Discuss - For Hybrid Stills/Video - Nikon Z6 or Panasonic GH5s?

gryphon1911

Hall of Famer
Location
Central Ohio, USA
Name
Andrew
So, as most of you know, doing a good job and being successful leads to more work! :)

Backstory:
I was until recently the Production Leader for my church. That team is tasked with lighting, multimedia, live streaming and sound engineering for our weekly services and special events. I've been doing that for 2 years. My Director decided that I should head up our new Visual Media group. This group will be charged with capturing and creating content for use in weekly services, special events and what not. So, I found a replacement for my Production Leader role and now I need to build this new team from scratch. I've got 8 hopeful volunteers already.

Requirements/Question:
As part of the new team, we want to buy a setup that we can use for capturing both stills and video. We don't need 4k, but we do need a setup that works well in low light situations because of our theatrical lighting we do during some parts of the service.

I'm partial to the Nikon Z6 because of the sensor size, low light capability and the great AF system in video.
I discussed this scenario with my friends at Midwest Photo and they recommended to me that the Nikon Z6 is great, but to not rule out the Panasonic GH5s.

I did some research and IQ of the GH5s is actually very good in video mode. It does have some advantages in video over the Z6....but the AF is still a plus to the Z6.

The reason I keep coming back to that is because of volunteers. I need to be able to have a setup that is very straight forward and easy for someone not experienced in video can handle. My fear is that the GH5s might be a little too daunting in controls and setup for them, plus - if they needed to rely on manual focusing....that could be an issue.

Prices are relatively the same across the board, so I'm not too worried about that being a deciding factor. We will have gimbals and if high quality audio is needed we can pull from the sound board and just use the on camera audio as reference to sync.

The only other thing that gives me a smidgeon of concern is the 10mp sensor for stills on the GH5s. I probably shouldn't be so concerned, but cropping might be a factor, although I know it probably should not be. So in actuality, I'm going to take that out of the consideration. So really it is just comes down to this most likely:

* Ease of use for a newcomer, but robust enough for an advanced user
* Best in low light performance

So, what am I missing that I should be considering?
Am I being too biased toward Nikon because of my familiarity and being too dismissive of the GH5s?

I eagerly await your responses. This has helped me, just think it out some more...but I also value the communities expertise, experience, and ability to think outside the box.

Thanks in advance! Andrew
 
Have you considered a X-T2 or T3? Or, tracking down a used Sony FS100?

Thought about the XT series...but having just recently gotten back into Fuji, I've not had a chance yet to dig into the video chops of the system. It was discussed that there are quite a few local videographers in my area that are running Fuji XT3 video setups.

We stayed away from the dedicated video cameras because of the hybrid nature of what we want to do. However, perhaps I should be looking into dedicated equipment for each use case.
Based on your suggestion, I'll definitely start researching the Sony FS100 and similar cameras.

Thank you.
 
Fuji’s video capabilities jumped forward substantially with each XT body. And they are pretty straightforward to operate. Which is why I suggested it. Plus, as you said, you are getting back into Fuji so there will be lens compatibility.

The Sony I mentioned because it has incredible video. The stills pulled from its video look good. And I believe you can adapt your Nikon lenses to it.
 
You really can’t go wrong, whichever route you decide to go. All the cameras are capable of great video and stills.

That is the great thing. I guess I'm going to dig into the GH5s handling and interfaces. Years ago when I first got into m43, I went Olympus because I gelled with the interface and controls better. I've not looked into a Panasonic since I played with the idea of the GX7.

Guess it's time to check it out again! :)
 
From a conceptual standpoint, if you are working with volunteers, simpler is better. IMHO, the closer you can get to: "all they have to do is frame the shot," the better.

If they have to "ride focus," unless they are willing to practice and get good at it, that's probably not so good.

Cheers, Jock
 
From a conceptual standpoint, if you are working with volunteers, simpler is better. IMHO, the closer you can get to: "all they have to do is frame the shot," the better.

If they have to "ride focus," unless they are willing to practice and get good at it, that's probably not so good.

Cheers, Jock

You know how it is at churches...you'll get a few very dedicated, but you might also get a bunch of fly by night, newby Christians that are there and gone. I'm just wanting to make sure that I'm realistic about the whole thing.

Simpler is definitely better at this point and that is one of the top factors.

We got into a predicament in the past because we had one person who did it all. Between burnout and lack of time, things just didn't get done timely. While the quality of the output was exemplary, I want to spread the workload out to prevent burnout and to be able to push items through the pipeline faster. I feel there are a lot of things we can be doing concurrently, compressing the project timelines, versus having one person doing it all and being the critical path with a linear work path.

I've lucked out and so far I've gotten 4 confirmed volunteers, with another 2 still thinking about it and 2 more to talk with.

Wish me luck!!
 
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