FF VG900 hands-on !
- Thread starter joe1946
- Start date
stoiqa
Well-known member
to my understanding, this camera can do 14 bit RAW footage trough hdmi, anyone was able to play with an external recorder and post some uncompressed RAW footage ?
does it do 4:2:2 CS or 4:2:0 ?
Trying to figure out why there is not much hype about this camera, 60p,24p, FFsensor, interchangeable lens options, 14bit RAW footage, xlr audio,
This camera seems like it has all the right ingredients, as blackmagic is still not delivering
does it do 4:2:2 CS or 4:2:0 ?
Trying to figure out why there is not much hype about this camera, 60p,24p, FFsensor, interchangeable lens options, 14bit RAW footage, xlr audio,
This camera seems like it has all the right ingredients, as blackmagic is still not delivering
Darren Levine
Veteran
photochris
Well-known member
HDMI is 8-bit 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 - I can't remember as the specs with the VG900 and the A99 are all mixed in my head, its not raw, and it does not have XLR inputs, its an $800 option. The BMCC is still your only low priced raw option.
joe1946
Veteran
Why don't people just buy the BMCC if that is what they want ? The VG900 is a FF camcorder that I could shoot just like my Panasonic TM700 3MOS camcorder using Sony E mount 16-50 or 18-200mm power zoom OSS lenses in 1080p60 and play back in slow motion . A 35mm FF wide angle on the BMCC has a telephoto FOV and with the VG900 I could shoot FF 24MP 6000x4000 stills with shutter speeds from 30-1/8000 sec. There are a myriad of NEX adapters that work with the VG900 that lets it use almost any APS-C or FF lens out there. The VG900 is the swiss army knife of camcorders for shooting video and stills.
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Darren Levine
Veteran
you're not getting it, this camera does NOT shoot 14 bit uncompressed video, hdmi outputs 8 bit, this camera will NOT produce anything close to as detailed or colorful an image as the bmc or other higher end cameras. it's still a photo sensor with photo sensor limitations in a consumer body with consumer body limitations. i was very interested in this camera until i saw what the video looked like. it's not bad, but if you're going to look at it as the swiss army knife of photo/video, you'll have to imagine all the knifes features being chipped and dulled.
joe1946
Veteran
The VG900 has 1/3 EV more than the A99 since it has no mirror in it's light path to the sensor and the A99 just received a higher score than the 5D MKIII or D800 on DPR.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-alpha-slt-a99/22
stoiqa
Well-known member
my bad, just read what I wanted: "The VG900 is compatible with E-mount lenses, and it's a fine stills shooter (like the A99, it's capable of 14-bit RAW captures), but it's best suited for high-end video production, where it offers 1080p recording at 24 or 60 frames-per-second through a sensor that features 45 times the area of a conventional camcorder."
still not bad:4:2:2 8-bit
still not bad:4:2:2 8-bit
FrameFarmMedia
Veteran
That is with an external recorder through HDMI.
Is it ok to post a link to a sample video that contains a url watermark to one of my websites? I have a website that films ladies smoking so it's a very tame adult themed website (no nudity in the promo video) and I film much of it with the VG-900. I have a free promo video which is a 2 minute clip at 1920x1080 60fps with snippets of clips all filmed with the VG-900, I can post a link to it here if that's allowed and if people are ok with that sorta thing. I figure maybe it's a good real world example of the camera as used by an amateur, it's my first ever manual camera so I've been learning with it as I go.
I have to agree with the review as I love my VG-900 as well. It is funny how with the FS-100 there were complaints of too many buttons, and on the VG-900 the complaint is not enough buttons, I guess you can't win sometimes. I'm also surprised he was only so-so on the oled viewfinder, that's my favorite feature of this camera and a life saver in bright situations. I've put a promo video on one of my websites, it is adult themed but this video is completely tame and work safe (no nudity), it's just ladies smoking. It's here:
http://www.shesmokes.com/promo/SheSmokesPromo.mp4
It's 1920x1080 at 60fps, all filmed with the VG-900. Only two full frame lenses were used, a Sigma 50mm f1.4 and an 80s era Minolta 70-210mm F4. The segment with Christmas lights was filmed in very low light at 30db gain so you can see noise there, and on the close-up shot to the lady wearing glasses you can see aliasing on the rim of her glasses. But still overall I love this camera, for my needs it has been excellent.
http://www.shesmokes.com/promo/SheSmokesPromo.mp4
It's 1920x1080 at 60fps, all filmed with the VG-900. Only two full frame lenses were used, a Sigma 50mm f1.4 and an 80s era Minolta 70-210mm F4. The segment with Christmas lights was filmed in very low light at 30db gain so you can see noise there, and on the close-up shot to the lady wearing glasses you can see aliasing on the rim of her glasses. But still overall I love this camera, for my needs it has been excellent.
joe1946
Veteran
I finally watched your video and thought it was great. You should upload it to Vimeo or youtube and set it to unlisted if you only want people with the link to see it and you would get many more views. I like using my 50mm F1.4 @ F4 for shots like that or my 85mm F1.4 wide open but focus is critical . I may try my 105mm F2.8 macro or 165mm F2.8 next.
Cool thanks
Yeah I'll try uploading it to Vimeo, I think people there seem to want to see more video samples with this camera. I just uploaded a new version of the video on my server, link is the same. The only change is I added some text notations on the video. In some cases I documented settings as I was recording, so I added those to the video so people know what settings were used on each segment. One interesting thing with portrait shots is that I often hear how 85mm to 135mm is the sweet spot, but I really like filming at 210mm with that old 80's Minolta lens I have. It find it gives a nice intimate look! I do tend to fall back to the 50mm Sigma quite a bit though, I really like that lens especially in low light. I see in your sig that you have a 25mm f0.95 lens. I thought about getting a portrait lens at that f-stop, how do you like it? I am looking to get a third lens but I want it to provide a look different than the two I already have, and I've heard those f0.95 lenses do just that.EDIT: Just added it to YouTube and Vimeo, links are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAbwAgtSerc
https://vimeo.com/56737845
I presume the quality won't be as good as the one on my server as they are re-encoding it, but it's probably easier for people to view it this way.
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joe1946
Veteran
I like that you added the VG900 settings on screen in the updated version. The 25mm F0.95 I have is a m4/3rds mount for my Panasonic GH2. There is a 50mm F0.95 E mount lens that is available to rent for the VG900 if you want to try it out but is an APS-C lens so the VG900 would be in 1.5x crop mode.
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/sony/sony-nex/lenses/slr-magic-50mm-f-.95-hyperprime-for-sony
For a more shallow DOF than the 50mm F1.4 I think the 85mm F1.4 is the way to go in a full frame lens and @F1.4 you could shoot at 0 gain in 1080p60 @ 1/60 sec at night.
I have a 28-300mm Tamron full frame zoom with PENTAX K MOUNT and PK-NEX adapter that I will try with my VG900 @210mm FL that is sharper than the full 300mm. Your VG900 video is the best I have see that has a full range of lighting conditions from 0-30 gain.:thumbsup:
Joe
VG900 with 85mm F1.4 :
Screen grab with 85mm F1.4 @ 0 gain in 1080p60 @ 1/60 sec :
VG900 with old full frame Canon 50mm F0.95 lens :
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/sony/sony-nex/lenses/slr-magic-50mm-f-.95-hyperprime-for-sony
For a more shallow DOF than the 50mm F1.4 I think the 85mm F1.4 is the way to go in a full frame lens and @F1.4 you could shoot at 0 gain in 1080p60 @ 1/60 sec at night.
I have a 28-300mm Tamron full frame zoom with PENTAX K MOUNT and PK-NEX adapter that I will try with my VG900 @210mm FL that is sharper than the full 300mm. Your VG900 video is the best I have see that has a full range of lighting conditions from 0-30 gain.:thumbsup:
Joe
VG900 with 85mm F1.4 :
Screen grab with 85mm F1.4 @ 0 gain in 1080p60 @ 1/60 sec :
VG900 with old full frame Canon 50mm F0.95 lens :
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