Ben J. Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Hi! I'm a videographer having a really hard time deciding whether or not I should bite the bullet, or wait longer. I know that the sony a7 line just had a price drop, so that means there is a release coming soon in the next few months to a year. I really want a camera badly right now, but I also don't want to buy a camera that, within that time period I mentioned earlier, will be updated with improvements like color and white balance fixes. I know that no one knows when these cameras will be announced or released, but does anyone have a hypothesis based on past experiences? Should I wait for the new announcement to see if I think its worth buying (a7siii or even a7riii) The reason I'm having a hard time with just going with the current selection, is because I don't want to pay another $3,X00 for a camera that could fix the current problems of the a7sii. And we all know that sony cameras don't retain value very well. Plus black magic might come out with a BMPC 4k mark ii or something lighter than the mini ursa. What do you guys think? Is it worth waiting till NAB at the end of April? Or should I bite the bullet and hope nothing new comes out? I know there is always going to be a new camera coming out, but this is too close of a release for comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Kotlos Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 With sony it's hard to predict anything really, but if you " really need a camera badly right now" get one. A7sii, A7rii, A7s are great cameras and once you play a bit with the settings the color can be really amazing. The only thing that I believe is needed is some kind of 10bit output to make log profiles a bit more useful. If are the kind of person that needs the latest tech but still cares about cost, then buy used and sell it 3-6 months after the release of any new camera that you want to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregormannschaft Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Just now, Don Kotlos said: With sony it's hard to predict anything really, but if you " really need a camera badly right now" get one. A7sii, A7rii, A7s are great cameras and once you play a bit with the settings the color can be really amazing. The only thing that I believe is needed is some kind of 10bit output to make log profiles a bit more useful. If are the kind of person that needs the latest tech but still care about cost, then buy used and sell it 3-6 months after the release of any new camera that you want to buy. Love my Sony A7SII...although in hindsight I'd recommend the A7RII for the better auto focus, stills performance and ability to shoot in a mode where rolling shutter is reduced. Check out the Sony rumour websites to get a better idea. Rumours are the A7III could appear in the summer, with the R and S to follow in the next 6-8 months. So, basically, they are a while off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleison Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 46 minutes ago, Gregormannschaft said: Love my Sony A7SII...although in hindsight I'd recommend the A7RII for the better auto focus, stills performance and ability to shoot in a mode where rolling shutter is reduced. Check out the Sony rumour websites to get a better idea. Rumours are the A7III could appear in the summer, with the R and S to follow in the next 6-8 months. So, basically, they are a while off. But with an A7RII, you lose insane low light capabilities. In addition, one needs to shot in crop mode to reduce rolling shutter which basically necessitates buying a good focus reducer which cost iirc an extra 3 to 4 hundred dollars. Also, with a focus reducer, you cannot iirc use native lenses which basically means adapting canon or some other lens mount which means the auto focusing could be "spotty at times" and the NON-native lens/body combination is slightly bigger than a native lens/body combination. The A7RII and A7SII run head to head wrt video imho, but I think the A7SII still comes out ahead... especially for me. I want to minimize the amount of stuff I am carrying and I don't want to support two camera mounts. Also, the low light ability of the A7Sii pretty much means I can shot in more environments than I can the A7RII. That being said, I do miss having a better focusing system. I do miss the high megapixel images... When A7SIII comes (hopefully with better autofocus, higher megapixel, etc); I will be upgrading... ps. I also love my a7sii. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregormannschaft Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 19 minutes ago, eleison said: But with an A7RII, you lose insane low light capabilities. In addition, one needs to shot in crop mode to reduce rolling shutter which basically necessitates buying a good focus reducer which cost iirc an extra 3 to 4 hundred dollars. Also, with a focus reducer, you cannot iirc use native lenses which basically means adapting canon or some other lens mount which means the auto focusing could be "spotty at times" and the NON-native lens/body combination is slightly bigger than a native lens/body combination. The A7RII and A7SII run head to head wrt video imho, but I think the A7SII still comes out ahead... especially for me. I want to minimize the amount of stuff I am carrying and I don't want to support two camera mounts. Also, the low light ability of the A7Sii pretty much means I can shot in more environments than I can the A7RII. That being said, I do miss having a better focusing system. I do miss the high megapixel images... When A7SIII comes (hopefully with better autofocus, higher megapixel, etc); I will be upgrading... ps. I also love my a7sii. Not following on a few things here. I love my A7SII too, but I think you've got a few things mixed up here unless I'm mistaken. And, caveat, this being the problem of the ridiculous caveat machine that is the A7RII. - The reduced rolling shutter mode is full frame 4K. Which has a little less detail, and a lot less rolling shutter. - The shaper, more detailed mode is Super 35mm. But you get added rolling shutter. But this isn't a problem for lenses, you just get a little crop. No need to change mount and I wouldn't bother with a focal reducer for such a minimal crop. - ISO performance was supposed to be very strong on the A7RII, equal until around 25k. I rarely ever shoot higher on the A7SII. I doubt many do. - A7SII real benefits are SLOG3 support, in-camera LUT for SLOG, that slightly higher ISO performance. Again, I'd still rather have better AF. Annnyway, these topics are boring. Get what works for your needs and your budget. I only photograph for a hobby so I couldn't rationalise buying the A7RII over the A7SII. If you have a project coming up, buy something in your budget. If you just want to buy and play around, wait and see. There is no right camera, as thousands have said. In 2 years you'll be wanting the latest and greatest all over again. jonpais, Phil A and Geoff CB 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuan Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Ben J. said: Hi! I'm a videographer having a really hard time deciding whether or not I should bite the bullet, or wait longer. I know that the sony a7 line just had a price drop, so that means there is a release coming soon in the next few months to a year. I really want a camera badly right now, but I also don't want to buy a camera that, within that time period I mentioned earlier, will be updated with improvements like color and white balance fixes. I know that no one knows when these cameras will be announced or released, but does anyone have a hypothesis based on past experiences? Should I wait for the new announcement to see if I think its worth buying (a7siii or even a7riii) The reason I'm having a hard time with just going with the current selection, is because I don't want to pay another $3,X00 for a camera that could fix the current problems of the a7sii. And we all know that sony cameras don't retain value very well. Plus black magic might come out with a BMPC 4k mark ii or something lighter than the mini ursa. What do you guys think? Is it worth waiting till NAB at the end of April? Or should I bite the bullet and hope nothing new comes out? I know there is always going to be a new camera coming out, but this is too close of a release for comfort. I think Sony was supposed to make an announcement on the a7 series last year, but things were postponed because of the earthquake. I expect Sony to make a release this year. Depends on what kind of gear you are working with now. If you can get by, I would wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleison Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 3 minutes ago, Gregormannschaft said: Not following on a few things here. I love my A7SII too, but I think you've got a few things mixed up here unless I'm mistaken. And, caveat, this being the problem of the ridiculous caveat machine that is the A7RII. - The reduced rolling shutter mode is full frame 4K. Which has a little less detail, and a lot less rolling shutter. - The shaper, more detailed mode is Super 35mm. But you get added rolling shutter. But this isn't a problem for lenses, you just get a little crop. No need to change mount and I wouldn't bother with a focal reducer for such a minimal crop. - ISO performance was supposed to be very strong on the A7RII, equal until around 25k. I rarely ever shoot higher on the A7SII. I doubt many do. - A7SII real benefits are SLOG3 support, in-camera LUT for SLOG, that slightly higher ISO performance. Again, I'd still rather have better AF. Annnyway, these topics are boring. Get what works for your needs and your budget. I only photograph for a hobby so I couldn't rationalise buying the A7RII over the A7SII. If you have a project coming up, buy something in your budget. If you just want to buy and play around, wait and see. There is no right camera, as thousands have said. In 2 years you'll be wanting the latest and greatest all over again. Hi there, perhaps I am mistaken. I think people were shooting in super 35mm on the a7rii because it had a better video. However, because it was super 35, low light was bad and it did not have the full frame look. People used a focus reducer to get the full frame look and to get better low light. However, because they used the focus reducer, they had to use 3rd party lenses (e.g., canon). I guess you were right. People are saying rolling shutter is better in full frame 4k. I thought it was the other way around. Oh well. Whatever :-) Yeah, these topics get boring quickly. It's like comparing cars. Sometimes it's nice to talk about specs, but at the end of the day, it's usually the skill of the driver that wins the race :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noone Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 I wouldn't expect an A7Riii until early 2018 maybe the same for the a7siii? Both announced at the end of 2017? One thing, I am not so sure Sony cameras lose value any more than any similar camera now. Lower end cameras probably do but just as they do for other makers. The original A7s for instance seems to still be selling at prices MORE than I paid for mine two years ago (and my all time favourite camera to date). Maybe the first version A7R might have had a bit of a drop but that is because the difference between the two versions was so big. I sold my original A7 for a decent price after 2 years of solid use as well. The video in the A7Rii seems to have been deliberately limited to a max ISO 25600, possibly to not take away from the A7s/A7sii. I use my A7s often above ISO 25600 for stills and my (limited) video use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flynn Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 If you can afford to wait I'd wait and see what the new models have. If they don't offer any significant improvements you should be able to get the current models cheaper. My guess is they'll be announced in the next 8 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BasiliskFilm Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 I would be surprised if the A7III doesn't perform as well as the A6500 - full sensor downsample from 24 MP to 4K, and best video AF performance. But don't expect to save money over the A7RII! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Ben J. said: Hi! I'm a videographer having a really hard time deciding whether or not I should bite the bullet, or wait longer. I know that the sony a7 line just had a price drop, so that means there is a release coming soon in the next few months to a year. I really want a camera badly right now, but I also don't want to buy a camera that, within that time period I mentioned earlier, will be updated with improvements like color and white balance fixes. I know that no one knows when these cameras will be announced or released, but does anyone have a hypothesis based on past experiences? Should I wait for the new announcement to see if I think its worth buying (a7siii or even a7riii) The reason I'm having a hard time with just going with the current selection, is because I don't want to pay another $3,X00 for a camera that could fix the current problems of the a7sii. And we all know that sony cameras don't retain value very well. Plus black magic might come out with a BMPC 4k mark ii or something lighter than the mini ursa. What do you guys think? Is it worth waiting till NAB at the end of April? Or should I bite the bullet and hope nothing new comes out? I know there is always going to be a new camera coming out, but this is too close of a release for comfort. Better to wait for the a7s4, which will fix some of the problems with the a7s3. There are ALWAYS problems. jonpais and Ben J. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben J. Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 Thanks for the comments! From your responses, the wait sounds long, so at this point I think I might just bite the bullet and take a chance. Even if the new camera line was much better beyond what we thought, I don't think I can wait past June to buy one. Worst comes to worst, I'll just sell my a7sii if the mark 3 is a must have and I'll have to spend a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff CB Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 A7rII FF 4K: Less detail (~3.2K), worse in low light (ISO 1280 max in S-Log2), better Rolling Shutter performance (18 ms). My preferred way of shooting. A7rII Super 35 4K: More detail, better in low light (Clean in S-log2 up to 3200 Iso), far worse rolling shutter (31ms). Why I would buy the A7r II over the A7s II: Base S-Log ISO: A7rII: 800 iso, A7sII: 3200 iso . This makes a gigantic difference if your shooting outdoors! 4K shooting modes on a7sII have worse RS Better AF. Why I would buy the A7s II over the A7r II: Low light Sharper Full Frame Image S-Log 3 + Viewing LUT in camera. I do miss this when shooting A7r II. Can't wait until they announce the A7r 3, that way I can get a second one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntblowz Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Just get the A7SII, buy the camera you need not you want :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terozzz Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 "A7rII Super 35 4K: More detail, better in low light (Clean in S-log2 up to 3200 Iso), far worse rolling shutter (31ms)." Well then better to take a6300, it has clean ISO max 16.000 with S-log2. Even ISO 25.600 is quite clean: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregormannschaft Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 All these cameras are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirozina Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 There will always be a better camera released in the future but I wouldn't count on any new Sony models fixing rolling shutter or offering 10bit either so you may be waiting in vain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregormannschaft Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 To be honest, a built-in ND filter would be better for me than 10bit. A6500 level autofocus, built in ND and 60fps in 4K would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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