Replaced A7S with A99II for TV Shoot

[rdouthit]

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 

After already shooting several episodes for this season, this past week we filmed in Alabama and I replaced the A7S (typically used with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 or Sony Zeiss 16-35) with an A99II (using a set of Sony Zeiss primes: 24, 50, 135). The show is delivered in HD, so 4k isn't necessary. Episodes 1, 3 and 4 were shot in Slog, and since I wasn't thrilled with the coloring done in post on episode 3 (totally different team handles post), that, plus needing fast turn-around pushed us to going with cooked 709s. Versus the A7S, the A99II delivered a much better shooting experience with negligible difference in quality. Here's some thoughts on how this overlooked camera performed:

• When rigged for in-car commentary, the rotating screen of the A99II allowed me to run without a second monitor. 
• For exterior mounts the weather sealed body make me feel more comfortable with the occasional splash
• Much, much better battery life. It's a pain to de-mount a camera just to change a battery. 
• Full support of the dual-channel wireless lav receiver (I didn't use it for the House of Muscle like this, but for a 22-part series I shot for Autoblog last month we used it extensively on the A99II.) It's possible the A7S support it, but I haven't tried. More a plus for running Sony across the board I guess.
• Since we travel all over the USA to film this series, bag space is a premium and we're already packing 10 cases as it is. With the A99II I don't have to bring a second camera for photos (I always take a few for promo use.) The A7S simply wasn't good for action photos. 
• My FS7 has an A-Mount adaptor, so I can swap my Zeiss prime set between both cameras easily. The 135mm f/1.8 is a beautiful lens. 
• The full-frame video is good. Yes, there is some minor aliasing in FF mode, but nothing the client or the viewers will ever notice. 
• Autofocus in video mode is excellent -- for how I use it. The ONLY time I auto-focus is when the camera is mounted on a Ronin gimbal when we do tracking car-to-car shots. Even with the f/3.5 "issue," the camera performs very well in this situation. To reduce the shutter speed in bright light, I just add the appropriate number of ND filters to hit my target exposure. 
• The full-size DSLR-style body is more enjoyable to use. I found I shot a lot of run-and-gun with the A99II when I could have just as well grabbed the FS7 this past week.
• Built-in stabilization helped damp vibrations when running with a hard-mount on a chase-car. 
• Like the A7S the dynamic range works magic to "save" exterior details when filming inside a dark car interior. 

A few areas where the A7S was better:

• Sharper image overall (negligible as far as the client was concerned.)
• Smooth aperture adjustments "on the fly" thanks to a manual control on the adaptor we used with the Nikon lens.  

[rdouthit]

19 hours ago, rdouthit said:

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 

Correction: the second camera is a 1DX Mk2. 

[webrunner5]

Yeah I can see using a full sized DSLR over a mirrorless day in day out. Other than low light probably just better overall other lens options I guess.

Certainly good enough to get the job done, and that is what is important, not maybe having the best output.

[shanebrutal]

@rdouthit sounds like one heck of an awesome job! Do you ever shoot for roadkill garage? I shoot local car group events and I know making car stuff look cinematic and snazy is a great skill!

[rdouthit]

2 hours ago, shanebrutal said:

@rdouthit sounds like one heck of an awesome job! Do you ever shoot for roadkill garage? I shoot local car group events and I know making car stuff look cinematic and snazy is a great skill!

Nope, I don't work on Roadkill. Great show though. 

[austinchimp]

17 hours ago, rdouthit said:

Correction: the second camera is a 1DX Mk2. 

How do you compare the A99 ii to the 1DX ii? Which would you pick for run and gun?

[rdouthit]

2 hours ago, austinchimp said:

How do you compare the A99 ii to the 1DX ii? Which would you pick for run and gun?

The A99II every time. For me, the lack of an EVF makes the 1DXII a non-starter. The touch-focus is really, really good, however, and that overcomes a lot. But it's just not my style of shooting. Also, those files sizes are a bit ridiculous on the Canon.