FS5: A7Rii vs FS5

My thoughts:

XLR?
Built-in ND?
10-bit 4:2:2?
Form factor (THIS IS A BIGGIE!)
Handle for handheld holding quickly.

The A7R ii needs a rig to work. The FS5 i guess i could throw into my backpack, and unpack in the mountains ready to shoot right away. The price difference will be minor when you hesitate to shoot some impulsive b-roll with the A7R ii because its a hassle.

FS5 - point and shoot
A7R ii - Zacuto loupe, zacuto baseplate, microphone arrangement (hows the pre amps compared to fs5?), handle, nd filter system. It adds up to increase the cost and lessen the advantage. In the end this will also make this camera more flimsy. Loupe attached to the camera in the backpack? Sounds dodgy.

The A7R ii however gives EXCELLENT landscape photography in the same package as the video camera. So indeed, some food for thoughts here.

(Great location by the way! Wish we had old empty industrial complexes where i live. Instead we just have fjords and fisheries.)
 
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I've sold my A7s and am buying an A7rII

But aside from the odd shot or B-cam / mounted cam moment it's never going to replace a 'proper' camera.
 
FS5 will obviously beat A7RII in terms of the workflow.

But, if one is shooting on sticks or for the narrative when there's time to prepare, A7RII renders excellent colors off its s35 15 MPX oversampled 4K sensor, an image quality that isn't that different from F65 (provided things don't move too fast as there's a lot of jello in the s35 15 MPX format)
 
DLD said:
FS5 will obviously beat A7RII in terms of the workflow.

But, if one is shooting on sticks or for the narrative when there's time to prepare, A7RII renders excellent colors off its s35 15 MPX oversampled 4K sensor, an image quality that isn't that different from F65 (provided things don't move too fast as there's a lot of jello in the s35 15 MPX format)
Click to expand...

As a b-cam we definetly have other things to look at, yes.
 
Hey Dennis,
Full frame vs S35 (Yes, you can get a speed booster for FS5)
Proper camcorder vs DSLR and all the workflow warts.
Rolling shutter
Variable ND (yeah, I use 77mm vari-nd screw on filters for A7S)
Both 8 bit 4k
Battery life terrible on A7XXX series.
I use a Tilta cage on A7s and AB battery plate.
In some aspects FS5 has a smaller footprint.

If you don't shoot stills, different price point but Ultra Speed booster may negate lovely FF optics.
4K is really compromised on both platforms (but you have F55 for 4K)

I suspect w/ either you will need to dial in your picture profiles- Slog2 or 3 in 8 bit, I dunno...

On A7S i completely bypass Slog and came up with my own custom PP after testing many variations. 8 bit simply gives you little room.

Clients are very happy with the footage I supply and are asking me what camera I shot with. I have to start by explaining it's about lighting technique and shot setup- not the hardware, but since you're asking I shot with A7S and XXX...

But razor edge with exposure and white balance. Very, very thin negative. Do it right, quality is mind blowing for the cost of the gear.

FYI Dennis, I'm debating Amira vs FS5- however since I'm doing more producing now I'm actually leaning toward FS5 because if I no longer have to worry about producer comfort level- it's about the bottom line and image quality on distributed platforms. The low price gear in capable hands is simply mind blowing but again, it rides on a very thin line.

But this is a business and FS5 or FS7 or FS700/O7Q is hard to ignore.

Oh, when I'm producing I supply the sound kit. Sound Devices, 416 short shotgun, Sanken COS-11 lavs- regular industry gear. Simply sync in post, it's so easy and now automatic for me.
 
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I've shot with the both the FS7 and the A7s, both great for different uses.

For all day doc shooting the battery life on the A7 cameras make its somewhat unusable. I love the A7S for super lowlight conditions, tight spaces and time lapse, but for everything else the FS7 is much better suited. That combined with only getting 4:2:0 on the internal recording on the A7 cameras. Broadcast standard in Canada for 1080 is minimum 50mbs, 4:2:2.
 
I’m not currently in the market for an FS5, but I suspect you would fall in love with the form factor. It might become your preferred camera for certain kinds of shoots (documentary, etc.). If it becomes your A camera in this way, then you will really start to appreciate XLRs and other professional features. And it certainly makes a very fine B camera.
 
Fs5 looks like a great little camera, but if I already had an A cam(f55) I wouldn't even think twice about the a7r II :)
 
yoclay said:
Rolling shutter.

Think twice.
Click to expand...


Ever since the 5d I have strapped these things to cars, motorcycles, planes, trains, athletes, animals and theme park rides. I can count the times(on one hand) that I've lost a shot due to "jello", and even less if we were going by client standards. The whole thing is laughable as other than a few niche applications its likely to be more of an operator error than any kind of limitation within the technology. If we are talking best bang for the buck versatile B cam(to an f5/f55) the a7r ii is money well spent! Unless of course your filming in sewers, which is what the a7s was built for :)

Along with a few extras of course:

- vertical grip
- sanheiser mke600 / shock mount
- xlr to 1/8 stereo cable
- novoflex chestpod
- tiffen vari-nd / fotodiox throttle nd
- 3rd party eye cup
- atomos / 7Q for thicker color

ps: don't underestimate the stills capability of this camera either, 8k time-lapses are a thing of beauty. Aside from weather sealing & AF / buffer write speeds there is a magic to these images that regularly puts my 1DX to shame, almost medium format esque.
 
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In 2015 rolling shutter is only a problem for me if I'm making a whip pan compilation, or with GoPros on car shots, but I hate GoPros for a lot more reasons than that.
 
I think we can all agree that the time when rolling shutter is most obvious is when shooting flashes. I totally hate it, ugliest artefact of RS for me.
 
I disagree re: rolling shutter being a minor problem. I find that for many walking shots, unless I'm using an IS lens, rolling shutter will make any normal small vibrations in frame much more pronounced (the image is 'bouncing' and 'slewing' rather then simply bumping in two axis).

This is compounded by the fact that any warp stabiliser or smoothcam filters seem unable to fully compensate for the image distortion (rather than simple translation), and so the footage ends up pretty much $cr£w£d.

I agree that flash banding is also an issue, but I think there are pretty decent post-fix solutions for that - no?

-jason
 
Like Jason, I feel rolling shutter remains a major issues for DSLR's.
Sorry but diagonal lines instead of vertical ones is not attractive and a dead give away.
Shooting from moving vehicles, or even with normal to slightly faster pans it still rears it's ugly head.
This is not an issue of the past. Most remain 4-5X slower than the readouts on the bigger cams.
For me it is the biggest bugaboo that remains for these little cameras.

From Cinema5D:

.Screen Shot 2015-12-02 at 4.12.42 PM.jpg

Note also that RED Epic/Dragon's readout is approximately 5ms (not on the chart)
 
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