Sony A7S Mark 3 - What to expect

[juicevibe]

I am really hoping the S3 will have 10bit codec.  I don't want to have to switch systems.  

[Don Kotlos]

1 hour ago, juicevibe said:

I am really hoping the S3 will have 10bit codec.  I don't want to have to switch systems.  

10bit output more likely. 

Maybe FS5mkii will have internal 10bit. 

[IronFilm]

That is likely just dreaming

[cojocaru27]

not a word about a7s mark3 - probably will be april next year such a hard waiting, hope at least it will worth it.

[Robin Billingham]

Seems they are sticking with the same Bionz x processing for the 3rd gen. I had heard they were having big problems with lsi development. I think this means the 3rd gen will continue to be a suped up version of the 2nd gen rather than offer the kind of new features found in the gh5 that we are hoping for.

Unless 10 bit etc was supported by that chip set all along ?

Hope im wrong

[raf702]

-4K-60p

-10-bit or at least 8-bit 422

-improved colors

-improved IBIS

 

The first two are most important to me at least.

[JordanWright]

I wouldn't hold your breath on 10bit

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I don't think they'll do 10-bit internal AND 4K60. That would threaten the FS5, and Sony doesn't have a habit of stepping on their pro line.

Hard to imagine how they'll imagine 4K60 either, since the Mark II bodies already have to dim the screen significantly to avoid overheating in 4K30. My best guess is that they'll finally include 4K 10-bit HDMI out, maybe with a full-sized HDMI port, and 10-bit 1080p internally. 4K-wise, I'm not sure they actually can step up their game with their current hardware. Willing to be proven wrong, but...I wouldn't hold your breath. 

Improved AF seems like the most likely new addition, and one I'd absolutely love to see. Gimbal work with the current A7S can get pretty annoying without it. 

[Don Kotlos]

I will be happy if the A7sIII is an A9 with PP and 4K 60p. I wish the implement the fast sensor readout mode in video as well. 

Can't see much separating it with the A9 though other than a possible reduction in fps, so that might not be the case. 

 

[gelaxstudio]

the full pixels readout on a6300  and  a9  already proved  Sony can  do  6k 8 bit video on  their  mirrorless  cameras

Sony just not sure it is the time  to  give 6k video for everyone,unless they need  to  sell their 6k  TVs

[Shirozina]

Just get (the very good and much better than the internal codec)  8bit 4.2.2 it can already feed to the HDMI into a higher bitrate and on to a card - shouldn't take too much processing power........... 

[Kisaha]

1 hour ago, gelaxstudio said:

the full pixels readout on a6300  and  a9  already proved  Sony can  do  6k 8 bit video on  their  mirrorless  cameras

Sony just not sure it is the time  to  give 6k video for everyone,unless they need  to  sell their 6k  TVs

How is this relevant to anything at all? Samsung does that since 2014 by the way. Next step in resolution will be 8K (even Sharp has an 8K ready supercam) not 6K, the downsampling is a more crucial advancement than 6K -though I agree that it could be useful for crop/eis, but the challenge for Sony is to provide 10 bit internal for true HDR, among other benefits. GH5 set the standards for next age video orientated mirrorless cameras. I truly believe that 10bit is a luxury right now, but I wouldn't invest easily on an expensive 8bit camera in 2018.

[liork]

On 8.11.2017 at 8:51 PM, TheRenaissanceMan said:

I don't think they'll do 10-bit internal AND 4K60. That would threaten the FS5, and Sony doesn't have a habit of stepping on their pro line.

Hard to imagine how they'll imagine 4K60 either, since the Mark II bodies already have to dim the screen significantly to avoid overheating in 4K30. My best guess is that they'll finally include 4K 10-bit HDMI out, maybe with a full-sized HDMI port, and 10-bit 1080p internally. 4K-wise, I'm not sure they actually can step up their game with their current hardware. Willing to be proven wrong, but...I wouldn't hold your breath. 

Improved AF seems like the most likely new addition, and one I'd absolutely love to see. Gimbal work with the current A7S can get pretty annoying without it. 

The new A7R III does not dim the back screen anymore while taking 4K.

[wolf33d]

4K60P + A9 AF optimized for video + better IBIS is all I need. Dual SD, better battery and so on is a GIVEN considering A7RIII.
If they bring 10bit and so on it is bonus..

I am just afraid that they bring all ergonomics improvement and AF of the A7RIII together with 10 bit and call it an upgrade. 4K60P is the feature I am the least sure about but the most important one. 
Don't include that and I will have to get a G9 instead...

[TheRenaissanceMan]

On 11/11/2017 at 7:41 AM, liork said:

The new A7R III does not dim the back screen anymore while taking 4K.

Thanks, hadn't actually heard that.

Still, very skeptical they've got their thermal management improved enough to actually give us 4K60 or 10-bit internal. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Improved IBIS seems unlikely too, as its inferiority to the GH5 isn't just a matter of bad implementation. It's physics. They can't move a full frame sensor as quickly or precisely as one a quarter the size.

Improved AF, battery life, record button placement, and 10-bit HDMI out would be a sensible and tempting upgrade. Seems this generation of Sony is all about usability upgrades, which is a relief after all these small spec-centric improvements that leave enormous problems untouched.

[liork]

Well, the A7SII does 4K 30p only, they will have to give us something more. It can be either 4K 60p or 10 bit, maybe both. Also, the sensor will be a new one, I don't think Sony will keep the same sensor tor the third time.

[Dave Maze]

@liork I hope not the same sensor! I have been saying for years now that the a7S sensor is incorrect. It's just wrong. It doesn't render colors correctly. @EOSHD_Twitter solved a lot of these issues with his color profiles, but the a7s sensor needs to be totally replaced. You can see that Sony noticed it with their newer a6300/6500 sensors having better color, along with the a9 having more accurate color. 

[IronFilm]

20 hours ago, liork said:

Well, the A7SII does 4K 30p only, they will have to give us something more. It can be either 4K 60p or 10 bit, maybe both. Also, the sensor will be a new one, I don't think Sony will keep the same sensor tor the third time.

I'm almost certain it won't get 10bit. Could be 50/50 as to if 4K 60fps happens.

As for a new sensor, if they go higher resolution to say 20 megapixels then that totally defeats the purpose of the a7S line up?

So they'll either stick with 12 megapixels, or will only get a very modest boost to say 16 megapixels (but doubtful, sampling is no longer so straightforward).

[Trek of Joy]

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

I'm almost certain it won't get 10bit. Could be 50/50 as to if 4K 60fps happens.

As for a new sensor, if they go higher resolution to say 20 megapixels then that totally defeats the purpose of the a7S line up?

So they'll either stick with 12 megapixels, or will only get a very modest boost to say 16 megapixels (but doubtful, sampling is no longer so straightforward).

A PDAF equipped, stacked BSI version of the 12mp sensor with the new processor to cut rolling shutter and speed things up would be sweet. I've always thought a rez bump to allow 4k in crop mode would be a possibility, but that would push things to almost 20mp if my math is correct (which may not be the case) if the crop mode allowed for full readout. A bump in mp would impact low light, but it would be a worthy tradeoff IMO since anything above about 51200 is strictly for night doc or ENG type stuff.

[photographer-at-large]

Now that specs are known for A7r3 and A73, what is realistic to expect of A7s3?