yiomo

Thanks Eric, I am afraid that holding the lens could cause vibrations for video and also I will be handling a two camera setup which makes it quite difficult.

In a few days I am going to do some filming (the first shoot of a year long documentary) with my A7s and I just got my hands on a Canon 70-200 F/4 IS lens that came without a collar. I am tempted to use it without a collar on a tripod because I think spending 150 euro for a collar is ridiculous and because there is not enough time to purchase the fotodiox (or other) alternative from amazon. Has anyone tried this? As I am looking at the bottom of the A7s which feels like plastic, at least half of it, I once more curse myself for having fallen for the hype and having purchased such a camera with horrible built quality (I doubt that the great image quality balances that for me). For now the question is, will it hold the lens or will it break the camera's mount? Any ideas much appreciated.

Indeed, but in the case of A7r ii everyone complains how hot it gets in 4k and how unusable it is after a couple of minutes. The problem with these trend setting cameras are that they are very badly conceived, not so reliable, and not as sturdy as dslrs.. Sad but true. CaNikon products might be behind in all this but they can be depended on. I could compromise i n sturdiness and horrible ergonomics but this whole thing with this "heatgate" is ridiculous at least. It's not my opinion but one that I read on many reviews. I am saying this because all this latest technology gadgets are full of compromises. To me 1080p is perfectly acceptable to be used for cinema screenings and whatnot. Since it has been around for quite sometime, I was wondering what a good alternative for A7s(that offers a great 1080p) is. I am hoping that this alternative could give me great stills as well. From what I understand Nikon D810, D750 do that with good 1080p and A7rii does it too, but wasn't sure about the quality. It is a shame that no one really talks about more complete 1080p capable cameras now, like it is something prehistoric. Personally, I would rather purchase a Canon or Nikon with "just" 1080p but great ergonomics, sturdiness, reliability than the new 4k,6k, 8k trend from Sony (or other) that has severe limitations. If I sound a bit frustrated is because, although A7s gives me great 1080p, it doesn't do much more. Sometimes I almost regret selling my 5d, because in terms of construction the Sony A7 series is a joke, relatively speaking. Thanks for the reply though. I will have to choose at some point between the a7rii or a 1080p camera like the ones from Nikon. Cheers

easy to understand. just click the option that says 1080

I am very happy with my A7s for its lowlight and 1080 video, but would like to have a camera that is great at stills too. So, 2 years after this purchase there seems to be better alternatives out there and I am thinking of selling my A7s, before it's too late. Is there a consensus regarding the 1080 from A7rii? Is it on par with A7s? Would Nikon d810, d750, A7rii be good 1080p options for also great stills - landscapes? Some of us still do not care about all this 4K trend and want a solid 1080p.

thank you both. I will follow your advice.

I purchased the A7s mainly for fiction work and general photography. It seems to me very complicated for documentary work. However I am about to begin the production of a feature documentary and this is all I have. I would like to have a very simple/ lightweight setup that would include my AC7 monitor and a small mic on top (propably rode pro) as well a lavalier mic. This photo is exactly what I have in mind. Although I will record on cards internally and not on a hard disk. Could someone with experience on A7s please help me with the following things: 1. I cannot understand how the monitor is attached on this Lanparte base. I have the same base but fail to undestand how this is set up. I presume a rail accessory + a ball head but it hast to be a very small ball head. Any ideas? 2. By now, I believe most A7s users will have settled on simple as well as more elaborate image settings. I will be shooting mainly indoors at this stage, but still struggling with the 3200 min ISO with s-log (and everything that it requires), so was wondering if there are any other non slog settings that could be recommended. Many thanks.

I just received a Tiffen variable ND Filter 58mm from Amazon. My previous experience is with lightcraft variable nd filter 77mm which was superb. I am not sure if the new filter I received is DOA. When I turn it to make adjustments, it is not smooth and I can almost feel and hear some grinding. I don't know where the grinding takes place but it is definitely noisy and not smooth at all. In certain rotation angles I can feel it very smooth, but overall (in 9/10ths of it rotation angle) it feels like there is sand in it and I am thinking this is a manufacturing problem. Can someone who owns the filter let me know if this is "normal" for this filter or if I should return it back to Amazon. thanks.

yes. the website has the best reviews. it just has too many of them.. Loved the IQ in your video. So clean. And all this was on auto focus? Wow. Was there any hunting, delays? Apparently the auto mode is not that bad in terms of exposure either. Need to check it out. Sound was pretty good as well, to my ears. I am all manual at the moment, always when doing video. The only time I did auto was back during the dvx100 camcorder period. Thinking of purchasing the 28-70 kit lens and will try the auto feature. In APSC mode it would give me a descent medium to tele range 44 -115 but lack the wide angle. I tried the auto focus with the canon 40mm pancake and it is unusable. OF course that was through an adaptor I know. Lots of hunting and it takes ages to focus. Are you happy with the SEL 18200 ?

Regarding the film look I am more than covered with the A7s. Now, that filmconvert and visioncolor impulse have LUTs for slog2, it is relatively easy to grade in post. The only concern is speed and accuracy. I think a Sony PMW-200, Panasonic AG-HPX250 , AG-AC160A or similar would probably be better for what I have in mind but I am not sure that I can invest at this point. I will have to wait and see. In the meanwhile, I would be grateful if you could recommend a website with camcorder reviews. For now, might give it a try first with the A7s... Perhaps if I am in APSC mode with a relatively closed aperture, say 5.6 it would be much easier to focus for the run and gun FOV would be smaller sensor like) and also with a non slog2 profile I would not require much post. If the above would work well, the only problem left would be the audio. I have read good reviews of the A7s internal amp and I will make some tests with the rode lavalier mic which should be fine for talking heads straight into the camera and would definitely be better that lugging an xlr cable with me. I guess this leaves the shotgun mic for the coverage shots. Don't know.. It would make much more sense budget wise to buy the sony adapter (xlr-k2m) and only take it out of the bag when needed.. Actually, I also have the tascam dr60d that I could use for both xlr inputs but then it would not be so much run and gun anymore...

I was thinking about the SEL18200 but the whole rig is still not in the eng camcorder level. I wouldn't like to do a new market research now. Is there any chance that you know the price for a respected medium budget pro camcorder? Panasonic would be ideal but then the sony would intercut perhaps better wight eh a7s.

I recently purchased an A7s after a lot of debating between it and the GH4. I think I made the right choice from the reviews I read. Until now I have only taken some photos and waiting for a vari ND filter for the video side. Controls are not the best but it seems it will be usable for documentary projects and some fiction filmmaking. I have already shot a feature doc on a 5d and I now the dslr style format is fine for that use. However, I recently got two offers for two different jobs and I am a bit troubled. One offer is a long term documentary project, which can possibly be filmed with the a7s and involves extensive travelling and interviews but he other is a returning TV - reportage series, with on location interviews as well as coverage. The reason I am troubled, is that the last job, where I worked in a similar TV reportage series, I used a Panasonic DVX100 and if I remember one thing is that it was a workhorse!! Xlr inputs, controls, ND's, zoom, etc. A very well thought out camera. In this respect I feel a bit unconfident to embark in a project like this with the A7s. I would like to hear your view, on whether it is possible to use the A7s in ENG style, in a TV environment, sending material to the editing pipeline etc, or it would be better to get a Panasonic AG-HPX250 or a Sony equivalent or newer model BUT in the camcorder format. I obviously prefer the A7s for personal projects and to my understanding the image quality cannot be compared to any camcorder line, this is why I purchased it instead of a camcorder. Just to add that there is a big chance that I will be producing this series and at the moment I cannot afford to get a camcorder in addition to the recently bought A7s. Looking forward to your input.

If the A7s is used in APSC mode, does the dynamic range get affected? Is there any negative impact to the image other than the crop? I noticed a slight variation in brightness of the same shots in Philip Bloom's test between full frame and Apsc modes. thanks.

Ok. this is my last post for this thread cause I am tired of this dispute. I see many people here who are being so defensive like everyone is attacking their families or their belief system. To those I say that they should "pixel peep" more their philosophy in life and communication abilities and leave the technology for a later time. Andrew, I find your post at least arrogant and at worst disrespectful. I could have easily asked if you are getting payed by Panasonic in order not to emphasise the negative sides of the camera. Is this the level of debate you want to maintain in the forum that you have created? I don't believe so but I could be wrong. And last thing regarding objectivity, there are many people who support you cannot end up with 10bit data out of 8bit. I am not expert in that, but I do know there is another opinion on that matter. So I wouldn't call that very objective. Looking forward to the moment when human beings will be more interested about the way they communicate than the technological advancements of plastic or metallic boxes. :)

Hi tosvus, no offense taken. It is weird how words can be misinterpreted so easily! I never supported or fanboy-ed any other camera vs the one Andrew did a review on. I have no reasons for that. On the contrary, what I stated was very clear. I support that GH4 seems like a fantastic all around camera based upon the numerous reviews I have read/watched. Similarly, I support that the full sensor of the A7s has a much better DR and less noise levels on high ISO based upon the technological and scientific knowledge we have about sensor sizes and because the few samples that circulate online support this. To be honest, I don't think there is anyone who disagrees with that. My only objection regarding Andrew's review is that he did not put forward the cons of the small sensor. That's all. I believe these arguments don't need much more support. Other than that, I am also glad that he does what he does and has provided this forum for us to procrastinate with and get informed from.

Yes, i probably missed that. Still I am not sure how grandparents contribute to the conversation. It is only logical when you have 4 times the data you need 4 times the space. If there is an argument that 50mbit/s is "too few" for HD then something less than 200mbit/s is "too few" for 4K, by following the same argument. I am just pointing that out because only few people have written about this. Nobody seems to be talking about "compression efficiency" in regards to the A7S. But most bash the 50mbit/s, furthermore without having used it. How is that for conceptual pixel peeping?

http://presscentre.s...10&NewsAreaID=2

Indeed, Sony is late for the date, but the worst they've done is not sent the camera for independent tests. Hoping that some of them will start to appear in June...

Apparently this is a just released firmware upgrade : http://presscentre.sony.eu//content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=9810&NewsAreaID=2 So I guess this means, that this number is before compression. Hope it doesn't get much less than that!!

sorry. It seems this info has been around for a long time, but I just saw it. I wonder though what does RAW output mean? Is that before compression is applied?

from Sony : Dynamic Range extended to 15.3 stops as sensor RAW output :)

The comparison is regarding the 4K to HD workflow with GH4. If you divide the 4 times the pixels of the 4K, you get a 25Mbit/s HD image. The A7s sends double the amount - 50 Mbit/s. Regarding the 200mbit/s, many reviewers say it is worse than the 100mbit/s . As for the 100mbit/s it might be better than the A7s, but this issomething we'll soon find out. Practically few will be using this mode.

DR is not only about the blacks and whites. It is also about the in-between tones. It is not about controlling the light, it's about how this light spreads. I guess there are people who see the IQ of GH4 better than BMPCC and the ones who think that the BMPCC is miles ahead. I am in the second category and I believe that higher DR plays a big part on that as does the 10bit prores and the 220Mbit/s.

100Mbit/s to transfer 4K data = 25Mbit/s to transfer FullHD data. The A7S uses 50Mbit/s for the same FullHD data. There seems to be a lot of criticism about this 50Mbit/s of A7s but no one complains about the 4K from GH4 being "crippled". The equivalence if I understand correct would be to have 4K at 200Mbit/s. Regarding the FF myth, it seems to me that besides those who seek the extra shallow dof, there are many who prefer it for the qualities I mentioned earlier, namely better DR and less noise. I hope my criticism didn't come across very harsh. :( The GH4 seems a fantastic camera, but as I said, I believe for the sake of information the negative sides should be pointed out very clearly for those readers who don't spend so many hours as others have been doing, reading dozens of reviews per day. But, I must thank you for the effort you made to make all these reviews possible. I guess nothing is perfect. p.s. One last thing, a camera that wants to be considered pro level, with this audio grounding issue? Works only with panasonic's mic? Seriously?

From the clips I have seen using external recording it is far from the bmpcc DR.