Filmmakers’ Black Friday Shopping Guide – GH5, A9, 80D, EVA-1, MZED, DJI and much more

How To

by Bato ProsicNovember 23^rd, 2018

Black Friday is here and with it lots of great deals from our partners at B&H and CVP, as well as many other deals we have sought out for you. Theses deals are some of the best of the year, with the Panasonic GH5, Sony a9, Panasonic EVA-1, Canon 80D, drones by DJI, monitors by SmallHD and also lots of software to check out. MZed in particular is offering great discounts for their educational content. With this week longer version of our weekly deals post we have looked through loads of deals for you. Let’s get started!

B&H: Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera with V-Log L Activation Code Kit – $500.00 Discount

A lot has been said about the GH5 and with 4k 60p at up to 400Mbps, or 4k 24p 10bit 4:2:2 it is still a compact, yet powerful video production powerhouse. With the V-Log update that is included here it enters into professional usage territory and with the new and improved autofocus it is able to more than stand its ground among the mirrorless competition. Also included in the kit is an additional battery, which will expand the GH5’s already excellent runtime with its 1750mAh capacity.

Buy link: Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera with V-Log  Was: $1,997.99 Now: $1,497.99 – Savings $500.00

B&H: Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera – $1,000.00 Discount

The Sony a9 was the camera that layed to rest the sentiment that Sony couldn’t make camera bodies for real “Pro”s. With 24.3 MP, shooting 20 fps RAW, with continous autofocus, no viewfinder blackout and a buffer that just won’t quit the a9 convinced quite a few doubters and showed that mirrorless actually provides technical benefits apart from size. Sony might not have released a camera to directly answer the announcement by Panasonic, Nikon and Canon, but lowering the price of this camera by a $1,000.00 is not the worst  strategy. Internal 4k recording, 3.7m OLED VF, 693 AF points, ISO up to 204,800, silent shutter, built-in wifi and bluetooth, dual SD Slots, joystick and touch operation are just a few of the best features.

Buy link: Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera Was:$4,498.00 Now:$3,498.00 – Savings $1,000.00

B&H: Rokinon AF 14mm, 35mm, and 50mm Three Lens Kit for Sony E – $447.00 Discount

You’d be hitting the ground running with this useful kit of ultrasharp, full frame, fast Rokinon primes. With the wide angle low distortion 14mm at F2.8 and the razorsharp, yet very neutral 35mm F1.4 and 50mm F1.4 there will be little you can’t do either photographically or in everyday filmmaking. Pair them with the Sony a9 from above and you might be one happy run and gun hybrid shooter. Of course these would also work with APS-C line of Sony Mirrorless cameras. Oh, and there is also the price: the Sony Zeiss 35mm F1.4 would set you back just as much as this whole kit.

Buy link: Rokinon AF 14mm, 35mm, and 50mm Three Lens Kit for Sony E Was: $1,896.00 Now: $1,449.00 – Savings $447.00

B&H: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera (Body Only) – $500.00 Discount

Some of Canon’s offerings have been beaten on by the internet quite heavily and the Canon 5D Mk4 is certainly among those. However you can’t argue with the fact that among professional photo- and video journalists it’s still heavily used and highly regarded. With its tank-like sturdy build, 30MP 7fps and 4k DCI at 30p, as well as Canon’s famous Dual Pixel AF, built-in GPS, WiFi and NFC, its feature set is not to be trifled with. Inlcuded in this kit is also the battery grip, a Sandisk 64GB SD card and a shoulder bag.

Buy link: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera (Body Only) Was: $3,299.00 Now: $2,799.00 – Savings $500.00

B&H: Canon EOS 80D DSLR Camera with 18-135mm Lens – $600.00 Discount

The Canon 80D has a lot of similar features to the 5D Mk4 from above: Canon’s excellent Dual Pixel AF, built-in WiFi and NFC, and it records very high quality 1080p 60p. The profile is very different though. The 80D, sporting an APS-C sized sensor, has long been and still is, the go-to camera for budding filmmakers and vloggers, with its solid and dependable performance, swivel screen, reliable AF and good overall video quality and colors. In this kit you also get a 32GB Sandisk SD card, a second battery and a shoulder bag.

Buy link: Canon EOS 80D DSLR Camera with 18-135mm Lens Was: $1,799.00 Now: $1,199.00 – Savings $600.00

B&H: Nikon D750 with Battery Grip, Battery, SD-Card and Shoulder Bag – $600 Discount

With all the mirrorless craziness going on right now, one could easily forget that cameras like the Nikon D750 are still highly dependable and nearly indestructible workhorses for any hybrid shooter. The first of our deals features a full frame 24 MP sensor shooting  6.5 fps with continous autofocus and 1080 60p with good autofocus. The battery grip improves the FPS in photo mode, and the battery pack will keep you shooting for hours. The included shoulder bag provides ample storage space for the body, two lenses and a few accessories.

Buy link:  Nikon D750 with Battery Grip, Battery, SD-Card and Shoulder Bag  Was: $1,996.95  Now:$1,396.95 – Savings $600

B&H: ASUS ProArt PA32UC 32″ 16:9 Wide Gamut IPS Monitor – $300.00 Discount

The Asus ProArt PA32UC sports a 10bit UHD 32″ IPS panel, capable of doing HDR10, with a 5ms response time, 60Hz, 1000nits and 138ppi, at under $2000. With its excellent gamut coverage (99.5% Adobe RGB, 95% DCI-P3, 85% Rec. 2020, 100% sRGB) and very flexible I/O (Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort, HDMI and 4 port USB-Hub) it is a monitor capable of being used for grading, or general usage, as well as gaming and movies. Color temperatures can be modified, it supports HDCP 1.4 & 2.2, a 14-bit internal lookup table, 384 zone dynamic local dimming, Picture-in-Picture and much more. Full featured is almost an understatement.

Buy link: ASUS ProArt PA32UC 32″ 16:9 Wide Gamut IPS Monitor Was: $1,999.99 Now: $1,699.99 – Savings $300.00

B&H: Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017, Silver) – $700 Discount

No you don’t need the latest MacBook Pro to work on even 4k video. This 2017 model with the 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core, 16GB of 2133 MHz RAM, 256GB SSD, 15.4″ 2880 x 1800 Retina Display, AMD Radeon Pro 555 Graphics (2GB GGDR5) and four (!!) Thunderbolt 3 ports will work just fine. Connect it to an external eGPU or the Asus monitor above and you’ll have a machine capable of working on grading, or even 4k RAW editing. At this price, if you like the operating system or if you enjoy working with Final Cut X (yes there are some people), it’s hard to beat its cost-benefit-ratio.

Buy link: Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017, Silver) Was: $2,399.00 Now: $1,699.00 – Savings $700.00

CVP: EVA1 – €970.16 Discount

Want a cinema camera that can output 5.7k RAW and fits in a small backpack? The Panasonic EVA-1 might be for you. With its 5.7k Super 35 Sensor with exceptional image quality  using the widely availble EF-mount natively, the EVA-1 will feel at home on most any kind of shoot. Not only can this tiny camera shoot 4:2:2 10bit at 200Mbps  internally to relatively cheap SD cards, with firmware 2.0 and an Atomos recorder, you can also recored 5.7k ProRes Raw and grade the image to your hearts content.

Buy link: EVA1 Was: €5,631.04  Now: €4,660.89 – Savings €970.16

CVP: SMALLHD 702 7″ MONITOR KIT – €671.21 only!

Little needs to be said about this monitor. It is and has been used by many a cinematographer as their main on-camera monitor on Hollywood movies. Not by accident. With its perfectly useful 7″ size, 1280×800 resolution, HDMI and SDI inputs and excellent viewing angles it is a cinematographers’ mainstay. It can desqueeze anamorphic, import and apply LUTs, apply image overlays, PIP, Waveform, False Color, Zebra, Peaking, Histogram, Vectorscope and it also cross converts signals. It also uses the same LP-E6 batteries the Canon cameras above use. Just saying.

Buy link: SMALLHD 702 7″ MONITOR KIT Now: €671.21

CVP: ZHIYUN CRANE 2 – €134.91 Discount

The Zhiyun Crane 2 has enjoyed tremendous popularity. With its excellent capacity range of between 1 lbs / 500g and 7lbs / 3.2 kg it will balance most anything, from your little a6300, over to the larger GH5 or BMPCC4k and even up to the Sony FS5, Canon C100 and C200. It also features 360° rotation for those trendy shots you might like to try, as well as all the usual follow modes we have come to expect and a focus wheel, that works with the GH5 and Canon cameras (Sony cameras can be zoomed, and recording started/stopped). It comes with a nice carrying case, should strap, exchangable batteries and all cable required to use it with different cameras.

Buy link: ZHIYUN CRANE 2 Was: €581.90 Now: €446.99 – Savings €134.91

CVP: SLR MAGIC 8 MM F4 – MFT – €157.93 Discount

Remember how you thought that crop on your MFT camera would never ever become a problem even in close quarters? Well, if you turned out to be wrong about that, here’s the tiny, super-affordable and fully manual SLR MAGIC 8mm F4 to help you out. We’ve reviewed this lens and it has been featured in our guide about native ultra-wide angle MFT lenses. It can’t be overstated how small and light this lens is. Maybe it can help you keep things more pocketable. At this price it’s worthy to be part of your arsenal.

Buy link: SLR MAGIC 8 MM F4 – MFT Was: €279.20 Now: €121.27 – Savings €157.93

DJI: Save up to 30% on Mavic Air, Mavic Pro Platinum and Osmo Mobile 2 – Savings up to 30%

DJI is not letting up. After the release of their Mavic 2 and Mavic Zoom drones and earlier this year the DJI Ronin-S, they are now offering some of their older models at great prices. You can get the Mavic Air, Mavic Pro Platinum and Osmo Mobile 2 at up to 30% off, as well as many other great DJI products. Just check it out.

Buy link: DJI Black Friday up to 30% off – Savings up to 30%

MZed: Education for creatives

MZed has long been one of the prime resources for very high quality filmmaking (and related) education in the form of online courses. Big names are on there, such as cinematographers Shane Hurlbut and Philip Bloom, or Vincent LaForet and recently our very own Ollie Kenchington. We’ve just reviewed his course and he was kind enough to give us an interview about becoming a colorist as well. His course is among the deals presented here, as is Philip Bloom’s. You should definitely check out MZed even if you are a seasoned filmmaker already.

Buy link: MZed Pro 12 month membership – Was: $299.00 Now: $199.00 – Savings $100.00

Buy link: Philip Bloom’s Cinematic Masterclass – Was: $199.00 Now: $79.00 – Savings $120.00

Buy link: Mastering Color – Was: $199.00 Now: $149.00 – Savings $50.00

Buy link: Bundle MZed Pro and Mastering Color – Was: $498.00 Now: $329.00 – Savings $169.00

Buy link: All courses at least 50% off 

Tilta: Tilta G2X & Nucleus Nano Black Friday Bundle – $420.00 Discount

This kit might just be called a steal. The Tilta G2X was one of the first gimbals to incorporate the design, now favored by the Ronin-S, Moza Air 2 and other gimbals, allowing the user to view the back screen of the camera, by lowering the roll axis motor. It has a very high load capacity of 8 lbs / 3.6 kg, a bracket to keep the camera more steady, a stand and now it also comes with the recently released Nucleus Nano wireless focus motor. The motors control can be attached to either side of the gimbals handle and also supports record start/stop functions.

Buy link: Tilta G2X & Nucleus Nano Black Friday Bundle Was: $1,019.00 Now: $599.00 – Savings $420.00

SmallHD: FOCUS Black Friday International Bundle – $193.95 Discount

Another entry by SmallHD, now in the more consumer-oriented department, this no-worry Focus bundle will give you 5″ daylight viewable FOCUS monitor with its great arm, sunhood and screenprotector all necessary cables and an international charging kit at the price that of formerly just the monitor. The FOCUS has all the usual SmallHD goodies, like False Color, Peaking, Zebra, Waveform, touch screen operation and many many more.

Buy link: FOCUS Black Friday International Bundle Was: $692.15 Now: $499.00 – Savings $193.95

Syrp: Genie II Genie Mini 3-Axis Kit – $382.40 Discount

This kit comprised of the Magic Carpet Slider, the Genie II and the Genie Mini, will give you full 3-axis and slider automated camera movement, with Syrp’s high build quality and thought-out design details included. You can do motion timelapses, parallax slides in interviews or use it for stitching together repeatable camera movements.

Buy link: Genie II Genie Mini 3-Axis Kit Was: $1,815.00 Now: $1,432.60 – Savings $382.40

Hedge: Hedge – Backup Software for Filmmakers 40% off

Still copying your footage by hand to multiple locations? Well you shouldn’t. First of all, you could introduce corruption to your files, second you could loose track, and lastly it will be annoying to copy the footage to backup as well. This is where Hedge comes in. Using its Fast Lane engine it makes the copying process faster, copies to multiple locations at once, applies checksum tests to verify your data’s integrity and gives you a log of everything it has done in the end. Checkpoint and Canister work with Hedge to ensure the integrity of your backups and to make working with LTOs easier. Have a look.

Buy links:

• Hedge 40%off
• Hedge Extended 40% off
• Hedge Updates 40%off
• Canister 40%off
• Checkpoint 40%off
• Bundle: Hedge & Foolcat 40%off
• Bundle: Hedge & Canister
• Bundle Hedge, Canister, Foolcat and Checkpoint 40% off

Lesspain Software: Kyno and Kyno Premium 40% off – €64.00 and $140.00 Discount

Once you’ve copied everything over with Hedge, Kyno might help you weed out the unnecessary stuff, even before going into your NLE of choice. With Kyno you can browse, search, screen, convert, combine, apply LUTs and set markers, create subclips, export annotations to Excel, and do batched metadata entry and renaming. If you work with lots of footage, Kyno will make your life easier.

Buy link: Kyno and Kyno Premium 40% off Was: €159.00 and €349.00 Now: €95.00 and €209.00 – Savings €64.00 and €140.00

Bright Tangerine: Black Friday Sale – Discounts Up to 40%

Bright Tangerine is known for making very premium camera accessories, such as grips, baseplates, rod systems, cheese plates, follow focuses and some of the best matte boxes out there. If that sounds like something missing in your arsenal go and check out their Black Friday offering of up to 40% discount now.

Buy link: Bright Tangerine Black Friday Sale  – Savings up to 40%