GH5 vs. Sony A7Sii

[ThatSoundGuy]

Hello one and all!

I am planning a trip to Japan and I want to start a travel blog/vlog/channel and I'm looking at which camera to get. 

Uses:

• Portrait Photography
• Day/Nighttime photography/filming
• 60 fps 1080p and Possibly 60fps 4k (slightly just for slow-mo shots)

Main limiters I only have 2K to spend on the camera (Can find both bodies used/new for 2K>)

I use Adobe Premiere with the full Creative Cloud Suite

Will be editing on either a MacBook Pro or an XPS 15 and my personal computer.

 

I honestly am stumped on choosing between these two cameras. What are your suggestions?

 

[Radium_Angel]

You will always use the camera that fits better in your hands.

Go test each one out, see which one feels better to use, more natural. Better placement of controls.

[Enderman]

A7Sii is what I see almost everyone using, it's excellent for low light and video.

[thekillergazebo]

I’m a Sony use and I love it, BUT it cost a lot for Sony lenses. Think of the lenses you need to get the job done and price them out for both. Also how important is low light proformance and megapixels? The Sony has a much larger sensor so low light it’s hard to beat.

[Mihle]

The Sony have better Video autofocus at least, less "hunting".

GH5 do have 10 bit video while A7SII do 8 bit, GH5 does higher framerate, A7SII is better in low light

[cc143]

You do realise you need stuff like lenses, tripods, batteries, storage media, bags etc.?

 

So, Assuming you already have every accessory I mentioned above, or you budgeted them separately, then, both would suck for photography given the amount spent, both would be excellent for video. The gh5 has a tiltable screen, which is optimal for vlogging, but its AF is crap. The Sony's is better, but no tiltable touchscreen. Sony is FF, therefore, better in low light, dynamic range etc. shallower depth of field, Gh5 sensor is tiny, but that means lenses can be smaller etc. I would probably go for the sony personally due to the AF being useable, which is very important when vlogging, and the GH5's MFT sensor will be much worse in low light. 

 

But as I said, neither are worth it for photography. 

 

You could also look at the a6500, which has advantages over both, larger sensor than the gh5, AF capability, touchscreen, smaller than either, better for photography than either, costs less and I would expect you'd be able to get some reasonably priced lenses. Mind you, you will also need a portable battery bank, since Sony cameras have infamously bad battery life. 

 

I assume you are in the US, therefore, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1349267-REG/sony_alpha_a6500_mirrorless_digital.html something like this should be within your budget . (That's an a6500 +18-105mm f/4 IS+ some other small accessories, for (1996$)) 

 

After that, I'd get a gorillapod and a shotgun mic: 

Joby gorillapod SLR Zoom- 41$: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/633362-REG/Joby_GP3_BHEN_Gorillapod_SLR_Zoom_Flexible_Mini.html

Rode videomic go- 101$: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1017550-REG/rode_videomic_go_on_camera_shotgun.html

 

If you are concerned with going overbudget, maybe look for a used a6500 and 18-105 on ebay, or alternatively the 16-70mm should also be fine, if you can find one. 

 

Sigma has just started releasing some primes for the Sony system which you may wanna take a look at. They are very cheap, well made and would be great as a second portraiture lens. Apart from that, to be honest I don't really like the lens options for Sony, which is why I usually recommend people forget about 4K, get something like an 800d or d5600 and invest in glass.

 

Sigma and Tamron are doing amazing stuff for APS-C now, the 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50-100mm f/1.8 are amazing all rounders and I'm sort of jealous there's no real equivalents for Full frame, they are usually cheaper too. Problem is, with Sony you'd need to adapt, run into incompatibility, the glass is huge etc.  

 

[xQubeZx]

2 hours ago, cc143 said:

You do realise you need stuff like lenses, tripods, batteries, storage media, bags etc.?

 

So, Assuming you already have every accessory I mentioned above, or you budgeted them separately, then, both would suck for photography given the amount spent, both would be excellent for video. The gh5 has a tiltable screen, which is optimal for vlogging, but its AF is crap. The Sony's is better, but no tiltable touchscreen. Sony is FF, therefore, better in low light, dynamic range etc. shallower depth of field, Gh5 sensor is tiny, but that means lenses can be smaller etc. I would probably go for the sony personally due to the AF being useable, which is very important when vlogging, and the GH5's MFT sensor will be much worse in low light. 

 

But as I said, neither are worth it for photography. 

 

You could also look at the a6500, which has advantages over both, larger sensor than the gh5, AF capability, touchscreen, smaller than either, better for photography than either, costs less and I would expect you'd be able to get some reasonably priced lenses. Mind you, you will also need a portable battery bank, since Sony cameras have infamously bad battery life. 

 

I assume you are in the US, therefore, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1349267-REG/sony_alpha_a6500_mirrorless_digital.html something like this should be within your budget . (That's an a6500 +18-105mm f/4 IS+ some other small accessories, for (1996$)) 

 

After that, I'd get a gorillapod and a shotgun mic: 

Joby gorillapod SLR Zoom- 41$: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/633362-REG/Joby_GP3_BHEN_Gorillapod_SLR_Zoom_Flexible_Mini.html

Rode videomic go- 101$: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1017550-REG/rode_videomic_go_on_camera_shotgun.html

 

If you are concerned with going overbudget, maybe look for a used a6500 and 18-105 on ebay, or alternatively the 16-70mm should also be fine, if you can find one. 

 

Sigma has just started releasing some primes for the Sony system which you may wanna take a look at. They are very cheap, well made and would be great as a second portraiture lens. Apart from that, to be honest I don't really like the lens options for Sony, which is why I usually recommend people forget about 4K, get something like an 800d or d5600 and invest in glass.

 

Sigma and Tamron are doing amazing stuff for APS-C now, the 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50-100mm f/1.8 are amazing all rounders and I'm sort of jealous there's no real equivalents for Full frame, they are usually cheaper too. Problem is, with Sony you'd need to adapt, run into incompatibility, the glass is huge etc.  

 

I agree with most of this. I’d personally rather get the A6500 over the A7s ii at the sacrifce of the insane low light as that can be fixed with and LED panel. The video specs are way better on the A6500 and AF is miles ahead. (The A7s only got contrast detection AF where as the A6500 got hybrid af (contrast + phase detect)) 

 

Lens wise, you get to spend a bit more, but what many fails to realise that most od them are very good which may be why they are a bit more expensive. Like the new Canon and Nikon lenses are quite similar in price, but they also have a huge selection of lenses made in the latest 10 years that of course will be cheaper. 

 

Lenses to reccomned are the 18-105 f/4, 35 1.8, sigma 60 2.8 sigma 30 1.4 and samyang 12mm f/2. These are all APS-C ones but there is quite a few good ff lenses aswell. 

 

 

[thekillergazebo]

Yeah I didn’t think about it but yeah the a6500 is awesome for video and I would say better for stills then both. Also I’d look at the 10-18 for wide video shots. It’s is really awesome and has great AF in video. The sigma 18-35 f1.8 is also a popular video lens I see Sony users buying. A friend has it and uses it for most of his video and stills work.