Sony A7s for documentaries

Cerro said:
Well...
This is gonna be my little kit:

...

What do you think??
Click to expand...

Your kit seems better suited for something like the A6000 since you're only buying APS-c lenses, you could save $1900 (body price difference) and get a couple more lenses and a nice tripod if you get an APS-c camera like the A6000. Then you could get the kit with the 16-50 power zoom for small and the 16-70/f4 Zeiss as a high IQ all around lens ($1600), the 55-210 ($300) for a long zoom (better than the 18-200 on the long end) go for the 35 or 50 f1.8 as a fast option and one of the Sigmas 19/30/60 because they're amazing lenses and only $200 each (the 60mm is beautifully sharp, its a great lens) - that body/lens kit is about the same price as the A7s body alone.

The Sony XLR adapter is good, but at almost $800 its way overpriced IMO. I'd get a small audio recorder ($90):
http://www.amazon.com/TASCAM-DR-05E...&qid=1405526708&sr=1-4&keywords=zoom+recorder

A wireless lav for interviews ($200, decent, but you can get better if you spend more):
http://www.amazon.com/Samson-SW87SL...sr=1-25&keywords=wireless+lavalier+microphone

And a small camera mounted shotgun for decent nat sound and interviews on the fly ($149, this one is solid, but there are better options for more $$$):
http://www.amazon.com/Rode-Videomic...sr=1-27&keywords=wireless+lavalier+microphone

IMO a vital part of any small camera doc kit is a video monopod like this, I use it more than my tripod, it has extra mounting points on the head for things like a wireless mic receiver or a light and its really portable:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/945109-REG/manfrotto_mvm500a_pro_fluid_monopod_with.html

If you're definitely going FF with the A7s, get one of the 28-70 kit lenses people are selling off the A7 kits. There are a bunch of them on ebay for $258:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine...03887890?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item1e8c5c7312

With APS-c lenses you're only able to snap 5mp stills, not exactly great for landscape. In APS-c the 28-70 becomes a 42-105, so you get a little extra reach and you can pick up the 55-210 cheap for something longer and something like the Samyang 14mm ($350) or a legacy Vivitar 17mm (under $200) for ultra-wide landscape stuff.

If you're traveling, you'll need lots of batteries when shooting video, the A7s really goes through them fast. I would get 4 or 5 spares, not just one. And don't leave out ND filters, if you shoot in the daylight, you're going to need them. But I would really think about your kit before jumping in. All APS-c lenses on a FF body just seems like a waste of money IMHO.

OR - just go with a video camera with built in audio and such and a high MP stills camera like the RX100m3 that can also shoot really good video. Then you're not dealing with all the workarounds (audio, ND filters, etc..) shooting video on a camera with a body designed primarily as a stills camera.
 
photochris said:
Your kit seems better suited for something like the A6000 since you're only buying APS-c lenses, you could save $1900 (body price difference) and get a couple more lenses and a nice tripod if you get an APS-c camera like the A6000. Then you could get the kit with the 16-50 power zoom for small and the 16-70/f4 Zeiss as a high IQ all around lens ($1600), the 55-210 ($300) for a long zoom (better than the 18-200 on the long end) go for the 35 or 50 f1.8 as a fast option and one of the Sigmas 19/30/60 because they're amazing lenses and only $200 each (the 60mm is beautifully sharp, its a great lens) - that body/lens kit is about the same price as the A7s body alone.
Click to expand...

My god...! I'm confused and very ignorant!
Thanks for the reply.
I want lenses for full frame!!
You mentioned this lenses. They need an adapter? Or goes well (Sorry for my english, really!) into the A7s???

You are talk about this one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=16-70mm&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=
this one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...L55210_SEL55210_55_210mm_F4_5_6_3mm_Lens.html
And this one??
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/918899-REG/sigma_30mm_f_2_8_dn_for.html

They are all FF? And fix into the camera??

THANKSS!! And sorry for my english. Today or maybe tomorrow I have to order it.
 
BTW those APS-c e mount lens will work with the A7s also, it will just automatic go into crop mode.
 
 
Cerro said:
Thank you!!!
This two will work well??

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-28-70mm-...&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+fe+28-70mm+f3.5-5.6+oss
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SAL70300...&qid=1405532961&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+70-300mm

Thanks!!!!
Click to expand...

You dont have to buy sony lenses just because its a sony camera. IMO you should just get ONE really nice lens and then buy more later. Putting cheap glass in front of a nice camera is like putting regular unleaded gasoline in a car that requires high octane. I don't think this is the right camera for Doc work either. Why are you so set on this camera, when as others have mentioned the A6000 does almost as good video and has much less rolling shutter? Put the money into glass as new camera technology changes all the time. Develop your style with a cheaper camera and the glass will last you a lifetime. The camera won't be good for more than a few years.
 
Imaginate512 said:
You dont have to buy sony lenses just because its a sony camera. IMO you should just get ONE really nice lens and then buy more later. Putting cheap glass in front of a nice camera is like putting regular unleaded gasoline in a car that requires high octane. I don't think this is the right camera for Doc work either. Why are you so set on this camera, when as others have mentioned the A6000 does almost as good video and has much less rolling shutter? Put the money into glass as new camera technology changes all the time. Develop your style with a cheaper camera and the glass will last you a lifetime. The camera won't be good for more than a few years.
Click to expand...

Jeje. Yes, I know! But I really have little time (?). I'm going in 10 days to Africa for 4 months. I need to decide it noooow.
Which lenses you recommend for the A7s?
 
Cerro said:
Jeje. Yes, I know! But I really have little time (?). I'm going in 10 days to Africa for 4 months. I need to decide it noooow.
Which lenses you recommend for the A7s?
Click to expand...
Go for it then. Buy the A7s. Get the Zeiss Sony 24-70 and the 55 1.8 and maybe the 70-200. But what are you going to do about sound? Mount a Rode stereo? Buy the XLR adapter from Sony (which they will replace with a better one shortly). Use a third party XLR box? Better get about 8 batteries because the A7s sucks on battery life. So you better have 4 chargers for those 8 batteries. Hell, 8 batteries "might" get you through a day of shooting with this camera. MIGHT.

It's more than just buying a camera body and a lens. For 4 months in Africa working on a doc your going to need a lot more than just a camera and a lens. And what I listed is far above $5000 and you don't even have the SD cards, tripod, bag, mic, etc....
 
Well...maybe a disaster will occur.
But I already post my little kit (with SD cards, XLR adaptor, Hard drive, tripod, battery extra).
Now I want to decide the lenses.

Thank you!!!!
 
Cerro said:
Jeje. Yes, I know! But I really have little time (?). I'm going in 10 days to Africa for 4 months. I need to decide it noooow.
Which lenses you recommend for the A7s?
Click to expand...

Read dustylense posts and then get yourself a c100 and one extra battery, 10-18 stm, 17-55, 55-250 stm, and a Senn mke 600. It will come out just a bit more than when you fully equip an A7s and will do everything that you need to do and won't break. Good luck. I have been all over Africa and wish I had had this setup.

And for a few hundred more get a Canon eos m with the 22mm lens and the m to ef adapter. Real cheap now, and real stealthy for when you need it, and you have a great little 2 cam system that will travel light and let you do about anything. Add a Benro s6 carbon tripod with its great little bag and you are on your way.
 
Last edited:
Where in Africa are you going to? You may want to reconsider your camera choice. And consider a backup camera.
Panasonic GH4 and Canon 5d mark 3 are both more weather proof than the A7 series and have significantly better battery life. In your position I'd check the GH4 carefully.
Also, a couple of a6000 cameras will provide you with a backup camera and will still end up significantly cheaper than an a7s.
How much/often do you expect to shoot?
 
cpc said:
Where in Africa are you going to? You may want to reconsider your camera choice. And consider a backup camera.
Panasonic GH4 and Canon 5d mark 3 are both more weather proof than the A7 series and have significantly better battery life. In your position I'd check the GH4 carefully.
Also, a couple of a6000 cameras will provide you with a backup camera and will still end up significantly cheaper than an a7s.
How much/often do you expect to shoot?
Click to expand...

Ok. Thanks. Too many decisions in short time! My head is about to explode.
I'm listening everybody, but I think I'm gonna buy the A7s.
The A6000 seems to be a very good alternative. Thanks for the suggest.
And the GH4 of course. But just I don't like the image.
I'm going to shoot at night. How often? I don't know! No idea.

Every advice is wonderful. Thanks.
I still very confused about lens... haha.

In this page I compare the two lens (Sony 28-70mm vs Sony Vario 24-70mm 2.8)
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compa...24-70-mm-F2.8-ZA-SSM-SAL-2470Z___1244_0_224_0
 
Cerro said:
In this page I compare the two lens (Sony 28-70mm vs Sony Vario 24-70mm 2.8)
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compa...24-70-mm-F2.8-ZA-SSM-SAL-2470Z___1244_0_224_0
Click to expand...

These are the 5 FE lenses currently available:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=sony+fe+lens&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

If its not an FE lens like the ZA 24-70/2.8 in your link, the lens will be bigger, heavier, not have image stabilization and you'll need a LAEA4 adapter which adds $400 to the cost. The lens you linked is great, but its 900g + the weight of the adapter, and its huge. The FE 24-70 is much smaller, lighter and cheaper.

Definitely do more research before buying so you know what you're getting. Add a sensor cleaning kit to your list, because the A7 sensor is a dust magnet and none of the lenses are dust/weather sealed, so dirt is an issue.

Just a thought. I love the A7, but I wouldn't spend 4 months in Africa with that as my only camera, consider a kit that allows for a backup. I have a doc project coming up in a few months, part of it will be shot in Haiti - and I'm looking at using the A7s, the RX100m3 and a GoPro as a small, light setup for stills and video.
 
Cerro said:
Ok. Thanks. Too many decisions in short time! My head is about to explode.
I'm listening everybody, but I think I'm gonna buy the A7s.
The A6000 seems to be a very good alternative. Thanks for the suggest.
And the GH4 of course. But just I don't like the image.
I'm going to shoot at night. How often? I don't know! No idea.

Every advice is wonderful. Thanks.
I still very confused about lens... haha.

In this page I compare the two lens (Sony 28-70mm vs Sony Vario 24-70mm 2.8)
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compa...24-70-mm-F2.8-ZA-SSM-SAL-2470Z___1244_0_224_0
Click to expand...

If you have your mind set for the a7s then make sure you get more batteries.
Your link compares an FE lens with a Sony A-mount lens. A-mount lenses need an adapter to be used on E-mount cameras. With your lack of time and experience I wouldn't really bother with non-native mount lenses.
Here is a comparison with the 24-70/4 E-mount FF lens: http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Sony...-T-24-70mm-F4-ZA-OSS-both-mounted-on-Sony-A7R

Your choice of native lenses is actually quite small: 24-70/4, the kit 28-70, 55/1.8, 35/2.8, 70-200/4. Also have a look at the pretty good and relatively cheap Samyang/Rokinon manual focus E-mount lenses, if manual focus doesn't scare you: there are 24/1.4, 35/1.4, 85/1.4 full frame lenses in E-mount; they may or may not be a good choice for you depending on your shooting style (if you have any in mind).

A safe choice is 24-70 + 70-200. You may be able to live with the 24-70 only but chances are you will want 70-200 at least a few times for 4 months. 55/1.8 would be a nice addition for interviews and general + night shooting, but this all adds up to more than your budget.

edit: as photochris points out the RX100m3 should be an excellent back up camera.
 
cpc said:
If you have your mind set for the a7s then make sure you get more batteries.
Your link compares an FE lens with a Sony A-mount lens. A-mount lenses need an adapter to be used on E-mount cameras. With your lack of time and experience I wouldn't really bother with non-native mount lenses.
Here is a comparison with the 24-70/4 E-mount FF lens: http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Sony...-T-24-70mm-F4-ZA-OSS-both-mounted-on-Sony-A7R

Your choice of native lenses is actually quite small: 24-70/4, the kit 28-70, 55/1.8, 35/2.8, 70-200/4. Also have a look at the pretty good and relatively cheap Samyang/Rokinon manual focus E-mount lenses, if manual focus doesn't scare you: there are 24/1.4, 35/1.4, 85/1.4 full frame lenses in E-mount; they may or may not be a good choice for you depending on your shooting style (if you have any in mind).

A safe choice is 24-70 + 70-200. You may be able to live with the 24-70 only but chances are you will want 70-200 at least a few times for 4 months. 55/1.8 would be a nice addition for interviews and general + night shooting, but this all adds up to more than your budget.

edit: as photochris points out the RX100m3 should be an excellent back up camera.
Click to expand...


photocris, and cpc, thanks, you are very helpful!
Maybe the right choice (is any?) is 24-70 + 70-200, but it's very expensive, of course. The 28-70 + 70-300 (a-mount) it's more affordable to me, and these aren't bad lenses, don't you think?
It's my first video kit in my life. I save money for too many years, and now I have no time for decide because this project came to me last week.
 
Cerro said:
photocris, and cpc, thanks, you are very helpful!
Maybe the right choice (is any?) is 24-70 + 70-200, but it's very expensive, of course. The 28-70 + 70-300 (a-mount) it's more affordable to me, and these aren't bad lenses, don't you think?
It's my first video kit in my life. I save money for too many years, and now I have no time for decide because this project came to me last week.
Click to expand...

When you look at A-mount lenses, remember you have to include the $350 LAEA4 adapter and you lose image stabilization, which is very helpful with longer focal length lenses while shooting video. The adapter also needs power, so the small A7s battery life will be even shorter with A mount lenses. They're also much larger and heavier and the adapter adds weight. Unless you're always on a tripod, any video shot with the 70-300 will be a mess with the A7s rolling shutter. You would be much better off investing in the FE 70-200, which has image stabilization and if you shoot in APS-c mode its a 300mm lens on the long end.

For walk around lens options, the 24-70 and 70-200 are your best bet. If that's not in your budget, the 28-70 is still a really good lens, but not a great landscape lens as 28mm isn't very wide. At B&H prices those two lenses and the A7s have you at $4500 and you still have audio, tripod, lighting, SDXC cards, ND filters, bag and so on to cover. You could get the A6000, 10-18/f4, 16-70/f4, 55-210, 35/f1.8 and the Sigma 60mm macro, a RX100m3 as a backup, cards, tripod and such with lots of cash to spare, and you'd have much better AF than the A7s. Just throwing out options. Good luck with your choice and your project.
 
I was wondering if the kit 28-70 compares favorably to the the Zeiss 24-70 in terms of using it for video only on the A7s? I'm in the same boat, starting from scratch and while I looked into the 70-300 for a while, it just didn't make sense on the A7s because there's no stabilization on those A-Mount lenses and a long lens would probably need that. I've been running with the power zoom 18-200 in crop mode and love the results. Yeah, I think I'm getting a stop more noise than an FE lens, but with how far you can push this camera, that's been fine for me so far. Just wondering how the 28-70 FE would perform (for video only)?
 
C100 with dual pixel. 2 batteries. One shotgun mic. 18-135 STM. 55-250 STM. 17-50 of your choice. Everything else is built into the body. far less RS.

Or, that A7s kit I mentioned and you're still short stuff. Plus, you will have to rig the sucker up everyday. The C100 you just pull out of the bag, turn on, and roll. Get home, sell it and thank me later.
 
I'd argue that if you don't know what lenses you want and need that you should maybe re-evaluate spending $5k on gear. Especially since your first run at lenses weren't even good matches for the full-frame A7s.

You've fixated on the A7s as the camera for you even though for your intended use you'd be much better served with a different camera. I own both the C100 and A7s and have previously owned an a6000 and NEX-6. Of those the A7s would be my second to last choice for a trip to Africa right in front of the NEX-6. If I had enough support to travel around with a big camera, C100 no question. If I didn't want that big of a kit, I'd do the a6000. Whatever I took, I'd make sure I had at least one other camera. That's a long way to go to end up with a broken camera, no backup cam and a wasted trip.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top