Buying adviceB-cam for the channel: R6 V, Nikon ZR, or just stay Sony?

Running a small tech/creator channel with an FX3 as A-cam and a ZV-E1 as B-cam for the overhead and second angle. The ZV-E1 is fine but I want something that matches better and can do open gate so I can cut verticals for shorts without reframing everything.

Looking at three options. The new Canon R6 V ($2,499, no EVF, has a fan, very clearly built for video). The Nikon ZR, the one co-developed with RED. Or just staying Sony and seeing what Sony does next.

Matching color across brands is my main worry. I don't want to spend every edit fixing skin tones between cams. I shoot S-Log3 on both now. Anyone running a mixed-brand setup? How bad is the matching really?

Mixed brands is fine if you shoot log and build a matching node in Resolve once. Shoot a chart on both under your actual studio lights, same white balance in Kelvin, not auto. Do your colour space transform to the same timeline space on both, then match the B-cam to the A-cam with the chart and save that as a node preset. Done. People overstate it massively, I've cut Lumix against Sony and Blackmagic on music videos and the audience has never once noticed.

The bit that's harder to match is the stuff a chart doesn't fix, highlight roll-off and how the noise looks in the shadows. Keep your exposure sensible and nobody sees it.

That said, the ZR's RED raw is a different beast to grade than S-Log3, you'd be learning a new pipeline as well as a new body. Lovely files, but for a B-cam on a creator channel I'd want it to be boring.

ben_carrick said:

build a matching node in Resolve once

this is the part I've been dreading tbh. I've never shot a chart in my life, I just eyeball it. is it really a one time thing?

zebrastripes said:

is it really a one time thing?

Once per lighting setup, roughly. If your studio lights don't change, basically once. If you're out on location in daylight, it's a quick tweak per scene, not a rebuild. The heavy lifting is the first match.

If channel is your income, I would stay in one system. Same menus, same batteries, same lenses, no surprises when you swap a lens between bodies in the middle of shoot.

A7 V as B-cam would match FX3 easily and you get proper stills as well for thumbnails. I have one. I only tested video at kids events and some indoor sport, nothing professional, but the S-Log3 matched my old A7 IV files without any effort, same LUT, small exposure tweak only. I would expect same with FX3 because colour science is shared.

Also lenses. If B-cam is Sony you can borrow lens from A-cam when you need, with Canon or Nikon you need second set of lenses or adapters, and that is where the real money goes.

Only thing I would check is the overheating for long takes in your room temperature, I can't tell you that because I never record more than 10 minutes.

zebrastripes said:

Matching color across brands is my main worry

Man, I run an R6 II and R6 III side by side at weddings and even same brand there's a small shift between them. Not huge, but enough that a bride watching her first dance film notices her dress go a different white between angles. I fix it with a quick node per camera in the edit and it takes five minutes a wedding.

Cross brand is more, because the log curves and the colour science aren't built to match. Not a dealbreaker, just budget the time. For a channel where you're turning videos around every week, I'd want the same brand just so I'm not doing it every single upload.

ok so far it's 2 votes stay sony, 1 vote 'it's fine just grade it'. the algorithm doesn't care what camera I use, I know I know. I think part of me just wants the shiny new thing for a 'switching to Canon??' video lol, which is not a good reason to by a camera

Clients don't care what camera you use, and neither do viewers. Nobody has ever unsubscribed because the B-cam was a Canon.

Stay in Sony, keep the batteries and lenses simple, and put the difference into lighting. A second key light and some proper diffusion will do more for how the channel looks than any body on that list. I've watched a lot of creators chase cameras when their real problem was a bare window behind them.

cdalton_photo said:

put the difference into lighting

Agree with this bit at least

zebrastripes said:

no EVF, has a fan, very clearly built for video

the R6 V having no evf is the funniest thing canon has done in years. that said for a locked off b-cam who cares lol

Update: rented an A7 V for a weekend shoot. Matched the FX3 basically straight out of the box with the same LUT, maybe a tiny tint nudge. Stills are a nice bonus for thumbnails. Pretty sure this is where I'm landing.

zebrastripes said:

Pretty sure this is where I'm landing.

Good. Happy to answer questions about settings if you go for it.

Thanks for coming back with the update, useful to see where you ended up.

Final update since a couple of people asked: haven't actually bought anything yet. Memory card prices are making me hold off on the whole thing lol, CFexpress for a second body is insane right now.