Sony a7S III ... for a cinematic look/feel? Or look elsewhere?

[Spaceghost1969]

I would look into the Canon 1DC. Very filmic 4K. 

[EphraimP]

14 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Or it might be none of those, and it might be because he was looking at images created by highly skilled and experienced DoPs, supported by an entire crew who are also highly skilled and experienced. And it is that which is creating the "cinematic look & feel" that @bonesandskin speaks of. 

Sure, I get that. I was going to mention lighting in my post but cut it short. The OP mentioned being on a project working with a Venice and a Red Dragon, so I figured t it that sort of first hand experience would help the OP take those things into account. Maybe not.

[MicahMahaffey]

On 12/15/2020 at 12:06 PM, TomTheDP said:

The A7s3 is probably one of the worst cameras out right now in terms of a cinematic feel. Due to the processing that can't be disabled it just feels less organic. This can easily be shown by seeing it side by side with the FX6 which has the same sensor but without the digital noise reduction and sharpening. 

In the cameras defense the rolling shutter performance in fantastic.

Rolling shutter, color and codec also play a part. 

I think the Pana S1H will give you a much more organic image though it suffers from much worse rolling shutter as well as no ALL-I high bitrate codecs. 

Something like a Z-cam will give you a very organic image though the rolling shutter isn't great, at least compared to a cinema camera. 

The RED Komodo is the best bang for your buck for a cinema camera look. I'd say the Canon C70 falls next to it. I might but the Pocket 6k next. The S1H isn't far behind if you can get past the rolling shutter and subpar high speed options. I think an of the URSA mini 4.6K cameras are also very organic looking with good rolling shutter performance compared to the Pocket cameras. 

I personally am happy with my Z-cam S6 and Panasonic S1. With Emotive Color's Arri LUT they look phenomenal. Any differences between them and say an Arri Classic are negated by how cheap and easier to use they are. 

I'd love a RED Komodo but I hate RED as a brand and I could have two S6's for the less than the price of one RED Komodo. The Pana S1 and Z-cam S6 are also much better at high ISO, which is more useful than rolling shutter. 

The s1h has All-I codecs. The s1 and s5 dont have all-I but their actual image is pretty damn comparible and cost like $1800 used. 

If auto focus isn't a concern, just get an S1 with the vlog upgrade, it's getting 6k 10bit and 4k 60 10bit internal and 6k raw external in a few months. 

[PannySVHS]

11 minutes ago, MicahMahaffey said:

The s1h has All-I codecs. The s1 and s5 dont have all-I but their actual image is pretty damn comparible and cost like $1800 used. 

If auto focus isn't a concern, just get an S1 with the vlog upgrade, it's getting 6k 10bit and 4k 60 10bit internal and 6k raw external in a few months. 

I second that. The S1 with the Vlog update has an image too good to believe. No mushyness at all. Still gooling over the S1H for the OPLF filter. Maybe I should be goolin over some filming ideas instead and film something worthwhile with my S1. Seriously I feel ashamed not using this or any camera much these days. S1 is a cinema image quality powerhouse.

[Mark Romero 2]

1 hour ago, PannySVHS said:

Maybe I should be goolin over some filming ideas instead and film something worthwhile with my S1. Seriously I feel ashamed not using this or any camera much these days. S1 is a cinema image quality powerhouse.

Don't know where you live and what you do all day, but I find myself either doom scrolling the news or hanging out on forums like this and developing a serious case of GAS. I suspect that I am not the only one doing so.

Plan on taking the S1 out tonight just to shoot some Christmas lights displays. I still have footage from LAST Christmas that I haven't edited together yet. Oh well...

Anyway, it gives me an excuse to spend time with the S1 and my Minolta MD 50mm f/2.