Hi,

I'm fairly new to video, coming from a photography background and I'm looking at purchasing either a Sony a33 or Panasonic GH1 to film professional documentary-like video when I'm out in the field (I work as a landscape photographer). I would like to be able to capture a shallow depth of field, to give a more cinematographic effect. My videos may/may not include sound, I have not decided yet, but both have an external microphone jack if I ever want to include it.

I am not sure which camera will be better for me, if anyone could help in answering my questions.

- How important are the manual settings? Is aperture control enough? The a33 lets you control only aperture, not ISO or shutter speed, whereas you can control all the settings in the GH1.
- The sensor size of the a33 is larger than the GH1. Will this make a big difference in quality?

I thought I would come to a video-dedicated forum to get help with this. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you