A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed.

Roger Gunkel · July 12th, 2015, 09:48 AM

Seems a shame that Panasonic have emasculated the AG-AC8 as some of the cameras features are extremely useful. The same sensor seems to be used as on other recent cameras, and the convenience of a shoulder mounted camera is not to be sniffed at. They are obviously disabling some of the features to avoid taking sales away from higher priced shoulder mounted cams.

Looking at the manual on the Sony, it also seems to be using a current sensor, and again has some very useful features like wifi, double recording, stabilisation and various other useful bits that you don't see on the small cams. They don't mention ISO but there is definitely manual gain control which is the same thing. It looks as though almost all the normal functions are manually controllable, shutter, focus, aperture, gain, audio levels etc. Zebra zoning, peaking, and histogram views are also available.

I'm not sure why the lowlight performance shouldn't be as good as any other camera with the same sensor, but it's always difficult to tell with YouTube videos as half of them are posted by people who haven't got a clue. It would be interesting to get hands on at some point as that's the only real way to tell.

Roger

Chris Harding · July 12th, 2015, 07:51 PM

Hi Roger

To be honest I have never tried out the Sony entry level shoulder mount cameras ...if it's still on the market it MUST be reasonably good ... I thought they do purposely cripple low priced cameras so they don't lose sales on the fancier ones so one cannot expect the same features on the 2500 as the FS700 has!! I'm actually quite surprised that Panasonic have included such amazing features on the FZ1000 considering it's a sub $1000 camera .... It actually has way more features than my AC-130's had in the firmware which is not normal considering the 3 times price difference!

Yeah, the only real way to choose would be to try them all out. Wouldn't it be great if the UK (and Australia) had a B&H where you can go into a big warehouse and try out a big range of cameras!

Chris

Roger Gunkel · July 13th, 2015, 03:58 AM

I think the lack of ISO/ gain control on the Panny is a big no for me, but the jury is still out on the Sony. What I would hope for is the same facilities as some of the smaller cams with the same modern sensor, plus the extras like the dual recording, external mic, extra mountings, easier to select controls, bigger batteries etc all in a shoulder mount body for ease of use. I wouldn't expect the same facilities as the higher end big cams, but then for most of my work a lot of the top line pro stuff is not required, neither are interchangeable lenses for the use I would expect.

Roger

Chris Harding · July 13th, 2015, 04:42 AM

On the MDH2 you can change ISO/Gain actually ...the iris wheel goes down to the widest aperture and if you continue on the wheel in manual it starts adding gain until it reaches the maximum gain ISO .. so if you are in a situation where there is not enough light with the iris open you can continue to add gain up to where you feel is enough ... my Panasonic HMC72's and 82's had the same function.

Roger Gunkel · July 13th, 2015, 04:58 AM

Not as flexible as manually setting the gain and still having aperture control, but I suppose it goes part of the way.

Roger

Anthony Lelli · July 13th, 2015, 07:09 AM

I am truly impressed by the JVC-HM70. Events indoor with average light come out better than my X70. It's a little front-heavy for a shoulder mount, so I put 1.2 lbs weight on the back of the shoulder pad. Now stays on the shoulder like a charm (can hold it with one hand). Impressive HD (shoots only 1080p60), clean and sharp.The audio is weak, needs good microphones (3.5mm). With a sennheiser wireless the sound is OK. If you need a backup track or ambient then a sony CS3 sounds fine. (needs a hosa splitter, 2 mono to stereo). if you need a shotgun then definitely a sony ecm-cg50 (that gets plug-in power from the camera)
the HM70 is now my main camera, and the X70 stays on the tripod as a B . Seriously.
the other annoying thing is that it only uses a dedicated and unbelievably expensive remote for zoom.(varizoom or bebob). Bought one used for 100 bucks (still expensive LOL)
other than that goes on youtube and on DVD beautifully with little or no processing at all (as shot pretty much all the time). The files are small, writes any card. What can I say.. it's a keeper. Bought it as a demo at the store, 800 US bucks. Beside the good quality of the footage is also a pleasure to shoot, on the shoulder for hours with no fatigue and no heavy frankenrigs.
nuthing else to say, it's a good camera , great controls except the audio

July 12th, 2015, 09:48 AM	#31
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. Seems a shame that Panasonic have emasculated the AG-AC8 as some of the cameras features are extremely useful. The same sensor seems to be used as on other recent cameras, and the convenience of a shoulder mounted camera is not to be sniffed at. They are obviously disabling some of the features to avoid taking sales away from higher priced shoulder mounted cams. Looking at the manual on the Sony, it also seems to be using a current sensor, and again has some very useful features like wifi, double recording, stabilisation and various other useful bits that you don't see on the small cams. They don't mention ISO but there is definitely manual gain control which is the same thing. It looks as though almost all the normal functions are manually controllable, shutter, focus, aperture, gain, audio levels etc. Zebra zoning, peaking, and histogram views are also available. I'm not sure why the lowlight performance shouldn't be as good as any other camera with the same sensor, but it's always difficult to tell with YouTube videos as half of them are posted by people who haven't got a clue. It would be interesting to get hands on at some point as that's the only real way to tell. Roger Last edited by Roger Gunkel; July 12th, 2015 at 09:49 AM. Reason: Typo

July 12th, 2015, 07:51 PM	#32
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. Hi Roger To be honest I have never tried out the Sony entry level shoulder mount cameras ...if it's still on the market it MUST be reasonably good ... I thought they do purposely cripple low priced cameras so they don't lose sales on the fancier ones so one cannot expect the same features on the 2500 as the FS700 has!! I'm actually quite surprised that Panasonic have included such amazing features on the FZ1000 considering it's a sub $1000 camera .... It actually has way more features than my AC-130's had in the firmware which is not normal considering the 3 times price difference! Yeah, the only real way to choose would be to try them all out. Wouldn't it be great if the UK (and Australia) had a B&H where you can go into a big warehouse and try out a big range of cameras! Chris

July 13th, 2015, 03:58 AM	#33
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. I think the lack of ISO/ gain control on the Panny is a big no for me, but the jury is still out on the Sony. What I would hope for is the same facilities as some of the smaller cams with the same modern sensor, plus the extras like the dual recording, external mic, extra mountings, easier to select controls, bigger batteries etc all in a shoulder mount body for ease of use. I wouldn't expect the same facilities as the higher end big cams, but then for most of my work a lot of the top line pro stuff is not required, neither are interchangeable lenses for the use I would expect. Roger

July 13th, 2015, 04:42 AM	#34
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. On the MDH2 you can change ISO/Gain actually ...the iris wheel goes down to the widest aperture and if you continue on the wheel in manual it starts adding gain until it reaches the maximum gain ISO .. so if you are in a situation where there is not enough light with the iris open you can continue to add gain up to where you feel is enough ... my Panasonic HMC72's and 82's had the same function.

July 13th, 2015, 04:58 AM	#35
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. Not as flexible as manually setting the gain and still having aperture control, but I suppose it goes part of the way. Roger

July 13th, 2015, 07:09 AM	#36
Anthony Lelli Major Player Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: New York City Posts: 329	Re: A Cheap shoulder mounted cam needed. I am truly impressed by the JVC-HM70. Events indoor with average light come out better than my X70. It's a little front-heavy for a shoulder mount, so I put 1.2 lbs weight on the back of the shoulder pad. Now stays on the shoulder like a charm (can hold it with one hand). Impressive HD (shoots only 1080p60), clean and sharp.The audio is weak, needs good microphones (3.5mm). With a sennheiser wireless the sound is OK. If you need a backup track or ambient then a sony CS3 sounds fine. (needs a hosa splitter, 2 mono to stereo). if you need a shotgun then definitely a sony ecm-cg50 (that gets plug-in power from the camera) the HM70 is now my main camera, and the X70 stays on the tripod as a B . Seriously. the other annoying thing is that it only uses a dedicated and unbelievably expensive remote for zoom.(varizoom or bebob). Bought one used for 100 bucks (still expensive LOL) other than that goes on youtube and on DVD beautifully with little or no processing at all (as shot pretty much all the time). The files are small, writes any card. What can I say.. it's a keeper. Bought it as a demo at the store, 800 US bucks. Beside the good quality of the footage is also a pleasure to shoot, on the shoulder for hours with no fatigue and no heavy frankenrigs. nuthing else to say, it's a good camera , great controls except the audio