swaneon
Well-known member
ahhh and that seals the deal. thanks!
A7sII over A7s?
- Thread starter swaneon
- Start date
RRRoger
Well-known member
First of the A7s does not do 1080P120.
The reason I bought the A7sII was for 1080P120.
Second, although I have seen good Video from the A7sII, they were all done in good light.
Because of the 2.2 crop everything I shot in low light with my A7sII was so full of moire to be unusable.
Thus, I am real glad I did not sell my A7s when I had the chance.
This is where my dilemma is between the 2. I plan to use the cam strictly with my atomos assassin.
Is recording externally to the assassin/shogun differ between the 2 in terms of color science and overall image when shooting in slog2?
Can either one output 4K via HDMI in apsc mode? Or is apsc mode just limited to 1080p
I can find a preowned/used a7s for around $1,500 vs an a7sii for around $2,800-$3,000
Is recording externally to the assassin/shogun differ between the 2 in terms of color science and overall image when shooting in slog2?
Can either one output 4K via HDMI in apsc mode? Or is apsc mode just limited to 1080p
I can find a preowned/used a7s for around $1,500 vs an a7sii for around $2,800-$3,000
adaptation
Active member
Iv'e shot a ton with both so i can talk about both - the major upsides of the a7s ii
1) better color science. Sony said ''slight'' color improvement but to me they really fixed the major issue of weird skin tones - the a7s had a tendency to put everyone in the magenta/yellow range. It was very difficult i find to make skin tones red/orange on a constant basis. You could never be sure that you were going to get solid, normal skin tones. Also a bonus is the colorspace sgamut3 cine which helps for general color grading.
2) 60fpsFF and 120FPS - On the original a7s, the 120fps and full frame 60fps suffered from aliasing and moire at such a level that it made it unusable. Just bad bad bad. Looks MUCH better now, they are actually usable. Im aware the crop for 120fps is annoying, but the a7s also had a crop factor for 120fps.
3) Internal 4k - this speaks for itself, although the low bitrate of 4k actually makes high motion scenes worse then the original 50mpbs HD footage.
The stabilized sensor(IBIS), better battery life, s-log3, better form factor, more customizable - its all gravy, but the first 3 points above are the real game changer - especially the first one.
1) better color science. Sony said ''slight'' color improvement but to me they really fixed the major issue of weird skin tones - the a7s had a tendency to put everyone in the magenta/yellow range. It was very difficult i find to make skin tones red/orange on a constant basis. You could never be sure that you were going to get solid, normal skin tones. Also a bonus is the colorspace sgamut3 cine which helps for general color grading.
2) 60fpsFF and 120FPS - On the original a7s, the 120fps and full frame 60fps suffered from aliasing and moire at such a level that it made it unusable. Just bad bad bad. Looks MUCH better now, they are actually usable. Im aware the crop for 120fps is annoying, but the a7s also had a crop factor for 120fps.
3) Internal 4k - this speaks for itself, although the low bitrate of 4k actually makes high motion scenes worse then the original 50mpbs HD footage.
The stabilized sensor(IBIS), better battery life, s-log3, better form factor, more customizable - its all gravy, but the first 3 points above are the real game changer - especially the first one.
Improved color science over the first generation, that's certainly a big plus.
How is moire/aliasing on the a7s2 in 60p-FF? For 120fps I would need some wide lens, or maybe a speedbooster would work too?
Internal 4K is great to have, but wouldn't matter much since I would be recording externally to my atomos assassin.
adaptation
Active member
I have tested them both only briefly on the exacy same scene but from what i saw - aps-c is still a bit sharper, but most importantly 60fps FF is now usable - the crazy moire/aliasing has decreased big time - i use it without worry.
RRRoger
Well-known member
When I got my new "Toy" I had nothing but good things to say and believed all the "Hype".
I had both at the same time and sent back my A7sII.
1. Perhaps the internal codec has improved, but still bad compared to even ProRes LT.
I have no problem with skin tones on my A7s and do no Post Processing.
I am sure the higher bit rate ones are better yet.
2. 60fpsFF is still not as good as 4k DownRes to 1080P30 especially when shot at 125s Shutter Speed.
I have seen great Videos shot in good light with 1080P120.
However in low light they are full of moire and even at ISO 3200 very noticeable due mostly to the 2.2 crop.
3. Internal 4k for 4 minutes before overheating is not bad considering the low bit rate, but no where near as good as externally recorded.
A7sII battery life is still not good. Only solution is "Dummy Battery" with external recording only.
If you shoot HandHeld get the A7sII otherwise get the A7s and wait for the A7sIII.
IBIS is good in good light, not sure about low light because I use a TriPod.
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I'd be strictly recording externally that's for sure. Overheat isn't an issue at that point.
Im well aware of shitty battery life on the a7s/a7sii, getting an external battery setup would be on my to do list.
I don't shoot handheld much I have different handheld rigs which works for me. And waiting on a A7S3...that's a long wait but again how much better improved will that be? That's something I'm not going to wait and hold
my money for.
Maybe I would wait on the GH5, but that's something else. A7s/a7sii are on my radar due to its low light sensitivity.