A7SIII (and why you should wait before buying GH5)

[Rinad Amir]

First off if sony reduces their price point to 2k and give us 10bit with ibis log and no overheating than maybe i will consider it

[Emanuel]

9 minutes ago, Rinad Amir said:

First off if sony reduces their price point to 2k and give us 10bit with ibis log and no overheating than maybe i will consider it

Perhaps not on a7SIII, but sooner or later they will need to follow Panasonic. Long life to the company founded by Matsushita!

You're shooting your own feet, Wolf, if you're thinking you can or should ignore the new GH series toy.

[wolf33d]

10bit would be nice. 

However i would rather get a nice 8 bit c-log image from a 1DC than a crappy color 10bit image from a Sony.

so I would rather have them first look into color science, then we can talk 10 bit.

Cant wait for next month. A7SIII is gonna blow some minds.

let's all thank Panasonic for forcing Canon to give us C-Log and Sony to up their game.

Also the body will have apparently 20fps and pro speed features for photography. 

So brace yourselves for the price... 

[kidzrevil]

4 hours ago, Arikhan said:

@TheRenaissanceMan + @kidzrevil

Yeah...Modern AF cameras and generally electronic driven devices are for girlies and mollycoddles only. "Real" filmmakers shoot only with old sovjet cameras for max. 150 USD bought on Ebay. 

holy shit that was childish. LOL My God that was a childish response.

anyway. 

I can only speak for myself here but AF isn't a deal breaker for me and it doesn't make you more or less of a "real filmmaker". 

Have I shot with AF ? HELL YES ! Do I rely on it ? Absolutely not because focus is an aesthetic choice...for me at least. I don't need the camera determining that for me automatically.

Anyway definitely gonna go look for that Soviet camera , 150 usd is a steal !

[ntblowz]

Why wait? Just buy it if needed, and not based on want

[PannySVHS]

1 hour ago, wolf33d said:

10bit would be nice. 

However i would rather get a nice 8 bit c-log image from a 1DC than a crappy color 10bit image from a Sony.

so I would rather have them first look into color science, then we can talk 10 bit.

Cant wait for next month. A7SIII is gonna blow some minds.

let's all thank Panasonic for forcing Canon to give us C-Log and Sony to up their game.

Also the body will have apparently 20fps and pro speed features for photography. 

So brace yourselves for the price... 

 

So you will like the nice GH5 10bit VLOG output and leave the eventual A7SIII on the store shelfs then?  

Did you check deezids 8bit VLOG footage? He´s been positng some of his footage on this forum. Looking awesome.

But he is really good at grading. This is his reel with GH4 footage:

 

1 hour ago, kidzrevil said:

Anyway definitely gonna go look for that Soviet camera , 150 usd is a steal !

 

Old Soviet camera with a couple anamorphic Lomos, 150USD, yes please!

[aldolega]

I'd love to see the A7SIII fill in all the gaps in the A7SII (overheating, rolling shutter, screen, AF, battery, etc), and I'm holding off on the GH5 to see if it does, but I'm not optimistic.

If we get a "perfect" camera from Sony this year it will be the A9, which will be in the 1DxII, D5 price bracket ($5-6K), which outta my league.

[Hanriverprod]

3 hours ago, kidzrevil said:

holy shit that was childish. LOL My God that was a childish response.

anyway. 

I can only speak for myself here but AF isn't a deal breaker for me and it doesn't make you more or less of a "real filmmaker". 

Have I shot with AF ? HELL YES ! Do I rely on it ? Absolutely not because focus is an aesthetic choice...for me at least. I don't need the camera determining that for me automatically.

Anyway definitely gonna go look for that Soviet camera , 150 usd is a steal !

Yeah, focus is a choice but you can choose the focus on af. It's like a tap vs a turn.

[wolf33d]

1 hour ago, aldolega said:

I'd love to see the A7SIII fill in all the gaps in the A7SII (overheating, rolling shutter, screen, AF, battery, etc), and I'm holding off on the GH5 to see if it does, but I'm not optimistic.

If we get a "perfect" camera from Sony this year it will be the A9, which will be in the 1DxII, D5 price bracket ($5-6K), which outta my league.

Nope. 
A9 camera has been rumored with those specs (20fps, dual SD, .....) so either we get a A7SIII and there wont be any A9. 
Either the camera announced next month is a A9S. => high propability to get A9S, A9 and A9R as a pro line versus A7

 

[tellure]

As an A7R2 hobbyist (not pro) my number one feature for a new Sony camera is touchscreen focusing combined with excellent AF / object tracking.

I do a lot of gimbal run-and-gun and it would be huge to be able to focus easily on the fly.  It would also be a godsend when shooting handheld.  I was shooting a friend's wedding the other week and trying to focus pull on a couple dancing.. continually moving towards and then away from you with no predictability, well it was well beyond my abilities.  Even with focus peaking and a lens with a good focus ring (24-70 2.8 GM).  Sure I could spend many dozens of hours trying to master that skill.. or I could try and get better at the many other aspects of this art form, and still be able to use focus creatively with a good touch system.

Similarly I could have learned how to use an old-school steadicam, but instead technology has advanced enough that I can buy an excellent gimbal for a reasonable price and then focus on the creative aspects of composition, camera movement, and subject blocking instead of focusing on how to keep the camera steady.

I wholeheartedly agree with wolf33d that once video AF is reliable enough and has enough creative control options we'll see lots of pros using it, just like most do now for still photography.  Hopefully that future will be soon.

[dbp]

Agreed. I welcome the day when AF is usable, it'd be wonderful for live events, weddings etc. Not like you can still practice manual focusing for moments where you want ultimate control. 

[kidzrevil]

6 hours ago, Hanriverprod said:

Yeah, focus is a choice but you can choose the focus on af. It's like a tap vs a turn.

Understandable but...the camera af and you as the actual camera operator pulling focus looks and feels worlds apart from each other. I use AF to lock focus on a static shot which is very useful but still looks and feels far different from manually focusing ??‍♂️

[tellure]

People who want to can still spend the time mastering manual focus pulling and achieving a more organic and human feel to their shots.  But we'll probably be able to get much closer to that with great AF tools.  IMO the highest order creative choices with focus are simply choosing what to focus on and when to change focus.  There are tons of us that would love to explore all the creative potential of those choices more easily without needing to master manual focus pulling.

Just like a great colorist can create a unique look (like the awesome grades in your videos kidz), but those of us who only have so much time can use or tweak an existing LUT to get something close to the look we want.

Speaking of getting different styles from AF, I think we'll eventually see a time when you can set focus pull styles and tracking profiles the same way you can set up LUTs and picture profiles in your camera, not to mention lots of more powerful features that are only in stills-land right now.

We've started to see the beginning of this with being able to set the AF transition speed (AF drive speed) and AF tracking sensitivity (AF track sens) on newer Sony cameras. Eventually we should be able to get stuff like:

• Eye-AF with tracking during video (shoot full frame at f/1.2 with tracking!
• Different curves for focus transition speed; so you could have a quick pull to get close and then a slower adjustment as the fine tune focus is nailed
• Automatic focus / tracking priority of a memorized subject the way you can for stills (A6300 stills example).

It just needs more development time and processing horsepower, but seems totally achievable given the current arc of technology.

[Gregormannschaft]

AF is, by far, the thing I miss the most in the current A7SII. I used a Canon 70D the other day and was blown away by the focus on that. I know that's the very best, but anything close would be a godsend. I do a lot of one man band docs and it would have been a lifesaver. That said, I managed to weave in and around a football match at West Ham, keeping focus pretty well on my protagonist on the A7SII by stopping down to f9. It was totally fine, I'd just like to take it off my 'worry' list.

[Chrad]

Sony won't put everything we want in an inexpensive body. When have they ever done this? And why would they?

They are the number one choice for video DSLR shooters right now. They are not fighting for relevance like Panasonic. They have a succesful prosumer line to protect, which further lowers their likelihood of putting features like 10 bit in consumer level bodies.

What they already offer is selling well, so why push the limits?

[Arikhan]

@kidzrevil

Quote

holy shit that was childish. LOL My God that was a childish response.

Not as childish as the claim "pros don't need AF"...No offense please... 

As childish as the old style photographers claiming NOWADAYS the same and not wanting to accept facts and reality...Living in the 60s can make some fun, but I'm wondering why this kind of people doesn't use horses & carriages but cars...

In many situations you will never be able to focus manually like a reliable and powerful AF...And still, there are many situations, when you want and have to control your focus speed and process manually...There is no conflict between focusing manually / or per AF, the two systems are a complement to each other. But oviously not for nostalgic know-it-alls...

@Chrad

Quote

Sony won't put everything we want in an inexpensive body.

They even don't need to make it "inexpensive"...Spending 4.500 - 5.500 bucks for a capable (portable) FF with reliable AF (like A6500), 60fps (4K), clean 1080p 4.2.2 10bit up to 100/120fps, very good low light skills and a pleasant colour science OOC isn't too much nowadays.

[Jimmy]

The question is .... what should we wait for once the a7S iii is announced?

[Kisaha]

@Jimmy The Nikon FXM and the Canon M1dx

@Arikhan "Spending 4.500 - 5.500 bucks for a capable (portable) FF with reliable AF (like A6500), 60fps (4K), clean 1080p 4.2.2 10bit up to 100/120fps, very good low light skills and a pleasant colour science OOC isn't too much nowadays."

What is this camera? If it goes around 8.000euros, I am buying it this summer!

 

[Arikhan]

@Kisaha

Hehe... I hope it will be the A9 (aka A7R iii or A7S iii). I believe it wil be announced at NAB. I think, I would even spend 6.000 for it. It would be a "portable FS5" (without RAW option) in FF format with excellent 1080p 10 bit internally and a AF system similar to the A6500 + touch screen (even as modest as in the A6500). OK, it's a hope till now...

If not, the only alternative (at least at the moment) would be for me a C300 II or a C100 II (as I just saw 1080p out of it upscaled to 4K, and it was really good in the medium and close shots - only very small difference to "real" 4K). I need till end August a good S35 cam with a very good codec, acceptable ergonomics and reliable AF, so I hope Sony will offer something in this range.

[kidzrevil]

3 hours ago, Arikhan said:

@kidzrevil

Not as childish as the claim "pros don't need AF"...No offense please... 

As childish as the old style photographers claiming NOWADAYS the same and not wanting to accept facts and reality...Living in the 60s can make some fun, but I'm wondering why this kind of people doesn't use horses & carriages but cars...

In many situations you will never be able to focus manually like a reliable and powerful AF...

I prefer not to use AF for video like many other people, does that mean I am "living in the 60s" ? You know what...this is not even worth the back and forth. Good luck man