Panasonic GX85 4K - Miami & Caribbean

2021 - The Caribbean with my friend, Doc.

The Panasonic GX85 was my A Cam until I recently upgraded to the Sony A7S III. I still cannot believe the quality of video you can get with this camera (which is around only $300) if you are patient with it. The OIS and built in stabilization is extremely good even with longer lenses. I use Sigma 30mm 1.4 (around a 50mm full-frame equiv.) Although under more stressed circumstances such as fast movement it can easily look very amateur. The focus is another hard thing to deal with. I usually go completely manual because the auto focus system is unpredictable, although It is better than a Canon Rebel T5 I can assure you. I would describe the base image quality as "filmic" and very unique, but know that this footage has been color graded. It produces marvelous greens so it's great for nature (skin tones and shadows, not so much), It is very soft and even though it doesn't have the highest dynamic range it still somehow produces a smooth roll-off. It even has a certain level of halation which gives it even more of a vintage and filmic look. Overall, it is a worthy camera especially for it's price. I would highly recommend it as a starter film-making camera.

P.S. The underwater footage is from an iPhone, not the Panasonic system. On that subject, don't upload your 4k 120fps iphone footage to google photo and expect it to retain it's quality. It's easily downgraded to a nasty 1080p it seems like.