Sony PXW-FS5 XDCAM Super 35 Camera System with Zoom Lens Professional Camcorder, Black (PXWFS5K)

Seriously the best cinema camera to own rather than rent.Add RAW with Shogun Inferno:And you have a super small ultra light 4K 60p cinema camera as good as anything costing 20K.Plus 240P in HD as long as you like.Because it came out two years ago, it is probably being ignored, but the new RAW option makes it the best and most maneuverable cinema camera available. To get any better you will have at least five and probably ten times the weight.

This review is not about the FS5 body, it's about the combination of the body and the kit 18-105 lens1. In manual focus when zooming out using either the rocker on the grip or the one on the top handle focus is frequently lost to varying degrees sometimes it goes wildly out of focus. This is not a backfocus issue, it is unpredictable and different every time. Focus will snap back in if you zoom in, even a small amount. This does not happen if you zoom using the lens ring or the slider control on the side of the lens.2. In manual it is very difficult to fine tune focus. Using the focus magnifier on the long end of the zoom at f4 you will see that as you turn the focus ring slowly the results are unpredictable. Sometimes it will work as desired, sometimes nothing will happen at first then it will jump considerably out of focus. This makes it near impossible to follow say an interview subject who leans back and forth. However, in an interview situation the autofocus with face recognition will follow the moves.