OK, so I have spent a small amount of money following
Uli Plank lobbing a pebble into a still pond suggesting (perhaps tongue-in-cheek) a Sony FX9. Frankly, other than briefly considering an ENG-style Ursa mini and concluding I didn't want to spend that much money, I didn't properly consider a cine-oriented video camera (not that I want to spend that much money on that, either). Note;
robedge nails it with his observation regarding 4K on YouTube because available stats indicate half of views are on a phone (I'm not making Gone With The Wind and the hoi polloi are plenty satisfied with 1080p).
Anyway,
bobosola (and others), thanks for confirming my thinking regarding an EVF on a camcorder or ENG-type for following the fast action, and with respect to the rest of the gang . . .
Ryan Earl, Jamie LeJune, Howard Roll, Ellory Yu, markr041, Denny Smith, James Harkness, pnguyen720, Nick Lang, mark.sze, Craig Seeman, Jim Simon, and Nick Heydon . . . for your über generous time, my deepest and most sincere thanks because I am under no illusion regarding how much of it I've taken up. The sincerity of your responses, the thoughtful exposition and sharing of experience - all in the endeavor of helping a utter stranger? Well, it speaks to my heart. Thank you!
So what have I done? After agonizing over ergonomics, instead of modifying a BMPCC for field use I took a leap of faith and bought a used camcorder with a horrible reputation for . . . bad ergonomics! Yes, I did.
On the flip side, it does combine some unique capabilities for not a lot of money. Added to an excellent price there's 4K slo-mo - not a lot but enough in my opinion. On the plus side, it includes a kit lens. It's one that will likely be adequate for my needs (remember, I am NOT a real filmmaker, I'm just an event videographer and what I do goes to YouTube). Anyway, the best part from my perspective (other than being included when most of these on eBay are offered sans lens) is it's a servo-equipped 18-200 and, most importantly, it's optically stabilized! No, it's not particularly fast, but then what kit lens ever is? Then again, I don't really care because it's for shooting outside where God has made available a gracious plenty of the best light ever!
Moreover, this thing uses an E-mount so converting to EF is inexpensive (I have several of these). I also have a decent Nikor VR 70-200 which is also stabilized so that's a possibility with an inexpensive adapter. Sadly, it's not equipped with a 12-pin connection, so the HD B4 lens is out without some finagling regarding power - maybe doable but I don't have time for projects. Regardless, I am flush with lenses and there are options galore because spending on glass is always fun.
So what did Beech buy for the field instead of modifying a BMPCC? It's an eight year old camcorder . . . a Sony NEX-FS700R and if you're unfamiliar with it, this 6 year old YouTube video (downunder guy name of David Smith) was especially helpful. Note; this is the title and date of the review (to facilitate the curious in finding it if linking doesn't work):
Sony NEX FS700 Review dated Jun 19, 2014 -
https://tinyurl.com/yyddtj3qLast thing; instead of rigging it like the many examples on YouTube (where people seemingly only speak in terms of horrible ergonomics and promptly stick them on a tripod or spend thousands configuring them for shoulder-carry like an ENG), instead I'm thinking to stuff the battery into my belly, rotate the periscope vertically 90-degrees (so that I look down into the EVF), then rotate the hand-grip 180 degrees so I can cradle it like a cat (or my smallest bitch), and follow the action. I 'think' this will work rather nicely. As for focus, I don't need no stinkin' autofocus because I'll set the lens to infinity and follow the action!
FWIW, I don't have the unit in hand yet, but I tried the cradle grip using Maggie (who goes 15 pounds). Unfortunately, she wiggles far too much to even try and hold for 5-minutes so I gave up after just one or two. However, I am more convinced than ever this will work - and Lynn, bless her heart, didn't even hike an eyebrow regarding why I was staring down intently at eight nipples while swinging Mags around in my arms last night! So was buying this camera a gamble? Maybe, we'll see - but - I'm very much hopeful the crouching/cradeling grip I envision will work a treat to capture good footage of the models in flight.
By the way, I never saw anybody control the camera that way on YouTube. Basically, everything I saw (without exception) devolved into a bitch session about the horrible ergonomics (after first talking up the good points like 4K and slo-mo). Me? I don't think Sony is stupid, do you? Bringing a camera to market is too costly to do so with crap ergonomics - I believe the others are missing something (fortunately, I don't suffer lack of confidence). Sure, maybe they're right and I'm wrong. Won't be the first time, and unlikely to be the last. Anyway, if worse comes to worse, I can always follow the lemmings and rig it with rails, a matte box, an EVF eyepiece in ENG position, plus a Tilta or similar shoulder pad contraption. I'm sure once converted to ENG-position I can capture what I need. Or sell it off. There's a market. However, the cradle hold was the first thing I saw in my mind's eye . . . what says the brain trust?