Budget Friendly Camera with Mic Input and IBIS? (Around $400 used?)

Is there a more-or-less budget-friendly m43 camera that would have a mic input (and decent built-in preamps) and have IBIS? Preferably around the $400 mark for the body only would be great. Used is fine.

I would like to get something for my 13-year-old son, and would probably want to slap a shotgun mic in the hotshoe. A flip out screen would be ideal because I am sure he is going to want to shoot himself (figuratively speaking, of course).

I was thinking of getting a used Panasonic G7 but realized it doesn't have IBIS.

Off The Mark wrote:

Is there a more-or-less budget-friendly m43 camera that would have a mic input (and decent built-in preamps) and have IBIS? Preferably around the $400 mark for the body only would be great. Used is fine.

I would like to get something for my 13-year-old son, and would probably want to slap a shotgun mic in the hotshoe. A flip out screen would be ideal because I am sure he is going to want to shoot himself (figuratively speaking, of course).

I was thinking of getting a used Panasonic G7 but realized it doesn't have IBIS.

Dpreview has a camera features search page , never used it but maybe worth a try

https://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#!

PhotoTurtle wrote:

The only thing that seems to even come close is the G85 (G80). It has mic input and IBIS, and some of the bodies have been selling on ebay for between $400 and $500. I'm not as familiar with the Olympus models, so can't speak to their offerings.

Thanks for the reply.

Speaking of the G85...

I see it is on sale for $797 including the 12-60mm OIS Kit lens. I have a $200 credit at Adorama so that might work.

So now I have to decide if I go for the BMPCC4K as my A Cam, or for the GH5 as my A Cam and the G85 as my B cam / son's camera...

PhotoTurtle wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

Dpreview has a camera features search page , never used it but maybe worth a try

https://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#!

That's really cool! I didn't realize it existed. It seems that Olympus E-M5 mark II is the cheapest camera (used) at the moment with both features. Then the Panasonic G85 and GX8.

I only looked at recently after seeing someone mention it in a thread, with the OP's interest in video maybe Panasonic would be a better bet though the Olympus IBIS is great for hand held video

PhotoTurtle wrote:

Off The Mark wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

Speaking of the G85...

I see it is on sale for $797 including the 12-60mm OIS Kit lens. I have a $200 credit at Adorama so that might work.

So now I have to decide if I go for the BMPCC4K as my A Cam, or for the GH5 as my A Cam and the G85 as my B cam / son's camera...

You're welcome.

It's up to you. That would still be about $200 more than you had specified. See the message from James and my reply to him. It looks like GX8 and E-M5 mark II would also be possibilities.

As for BMPCC4k vs GH5, I think it really depends on what kind of work you're hoping to do with it. The BMPCC seems more geared specifically to cinema-style video shooting, while the GH5 seems more geared to everyday, run-and-gun, documentary, etc style of video production, plus photography.

Yeah, you are right on both counts.

I am pretty undecided at the moment.

I currently shoot with sony a6500 (real estate stills and video) and I kind of hate the a6500. The usability (or lack thereof) drives me crazy. Plus the 8-bit video is in a very compressed codec and falls apart when doing basic color correction.

GH5 appeals to me for doing stills (although sony stills are excellent) and for using on a gimbal.

The BMPCC4K appeals to me for the sheer ability to recover over-exposed highlights and / or underexpose two stops and bring it up in post, even when using prores codec (if shooting at ISO 400). In real estate videos, we don't get a chance to light, so wide DR is a real problem.

Yeah, sony S Log has wide DR but it is a real pain to work with, and again, being both 8-bit AND highly compressed, it falls apart real easily unless you absolutely nail both the exposure AND the color / white balance.

The question about the budget-friendly camera is because if I move from Sony to M43, I would want an m43 camera for my son (to replace the a6000 / a5100 he uses, which are ok but not great cameras).

I probably need to think on this more...

Speaking of the G85...

I see it is on sale for $797 including the 12-60mm OIS Kit lens. I have a $200 credit at Adorama so that might work.

I got the G85 kit on Greentoe for $700 last week, including tax and shipping for a new USA version.

PhotoTurtle wrote:

Off The Mark wrote:

PhotoTurtle wrote:

Off The Mark wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

Speaking of the G85...

I see it is on sale for $797 including the 12-60mm OIS Kit lens. I have a $200 credit at Adorama so that might work.

So now I have to decide if I go for the BMPCC4K as my A Cam, or for the GH5 as my A Cam and the G85 as my B cam / son's camera...

You're welcome.

It's up to you. That would still be about $200 more than you had specified. See the message from James and my reply to him. It looks like GX8 and E-M5 mark II would also be possibilities.

As for BMPCC4k vs GH5, I think it really depends on what kind of work you're hoping to do with it. The BMPCC seems more geared specifically to cinema-style video shooting, while the GH5 seems more geared to everyday, run-and-gun, documentary, etc style of video production, plus photography.

Yeah, you are right on both counts.

I am pretty undecided at the moment.

I currently shoot with sony a6500 (real estate stills and video) and I kind of hate the a6500. The usability (or lack thereof) drives me crazy. Plus the 8-bit video is in a very compressed codec and falls apart when doing basic color correction.

GH5 appeals to me for doing stills (although sony stills are excellent) and for using on a gimbal.

The BMPCC4K appeals to me for the sheer ability to recover over-exposed highlights and / or underexpose two stops and bring it up in post, even when using prores codec (if shooting at ISO 400). In real estate videos, we don't get a chance to light, so wide DR is a real problem.

Yeah, sony S Log has wide DR but it is a real pain to work with, and again, being both 8-bit AND highly compressed, it falls apart real easily unless you absolutely nail both the exposure AND the color / white balance.

The question about the budget-friendly camera is because if I move from Sony to M43, I would want an m43 camera for my son (to replace the a6000 / a5100 he uses, which are ok but not great cameras).

I probably need to think on this more...

Ah, ok, that's a pretty specific usage scenario, and I can see why having raw plus wide DR would be useful to you. It sounds like the BMPCC4K might actually be a better solution for you because of that, as long as you can use some external stabilization solution, like tripod, dolly, gimbal, etc. You would also probably want a separate camera for stills. Either the a6500 or go larger sensor maybe for the wide angle, resolution, and DR benefits (I think?). That's interesting to hear about those real world pitfalls of working with the a6500 by the way.

yeah, shooting real estate (both stills and video) is kind of demanding in it's own way, namely, turnaround time and dynamic range.

I could certainly get the G85 for stills (16mp is more than enough for real estate) and the BMPCC4K for video (will have to get a better gimbal because it won't work on my original Crane gimbal). But then wofcrow has a video out on 50 reasons why the GH5 is better than the BMPCC4K.

I woud kind of like to stay with one system (i.e.,, either m43 or sony), instead of mixing and matching. Yeah, i am doing we enough financially that I can afford more than one system with lenses, but once I start including all my audio and led lighting and other stuff, I just have so much "equipment sprawl" that I can't keep track of things. So having lenses in redundant focal lengths is kind of crazy.

I would also like to start shooting stock as well (both stills and video), although i am completely unsure of what most stock agencies require in terms of resolution. I assume m43 would be capable of shooting stock, but don't want to swear by it.

PhotoTurtle wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

Dpreview has a camera features search page , never used it but maybe worth a try

https://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#!

That's really cool! I didn't realize it existed. It seems that Olympus E-M5 mark II is the cheapest camera (used) at the moment with both features. Then the Panasonic G85 and GX8.

Unfortunately the OM-D E-M5 II does not have 4K video. The E-M10 III does have 4K video but it doesn't have a mic input.

Generally Panasonic MFT cameras are better featured for video than Olympus.

G Rash wrote:

Speaking of the G85...

I see it is on sale for $797 including the 12-60mm OIS Kit lens. I have a $200 credit at Adorama so that might work.

I got the G85 kit on Greentoe for $700 last week, including tax and shipping for a new USA version.

Thanks for the tip. Will look into greentoe.

Off The Mark wrote:

Is there a more-or-less budget-friendly m43 camera that would have a mic input (and decent built-in preamps) and have IBIS? Preferably around the $400 mark for the body only would be great. Used is fine.

I would like to get something for my 13-year-old son, and would probably want to slap a shotgun mic in the hotshoe. A flip out screen would be ideal because I am sure he is going to want to shoot himself (figuratively speaking, of course).

I was thinking of getting a used Panasonic G7 but realized it doesn't have IBIS.

Does it have to be a micro 4/3rds camera? The FZ300 would appear to be perfect for the job:

• Current list price is $400
• External microphone support
• Fully articulating screen
• Weather sealing
• IBIS
• 25-600mm equivalent fixed f/2.8 lens
• Sure the sensor is 1/2.3" and not 4/3rds, so it might be less effective in low light situations, but the f/2.8 lens gives you 1-2 stops over the cheaper consumer lenses.

I see in reading other posts, you might be considering the G85 with the 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.  That too is a fantastic combination, though at $800 it was out of your budget range.

A used Olympus E-m5 mark II with one of the cheaper zoom lenses might be also useful (if you want weather sealing, consider the Olympus 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens).

Michael Meissner wrote:

Off The Mark wrote:

Is there a more-or-less budget-friendly m43 camera that would have a mic input (and decent built-in preamps) and have IBIS? Preferably around the $400 mark for the body only would be great. Used is fine.

I would like to get something for my 13-year-old son, and would probably want to slap a shotgun mic in the hotshoe. A flip out screen would be ideal because I am sure he is going to want to shoot himself (figuratively speaking, of course).

I was thinking of getting a used Panasonic G7 but realized it doesn't have IBIS.

Does it have to be a micro 4/3rds camera? The FZ300 would appear to be perfect for the job:

• Current list price is $400
• External microphone support
• Fully articulating screen
• Weather sealing
• IBIS
• 25-600mm equivalent fixed f/2.8 lens
• Sure the sensor is 1/2.3" and not 4/3rds, so it might be less effective in low light situations, but the f/2.8 lens gives you 1-2 stops over the cheaper consumer lenses.

Thank you, will certainly look into it.

I was kind of hoping it to do double duty as a stills camera as well. The thought is that it would be my son's main camera (he is 12 going on 13) and be my C camera.  I would probably get some combo of GH5 / BMPCC4K / G85 as my A and B cameras.

I will definitely look into it though. I imagine most anything he would shoot would be daytime or I would set up my LED lights for him.

Off The Mark wrote:

I will definitely look into it though. I imagine most anything he would shoot would be daytime or I would set up my LED lights for him.

I believe I have done some normal indoor shots without flash with the FZ300.  Sure it is noisy but probably up to ISO 1600 it can be dealt with, and as I said the f/2.8 lens helps.

Note, I haven't actually shot video with the FZ300, as I use the G85 primarily for video (the FZ300 uses the same battery as the G85, which is helpful).  But one of the reasons I got it was to be a backup for the G85.

For me, the FZ300 is more the zoo or festival camera, where I don't want to take the whole shoulder bag and multiple lenses.  It is my second most used camera of the year.

Michael Meissner wrote:

Off The Mark wrote:

I will definitely look into it though. I imagine most anything he would shoot would be daytime or I would set up my LED lights for him.

I believe I have done some normal indoor shots without flash with the FZ300. Sure it is noisy but probably up to ISO 1600 it can be dealt with, and as I said the f/2.8 lens helps.

Note, I haven't actually shot video with the FZ300, as I use the G85 primarily for video (the FZ300 uses the same battery as the G85, which is helpful). But one of the reasons I got it was to be a backup for the G85.

For me, the FZ300 is more the zoo or festival camera, where I don't want to take the whole shoulder bag and multiple lenses. It is my second most used camera of the year.

Thanks for the input. Thinking maybe step up to the FZ1000 depending on if there is much of an improvement in image quality. (larger sensor). Yeah, that puts it over $400 but then no need to buy a lens.

Off The Mark wrote:

Thanks for the input. Thinking maybe step up to the FZ1000 depending on if there is much of an improvement in image quality. (larger sensor). Yeah, that puts it over $400 but then no need to buy a lens.

That might make sense, though for me there were some minor turn-offs with the FZ1000:

• It isn't splash proof. While I don't go out looking for storms to shoot in, I've shot with my splash proof cameras in a lot of rain storms in the last few years, plus for things like taking them on flume rides and the Niagara Falls boat ride where you do get wet. For the FZ300, I was looking for an all-in-one camera to use when I didn't want the full gear bag, and being splash proof meant I had to be less concerned about the weather.
• The FZ1000 does not have a touch screen. Particularly when I'm shooting video on a tripod, I find the touch screen to be extremely useful to set the focus point. However, it does support the wireless app, so I would imagine you could use the phone app to set the focus point.
• When I bought the FZ300 (used) it was much cheaper than the FZ1000. With the current Panasonic USA discount, the new FZ1000 is only $100 more than the FZ300.

Speaking of remote control, I've started using the phone to control my fixed lens compact cameras. With the compact cameras, you can control the zoom from the phone app. With micro 4/3rds cameras, you only have 4 lenses that support electronic zoom. These lenses are older, slower lenses, but if your son is interested, they do exist. You want to look for either the PZ (Panasonic power zoom) or EZ (Olympus electronic zoom) suffix on the lens.

Of course if you are primarily shooting video and want better auto focus, perhaps you should look at camcorders instead. Perhaps the Pansonic HC-V770HK or HC-V800 if you don't need 4K video.  Or the Panasonic HC-VX981K or HC-VX1 if you do need 4K.