Surprise! Sony Alpha A6000 video mode huge improvement

[EyeSoul]

@Amro Othman looks great!

 

[EyeSoul]

Another good A6000 video.

[sandro]

I still can't notice all that sharpness...

[abds69]

I'd prefer say better resolution, crisp. Removing AA filter from the a6000 + bionz process gives us the best defined image i see for 1080P, in fact so defined it looks sometimes more video than film. Canon aps-c is so soft at contrary.

[Inazuma]

Canon APS-C looked really soft to me even before I knew anything about HDSLR filming. I still don't understand why it was bigged up so much :/

[Glenn Thomas]

I'm sure I recall someone asking what the A6000 was like in low light or at night time. Well here's a music video I shot entirely at night with it using nothing but location lighting. A quick warning though, video contains swearing and smoking.. In case any of that offends anyone :)

 

The video was shot around the Vivid light festival in Sydney. I've shot videos at Vivid for the past few years, and compared to videos I'd shot on the NEX5N, I can definitely see a big difference in dynamic range. With the NEX5N, bright blue lights would always blow out and end up looking like an amateur attempt at painting a lightsabre in Photoshop with a bright white core. But the A6000 thankfully captures those lights without those harsh whites. 

 

As for low light performance, well, not too good actually. I was scared to go above 1600 ISO, so some shots were under exposed. Which turns out to have been a really bad idea. In fact, for most shots I only had it set to 800 ISO. Detail was lost whilst cleaning it up with Neat Video, but it's not too bad. Although shooting the whole thing in 50P probably didn't help either. But I am happy with the overall look. I added some film grain on top as well. 

 

Also, about 90% of the video was shot using auto focus with the SEL35F18 lens, and it worked well enough. You can see quite a few shots are a bit off, but it's always difficult in low light with guys moving so much. There's one shot in the last chorus where the singer comes towards the camera, and it tracked him quite nicely. Even though that was one of the more dimly lit spots. But I have a switch set to toggle between auto and manual focus. The most recent video I've posted on Vimeo was also shot using the auto focus, and it worked better there being a daylight shoot.

 

Anyway, here's the video -

[dstilio]

Great colour grading in the Bowling video that Eyesoul submitted.

Also, the Canon lenses seem to perform quite well.

 

Glenn Thomas quite good work although I am not into this kind of music. I don't mind the underexposed scenes. It is a "dark" video anyway

:-)

However, why you went with 50fps instead of 25?

[Inazuma]

Not a big fan of how it was shot, but the camera seemed to do a good job. The exposure is pretty spot on and the colours are as good as can be expected from a h264 camera. I can see a clear IQ improvement from when you were shooting with the NEX

[EyeSoul]

 

[dstilio]

damn...these tests in vimeo are sexy!

So...if I shoot a girl with the a6000 she will become like this? This camera is great!

[EyeSoul]

nice one!!

[hmcindie]

Canon APS-C looked really soft to me even before I knew anything about HDSLR filming. I still don't understand why it was bigged up so much :/

 

Because at the time people were used to 35mm adapters on 1/3" sensor cameras to get dof. AND THOSE WERE REALLY SOFT!

 

Softness is good anyways if the comparison is for example the Sony EX1 class cameras. Which are artificially sharp. Softness isn't always bad, I prefer softness to sharpened halos. The only real problem with the APS-C cams was aliasing and moire, not softness.

[sunyata]

nice one!!

 

Rob Base reference and jazz dancing? I must be gettin old because this looks so wack to me, it makes me miss crackheads.  

[EyeSoul]

Rob Base reference and jazz dancing? I must be gettin old because this looks so wack to me, it makes me miss crackheads.  

lol I do admit the dancers could have been a better but I think it's a nice "feel good" song even with the obvious Rob Base parts. I like the energy and movement of the overall piece.

[sunyata]

Yea, it is. But I have to do it..

 

[EyeSoul]

A test I did with  the LiveViewGrading App

[sandro]

Is the low light performance bad?

[abds69]

hello, DXO says twice sensible than the canon aps-c 550/600/7D, with extra noise removal from bionz as a bonus. Good at 3200, 6400 is way way better than on 550D, It's still under a 5D mk2, sensor size shouldn't be forgotten.

Noise seems to be only in luminance, but shift to color at a point. Beware of banding on walls and dynamic range drops also, so high dynamic scene at night must be avoided.

DRO raises noise, portrait raises noise and some other profiles also. Best night profile should be tested and published, who wants to cope with ?

i've Recorded outdoor night concert, good footage and extra resolution really help to keep a defined picture even if noise reduction at normal setting creates artefacts.

So better resolution, better dynamic range, better noise reduction inboard, better sensivity, noise in luminance only, adequate profile to find, live histogram, speed values possible till 1/4, give you great abilities in dark over other aps-c for sure.

[dstilio]

A test I did with  the LiveViewGrading App

 

Hi there, nice to see the difference. I was thinking of buying this application. It seems that this "Silky" profile delivers a more flat image.

Have you tried colour grading the samples to see in practise the difference using this "Silky" flat image?

Does it hold better?

 

 

Second question: Also, have you tried actually grading in camera and getting good results?

Although doing it in post is always safer...I wander if it can deliver decent results.

 

Thank you.

[noone]

Hi there, nice to see the difference. I was thinking of buying this application. It seems that this "Silky" profile delivers a more flat image.

Have you tried colour grading the samples to see in practise the difference using this "Silky" flat image?

Does it hold better?

 

 

Second question: Also, have you tried actually grading in camera and getting good results?

Although doing it in post is always safer...I wander if it can deliver decent results.

 

Thank you.

I think the Live View grading App is the best $10 spent!

 

I am slowly learning video but the extra control over colours in camera for video is great.       Sony should include this free on all their cameras with even semi-decent video.       Especially the lower end cameras that most buyers would hardly ever (if ever) do much in post.

 

Might take me a while to get the best settings for things right but will just be a lot better for instance shooting live bands in a pub that I shoot regularly with the same lighting.          I like the look from the Cinema group- Velvety so far best of the 12 presets I think but might take me years to find what I like the most.

 

 

I will try and make a short video using/comparing some of the presets in the next few days (unless someone who knows what they are doing wants to do it)