Sony A7SIII = $3500, 10-bit 4K120p internal, 16-bit 4K60p RAW out

docmoore said:
hopefully they will give magnification during filming or so enhanced way to guage focus. Peaking for 4K is too inaccurate.
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I believe you can already punch in for focus during recording on the other Sony mirrorless cams. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
 
Looks to be a great choice for those with E glass!

Honestly ... resolution is a small part of the viewing process ... DR and framerate/lag are more likely the determinants for most
folks ... 4K cartoon still looks like a cartoon ... and if you can focus correctly and ignore the dynamics of EVF ... it will be great.
The ability to lower the contrast to see into the shadows without blur and excessive grain may for some be more important than
ultimate resoving ability.

Zacuto has a good video discussing their new Kameleon ... 1920x1080 versus the older Gratical 720 display ... and they admit that
at the viewing distances of the EVFs both will appear as sharp.

As long as the new EVF approaches or surpasses the A7R IV EVF one should be able to focus without difficulty ... moot point as most
are so tied to AF that the EVF really becomes a framing device.

Androidlad on EOSHD specs the EVF at 2048x1536 ... current high-end RVF at 1600x1200 ... so 50% increase in resolution ...
 
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Interesting take, docmoore. I agree with everything, including the fact that, since a key selling point is the AF, having a high-res EVF is less important.

My Lumix S1 that I recently sold had a great EVF but I didn't frequently use it.

I don't have any E mount glass, all EF. So that's a factor in considering R5 vs A7SIII. But I think EF glass will not autofocus as well as some of the RF glass (or ar least not as well as the STM lenses for video AF, and mine are probably all USM).

The Sony 24-105 looks very good, and I hope it would cover the situations where I want AF. Maybe plus a fast normal prime
 
scorsesefan said:
Nice review, Dan. Your frame grabs look great... In your opinion is the FX9's color science significantly better than the FS7's?
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Yes. I have always really disliked the FS7 color and I really dug the FX9 color straight out of camera. Most importantly, S-Cinetone gives you very nice skin tones straight out of camera.
Huge difference IMHO.
 
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puredrifting said:
Yes. I habve always really disliked the FS7 color and I really dug the FX9 color straight out of camera. Most importantly, S-Cinetone gives you very nice skin tones straight out of camera.
Huge difference IMHO.
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The fact that everyone cheers now for the nice sooc colors just illustrates how bad it was before. A friend bought the FX9 and it still can’t compete with Panasonic or Canon colors imho. Another big handicap for those who own a FS7 and keep it as b-cam: it’s not consistent to the FX9. Panasonic S1 series, EVA1 and the Varicams match great and so does the Cinema series from Canon probably also with the R5.
For me it was a big move 2 yrs ago to ditch the FS7 with a big arsenal of lenses and accessories but I didn’t regret it for a second. Finally Canon gave up the crippling and the C300iii was no question for me. It ticks almost all boxes On my virtual wishlist and added some features I would have dreamed of. AF in 120p is fantastic. Variable ND would have been great and a horizon index too but I can live without it. It’s fantastic how CLog2 with the wide DR REC709 LUT nails the image. Sorry for hijacking the thread :thumbsup:
 
EF glass on the R adapters seem to be stellar for AF ... and you have the great option of the ND filter adapter.

Beats the zip box with two 0.9 ND filters I had on my 1DX III yesterday.

With EF glass you can take your time moving to the R glass ... but it is all focus by wire so you may still prefer direct focus with hard stops.

Best to wait a bit until both are in use ... see where the complaints land ...
 
Clermond said:
The fact that everyone cheers now for the nice sooc colors just illustrates how bad it was before. A friend bought the FX9 and it still can’t compete with Panasonic or Canon colors imho. Another big handicap for those who own a FS7 and keep it as b-cam: it’s not consistent to the FX9. Panasonic S1 series, EVA1 and the Varicams match great and so does the Cinema series from Canon probably also with the R5.
For me it was a big move 2 yrs ago to ditch the FS7 with a big arsenal of lenses and accessories but I didn’t regret it for a second. Finally Canon gave up the crippling and the C300iii was no question for me. It ticks almost all boxes On my virtual wishlist and added some features I would have dreamed of. AF in 120p is fantastic. Variable ND would have been great and a horizon index too but I can live without it. It’s fantastic how CLog2 with the wide DR REC709 LUT nails the image. Sorry for hijacking the thread :thumbsup:
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Hijack away!

One major consideration in R5 vs A7SIII is which brand I want to continue to invest in.

I actually really like cinetone. In some ways it seems more interesting than canon colors. I'd be happy with either.

But no it definitely doesn't match fs7. If clients catch onto that, it will diminish the value of having "matching Sony" cameras.

And if I were to dump my fs7 for an fx9, i'd rather get a c300iii.

docmoore said:
EF glass on the R adapters seem to be stellar for AF ... and you have the great option of the ND filter adapter.

Best to wait a bit until both are in use ... see where the complaints land ...
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If that's true, it's certainly a big plus for the R5 for me. But yes, I'll wait to buy until black friday or early next year, once all the warts are revealed. (If the R5 is a jello cam, it's DOA. Though the R6 will probably do better.)

And to be honest, I will factor hype into this purchase choice. Hype matters to those who care. My S1 wouldn't have gotten any respect if people hadn't heard of the S1H and were confused. I will be consulting Google Trends as a consideration - where the R5 is riding high.
 
It's just perplexing that Sony has such problems/inconsistency with their color science (with the exception of the fx9 it seems) I love my fs5/a7iii with the exception of the skin tones which always seem too blue/green to me...
 
morgan_moore said:
Of course sony can tweak the firmware.

1) make a great camera
2) turn all the good stuff off if the R5 doesnt demand that it is there....
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Yes that is possible. I think the previous post by John Brawley was contrasting an ASIC-based camera to using an FPGA like Blackmagic. With an FPGA you can add significant features, at the cost of higher power consumption. That is how BMD added BRAW. With an ASIC-based design you have to know long in advance you want that feature, commit to the design, then maybe disable it in firmware if not currently needed or not fully tested.
 
scorsesefan said:
It's just perplexing that Sony has such problems/inconsistency with their color science (with the exception of the fx9 it seems) I love my fs5/a7iii with the exception of the skin tones which always seem too blue/green to me...
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AFAICT, Sony built their color science on charts and lab tests. It was largely accurate but didn't cater to skin tone flattery like Canon does (because flattering skin tones is 95% of what most shooters need).

Sony has been tweaking their color science to make it more flattering. But as a consequence, their new cameras don't match their old ones. Over time, they will settle into a color science they like (as may be happening now) and then their new cameras will be consistent with their old ones.

Canon has been using roughly the same color science for years, so their new releases match their old cameras relatively well.
 
ahalpert said:
I believe you can already punch in for focus during recording on the other Sony mirrorless cams. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
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That is correct. By contrast you cannot do that on the S1H.

Re your comments on the EVF, I had the same thoughts. I wouldn't want a junk EVF like on the FS5 Mark I, but a high-end EVF is costly. For a serious video-centric camera, how often would you use that, esp in the typical fixed rear position? If it was an option like a tiltable Zacuto EVF with an eye cup, yes. But then you'd lose economies of scale due to the optional aspect. For hybrid still/photo use you'd want that mega-EVF, so maybe that's the answer -- maybe the A7SIII will be video-centric but not as hard core as the S1H.

Or maybe that's the new Sony mirrorless EVF standard going forward, they've paid the development costs and plan on amortizing that across multiple cameras.

Re internal RAW, I don't think the RED patent permits this. They could hypothetically do in-camera ProRes but then the cards aren't big enough. They could support external ProRes recording via USB-C to an SSD (typically done on BMPCC4k cameras), but how many people would do that without an external monitor. If you're going to have an external monitor, may as well use a Ninja V which also records, and that reduces cable-connected external devices to one. I just hope they don't do yet another proprietary raw format. If nothing else do ProRes RAW to a Ninja V like the S1H. I'd be happy with just 10 or 12-bit 4k 4:2:2 out HDMI, capturable as regular ProRes on an Atomos. I'm worried Sony will somehow dumb down the external data feed, forcing internal-only capture using a highly compressed codec, hence a big transcode workload in post.
 
A delicious 12-24mm GM was announced today and should be shipping in a little over a month from now, which gets me excited for the a7SIII's availability.

If anyone remembers Sony's 2015-2016 industry-changing run, everything they announced was available about 30-35 days later. I feel like they're been going back to that a little bit with the Sony ZV-1 and this lens.

For someone neurotic like myself, it's my weakness because I'll end up buying things versus a product shipping 2-3 months later in which I'll already lose interest by then.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1573884-REG/sony_sel1224gm_12_24mm_f_2_8_gm_lens.html
 
Canon had improved a lot. I ordered the C300iii on April 21 immediately when it was announced. It was supposed to be shipped in June and I received it on June 19.
 
Were you ever thinking about getting the C500 Mark II but were on the fence too long (maybe fortunately) up to the time when they announced the C300 Mark III?

I am aggravated for people who purchased the former not knowing about the latter even though I had no plans to buy either, lol.
 
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