Hi all. So I’m close to completing my midsize project studio and wanting to be able to offer decent quality video recording as part of my services

I have a couple old go pro and a Nikon D7000 dslr

But I’d like to be able to do more multi camera type video
Reading a few threads here and doing some research to he panasonic LUMIX G5 seems to tick a lot of boxes

Also I see a camcorder type format UX90 that’s pretty reasonable at around $1400 new

I’d only be using these in the studio for now if it makes a difference

I have a couple rooms and booths so multiple cameras seems the way to go Could use the ux90 on a tripod and maybe the G5 for more options and handheld stuff.
Maybe get one of those stabilizer setups I’ve seen which smooth out the motion a lot ?

I’m pretty much a newb but willing to put in the time to learn this side of things.

Thoughts ? Those of you with similar type facility and who do this I’d love to hear what you’ve learned as far as what’s the best way to go as a start

Can you provide more detail of what you would be filming with the cameras? That might help with recommending the right choice.

One thing - multi-camera setups require more consideration to make it easier for you in post. How do you intend to synchronize the various camera files? Simply relying on waveform sync or more traditional time code sync? Waveform sync has gotten a lot better, but is never 100%. Timecode is much better, but it requires cameras that have the appropriate inputs which rules out most DLSRs.

The Panasonic GH5 is a contender, in fact actually the GH5S model is more suited, as it's optimized around video capture more than the regular model.

Other considerations are around look. Small sensor cameras don't provide as much depth of field as larger sensor. Now in the bigger picture this is sometimes and overrated quality and gets too much attention. But it does go back to what type of look you want to accomplish.

The other element is has to do with the lighting conditions in your studio. Do you need cameras that can produce beautiful results in relative low light, or can you light the studio so that you have a broader range of cameras to chose from.

(I come primarily from a video background in my work)

I’m envisioning incorporating video into tracking bands and artists for both documentation and art purposes.. Good low light quality as I’d like to keep the vibe I have going.. maybe use more lighting if I’m doing a video to background music or more a music video type thing. The multiple cameras would allow for different angles etc. fretboard or instrument close ups. My lighting system in the studio consists of 12 v track lighting which throws a nice warm light and is dimmable.. I imagine I’ll need some type of extra lighting as well tho


From my brief research I was thinking of something like the G5(I’ll look into the S version). And the UX90 camcorder which does have the bigger sensor I think. But I’m basically a newb so I may not be thinking of everything here

I’ve been experimenting with Da Vinci Resolve which seems like a great program and makes fairly good sense and have an IMac 5k and a trashcan as well to work with the video.
I’m thinking to spend maybe 4K or so but realize the cameras I mentioned will eat most of that so maybe have to bump up a bit for some other things I haven’t thought of.

Any thoughts anyone has I’m interested to hear.. It’s a whole new world lol. But I think it will be important to be able to offer this kind of service

Thanks in advance!

Makes sense. I would recommend against the UX90 (or similar camcorders). They generally don't too well in low light conditions, and good video is very light hungry, more than you might think. Also, if you have a high contrast situation, where some of your track lights create strong highlights on a person or instrument but you also have lots of shadow areas, you want to to look into cameras that support recording in log formats (s-log, v-log, etc) as that gives you more dynamic range to work with. That usually doesn't apply to camcorders like the UX90. Also the UX90 has a fixed zoom lens, which limits your long-term lens choices.

The UX90 has a 1" sensor, which is still tiny (it has a diagonal of 15mm, vs. M43 cameras like the GH5 has 21mm, regular video cameras are around 26mm, and a full frame DSLR like Canon or Nikon are 43mm). The bigger the sensor the more light it picks up and also the more depth of field you get.

Given your budget and that you likely want to keep lighting similar to what you have now, I would look in the DSLR style range and look for cameras (and lenses) that are good in low light. The GH5 supports v-log. New Canon cameras now support c-log I believe. And some of these cameras support 'dual native ISO', which means when you film at higher ISO (due to low light), the noise will be more manageable.

That still doesn't address your synchronization entirely. You probably will end up having to do it via waveform match, as the camera choices that support timecode solutions probably limit you too much at this budget level.

Resolve is a good software option for, it's free up to UHD, and just $299 for the full 4K version.

Maybe I start off tomorrow org the G5s and vlog. And get a good lense with it and use that and my D7000 which I have some decent low light lenses already


I could work with those and the go pros for a while and learn some more and save for another camera later
It looks like the s version is set up for time code

I think
But probably plenty to start with and get into the nitty gritty with for a while

Sounds like a good place to start. Also keep in mind that it's pretty easy to rent a lot of these cameras for day or two to give them a spin before you commit.

I have no dog in this race, but if you're considering resolve would the pocket cinema camera 4k from blackmagicdesign be an option?

It should be in the same range as thePanasonic GH5 i think, and it should get support for their raw format eventually. Also easy integration with resolve, no?

Just throwing that out there.

Did you mean to say the bigger the sensor the more/better bokeh you get... That's 'less' depth of field.

[ Digital Camera Sensor Sizes: How it Influences Your Photography ]

Yes, thanks for the correction. I tend to think of it more as an effect rather than distance (i.e. depth). But I should be more precise with my words.

Might be a good option indeed! Plus it includes the full resolve license which is 299

I could even afford 2 with lenses. Not rushing into this so I’ll do some more research but this might be a good option

Seems to be popular with somewhat limited availability tho

Thanks!

I'm using the Blackmagic Pocket 4K.
For your stated use it would be cheaper than the GH5s, and better quality, especially in low light. However, there is a very long waiting list for this new camera.
I personally would find a cheaper interim solution and not spend $$$ on the Panasonic.
A lot of online studio videos are made with Go_Pro.
Obviously not ultimate quality, but OK for Youtube and Instagram.
Multi-cam?
Getting hold of two BMPCC4K's right now would be nigh on impossible.

Just a couple of related things:

1- My a Fusion 9 Studio license just arrived 10 minutes ago. I ordered it because its dongle also enables the full Studio version of DaVinci Resolve, and it includes a ProRes for Windows function. This licensing info is straight from a post by Dwaine Maggart in BlackMagic Tech Support.

2- Beware that the BMPCC4K's *lowest* recording rate is 5.6MBytes/sec for regular HD. That's over 20GBytes/hour. The lowest UHD recording rate in the BMPCC4K is 22.4MBytes/sec, about 81GBytes/hour. Of course, if you intend to shoot RAW UHD, then you're already prepared for CFast cards, and the data management challenges of 400+ GBytes/hour per camera.

I believe the bmpcc 4k will get blackmagic raw later which requires significantly less space i think.

Yes, BRAW is pending. Which will be a very small sized codec that is also very high quality. In the meantime I'm using a very affordable Wise SSD. ProRes HQ does not use up as much data and is superb quality.

I found this one comment about the BRAW file sizes to expect. Obviously we still have to wait for a real-world test, and how options for 10-bit and 8-bit affect file sizes:
----------
What makes Blackmagic RAW so special is just how small the 12-bit RAW files are. For example, a UHD Blackmagic RAW file shot in 12:1 compression has a data rate of just 32MB/s. As a comparison that data rate falls in between a ProRes Proxy and ProRes LT file. At 8:1 a UHD file is 48MB/s. At 5:1 it is 76MB/s. At the lowest compression of 3:1, the data rate is a rather small 127MB/s, that’s comparative to a ProRes 422 file.

Sourced from...
[ Blackmagic RAW explained – IBC 2018 - Newsshooter ]
-------------

That allows 12-bit UHD shooting at 115GBytes/hour at 12:1, and 457GBytes/hour at 3:1.

Mr. @ chrisso has obviously adjusted to the new world of large files when he says that "ProRes HQ does not use up as much data" in that it's 396GBbytes/hour in UHD. I'm still trying to adapt to these daunting numbers as I wander (lost and anxious) into the video forest.

I make three minute films usually.
Recently I shot about an hour of footage to edit into three minutes, but often I'm shooting much less.
I do have an SSD (Wise) and a large Raid HD system.
Can't wait for Braw though.

Well I have some time. I can fool with my dslr and go pros and start getting comfortable with the software.

Figure out what I think I need additionally. I still have my cabling paths open so maybe I should run 1 or two hdmi cables to each room.

Then I could have an atomos recorder in the control room feeding some screens

Is that a good way to set up? Can’t hurt to have cables I guess

Anyone else do this?

Are they planning to ramp up production at black magic to meet the demand?

Thanks for the help!! Hadn’t checked back in a while and not getting notified when people reply to this thread

There are so many angry people waiting for Pocket 4K's, I presume production is already ramped to the max.

Wow. I’m not in a rush or anything. I’m still finishing my cabling and installing gear at the new space I’ll be busy with that for a bit and use what I have for now,then check out the situation a bit down the road

Hi All! I’m back lol

I just had my opening party Friday night but have since recovered lol. I’ve been thinking about this more. I like the idea of the black magic PC 4K cameras and am thinking to maybe get a par of those and then maybe a couple go pro hero 7 black. Also I’ve noted some systems to integrate time code with the go pro cameras as well as the pc4k.

What about recorder monitors? The atomos shogun studio looks interesting given that I will be static in my situation and I could monitor my pair ofpc4k from the control room. I did not run hdmi to every room ������ but I do have usb and cat6 everywhere ..I think I can use an adaptor from hdmi to usb to get things back to computer or recorder in control room.
I am still mulling this over and haven’t sweated the details yet but thought to see if I could get some feedback on the concept. Does this sound half decent and viable?

Thanks in advance
Tim

Bumpty. Alternatively can anyone direct to a forum for this kind of thing where I might be able to educate myself better?

Look at dvxuser.com

Thanks David appreciate it!

Looks like a good place for sure !