I have been using my Panasonic GH3 for news reporting for some time now. As a former news photographer I was asked by our local radio station to shoot new stories for their YouTube channel. I must say that this camera is an ideal camera for news reporting. Great, weight, size, convenience, electronic viewfinder, image stabilization, No Rig, one shot auto focus, low depth of field, great audio, headphone monitoring, wonderful MOV codec at All-I 70, long life battery. In Final Cut Pro X the footage is ready for editing right out of the camera and Final Cut loves the All-I 70 codec. Never a hiccup.
Yes I could use another camera and shoot raw, but that is a lot more work and the camera requires a rig which is heavier and more expensive. In news reporting one of the main things to consider is how fast you can get your story to air. Anything that gets in the way of that hinders your ability to finish on time. I don't think there is a faster system out there then my GH3 with Final Cut Pro X.
For the news story below, I shot with my GH3, the Lumix G X 12 – 35mm image stabilized lens, handheld with no rig and a Rode Video Mike Pro microphone.
That is a pretty impressive result. As you say, light, compact rig and still turning out real nice quality.
No need for anything more.
I’ve been using the GH3 since March. I use a Frenken rig to help steady it and a Juiced Linked pre-amp and a AudioTechnica mic. Just use the 50Mbps at 1080 24p. Videos get really compressed, no point in anything else/