Lately it has come to my attention that I shoot as much or more video than photos, these days. I have had the great honor of doing some work experience with some very talented videographers here in Cork over the past few months, from full blown commercial shoots in a stadium to smaller, stage-based shows in super low light.

On all of these occasions, I was shooting on Sony because of the client requirements and the gear available to my team. The auto focus, good god. Let me tell you a story.

One time I was trying to shoot someone using a Hurley to keep up a sliotar, and wanted to orbit around him a little to the right. All I had to do, was tap on his head one time and it locked to his eye. If he went out of frame, and came back - still locked on. Subject moves in front or one-another? Locked on. Made the day’s work so much easier, and the low light performance of the Sony A7S I used was just insane compared to my Lumix G9.

It has become known to me, however - that I may not need to upgrade to Sony for my professional video work as I originally thought I would. There is another contender in the ring, the S2 Mark II.

Full frame, and with auto focus to match or beat the Sony nine times out of ten, the S5 II also has some seriously high spec video features that make it a professional creators dream camera. Great photo specs too, but as I eluded to, right now my priority is better video. My photos, are fantastic quality already. The main reason for wanting to stay within the Lumix world is UI and user friendliness. The menus are superb, and the button layout is perfect for me. Sony cameras have always felt a little small in my oversized hands. Even with the G9’s relatively small size, it is extremely ergonomic.

Sony has the AF, and the great line-up of quality glass. That is not to say the full-frame Lumix doesn’t have great glass to choose from. It does, just not quite as much and there are certainly more options available for Sony when you look at adapting lenses.

So in conclusion, I intend fully on upgrading my current G9 setup to a full-frame S5 II setup in the next 12 months. I highly doubt I will get rid of my lil’ G9. It is simply too nice of a camera and was the first camera I actually made money with, so it holds a special place in my heart. I will likely just sell the pro-line lenses I now own, and downgrade to some nice, compact prime lenses.

Images plucked from Google, all rights to their respective owners.