Too late for an a7s guide?

[sqm]

I would love too see an a7s guide from Andrew (or maybe someone else).

Picture Profiles, best native run n gun lenses with IS, wich exposure style? ETTR? or 2 or 3 stops over?

I would love to have one source for all information to master the a7s

Is it too late for that? in mind that the mkii is on the way.

Cheers

[Kristoferman]

Wolfcrow has a rather extensive a7s system I wouldn't hesitate recommending. 

 

L

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I think Dave Dugdale has one due to drop soon.

[Axel]

Yes, the Wolfcrow E-Book is $80, and though it may gather all information the author knew about at the time he first published it, he has very headstrong opinions, which imo don't help to get the best out of your camera.

Me and my buddy are only testing the A7s since a month now or so. We have a lot of Canon glass, so we bought the Metabones adapter. Can't recommend it, because it turned out to be unreliable (aperture). We have a Sony Zeiss 16-35 and a Sigma 24-105 (imo the better one, 24mm is also wide enough), both E-mount of course. For faster primes, we are planning to buy some Rokinons, perhaps 50 + 85. 

As I wrote before, I'm no friend of superflat PPs with an 8-bit codec. Try autumn leaves, and you will get better skin tones than with any SLog+LUT-treatment. But that's my strong opinion.

 

[sqm]

I watched the wolfcrow guide, learned many things especially the idea of setting the zebras to 70 and use spotmetering to place the skintones between 60-70 ire is great..

But its just a  slog exposure guide.

So slog isnt great for lowlight, what PP should is use instead and why ?

General wich PP for wich situation?

Autumn leaves is great, pleasing skintones and rich color in my opinion but it feels like there is less room to grade (correct me if im wrong).

I got the tokina 28-70 atx pro, the first ageneux designed edition... great lens but almost double the weight of the camera...Im looking for something small and lightweight for travel videos or similar.

 

 

 

 

 

[Axel]

Autumn leaves is great, pleasing skintones and rich color in my opinion but it feels like there is less room to grade (correct me if im wrong).

Yes, of course. But if you spread the 256 shades too far to the shadows and highlights, few are left for the midtones, where the action is, usually. Log profiles work with 10-bit (1024 shades) or raw. Even then, grading for 8-bit (i.e. Vimeo) means crushing blacks and sacrificing highlight detail for a better image, and in most cases the results will look like autumn leaves in the end ...

And: does 'grading' really imply excessive tone-remapping? HDR? Squeezing 15 stops into an 8-bit image at any costs? Many succeeded in color correcting threadbare consumer video before. Of footage that was much worse than that of the A7s. Very few, on the other hand, can present beautiful material from SLog-recordings. See what Mr. Sudhakaran, seller of the Wolfcrow guide, has to show. Does this convince you?

[jcs]

1. Use Slog2 and "de-log" it as much as possible with camera settings: use Pro color mode, add some saturation, shooting +2 over (set top right dial to +2).
2. Don't use AWB- carefully set it manually. Do tests to understand how it will look in post vs. making judgments based on the camera displays, especially for skintones.
3. A simple curve in your NLE will make the footage look pretty good right away if using 1-2 above (basically grab a point about 1/4 from the bottom and pull down slightly, sometimes also pull up around 1/2-1/4 from the top).
4. For indoor/darker scenes try Cine1 or Cine4, Pro color, shoot at proper exposure (not over or under- set top right dial to '0').
5. The Sony SELP18-200 is a great R&G all around lens. Better than Canon IS, decent autofocus, sharp, good color, great range. Canon 24-105 F4 also works pretty good. The 24-70 F2.8 II is sharper and faster, but no IS.

[sqm]

Yes, of course. But if you spread the 256 shades too far to the shadows and highlights, few are left for the midtones, where the action is, usually. Log profiles work with 10-bit (1024 shades) or raw. Even then, grading for 8-bit (i.e. Vimeo) means crushing blacks and sacrificing highlight detail for a better image, and in most cases the results will look like autumn leaves in the end ...

And: does 'grading' really imply excessive tone-remapping? HDR? Squeezing 15 stops into an 8-bit image at any costs? Many succeeded in color correcting threadbare consumer video before. Of footage that was much worse than that of the A7s. Very few, on the other hand, can present beautiful material from SLog-recordings. See what Mr. Sudhakaran, seller of the Wolfcrow guide, has to show. Does this convince you?

thanks for your suggestion youre right, his stuff looks poor..

1. Use Slog2 and "de-log" it as much as possible with camera settings: use Pro color mode, add some saturation, shooting +2 over (set top right dial to +2).
2. Don't use AWB- carefully set it manually. Do tests to understand how it will look in post vs. making judgments based on the camera displays, especially for skintones.
3. A simple curve in your NLE will make the footage look pretty good right away if using 1-2 above (basically grab a point about 1/4 from the bottom and pull down slightly, sometimes also pull up around 1/2-1/4 from the top).
4. For indoor/darker scenes try Cine1 or Cine4, Pro color, shoot at proper exposure (not over or under- set top right dial to '0').
5. The Sony SELP18-200 is a great R&G all around lens. Better than Canon IS, decent autofocus, sharp, good color, great range. Canon 24-105 F4 also works pretty good. The 24-70 F2.8 II is sharper and faster, but no IS.

thanks jcs, i will test the slog -  de-log settings.

Did i miss something, isnt the exp dial only availible in auto iso mode?

Do you know a good source for the up and downsides of the different cine modes? i dont want to pester you guys with all the questions

Cheers

[mojo43]

I haven't been following wolfcrow that much, but I did see the first few posts and to me his information seemed off. His colouring looks bad imo and therefore I wouldn't follow his example. This is just my opinion though...

[jcs]

thanks for your suggestion youre right, his stuff looks poor..

thanks jcs, i will test the slog -  de-log settings.

Did i miss something, isnt the exp dial only availible in auto iso mode?

Do you know a good source for the up and downsides of the different cine modes? i dont want to pester you guys with all the questions

Cheers

Exp dial: even with manual ISO you'll use the exposure meter- setting the dial to +2 will show '0' in the exposure meter when properly exposed.

Cine1/Cine4- I find myself using Cine1 more (Cine2 is basically the same). You need to try them and see how they look for your needs. Stock PP6 can work OK for R&G (Cine2/Cinema). Slog2 has the most stable color.