A7rii: Internal vs External Recording

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digitalinnovations

Well-known member
Hello all!

The title pretty much says it all; I'm looking for some info on how the internal 4K recording stacks / holds up against external recording via the HDMI out. From what I understand, the A7rii is 8bit either way but you gain 422 with the HDMI versus the 420 of internal recording. What are the real world gains between them and are they significant?

Thanks for your time!
 
External does look better, because of 422 but mostly because you're usually recording ProRes or something like that, which is better than the (not bad at all either) internal codec.

Having said that: this weekend I worked with an external recorder, and I really can't understand how anybody can like that. It was hell. The holding arm was firm at the beginning but getting loose constantly by the end of the second day. Any small bump made the recorder turn itself off. Another battery to manage, another device to turn on and off. A 4k recorder is not cheap (I won't name which it was because it was a rental and maybe the problem is that it was already damaged) but still we had to unplug-then-plug the HDMI cable every time we turned the thing on, otherwise we got no signal. And I can't see the micro-HDMI port in the camera lasting more than a few weeks of use.

I would only go for this if I *REALLY* needed the extra bit of image quality. And make sure you have a decent cage, I always thought HDMI cables were OK until now but without a good lock they definitely are not.
 
Thank you, Samuel. Great info on how an external recorder can really impact a shoot. It's a shame there's not a better solution for that HDMI port. I would be using it on a gimbal (which in and of itself adds steps / time to a shoot) and external monitor is quite handy so I was thinking about the external recording options out there to squeak as much as possible out of the A7rii.
 
Samuel H said:
External does look better, because of 422 but mostly because you're usually recording ProRes or something like that, which is better than the (not bad at all either) internal codec.

Having said that: this weekend I worked with an external recorder, and I really can't understand how anybody can like that. It was hell. The holding arm was firm at the beginning but getting loose constantly by the end of the second day. Any small bump made the recorder turn itself off. Another battery to manage, another device to turn on and off. A 4k recorder is not cheap (I won't name which it was because it was a rental and maybe the problem is that it was already damaged) but still we had to unplug-then-plug the HDMI cable every time we turned the thing on, otherwise we got no signal. And I can't see the micro-HDMI port in the camera lasting more than a few weeks of use.

I would only go for this if I *REALLY* needed the extra bit of image quality. And make sure you have a decent cage, I always thought HDMI cables were OK until now but without a good lock they definitely are not.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the odyssey. :D
Ive used all three brands,
Atomos has shitty UX and bulky. But it works
Odyssey is great if youre using sdi. Hdmi, its just not built for it. Specially with mini hdmi in!
Pixe is my favorite. Though the peaking and focus assist could be better.
Overall i agree with samuel on how annoying external recorders are. Ive shot outdoors and it rained. That was a tough shoot with all exposed wires and contraptions.
 
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