Trek of Joy

Not sure what the sale is, but direct from prograde prices are better than any v90 I’ve seen. I’d get some v90’s just to have the most options available outside of the two S&Q modes that need Type A. I’ve been shooting mostly h265 to keep the files smaller. Outside of interviews I’m pretty much all 60/120p with my b-roll, absolutely love the options. I can’t tell the difference with all-I and long gop, but I’m not pushing my image very far in post. YMMV. chris

I had the R and I really liked shooting with it despite the soft image and crazy rolling shutter, I liked it so much I was prepared to move to the RF mount after the R5 was announced. From a video standpoint the a7s3 is better in every way but one - I love the R’s grip. Beyond that the controls are better, AF is better, IQ and frame rates/codes crush the R, rolling shutter is almost nil compared to the R’s major jello, better battery life, far better native lens selection including excellent 3rd party support, and so on. I really like shooting with the a7s3, the image is so good and it’s the best Sony a7 from a handling and ergo standpoint I’ve used. They really nailed it. I almost moved to the RF mount, but after the a7s3 was announced I decided to stick with the E mount and I’m glad I did. The s3 is a video workhorse. Like others mentioned, rent if you can. chris

People are mounting GoPro fusion 360 cameras on Mavic Pro 2's and Phantom 4's, I'm willing to bet that would be similar weight wise to a compact fixed lens m43 setup - if not more because the Fusion is a chunky little bugger. DJI's larger sensor cameras are ILC's, make it a fixed 24 or 28mm equiv. Battery life would take a hit, but I'd be all over that instead of going with an Inspire. I'd even lug a Phantom around if I could get a m43 sensor. CHris

I bought a mint Mavic Pro 2 fly more with a ton of extras including a polar pro filter set for $1200. Like any camera, some buy into the hype and wind up not using it LOL! Their loss is my gain. I still prefer the Phantom 4 pro v2 image, but the portability makes the Mavic a far better option for me. If I were forced to buy new I’d still go with the bigger sensor of the Mavic over the air or smaller. cheeers chris

True. But the base Mini is $700, $900 if you bump it to 16gb ram. 2TB USB-c SSD's are around $200, no need to get a bigger internal drive. I edit from a Sandisk Extreme and a Samsung T5. Chris

More testing, against some machines with lots of cores, fat video cards and egpu's. Chris

This guy has Resolve with 12k Braw and FCP with 10-bit 4k from the a7s3 running at the same time. Lots of speculation about more cores being added for the 16" MBP and the iMacs, if true they'll just keep getting better. Chris

Some interesting test results. https://barefeats.com/m1-macbook-pro-versus-intel-version.html?fbclid=IwAR2VryNyOMemxvGQL3OOK75uvBD7LLIPNWpoMV4W2XlHCeUJon9K6ZJOLbE And a Macbook pro with EGPU. https://barefeats.com/macbook-pro-13-inch-2020-egpu-boost-2.html?fbclid=IwAR1tTxTjmhQsFSjYrgnKrF2m9RruMikc7cExWFoA31e6_fJsl0ZEpoJrLMk In the BruceX test, the M1 tops the MBP with EGPU and the 8-core i9 with dedicated graphics card - 9 seconds for the M1 compared to 11 seconds for the other two. That little chip is fast. Chris

Looking at these results and others with H265, the above post is nonsense.

Blown away by the benchmarks. It looks awesome for h265 and FCP. There’s now a month wait for the Mini’s. Should have just ordered one last week and returned if they were turds. But holy shit they fast. Now I have to wait... chris

Took the a7s3 with me to Cocoa Beach last nights for the SpaceX launch. This is the first time I've seen a launch in person so I wanted to grab a couple shots and just watch history in the making. I got a shot of the rocket in the sky with the a7s3 and a FE 200-600mm lens. No video, just wanted to enjoy the moment. Chris

Some are reporting issues with FCP and Big Sur, so I'm holding off for now.

That's what I like about the Mac/iOS ecosystem, the final nail in the windows coffin for me was running a digital media production program with 30 workstations on the Adobe suite. Every single day we were diagnosing problems with software/hardware compatibility that kept surfacing. It never ended, even with all windows, Adobe and hardware drivers up to date. It just got to be too much of a drain on resources. We switched to Macs when the slimmer iMac's were introduced and just about every one of those issues disappeared. Not having to address compatibility with every damn component under the sun makes for a much more streamlined and efficient system. I don't care about any of the cost/performance debates - that's all white noise I just tune out, everything integrates beautifully across all my devices allowing me to get stuff done faster with less headaches. The M1 takes it to another level. After the usual iPhone 'S' updates next year to the 12s, hopefully the M1 refresh (M2?) and the next mobile overhaul will fully integrate all device lines. Cheers Chris

That's what has me jazzed about this, editing on my ipad or iphone (XS Max for the last two years, but a 12 Pro Max is arriving today) is a breeze. Lumafusion eats h265 from the Mavic 2 and a7s3, easily outgunning my 8-core i9 MBP. With FCP and more robust hardware, it should be really smooth. Chris

Ahh ok.

Yes, this is going to be an amazing option, faster than my i9 15" MBP at a fraction of the weight with better battery life. I traveled with a dual core i5m 12" Macbook for about three years as my mobile editing solution, took it to 55 countries and it never missed a beat. Exports were slow, same for stitching panos from a7r2 uncompressed 42mp raws, but it got the job done. Though it sounds like the 13" MBP with active cooling means a decent speed bump. Chris

The latest update from Atomos says WB adjustments will be in a future update. 10.55 was just announced and it includes ISO. https://www.slashcam.com/news/single/Atomos--New-firmware-10-55-for-Ninja-V-brings-ProR-16177.html Chris

Curious, how is 5+ million pixels not even 1080p? My macbook pro is 2880x1800, an HD display next to it looks like SD in comparison. Chris

I’m pretty jazzed about this announcement. That Mini is mighty tempting at $700 since I have everything else and already edit off external SSD’s. H265 across the board would be my preference for file size and the performance so far looks pretty impressive. They ship next week so we’ll see benchmarks soon. Wonder if the M1 bits will be in the next iPad Pro. Do it Apple. Then I can pass projects between the Mini and the iPad On FCPx. I second replacing Big Sur with Apple OS and having the same OS across all devices. We’re certainly heading in that direction. cheers chris

I hope its not the same sensor since that's what's in the a73. I'd like to see something new with better RS performance. A MP bump to 30-ish would be nice too. Chris

I do shoot a lot of stills, sometimes more than video. I do prefer more resolution since some of the stuff I shoot goes beyond social and the web, but 12mp isn't going to hold me back. I just like the cropping flexibility and I do occasionally sell prints of my work, so more is better most of the time. I've only shot about 100 frames with the s3 over the last couple months, its really just a video camera for me at this point as I'm still getting used to working with it. I mostly leave it set in video mode and have the a73 around my neck - sometimes I'm also flying a drone - multitasking at its best LOL! I always carry at least 2 bodies anyway to have a backup, right now its the a73 and sometimes a 5dIV a friend is letting me use, but I'm probably moving to the a7r3 because I really like the output of the 42mp sensor and with most landscapes I can easily get two completely different shots with a crop. Plus I shoot wildlife here in FL and the crop power + the 200-600mm lens is awesome. I've shot tons with the a7r2, shutter shock is not an issue. It was on the original a7r, but every camera since has used a different shutter. The clack from the first one though, it was obnoxious LOL! I've used it a lot for landscape work, the shutter shock wasn't an issue for me - it was mostly with longer FL's IIRC. I decided there's simply no way for me to get everything I want in one body, Canon came oh-so-close with the R5 until the overheating issues, but even if that wasn't an issue I still prefer the internal recording options from the a7s3, better rolling shutter performance, and Sony's lens selection. Really the biggest thing the a7s3 lacks compared to others is the ability to shoot 4k in s35 mode, but that can't be changed. I'll still take that over the Panasonic crop and such. The flip side is just how incredibly nice the 1080p footage is, this camera shoots incredible HD video too. The second ISO is 4 1/3 stops above base on all profiles. Cheers Chris

So far I'm loving the a7s3. If you need more mp with stills there are numerous options including a7r2's that now sell in the $800 range used - which is insane for the IQ. But the difference with the shutter is jarring - the s3's shutter is so well damped compared to previous Sony models. I've used it with Sony glass, Tamron and Sigma E-mount lenses and Canon/Sigma lenses on the MC11. If the IBIS isn't enough, use the post stabilization, its brilliant. Full size HDMI is a joy, so is external prores which seems to have slightly better color compared to internal. The 120p is so good and the AF sticks to subjects incredibly well. I run it on the Weebill S, just tap where you want the AF point to stick and shoot - its almost always spot on. Slow the transition down and you have some very nice focus pulls. I've been shooting a lot outside here in Florida and so far zero issues. It gets warm, but I've never even triggered the overheat warning. To keep file sizes down with something smooth to edit, I use the h265 with 10-bit 4:2:0, works great. While there are still a few minor warts, this camera ticks most of the boxes for my video needs - 10-bit, clean slow-mo, great AF, lots of lens options. I would like to see Sony widen the gap between the grip and lens mount and make it taller, Canon has a grip that's so much more comfortable. The cheap Meike grip extension solves the height issue for me. The second gain stage gap is annoying, I shoot to about 2000 or so in Slog3 then just make the jump to 12800 and just ND it because its so much cleaner than everything in between. With other profiles that number changes since the base ISO's are different. I have to keep track of that, sometimes I forget what that second stage is when not in Slog3. I haven't pulled the trigger on Type A cards either, just v90's and the Ninja for now, so no 240fps yet. But overall its been the solid 4k workhorse I've always wanted. No regrets at all. Cheers Chris

I used the suction cup mount, cleaned the hood of my truck and the cup really well. Got it up to about 60mph and all was good. I was super paranoid though. Audio and such were ok too. I think it'll worked pretty well. Though I'm gonna secure it to the truck grille with some paracord just to be safe. The cup popped off a trolley car window once so I'm super paranoid. But I also had it on the inside of my truck window for about three weeks shooting driving timelapses as I did some traveling. Go figure. Chris

So I took a drive with the Hero 7 suction cup mounted to the front edge of the hood of my Toyota Tacoma with some pretty aggressive tires and offroad suspension - so not exactly a smooth ride and it actually looks good. No vibrations and it does float around a bit like the video above, so its probably a GoPro or Osmo action with its built in stabilization. The one caveat - linear mode on this camera maxes out at 2.7k, its wide or superview in 4k. So I'd have to up-rez or defish to get 4k. Video is boring, but here's a screencap. This road has a bunch of roundabouts and I was hitting them pretty hard to get a lot of lean in the truck haha. The FOV above looks a bit wider too, seems like 4k and defishing is in order. Chris

@Hangs4Fun I'll get a suction mount for my gopro to test, but it still looks more gimbal like to me than stabilization. I do have the Hero7 with the first version of hypersmooth so that might help. Walmart has the gopro suction mount, guess I'll pop into one and get one to try. I'm fine with the quality and I'm sure the person in the video isn't using a larger setup, as long as the sun isn't in the frame, gopro/phone size sensors do fine. My gopro cant stay on more than 30-40 minutes before overheating and shutting down, but I'll still try. Thanks for the suggestions! @leslie there are no issues in the US hanging a small camera on a vehicle on the road, I'll be fine. I see lots of custom cars with multiple gopros on them while driving. I regularly see a corvette with 5 or 6 mounts on it even when there are no cameras mounted, looks funny, but I guess the driver doesn't bother removing them haha. Someone near me must be doing some sort of car show. I'll check linear and narrow, I watched a few others and when the driver passes trees and such there's no distortion from the ultrawide view. Thanks for the insights! I'll report back after some testing with a gopro. Cheers. Chris