This camera is an extremely powerful tool for shooting gorgeous, gradable, professional videos. While all of the bells & whistles of this camera are great it's important to keep in perspective what kind of content will be created using this tool. I work at the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning at Western Kentucky University where we produce a number of different types of video content. Green screen work, interviews, guest speakers, on-location run & gun, and in studio productions. Our chief priority is image quality, color grade ability, long record time, on-camera audio control, and cost. With the Panasonic hot shoe audio unit, this camera fits the bill in all of those areas. Numerous YouTuber's have been on the offensive about the auto focus (in)capability, battery life, and 5-axis sensor stabilization. To address these specifically, the auto focus is a non-issue to me. As I mentioned before in regards to keeping in perspective the type of content being created with this tool, all of the content we create have the focus either locked down, or we use the focus assist with our external monitor to focus manually when not locked down. If autofocus is a chief concern for you, there are much cheaper options with better auto focus systems, aka Sony a6500. For the battery life, I can't believe this is even brought up as an issue. The camera is processing significantly more amounts of data than its previous generations, using the same battery from the previous generation, therefore requiring more from the battery thus draining the battery quicker. With this in mind, I shot for a 3 hour window using our dedicated audio unit, external monitor, and sensor stabilization and still had 1 bar left on the battery. Which I believe equates to at most 33.3% of the battery left. As for the stabilization, this has also been a non-issue. We've paired the body up with the Panasonic 25mm 1.7, and it looks smooth without any jarring or swaying. Pros: I explained our specific use earlier, but here is a list of the features I value the most: - 4:2:2 10bit - 5 axis sensor stabilization - Dedicated audio unit - No record limit - Hot swapable cards - Portability - Large Buttons - Mode lock - Physical button layout - Touch screen accuracy - Overlay focus assist, histogram, zebras, etc. Cons: To be fair, this camera does have some quirks. - After hitting the record button to stop recording, I've had the unit pause up to 5 seconds long until the camera indicated it no longer was recording. In one instance this lead to confusion of when we were and were not recording for the next take. - There have been several instances where the flip out screen is black with the display overlay for up to 10 seconds before the image shows. - Not being able to charge via the USB-C seems like a missed opportunity, although there are work arounds. - While this specific quark is photography based, out of the box and in Manual mode the camera does not have the Constant Preview option enabled. Out of the box, when looking at the EVF the camera appears to be setting auto exposure, even in manual mode, however it's not actually setting auto exposure. It appears to be attempting to intelligently show me proper exposure, but isn't actually changing the exposure settings. If while facing the front of the camera you hit the preview button to the left of the lens, it will give you an accurate representation of the actual exposure for the image. If the Constant Preview is enabled, the camera does this without having to hit that button. Coming from the Sony & Canon world, this was interesting and notable. In summary, this camera is the exact tool we needed for our department. It's cost effective, yet produces amazing video images. I couldn't be happier with the purchase.
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