The middle of the line camera..

[Adriaan Kirchner]

Hey Folks,

Im here looking for some outlook and advice from you. Im a proud owner of an Epic Dragon and like many of you, occasionally find myself in the position where the Dragon is too expensive for client or just plain over kill for the situation. Up until this year i've used my Canon 5D Mk III as the camera for this situation, but it just doesn't cut it anymore. I think the camera looks soft and seems to be subpar to the other lower end cameras available now...So whats the fix? I've been looking into the Canon 1dc since the price dropped, the A7s with EF adapter, and the cheapo gh4 which gives off a surprisingly nice image (minus the crop). Of course it'd be nice to have a camera that could be cut in with my upper scale shoots when i shoot dragon.

What do you guys/gals think? :emote_headwall:

Thank you!
Adriaan

 

[Marc Wielage]

I know of several people looking at the AJA Cion and the BMD Ursa, both of which are under $10,000, but be aware that lenses, camera support gear, storage, and batteries are many times the cost of the camera itself. It may also be possible that in the long run, you'd be better off renting a Dragon rather than buying a less-expensive camera. One thing that rarely goes bad is investing in good glass -- lenses can hold their value for years and years.

 

[Adriaan Kirchner]

I know of several people looking at the AJA Cion and the BMD Ursa, both of which are under $10,000, but be aware that lenses, camera support gear, storage, and batteries are many times the cost of the camera itself. It may also be possible that in the long run, you'd be better off renting a Dragon rather than buying a less-expensive camera. One thing that rarely goes bad is investing in good glass -- lenses can hold their value for years and years.

Thanks for the reply Marc. I hear you...but in my opinion both those cameras are far too large for a second cam. Im thinking in the size of A7s/c300-c100/1d C. I already own a Dragon so i don't need something thats going to compete with it, just something better off for lower budget shoots, run and gun type work, and the everyone in awhile B cam.

 

[Shane Kelly]

I've been looking at the sony fs7 for a while and got to use it over the weekend on a shoot. I have to say that it's a perfect b-cam/doc cam, great on the shoulder and the e-mount gives you lots of lens options - I used it with my red 17-58 zoom. The viewfinder flips up and the lcd screen is very good. It will run forever on a battery and the xqd cards hold a lot of footage.
I'll probably buy one soon.

 

[Brian Merlen]

i just read a review on how Cion is really 7-8 stops of dynamic range like BMCC 4k... Nofilmschool had the review, it also said Amira was really 13.1 stops of measured range, but that is a far cry from 8 stops of measured range (independently measured, not marketing material from internal tests)


I personally would just grab a Scarlet, or an old MX brain vs dealing with sub par cameras.. What if I got a shot off I loved and now its 8 stops or HD or something that I'll kick myself for later? I'd rather still have a decent negative...Or what about shooting the Red with a on board recorder to cut costs? Straight to compressed and baked in is what they get, and you keep the 5k/6k masters (if you even want to dump them at all on a drive?)

That would reduce the Red functionality to a point where its almost like a second camera, without the costs of buying a second camera! Pretty sweet deal lol?

 

[Sergio Perez]

Provided you have very fast CF cards and don't mind the form factor (and huge file sizes), I can only say good things of the Canon 1DC. I used it as a B cam to Epic and Dragon on a motorsport event for 2 years now. Works wonderfuly and creates a surprisingly good picture out of the box. Make sure to install cine style profile though!

 

[Marc Wielage]

i just read a review on how Cion is really 7-8 stops of dynamic range like BMCC 4k... Nofilmschool had the review, it also said Amira was really 13.1 stops of measured range, but that is a far cry from 8 stops of measured range (independently measured, not marketing material from internal tests)...

Sadly, it would seem that you get what you pay for.

 

[Justin McAleece]

The GH4 is a great option. While using it as a second angle on interviews I shoot with my Epic, it can cut surprisingly well.

 

[Kyle Gentz]

The GH4 is a great option. While using it as a second angle on interviews I shoot with my Epic, it can cut surprisingly well.

+1 on the GH4, when using the metabones speed booster it becomes a much better crop factor.