Cinematic Sony NEX-FS700 Test Footage - Raw and Ungraded

Kind of losing hope with this camera as well... Im pretty sure i will see decent to good images with it, but in his heart, there is something which doesn't look right here. So for now, i have no regret to have cancel my order...
Hope the successor of the F3 will appear soon

Everts said:
I dont like what I see.... it's way to desaturated. No contrast at all. To greyish.
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After looking at the video on a monitor rather than my iphone, I have to agree that this is definitely 24p from Sony; 30P would be, and I do mean... EXTREMELY obvious. I just don't see why people would buy this camera for cinema / dramatic type stuff. This really just seems like a bleeding edge pro camera with all the toys, low light, ultra high fps, 4k potential- all great for covering events, documentaries, corporate videos... pretty much everything that actually brings in money. For many people's hobby / side passion doing narrative work, I don't see how this is really acceptable at all.

If I made money shooting video, I'd own this camera in a heartbeat and use a decent DSLR or the upcoming BMC for my narrative ambitions.
 
Kind of strange how people are freaking out over 1 video. I've seen NUMEROUS videos of FS100 and FS700 videos that look cinematic. It's not the camera, it's the operator and also how you treat it in post.

Here's an FS700 clip that looks very "Canon." Not a very interesting video, but the treatment gives it a nostalgic feel, very warm feel. Doesn't look video to me. If you told me it was shot on a 7D, I would believe it, except it's moire free.

https://vimeo.com/45845950

This one shot by our own Ro that is lightly treated, but has a nice look to it with some character

https://vimeo.com/45059023

Here's one shot by Cody Cha that looks great

https://vimeo.com/32060427

While we are on this topic, most people say that the 5D3 has an "Instant" film look. Not true at all. Here's several 5D3 clips that scream video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULVitfHiwco&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx3M9EfLULI&feature=player_embedded#!

Maybe because I've spent too much time the last 10 years treating video as my day job. It's pretty damn easy to get any look out of a good camera. Some cameras may take a little more time than others, but I've seen iPhone footage that was treated right and looked "Filmic."

Iphone clip

https://vimeo.com/30578363

When it's a good camera, it's really the operator and the post treatment that dictates the look.
 
gene_can_sing said:
Kind of strange how people are freaking out over 1 video. I've seen NUMEROUS videos of FS100 and FS700 videos that look cinematic. It's not the camera, it's the operator and also how you treat it in post.

Here's an FS700 clip that looks very "Canon." Not a very interesting video, but the treatment gives it a nostalgic feel, very warm feel. Doesn't look video to me. If you told me it was shot on a 7D, I would believe it, except it's moire free.

https://vimeo.com/45845950

This one shot by our own Ro that is lightly treated, but has a nice look to it with some character

https://vimeo.com/45059023

Here's one shot by Cody Cha that looks great

https://vimeo.com/32060427

While we are on this topic, most people say that the 5D3 has an "Instant" film look. Not true at all. Here's several 5D3 clips that scream video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULVitfHiwco&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx3M9EfLULI&feature=player_embedded#!

Maybe because I've spent too much time the last 10 years treating video as my day job. It's pretty damn easy to get any look out of a good camera. Some cameras may take a little more time than others, but I've seen iPhone footage that was treated right and looked "Filmic."

Iphone clip

https://vimeo.com/30578363

When it's a good camera, it's really the operator and the post treatment that dictates the look.
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Don't know why I'm going to respond to this, but there's some obvious problems with what you've said here. The videos you've presented from the FS700, are in SLOW MOTION. Any camera on earth will look cinematic when slowed down as to prevent us from seeing the native framerate or the more pragmatic use of 24p for real film / cinema. When you get away from 24p, that footage instantly takes itself away from the "cinematic" conversation. Slow Motion is nothing more than an effect, and when used properly in cinema, it can be amazing.

The FS700 truly does slow motion well, but there's no way this is an argument for how "cinematic" the camera is. Show me some 24p footage that evokes the same feeling as even a 5DII, and I will be blown away. This camera can't be ALL things... it does however do MANY MANY things unbelievably well, just can't pretend that it's going to be as good as the strengths of other cameras like the 5DIII.
 
L1N3ARX said:
Don't know why I'm going to respond to this, but there's some obvious problems with what you've said here. The videos you've presented from the FS700, are in SLOW MOTION. Any camera on earth will look cinematic when slowed down as to prevent us from seeing the native framerate or the more pragmatic use of 24p for real film / cinema. When you get away from 24p, that footage instantly takes itself away from the "cinematic" conversation. Slow Motion is nothing more than an effect, and when used properly in cinema, it can be amazing.

The FS700 truly does slow motion well, but there's no way this is an argument for how "cinematic" the camera is. Show me some 24p footage that evokes the same feeling as even a 5DII, and I will be blown away. This camera can't be ALL things... it does however do MANY MANY things unbelievably well, just can't pretend that it's going to be as good as the strengths of other cameras like the 5DIII.
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Your FS700 slow motion pony trick argument basically applies to the 5D as well. The 5D's "Pony Trick" is FULL FRAME. To me, it looks great on close ups, but on wide or medium shots it quickly fall apart because it looks muddy. So your argument is that the 5D looks cinematic just because it has really shallow DOF?

"GH2 is my friend" is your signature. Many people have said that the GH2 has a video look, but I've seen numerous GH2 clips that look great. Really... it's not the camera, it's you the operator.

Also, the problem is, very few people have shot any 24fps footage on the FS700 so we can't really say. But I have seen good stuff done on the FS100.

Just got my FS700, so this weekend I'm going to take it for a proper spin. I will try and just shoot 24p
 
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gene_can_sing said:
Your FS700 slow motion pony trick argument basically applies to the 5D as well. The 5D's "Pony Trick" is Full Frame. To me, it looks great on close ups, but on wide or medium shots it quickly fall apart because it looks muddy. So your argument is that the 5D looks cinematic just because it has really shallow DOF?

"GH2 is my friend" is your signature. Many people have said that the GH2 has a video look, but I've seen numerous GH2 clips that look great. Really... it's not the camera, it's you the operator.
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Well, I only use 5D as an example that most people can relate to. I personally shoot with the GH2, because yes when used in the correct manner like any camera can become more or less what you want (I am not a fan in any way of the super shallow depth of field gimic, in fact I prefer little to none). Of course it's the operator and not the camera, but there's a limit. No one is going to say to the guy who was smoked by a ferrari in his little honda 4 banger that it was ultimately down to his driving skill. There's a balance, as DP's / operators we can take the Lions share... but not all of it.
 
gene_can_sing said:
Your FS700 slow motion pony trick argument basically applies to the 5D as well. The 5D's "Pony Trick" is FULL FRAME. To me, it looks great on close ups, but on wide or medium shots it quickly fall apart because it looks muddy. So your argument is that the 5D looks cinematic just because it has really shallow DOF?

"GH2 is my friend" is your signature. Many people have said that the GH2 has a video look, but I've seen numerous GH2 clips that look great. Really... it's not the camera, it's you the operator.

Also, the problem is, very few people have shot any 24fps footage on the FS700 so we can't really say. But I have seen good stuff done on the FS100.

Just got my FS700, so this weekend I'm going to take it for a proper spin. I will try and just shoot 24p
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I agree with L1N3ARX, you can't say this camera looks cinematic and only show slow motion shots. Also whether the 5d is only good for close ups/medium shots still holds the fact that it looks EXTREMELY cinematic. Just this one clip shot on a 3+ year old 5d looks amazing

 
vision_filmz said:
You could be right? I guess we really need the op to chime in to tell us what frame rate it was shot at. Also I think you have to really like Sony video image as it looks different than other cameras.
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I've been saying this for quite some time... some people see it, some people don't. The motion is just always way off. The only camera that Sony manufacturers/brands that doesn't have it, to me, is the F65. It's as obvious to me as say, a camera with a green bias?

But, I never really noticed moire/aliasing until people really started pointing it out in DSLR footage. Just one of those things.
 
Kholi said:
I've been saying this for quite some time... some people see it, some people don't. The motion is just always way off. The only camera that Sony manufacturers/brands that doesn't have it, to me, is the F65. It's as obvious to me as say, a camera with a green bias?

But, I never really noticed moire/aliasing until people really started pointing it out in DSLR footage. Just one of those things.
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I definitely understand what you're talking about regarding the motion, when I had my FS100 and used to shoot almost exclusively mountain bikes, it always dealt with motion weird, and I really dislike motion blur, so I shoot at high shutter speeds (I now have a HPX250 and shoot at around 1/500), but when I had the FS, I had to shoot at 1/2000 just to get rid of the ugly motion blur.

The one thing with Sony cameras is it's the eye of the beholder, if you DON'T know what you're doing, then you're not going to get anywhere near the results you dream of... Sony cameras seem like they require YOU to give a s*%t about shooting and actually put an ounce of thought into shooting, unlike DSLR's which a retarded monkey could literately use.

*No offense to retarded monkeys
 
vision_filmz said:
I agree with L1N3ARX, you can't say this camera looks cinematic and only show slow motion shots. Also whether the 5d is only good for close ups/medium shots still holds the fact that it looks EXTREMELY cinematic. Just this one clip shot on a 3+ year old 5d looks amazing

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That's the first time I have ever seen rolling shutter described as EXTREMELY cinematic!

Any cinematic quality is due to very careful movement of camera due to rather obvious rolling shutter. The camera operator does well to limit the jelly wobbles as much as he did.
 
Just curious, does the "too video" thing apply to the FS100 as well, or is this something that is supposedly specific to the 700?
The 100 footage I've seen I am happy enough with.
Haven't seen enough properly lit/graded 700 footage to tell yet.
 
You know what's strange is I've noticed the motion thing on videos with lots of motion (like Bikes and skateboards). Except, it looks like I am seeing the opposite of Liam. To me, the FS100 footage looks like it lacks motion blur, like there is a staccato movement with not enough frames in between. But I just got the camera a week ago, so Liam would know far better than me.

With that said, I went and looked at Frank G.s "Man of Steel" which is one of the only FS700 video that has 24p, and the motion looked really good. I didn't notice any of the stutter or strangeness that I saw on the FS100. In Frank's film, there definitely was some drastic movement like the guy hammering at the steel plates and lots of hand movements, cars passing, etc... To me, it looked really normal. No different than say... a 7D.

https://vimeo.com/40277885

Maybe Frank can comment on it since he's one of the only human beings alive who has shot 24p on the FS700, and he has extensive experience with the FS100.

I'm finishing my current freelance project in 1 1/2 weeks, and will give the FS700 a good spin using primarily 24p to test out the motion
 
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I've seen Frank's footage (parts of it) a few time and it still holds the Sony motion for me. I still think the camera's pretty good, regardless.
 
gene_can_sing said:
Maybe Frank can comment on it since he's one of the only human beings alive who has shot 24p on the FS700, and he has extensive experience with the FS100.
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It was 25p not 24, cause I live in PAL land.

I did nothing special. Just 180deg shutter and recorded to my Samurai.

Frank
 
gene_can_sing said:
You know what's strange is I've noticed the motion thing on videos with lots of motion (like Bikes and skateboards). Except, it looks like I am seeing the opposite of Liam. To me, the FS100 footage looks like it lacks motion blur, like there is a staccato movement with not enough frames in between. But I just got the camera a week ago, so Liam would know far better than me.
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I did see this with the FS100 as well.

You've referenced Man of Steel, which is funny, because when Frank released that, the first thing I commented on was how weird the motion looked in some shots to me, I really don't understand 180 deg shutter and I'm quite ignorant on the subject. I understand it comes from Film cameras, but I don't think it resonates how the human eye see's at all, unless your a cross eye.
 
I agree that the video in the OP does have that sony look to it. But the motion looks a bit more unnatural than in other clips. What is the detail setting? On my FS100, I'm now convinced -4 or lower is the way to go to achieve more natural motion.
 
It takes allot of knowledge and work to use and get the best out of a good Dslr, so I kindly disagree with the retarded monkey comment. As motion in Sony's camera's I have seen Fs100/700 look cinematic and videoish, just depends on how talented you are at pulling the best image out of any camera. There is no magic wand camera! You get a good cam for what Sony charges IMO, and as for motion blur, almost anything shot 24fps at 1/48th shutter will produce motion blur, that is to me some of the magic that is cinema otherwise it just looks like those 120hertz tv's with motion soap opera effect unless that's what ur going for IMO =)
LiamR said:
I definitely understand what you're talking about regarding the motion, when I had my FS100 and used to shoot almost exclusively mountain bikes, it always dealt with motion weird, and I really dislike motion blur, so I shoot at high shutter speeds (I now have a HPX250 and shoot at around 1/500), but when I had the FS, I had to shoot at 1/2000 just to get rid of the ugly motion blur.

The one thing with Sony cameras is it's the eye of the beholder, if you DON'T know what you're doing, then you're not going to get anywhere near the results you dream of... Sony cameras seem like they require YOU to give a s*%t about shooting and actually put an ounce of thought into shooting, unlike DSLR's which a retarded monkey could literately use.

*No offense to retarded monkeys
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