The Sony A7S, X70 and Atomos Shogun at Pinewood Studios

[Tim Naylor]

One day someone will come to their senses and build an SDI out on a DSLR. As much as I'm excited about the A7s, I dread micro HDMI.

[Luke Mason]

One day someone will come to their senses and build an SDI out on a DSLR. As much as I'm excited about the A7s, I dread micro HDMI.

 

It's called a GH4 with YAGH

[Tim Naylor]

It's called a GH4 with YAGH

I didn't say oversized pig that's too high for standard matte boxes, requires a record box and that defeats the whole purpose of a small camera. If I'm going to put YAGH on a GH4, I'd rather just get a C100 with an Atomos Blade.

 

YAGH is dead to me. All I want is one SDI out. Not the four plus dual XLR's. 

[Clayton Moore]

"Now if someone can find out how to make the perfect ergonomic camera with Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters, they will have a winner on their hands."

 

I think that last line of your article says it all for me.  Weather the A7s, or GH4 or 5D, for many people shooting moving pictures would be perfect if the camera was actually designed for that purpose.  Canons C300 is just to expensive but still lacks the zero zoom built-in  yet the SONY X70 though 10 bit 4:2:2, misses the filmic highlights and other aesthetics people want.  So a large sensor, "camcorder" with 10 bit 4:2:2 internal and images that harken more in the direction of a black magic camera would absolutely be a winner.

[hmcindie]

  So a large sensor, "camcorder" with 10 bit 4:2:2 internal and images that harken more in the direction of a black magic camera would absolutely be a winner.

 

 

Sony F55?

[Clayton Moore]

Sony F55?

Almost -- haha indeed ----

 

......and were it smaller and had an MSRP of $4,500 than we'd be there .. LOL  

 

I keep reading over and over in post after post people really want to see SONY step up image qualtiy in their NX Camcorder line.  Their not even expecting the narrow DOF as much as the other asthetic qualities and beautiful highlights an A7s would have.  In other words a video camera that looks less like a "video" per se...

 

A Black Magic "Camcorder"  -- hahaha

[tomekk]

I can assure you both that 4K viewed on a 50" - 60" 4K TV does look much better than equivalent 1080p TV. It's a lovely image when viewed on a large enough screen.

 

This is really subjective. I can assure you that 4k viewed on a 60in TV doesn't look any better than equivalent 1080p from my seating position. It all depends on how far you are from the screen.

[Tzedekh]

 

"Now if someone can find out how to make the perfect ergonomic camera with Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters, they will have a winner on their hands."

 

I think that last line of your article says it all for me.  Weather the A7s, or GH4 or 5D, for many people shooting moving pictures would be perfect if the camera was actually designed for that purpose.  Canons C300 is just to expensive but still lacks the zero zoom built-in  yet the SONY X70 though 10 bit 4:2:2, misses the filmic highlights and other aesthetics people want.  So a large sensor, "camcorder" with 10 bit 4:2:2 internal and images that harken more in the direction of a black magic camera would absolutely be a winner.

 

 

It's not just sensor size but also construction. There are smaller sensors with greater dynamic range, such as the BAE CIS2051 used in the BMCC. With any luck, some sensor manufacturer wil come up with a light-sensitive, HDR, 1-inch 4K sensor. With a removable lens and a SpeedBooster-type focal reducer, you can have shallow DOF if you need it, and deeper DOF without it. Sounds like a good solution, but probably not a challenge any sensor or camera manufacturer will take up soon.

[zephyrnoid]

"Now if someone can find out how to make the perfect ergonomic camera with Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters, they will have a winner on their hands."

The actual questions is WHY none of the susual suspects have done so, not "how"
The answer has been the same for the past 6 years.

The don't want to fill the gap as long as selling at both ends of the market segementation makes them more money.

The Gap filler is not a "Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters,"
But rather, a Super 35mm sensor for documentary shooters.
For news, run & gun and events, the Panasonic GH4 is ideal.

[hmcindie]

This is really subjective. I can assure you that 4k viewed on a 60in TV doesn't look any better than equivalent 1080p from my seating position. It all depends on how far you are from the screen.

 

I agree. I have pretty good eyesight (almost 20/20) and I don't really need more than 2k while sitting in a theatre (I always go slightly back).

 

Most of my friends have worse eyesight so I doubt a lot of people would see the difference in 4k unless sitting very close. And film is full of motion blur anyways.

[shootsharp]

Let us know if you find a better solution for mounting the Shogun. I use a hotshoe at the moment with my DP7 and it's always moving b/c of the weight.

what about a arms or brace to one side?

[shootsharp]

"Now if someone can find out how to make the perfect ergonomic camera with Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters, they will have a winner on their hands."

The actual questions is WHY none of the susual suspects have done so, not "how"
The answer has been the same for the past 6 years.

The don't want to fill the gap as long as selling at both ends of the market segementation makes them more money.

The Gap filler is not a "Super 35mm sensor for news, run & gun and documentary shooters,"
But rather, a Super 35mm sensor for documentary shooters.
For news, run & gun and events, the Panasonic GH4 is ideal.

honestly, though the image suffered, the Sony NEX-EA50 had some of the best ergonomics in a interchangeable lens camera in the last several years. if it didn't completely suck in low light situations and/or just had the sensor and features of the a7S, it would have probably been the perfect camera.

except then you couldn't get it in small spaces... give and take.

[Eric Westpheling]

I was lucky earlier this week to demo a pre-production PXW-X70 and my hopes are partially dashed- the software on the camera was not the professional style from the other XDCAMs i've used (namely the pmw-200, ex1, ex3, ex1r).

 

I didn't get any information whether or not it was final software, but if its supposed to ship next month I'm not optimistic its going to be hugely changed.

 

My main issue was in the picture profiles: the gamma options were limited to Standard, Cinematone1, Cinematone2, and itu709.

 

I was shocked with such paltry options! Especially annoying was the lack of Slog, especially since it is by design a documentary camera, and with a 10bit 422 codec it would have the data to really shine in grading!

 

For me this camera will be a non-starter without a full paint menu for creation of picture profiles. The A7s has great granular menu options, and the EX1 BBC settings made fantastic video for years!

 

People can forgive poor ergonomics if the image quality is there (namely the FS700). The PXW-X70 as i've seen it (in pre-production state) has great ergonomics, but fails to make itself a viable option simply due to lack of Cine Gamas and Slog. 

 

I hope to be proven wrong....there's still time Sony!

 

 

[blafarm]

FWIW:  

 

I just learned from Atomos that the Shogun will support Cinema 4k with a firmware release that is anticipated sometime after the product ships.

[elgabogomez]

Cinema 4k as in 4096x2160? Cause that would be neat.

Getting back to the consumer angle of 4k, i went to bestbuy and fry's and they had settings with lg and samsung tv's with 4k and similar inch size 1080 next to each other and... First of all they had them with the 60p fluid motion/soap opera setting... Second, side by side 50 and 60" tv's with the same content, they look the same (mind you they were both showing a blu ray which is 1080, so)... Third, price and image appeared more appealing in the 1080 sets... In certain scenes the 1080 set looked better, with the 4k one looking more "plastic" as it was interpolating frames for the smooth motion effect AND upscaling to 4k from the blu ray, adding up to the fakeness/video game look... Who knows, maybe the Hobbit will look nice there ;)

[blafarm]

Cinema 4k as in 4096x2160?

 

 

Yes.  Precisely.

 

They had not articulated that fact at NAB -- at least not to me.

 

So I was surprised when the tech said that in a phone call.

 

Good news.

[AaronChicago]

I'm working on building a custom monitor rig that attaches to both sides of a monitor or Shogun, and lets it swivel. Much more stable for heavy monitors. I'll post a detailed account as soon as it's done.

[blafarm]

I'd be interested in seeing that.