 of these, with a 20mm and the kit zoom lens (14-??) do you think that would be a good setup for a wedding, one locked off for cermony and speeches, the other (zoom) operated by myself...either tripod/slider etc...the image qualuty looks fantastic, especially when there hacked...no problems with running time etc and for audio i woudl use the built in mics for sync, and a couple of zooms with my sennheiser wireless if needed.......seems like it might be a good way forward....any thoughts out there???

[Jeff Harper]

I shoot with two GH2s and have owned about 20 lenses total.

I would give up my GH2s in a heartbeat rather than lose my XA10s for 90% of wedding work. It depends on your vision and workflow.

You could try what your propose, you might be happy. Keep us posted on what you do. it's a lot of work, very limiting to go with all DSLRs, but the payoff can be quite nice if you're skilled enough to pull it off.

You miss so many shots with DSLRs when trying to zoom and focus at the same time, I found it to be a nightmare. A fast zoom lens for the GH2 costs a minimum of around $1200K US. Slower than F/2.8 doesn't cut it. The affordable zooms are too poor in low light for dark churches, at least in my experience.

[Glen Frank]

yes the slow lenses would be a problem in a church, im gonna trail the web to review whats out there ;-) thanks