Quick review of A7S vs GH4

jcs said:
The gen 1 SpeedBooster works on the A7S! (lol). It goes into APS-C mode (when in AUTO APS-C). The quality is pretty good in crop mode- perhaps a tiny bit of aliasing (and apparent increase in sharpness from said aliasing). Tested with the 24-104 F4L at 'F2.8'- worked pretty well. After shooting everything so far with the 50mm F1.4, the IS works great handheld. With APS-C mode turned OFF, one can use the 'Crazy Wide Super Vignette' mode ;). Gotta try this with the 16-35 F2.8. With A7S+SB that extra stop of light is like double the ISO, right, so ISO 410K is now 820K? ;)
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Can you test the digital zoom modes? I'm wondering if the A7S has something similar to the GH4s ETC mode, or the 5x digital zoom on the Canon Rebel/TXi series, that is, a digital zoom with no loss in image quality.
 
So glad sony offered us a full frame option with such a filmic look. I personally am glad I made my purchase. The imagery and detail I am getting out of the sony is blowing my mind. Gh4 looks great as well but way to clinical and seems like to much work to get it looking organic and less like video, something ive been trying so hard the last 5 years to get away from. Sony is now the closest thing to my dream cam. Not perfect though but almost there.
 
dustylense said:
Not sure of the profiles he used here, but in that video the Gh4 destroyed the A7s. But no mention of profiles used. I was to distracted by the blonde to care anyway.
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Did we watch the same video? Look at the amount of contrast, sharpness and dynamic range there was in the A7s shot, not to mention it was likely clipping. GH4 default is 16-235 and I'd be this guy didn't know that the Sony is outputting full range.
 
dustylense said:
Not sure of the profiles he used here, but in that video the Gh4 destroyed the A7s. But no mention of profiles used. I was to distracted by the blonde to care anyway.
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Evidently the guy conducting the test did not understand the sony a7s capabilities, and what seems to be a dead give away to user error would be the gh4 exhibiting better dynamic range in his test by how blowed out the sony a7s was, which we know could not have been in s-log. Also the terrible skin tone on the a7s that he did not adjust the PP for. No disrespect to the tester but this appeared to be a pretty bad test.
 
cyork said:
Did we watch the same video? Look at the amount of contrast, sharpness and dynamic range there was in the A7s shot, not to mention it was likely clipping. GH4 default is 16-235 and I'd be this guy didn't know that the Sony is outputting full range.
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That is what I'm saying in that "not sure what profiles were used". Meaning, I bet he was in some standard profile. But IN THIS VIDEO, the gh4 won. THIS VIDEO.
 
The color was so off with the A7s it was distracting. Or maybe it was the talent. Her dynamic range was very impressive. :-D

We all know that the A7s has more dynamic range than the GH4 but in THIS video the GH4 looked waaaaay better. I hate these comparison videos but the internet and forums love them......
 
* ISO 800, so no slog2. Contrast and saturation settings probably over the top too.
* I'm pretty sure I can create a test where an iphone looks better than an alexa. Not much point, though.

In any case I'm 100% fine with people disliking the image *they* get out of the camera that I happily use.
 
Samuel H said:
* ISO 800, so no slog2. Contrast and saturation settings probably over the top too.
* I'm pretty sure I can create a test where an iphone looks better than an alexa. Not much point, though.

In any case I'm 100% fine with people disliking the image *they* get out of the camera that I happily use.
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yeah, I can look at that shot, having owned both cameras and take away a lot. I personally do not like either image. By the time you add contrast back to the GH4 shot, you've clipped more data to get where the Sony was. And when you shoot another gamma profile with the Sony (literally just about any other profile than what he picked) you'd still have contrast and more range. The resolution is tighter on the A7s but that's because the it's a wider angle lens than the GH4 shot. You can see the squeeze in her body and face. Also, even the WB is a bit warm on the Sony shot, look at how bad the colors are in the candles (not to mention detail) on the GH4 shot. Waxy, plastic, pastels....gross.
 
I've used the Sony A7s and the GH4 for about 5 days each and I can say I would personally pick the A7s, even though the GH4 is an easier to use camera.

Image quality is where the A7s shines.

Usability and still speed is where the GH4 shines.

The two biggest reasons why I didn't want to keep the GH4 is that 4x3 sensor for stills meant I cropped off a lot of the top and bottom of my stills, and the baked in gamma curve (cine D) is still too steep for my tastes
 
A7S RAW still from our narrative short, Delta
DeltaPortal1280.jpg
 
Are you seeing the amount of noise the gh4 is putting out when he turned both cams up to 3200 iso. it looks really bad, while the a7s is still looking super clean.
 
reem12 said:
Are you seeing the amount of noise the gh4 is putting out when he turned both cams up to 3200 iso. it looks really bad, while the a7s is still looking super clean.
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Show me ANY test where a M43 sized sensor will compete with ANY FF sensor in noise levels. One would think that you wouldn't even have to see tests to understand this. It's 3200 ISO. I own both cameras and they both do things the other can't.

At ISO 400, the gh4 with 10bit recording will produce lovely images. Hell, it does with internal 420. At 6400, the Sony produces amazing images. I've seen great images from each camera and very poor images from both cameras on the web. It's how it goes. I'm lucky. I have both cameras. And many more....Many more.
 
Its all about an individuals needs. I myself returned the gh4 imediately. I just knew it was a step backwards for me except for 4k in which I doubt I will take advantage of anytime soon. Also I think panasonic should do something about how they over sharpen their cams. Not sure if they could address that with a firmware update.

i'm glad this guy did a retake with s-log. Now if we could just get him to use kohlis picture profile, this should give people thats looking at both these cams a better representation. on a side note. Look at the young ladies black see through. On the gh4 you can barely see through it but on the a7s its a different story.
 
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