Aloha all!

This summer, I'll be going to Japan to spend a few weeks following a touring theatre troupe. My job? Put together a BTS and travel documentary. I'm getting transportation, room and board, and a stipend. Sounds sweet, eh?

In my inventory, I have several JVC GY-HC500 cameras, which I'll be using to document their performance before we leave the US, but those cameras are on the large & heavy side for traveling. I've also got a Sony FX-6, but again, it's larger and heavier than I want to be backpacking around in Japan with. Plus, I plan to stay a few weeks after the tour ends to play tourist. The camera, whatever I take, will be mostly dead weight for that time.

So, I'm looking at getting a new camera, something smaller and lighter.

Plan A: Sony FX-30, with an 18-105 G Power lens and an ECM-M1 mic. With a travel tripod, extra batteries, and media, figure $3K all in. That'll sting, and really dig into my stipend, but I'll have a nice portable camera for the future. that'll compliment my FX6. And which I probably don't need.

Plan B: look into a 4K blogging camera. Lord knows there are tons of them, and I can probably get all kitted out for $1K. It'll likely be ample for BTS/travelogue work, and I won't cry so much every time I see it on the shelf gathering dust after the trip.

Plan C: Look into rentals in Japan. The tour window is only 9 days long, so at the outside, I'd need the kit for 2 weeks. Just some casual looking puts a Sony FX-3 kit around $200/day. Yeah, forget that.

So, plan A or B? And, if B, what camera would you recommend?

Mahalo!