Sony A6500 movie and photo samples are coming in

[hijodeibn]

1 hour ago, Dimitris Stasinos said:

The a6500 will definitely loose 1/3 of it's current price anyway, just as a6300 did. By the time GH5 is out (Feb-March maybe?), Sony will have the a6700 (or something like that) ready for production. This has nothing to do with gh5 or what the average consumer wants. It's just Sony's strategy. When something new pops up from their R&D departments, it's instantly incorporated into the next design in a 6 month cycle, just the opposite from what Canon does. This leads to innovative BUT immature & untested products & brings huge sales after targeted marketing campaigns. This is how Sony choosed to move on, sadly. A side effect to this strategy is the shrinking value of these products, every time the next model is out (which is 6 months from now). Panasonic doesn't do this, nor Canon, nor Fuji, nor Nikon. This is why SONY SUCKS and not because of their skintones which i personally like :).

Agree, SONY SUCKS!, is the worst investment by far, but if at least it had good skintones it could be anyway an usable camera, for my personal taste, I only see Canon as an option, probably a GX85 with a speed booster I could use also, or the next GH5 if the price is right…..

[hijodeibn]

2 hours ago, tugela said:

What is wrong with the skin tones? The outdoor scenes looked normal, while the concert scenes were shot under red lights, so obviously white balance is not going to be correct.

Both the A6500 was designed for high end consumers, not moviemakers, so the "flaws" that concern you are irrelevant for the target market.

The A6500 will not lose "1/3 of it's current value in the same day" when the GH5 is released, because the GH5 does not have the brand presence in the target market. YOU might like the GH5 (or some other camera), but that does not mean the A6500 will become irrelevant.

Please Tugela, there are plenty of A6300 videos out there to know exactly what is wrong with Sony skintones colors, and there are many post about it in the internet, do not hide you head in a hole!!, just read the recent post that Andrew published calling Sony skintones DEAD: "In isolation at full 20MP resolution on a large print or a large 4K monitor, the Canon looks more natural and true to nature, whereas the Sony looks dead. Also the Canon flatters skin, whereas the Sony exaggerates any imperfections even on a very good looking subject. See the following 2.8K JPEGs instead, full screen"

A6500 was released early by Sony because of they knew after the GH5 is released most of the filmmakers will go with the GH5, like they did with the GH4 some years ago, there is no other explanation for suck early release, but if you like the camera it is OK, buy it and enjoy it, knowing that the camera will drop in price a third by Feb-Mar next year, in my personal preferences i will never put my money in a Sony camera, and of course I have the right to share with other filmmakers here my opinion so they can take an informed decision when choosing a new camera, and i provided clear reasons, skintones SUCKS, camera depreciation SUCKS, and for the specific case of A6300 and A6500, overheating SUCKS, RS SUCKS!!!

 

[Trek of Joy]

18 hours ago, Simon Shasha said:

Nice  You've probably got more experience than me, then, I'm 31

X-T2 looks great. Colours are awesome. I'm basically in your position - heavily invested in Sony, but tempted by X-T2 - mainly for photography, actually.

I use my Blackmagic Micro setup for more serious shoots/clients - but never for "run and gun" stuff.

I am really liking the image from the GX85. Especially the 5-Axis stabilisation performance, and really good rolling-shutter performance. I'm considering the GX85 with a 20mm F1.7, and Metabones SB for the Canon-EF primes I already own.

I'm not someone that shoots in "no light", so any camera than can handle ISO800 is plenty for me. I have really high hopes for the GH5. Also hoping to see a Blackmagic Pocket Mark II in 2017 

More experience maybe, but your BMMCC footage is amazing, everything I shoot is all run-and-gun ENG style since I worked in broadcast news for a long time. I don't shoot anything narrative, and I don't so any lighting outside of on-cam and fill for interviews. I'm in awe of anyone lighting an entire room/set.

I've decided some of the compromises with my current Sony setup are no longer things I want to live with - namely a hit/miss lens lineup that getting zero attention on the APS-c side and bloated overpriced/overweight lenses on the FF side, the worst rolling shutter of any camera on the market, rampant overheating, and that damn LCD going dim when you hit record. I've decided I'm passing on the a6500, and selling my a7rII/a6300 to move to a dual XT2 kit. Lenses like the 16-55/2.8, 23/1.4 and 56/1.2 are calling me for photo/video event coverage, and the OIS on the 10-24, 18-55 and 50-140 are really good. I can add a Zhiyun Crane if the need for more stabilization arises.

[jonpais]

Aside from all the things I love about Fuji, they've got another thing going for them, at least for someone in SE Asia. Panasonic has virtually no presence here whatsoever, and practically nobody has even seen a Lumix. At least from my experience in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Sony and Canon advertise heavily here, Panasonic, not at all. And shops that do carry Panasonic usually only have two or three older models at most, and virtually no Panasonic lenses to speak of. For example, even finding a GX85 in Vietnam is a hassle, and neither Vietnam nor Malaysia carry the G85 yet. But almost every reputable camera shop here not only carries the Fuji XT2, they also stock the accessories and an assortment of lenses. Fuji's customer service is supposed to be excellent, while Panasonic's pretty much sucks in my experience, at least in Vietnam. Remember back when it was discovered there was an audio problem with the GH4? I don't think there was any recourse for buyers here in Asia, at least to the best of my knowledge. And recently, when I went to an authorized repair shop to replace my viewfinder, they said they'd call me back in a few days, but never followed up. So it is little surprise that, in the four years I've lived in Vietnam, I've seen fewer than five people with a Lumix camera. I think before I moved here, Panasonic might have had a greater presence, but since they started focusing their energy on North America, they've abandoned the market here to Canon, Nikon and Sony. Sorry if this is off topic...

[liork]

I cannot understand how come they didn't fix the Rolling shutter problem.

[hijodeibn]

29 minutes ago, liork said:

I cannot understand how come they didn't fix the Rolling shutter problem.

Because of they were rushing to send this new model to the market before the GH5, and they really don`t care, they just want to sell cameras, save margins,  the RS issue was the second main problem reported by everybody in the A6300 after the overheating, and they didn`t fix any of them, just mascaraed a little the overheating...

[liork]

I was sure this was the first problem to be solved. Look at the new E-M1 II: full sensor read and very little RS!

[hijodeibn]

9 minutes ago, liork said:

I was sure this was the first problem to be solved. Look at the new E-M1 II: full sensor read and very little RS!

To be honest, I am not fan of the E-M1 II, the skintones are not what I expected from what I have seen, but certainly is a much, much better option, a totally usable camera, and only 500 boxes more expensive, and I just read in another topic that the GH5 is going to cost most probably US$2,000+, which is ridiculous, really crazy, so after all the A6500 is going to survive even been a crappy camera.

I am not going to waste my money anymore and will go the Canon route, most probably XC15, I really want to have 4K, just waiting for a good sale next black Friday!!!!

[lwestfall]

What do you think of rolling shutter correction in PP 2017?

 

[Andrew Reid]

18 hours ago, Emanuel said:

On 11/19/2016 at 9:00 PM, scotchtape said:

Wow I was really looking forward to getting this camera if most of the issues got fixed but it looks like it didn't...

I'm still using my D750 for video, but I really wish it was much sharper.  I just ordered the G7 on sale (kit for $500 usd) 'cause of the price to use for 4K downsampled to 1080p.  Also, from the samples I've seen the G7 seems to have better WB than the newer GX85 and G80, but I don't know if there is actually a difference in other areas (if the footage is any better).  From the shootouts the G7 looks better to me but maybe I am missing something.

From all of the sample footage I've seen, the A6300/A6500 is the sharpest 4K of them all.  

Also the video AF wasn't bad either compared to Panasonic and barely there for D750/5D3 etc.

I don't know what to do now!  I even got the MC-11 on sale... 

 

Even though, I may follow Andrew on his X-T2 bet, well, some perspective(s) also will ;-)

https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=panasonic_dmcgx85&attr29_1=fujifilm_xt2&normalization=full&widget=105&x=-0.07116278920634347&y=0.7982730037049333

https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a6300&attr29_1=fujifilm_xt2&normalization=full&widget=105&x=-0.07116278920634347&y=0.7982730037049333

On the other hand...

https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a6300&attr29_1=panasonic_dmcgx85&attr72_0=4k&attr72_1=4k&normalization=full&widget=426&x=0.4260463692707934&y=-0.13237727523441808

https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a6300&attr29_1=fujifilm_xt2&attr72_0=4k&attr72_1=4k&normalization=full&widget=426&x=0.4260463692707934&y=-0.13237727523441808

As soon as the first 4K camera came on the market that interested me, the GH4, I stopped caring about sharpness any more.

We have more detail than anybody can possibly notice when watching the film.

Sharpness has become a pixel peeping tech spec curiosity rather than a really noticeable differentiator as it was with the 1080p cams.

In fact too much sharpness is bad... high detail should be softer like on the 1D C in Canon LOG, with the option to dial it up with a sharpness filter in post.

Yes there are still minor differences - some like the Samsung NX1 and A6500 over-sample from 6K sensors to 4K. Some from 5K-ish to 4K like the A7R II Super 35mm mode and X-T2.

But seriously nobody notices when they see your footage.

[tugela]

They don't notice any of the other things people here wringe their hands about either, but that doesn't stop people from talking about it.

The bottom line is the story told by your content. The only time you need to worry about "flaws" is when your story is crap, because then the audience is watching the image rather than following the story. If you have a great story people will forgive the image, but if your story is not great you had better damned well have perfect resolution, great lighting and all those other things. Particularly if you are shooting natural history.

[hijodeibn]

1 hour ago, tugela said:

They don't notice any of the other things people here wringe their hands about either, but that doesn't stop people from talking about it.

The bottom line is the story told by your content. The only time you need to worry about "flaws" is when your story is crap, because then the audience is watching the image rather than following the story. If you have a great story people will forgive the image, but if your story is not great you had better damned well have perfect resolution, great lighting and all those other things. Particularly if you are shooting natural history.

Storytelling is king, but if I was able to create an excellent script, why not to use the best gear to make my art to shine even more?

[Emanuel]

7 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

As soon as the first 4K camera came on the market that interested me, the GH4, I stopped caring about sharpness any more.

We have more detail than anybody can possibly notice when watching the film.

Sharpness has become a pixel peeping tech spec curiosity rather than a really noticeable differentiator as it was with the 1080p cams.

In fact too much sharpness is bad... high detail should be softer like on the 1D C in Canon LOG, with the option to dial it up with a sharpness filter in post.

Yes there are still minor differences - some like the Samsung NX1 and A6500 over-sample from 6K sensors to 4K. Some from 5K-ish to 4K like the A7R II Super 35mm mode and X-T2.

But seriously nobody notices when they see your footage.

True. 4K is a golden standard for motion picture BTW. Big screen for theatrical release included. IMAX aside, perhaps.

Actually, there is more beyond sharpness. Mavic outcome is a fine example of that.

[tellure]

16 hours ago, liork said:

I cannot understand how come they didn't fix the Rolling shutter problem.

I can understand that since it's a function of how fast the sensor can be read, which is hard to do faster in an already overheating package.

What I can't fathom is why they STILL darken the screen and still don't let you override it like they do with the overheating.  I shoot lots of short clips, so hell yeah let me have a super hot LCD while I'm shooting so I can at least see what's on the screen.  The screen darkening still drives me bonkers on my A7RII.  I have messed up tons of shots because of it.

[liork]

Probably, LCD material does not react very good to overheating, Sony won't be glad replacing many of them because of that...

[hoodlum]

Dpreview posted some initial impressions.

https://***URL removed***/reviews/sony-alpha-6500

"I owned an LG Dare cellphone in 2008 and the a6500's touch implementation reminds me of that. It's unresponsive when tapping and laggy when dragging one's finger. Not only that, the touchscreen cannot be used for anything other than moving AF points and flipping through images in playback."

 

"For instance, when shooting 4K video, the screen automatically dims. There is no way to use the 'Sunny Weather' option: it's simply greyed out. This makes the a6500 nearly impossible to use in bright sunlight while shooting 4K video with the LCD. And I'm told the reason is to mitigate overheating, which seems like a thoughtless fix to a known issue, and one that creates a new issue entirely. "

 

"Having just finished testing video IS on both the Panasonic FZ2500 and Panasonic G85, I'm not all the impressed with the Sony's video IS performance. Of course both the cameras mentioned use smaller sensor, which in theory should be easier to move around. But more to the point, those cameras offer something the a6500 does not: an option to combine mechanical IS with electronic (digital) IS. Although digital IS tends to slightly crop (and then upscale) footage and therefore costs some image quality, it can lead to impressively glidecam-esque footage."

[Emanuel]

 

 

 

 

 

[tugela]

They are not worried about the screen itself overheating, more likely it is the increased draw on the battery (which will generate more heat in the body) which is the reason for dimming the LCD.

All of these things relate to heat management within the thermal envelope of the body. That is unfortunately the price you pay for high performance in a compact body.

[Emanuel]

Indeed. Even though, Panasonic has managed all this in a different way.

[Cinegain]

You're already paying the price by paying the price. They might as well do some actual improving for that kind of money. All they need to do is make an APS-C version of the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and be just as quick (rolling shutter) and reliable (overheating) as that one. Bonus: vari-angle screen and non-sucky color.