A7s sample footage

I still think the a7S is a great camera, just not at $2,500.

If I can pick on up for <$2k used on eBay here in a few months when the Shogun is finally released, that makes a lot more sense for the price vs. value.
 
alohype said:
In one of the interviews Atomos CEO mentioned that Sony contacted them because after 5-6 minutes of 4K recording A7S was overheating and they decided to go external 4K recording. I WISH they would leave that in and limit recordings, let's say, to 4 minutes.
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I didn't know that. If they can make it record internal 4K 420 XAVC-S 100 Mbps for 60 seconds, with 3 minutes of cool-down between takes, it's enough for a lot of people shooting narrative.
 
Exactly! Or they could just leave it to record as long as possible (like 5d with full hd) - I am sure people would come up with some cooling solutions.
He start saying about that at about 2:30
 
I really don't understand the comments on price, for what this is intended to be used. We'll see if continued tests bear out quality, but it seems to be basically a small form factor full frame FS700 without the high speed but with much higher sensitivity and a better internal codec. (And no external RAW capacity, which doesn't bother me in the least, as having worked with some RAW I don't have much desire to continue to do so in my own projects). $2500 in most video budgets is basically giving it away for free. In any event, it really doesn't matter what it costs - if you are being defined by the camera you own in the work that you get then you're already sunk.

It's just amazing that we have such powerful tools available to us at such low prices.

I also don't really understand all the concern about the ISO rating in S-log2 - you probably wouldn't need to shoot log in most situations where the sensitivity would be overwhelmed anyway. I think there's some fundamental misunderstanding about what it means to shoot in log - for sony's implementation of it google "Alister Chapman" and slog and ISO, Alister has a more complete understanding of Sony cameras and especially their different gamma curves including slog than anybody I know.
 
This video has been ignored because it was in Spanish, but there are now English subtitles. It explores the gradability of high ISO 8 bit A7s images. This is really the first review to look at video image quality, not still as in the other reviews. It shows that the image has AMAZING GRADABILITY, allowing recovery from what seem to be totally blown out images. I may still be experiencing a high from having watched the video, but I have never seen such hidden highlight image information in a lower end video camera. It seems to resemble RAW in its hidden information. Now it is not RAW but that is both good and bad. I will take this hidden latitude in a smaller file size that can be processed with more reasonable priced editing equipment.

He does not show shadow recovery, only highlight recovery. Does this mean it may be better to overexpose this camera. ETTR? Use higher ISO in Slog2 to maximize shadow since highlights can be recovered?


https://vimeo.com/98137975

It is not initially clear if he is grading stills or video frames, but it is video.

 
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Based on what I've seen, seems to perform at the very least as good as the FS series that I'm used to.

Untitled Project 6 copy.jpg a7s night copy.jpg a7s corrected.jpg
 
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philiplipetz said:
This video has been ignored because it was in Spanish, but there are now English subtitles. It explores the gradability of high ISO 8 bit A7s images. This is really the first review to look at video image quality, not still as in the other reviews. It shows that the image has AMAZING GRADABILITY, allowing recovery from what seem to be totally blown out images. I may still be experiencing a high from having watched the video, but I have never seen such hidden highlight image information in a lower end video camera. It seems to resemble RAW in its hidden information. Now it is not RAW but that is both good and bad. I will take this hidden latitude in a smaller file size that can be processed with more reasonable priced editing equipment.

He does not show shadow recovery, only highlight recovery. Does this mean it may be better to overexpose this camera. ETTR? Use higher ISO in Slog2 to maximize shadow since highlights can be recovered?


https://vimeo.com/98137975

It is not initially clear if he is grading stills or video frames, but it is video.

Click to expand...

I don't think it talks about gradability, but about a metadata thing that happens in my NEX-5N too: the camera records full range 0-109, but Premiere doesn't understand the metadata and thinks the footage is 0-100, so every time I get clips on Premiere the first thing I have to do is apply a Fast Color Correction filter with 16-235 output levels. And the highlights go from a very awful clip to having more than an extra stop of headroom and a somewhat pleasant rolloff.

Regarding price: back when we didn't know where Sony would put it, I was ready to pay $3K for the thing. Now I've had to pay $2500 plus taxes, and I'm having to add another proND or two. So, $3K it is. Happy camper. Half as much as the C100, and this one has a bigger sensor, more DR, and a better EVF, plus it's a fifth of the size, and it outputs 4K if I ever need that. How far we've come in just two years (the C300 started shipping in January 2012, the C100 was released in August that year).
 
Samuel H said:
I don't think it talks about gradability, but about a metadata thing that happens in my NEX-5N too: the camera records full range 0-109, but Premiere doesn't understand the metadata and thinks the footage is 0-100, so every time I get clips on Premiere the first thing I have to do is apply a Fast Color Correction filter with 16-235 output levels. And the highlights go from a very awful clip to having more than an extra stop of headroom and a somewhat pleasant rolloff.

Regarding price: back when we didn't know where Sony would put it, I was ready to pay $3K for the thing. Now I've had to pay $2500 plus taxes, and I'm having to add another proND or two. So, $3K it is. Happy camper. Half as much as the C100, and this one has a bigger sensor, more DR, and a better EVF, plus it's a fifth of the size, and it outputs 4K if I ever need that. How far we've come in just two years (the C300 started shipping in January 2012, the C100 was released in August that year).
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I totally agree that what you say is there, but I also see more after the filter is changed, much more than I have experienced by changing 100 to include 109.
 
wallrc said:
There's one out there with somebody chasing fireflies at night with the camera, too. It looks like hammered dog sh!t though as they have the shutter set to 1/8th of a sec. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QctRigI3US4
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Next time a client comes to me and says " I have a vision for my project...I want fireflies....except...I want them to look like utter S$%T" ....I'll know exactly what camera to grab. :Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
Here is a bunch of info (text not in english) about the A7s. Lots of pics and comparisons. Still thinking about this little thing. I already have cameras that work perfectly as an A cam. Its the 5D3 that I am torn with. I really don't like any video that comes out of the 5D3. Stills are great...but video is super soft and the DR sucks. So maybe for that purpose, the A7s is a good option. Still think the hype Sony leaked is a total buzz kill. Whats new though :)

http://dc.it168.com/a2014/0619/1636/000001636872_all.shtml
 
Although if you've already invested in Red, etc as your A cam you're definitely not the target audience for this, it seems like it actually makes more sense for you. It's lighter, more compact and more versatile lens wise than the 5D, and has the low light. What do you have to lose? You can probably sell a 5dmkiii in good condition for about what this sells for, and can rebuy it for the same if you hate it.
 
I will say, even though I'm not a rolling shutter "freak" - that is, I don't think it's that big of a deal, I'm slightly concerned about the Den Lennie 4k shoot in that it was *completely* only locked down shots, not a trace of movement. That may have just been the style he was choosing, but considering that the RS in 4k is typically much worse than 1080p on most 4k cameras, it could have been to hide this. Obviously there was some handheld in the smokies 1080 video, but it seems that it's been demonstrated that the 1080 RS is reasonable already.
 
I know we should all be impressed with the high sensitivity of the camera. But how come there are not tests/footage showcasing the 120fps this came can shoot at (in 720p)?

That's another great selling point. The mk III at 720p was only capable to shoot 60p.
 
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