FS7: Finding the perfect B cam

Vultch

Vultch

Well-known member
Is there such a thing

The contenders are: Sony a7S (with external recorder?), Panasonic GH4, Samsung NX1, Panasonic LX100 and I'm sure there are more.

Has anybody out there with a FS7 found something workable?
 
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A7S, for a few reasons
-E Mount, interchangeable lens/adapter
-Shallower Depth of Field
-Better at Low Light
-Small and portable, unobtrusive
-Slog2
-Paint setting makes matching easier.
 
A7S has been the most adopted from my observation. Is great B cam to FS7 as well as F5/55. I've seen more people selling off their other cameras...
 
This month alone I've had three days call for multiple cameras... and rented a second FS7. If it keeps up, I'll just have to buy a second one... use the FS7 as the B camera to the FS7.
 
HD Gear Guru said:
That's great. What's the codec of choice? Being asked for 4K? If your shooting more than just a cutaway for editing purposes on the 2nd camera then yeah a 2nd FS7 is excellent choice
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Predominantly the 1080p XDCAM50/422 codec. I do a lot of "shoot only" work where I ship a hard drive with footage to agencies and such. The XDCAM codec plays nice with all the non-linear editors, so it tends to chosen frequently by post.

This week's shoot is in the XAVC-I 4k mode, mostly because they wanted to pull stills from it, but also because I beleive they may wish to post it in 4k to Youtube.
 
I plan on using the Sony AX100. UHD, XAVC-s codec and HD modes, Zeiss 29 to 348mm zoom lens, image stabilization. It's a 1" sensor instead of 1.3", but if you take two steps farther back and zoom in you really don't notice it. It has a focus and zoom ring that works, plus rocker zoom. Works on cheap media. Slo-mo at 120fps. The zoom ramps a bit but starts at F2.8 unlike the kit lens F4 for the FS7.
 
A7s is my B-cam to the S7 and has been for more than a month now. It works great with the Odyssey 7Q+, so there are 2 UHD cams.

For HD I use those and still use the EX3 a lot. It is really refreshing to shoot with a ½" imager on the shoulder or at events where a real ENG lens is what you need, I am lucky Sony replaced my EX3 lens with one that is super smooth zoom, some of the early ones were not.

I would also say that the C100 would work fine, that was my b-cam to my FS700. And amazingly enough I still sometimes shoot with the 5DkII.
 
Im looking to have a buddy for the FS7

This needs to be a 'short' camera that one could put on a dashboard or suchlike

Currently the number one choice is the BMC4k

Here is my current thinking.. BMC4k..

-Enough holes to bolt it hard to stuff
-My bcam op has a load of Canon glass - control works and is 'free'
-no sh_itty HDMI - this camera will always used with a monitor with a long lead going in and out all day
-4k onboard
-global shi_tter no funky jello
-power from Vlock using standard connectors
-no problems with lack of ND as ND is only really an issue with high ISO cameras
-pro res 2k or 4k (or dng onboard) with no recorder
-film look and BMC offered lut look nice
In the right situation IMO the BMC probably has a better image than the FS7

The A7s
-full frame
-night vision

For some reason the A7s doesnt float my boat - I think it is a suspicion of jello, upscaling and all the weird sh_it that sony does?

I also have EX1 and FS100 which would probably work where the bmc does not
 
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F3! BOOM!....

Im just kidding, I know it doesnt fill all your specific needs. I still use it as my B for the F5, love it but I dont need it to be 4K etc.
 
Lucas Kao said:
A7S, for a few reasons
-E Mount, interchangeable lens/adapter
-Shallower Depth of Field
-Better at Low Light
-Small and portable, unobtrusive
-Slog2
-Paint setting makes matching easier.
Click to expand...

Yeah but I can't help but believe there is a 10bit version in the works.

I should reply to that banding post over at Sony. 8bit is as much a cause as the codec. It's 2015 folks, time for 8bit to be history. With the exception of shooting for TV news. Those folks don't seem to be interested in spending the money to come into this century but I get the economics.

Y'all be cool,
Robert
 
For me the Sony a7S did seem the logical choice, until I discovered it cant record 4k internally. Adding an external recorder and the issue of another set of batteries etc put me off. I want something small that can be lifted out of a bag, switched on and we are running.

There is a another thread suggesting a possible firmware upgrade for the a7S or a a7S MKII with H265 4 K recording internally, it has been suggested the current could be modified via a firmware update to record H265 internally but heat dissipation issues would only give some 6 mins recording.
I think Sony are looking across at the Samsung NX1 so I expect to see some movement form Sony soon. 10 bit ?? I dont know the internals its a stills camera to the bits are probably there from the sensor can the video encoding be modified to 10 bit questions questions.
 
bmc 4k is 10bit prores internal

bit depth is not a consumer selling point in the way 4k is - so dont expect too much 10bit soon!
 
Using PXW-Z100 and PXW-X70 with FS7, both are XAVC 4:2:2 10 bit. Z100 is not so good in low light but has other advantages. Little X70 is probably the most fun camera I've used in 35 years, take it everywhere.

cheers
 
I used my FS7 as a B camera yesterday and made my PMW-500 the A camera for a client that needed XDCAM Mpeg2 4:2:2 50mbps. Easy to match them and without scene files loaded into the FS7 yet. TC locked easily and audio levels were a breeze to match. If 4k/UHD was requested, the F5 would have been the choice for me. My internal XAVC 4k license arrives today for the F5. Should be worth the wait. Fingers crossed. FS7-On-Set5-1-22-2015.jpg
 
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