G
Guest
Guest
Words are far more valuable! Thank you!Really great post. Many upvotes or whatever they’re called
That new profile pic is $$$. Many gratitudes!
I prefer white on gray.
Sony A7SIII = $3500, 10-bit 4K120p internal, 16-bit 4K60p RAW out
- Thread starter ahalpert
- Start date
Hey Chris - was finally able to try out your PP settings on my A7sIII. And I sent you a PM with some screen grabs I shot yesterday.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
BREAKTHROUGH! I figured out how to activate the "My Dial" settings on the A7SIII which gives me the power to remap a dial to change my Kelvin color temperature balance.
So now, I can change color temperature by scrolling the front dial (which is aperture by default on this camera), I change aperture with the rear dial, and I can dial up and down my ISO with the control wheel on the back. Huzzah!
So, in order to toggle shutter speed, I now have to press the C4 button to return to normal dials. But that's fine because I usually only change shutter speed infrequently whereas I toggle my Kelvins all the frigging time.
Between this fantastic new dial configuration, the programmable custom buttons, and the Function menu which holds up to 12 menu settings at easy access, I've got to say....this camera is super operator-friendly. I am going to be flying through my next shoot
So now, I can change color temperature by scrolling the front dial (which is aperture by default on this camera), I change aperture with the rear dial, and I can dial up and down my ISO with the control wheel on the back. Huzzah!
So, in order to toggle shutter speed, I now have to press the C4 button to return to normal dials. But that's fine because I usually only change shutter speed infrequently whereas I toggle my Kelvins all the frigging time.
Between this fantastic new dial configuration, the programmable custom buttons, and the Function menu which holds up to 12 menu settings at easy access, I've got to say....this camera is super operator-friendly. I am going to be flying through my next shoot
NorBro
Major Contributor
The a7C - which just started shipping today - looks noticeably better than the older models. I'm impressed!
If you don't need 60p or 10-bit (which you know me I think is overrated), this could be a sweet camera with of course premium AF and the new gyro data IS (if you can use it), which also looks fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2nQ3JKLBdM
If you don't need 60p or 10-bit (which you know me I think is overrated), this could be a sweet camera with of course premium AF and the new gyro data IS (if you can use it), which also looks fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2nQ3JKLBdM
Bassman2003
Veteran
Very cool. This setting functionality is made even better by having separate customization for still and video modes, where you might want to move the SS a lot.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Here's a long continuous take from my wedding last weekend where you can see the AF at work on Ronin-S with the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 wide open:
This is straight from camera, I just set an in and out point and slowed the 60p to 40%.
You can see an epic AF fail at 3:12. I would have done better there manually but probably not good enough to get a usable shot. The camera couldn't go from the back of his head to her spinning fast enough. Had I already been focused on her, it probably would have worked out.
And the thing is - I would never be manually focusing in the first place while shooting 85mm f/1.4 full-frame with a moving subject and moving camera. It's a major win for me, and I can work out better shooting strategies to maintain focus more consistently (and it's already pretty consistent here IMO)
Sometimes you see a bump where I tapped the screen to acquire focus. I'm going to try monitoring and tapping on my smartphone with wifi connection next time.
I'm also going to try face registration next time. That should be cool.
This is straight from camera, I just set an in and out point and slowed the 60p to 40%.
You can see an epic AF fail at 3:12. I would have done better there manually but probably not good enough to get a usable shot. The camera couldn't go from the back of his head to her spinning fast enough. Had I already been focused on her, it probably would have worked out.
And the thing is - I would never be manually focusing in the first place while shooting 85mm f/1.4 full-frame with a moving subject and moving camera. It's a major win for me, and I can work out better shooting strategies to maintain focus more consistently (and it's already pretty consistent here IMO)
Sometimes you see a bump where I tapped the screen to acquire focus. I'm going to try monitoring and tapping on my smartphone with wifi connection next time.
I'm also going to try face registration next time. That should be cool.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Three takeaways from that video:
1) Flash-banding can still F up a wet dream
2) White people shouldn't try to act cool when dancing like that. That opening was straight out of a bad rom-com.
3) No way in hell I could have maintained focus half as consistently on a wide-open 85/1.4 while moving around with subjects moving independently, as well. But it still isn't perfect. At least in slow-mo. If you were shooting real-time 24, you wouldn't really notice it going slightly soft at times. Slow-mo will smooth out a bumpy shot, but it will magnify focus errors a billion fold.
And yeah, if it would have nailed that spin shot, you would have looked like a hero.
Another generation, maybe two...
1) Flash-banding can still F up a wet dream
2) White people shouldn't try to act cool when dancing like that. That opening was straight out of a bad rom-com.
3) No way in hell I could have maintained focus half as consistently on a wide-open 85/1.4 while moving around with subjects moving independently, as well. But it still isn't perfect. At least in slow-mo. If you were shooting real-time 24, you wouldn't really notice it going slightly soft at times. Slow-mo will smooth out a bumpy shot, but it will magnify focus errors a billion fold.
And yeah, if it would have nailed that spin shot, you would have looked like a hero.
Another generation, maybe two...
Bassman2003
Veteran
Thanks for sharing. The look of the footage is nice.
ReelFilmGeek
Well-known member
You say that but you shoot a wedding for a bunch of dance preformers that work at disney and be impressed haha. Probably one of the best weddings i had to shoot back in the day.
That said would love to see how the autofocus works in the high speed modes (specifically 240 fps).
ahalpert
Major Contributor
One thing to keep in mind is that this was a low-light situation (I'm not sure what my ISO was) and that the autofocus performs way better at base ISO with a good exposure.
But yeah - I would never have even attempted to shoot like this focusing manually. Maybe if I were in a stationary position and just following them. But my MO on gimbal before for this situation was a 50mm f/2.8 full-frame (or 35mm f/2 on GH5 with 0.71x speedbooster - same thing). The AF does a better job than I did (almost all of the time). And it lets me focus solely on framing.
I could have gotten better results from it, I think, by not coming in so close. I was constrained by the distance between them and the bandstand and it would have been smarter to stay on the sides where I had more room. And for that spin - if I had been focused on her already, I think I could have gotten the shot.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this is not the top-performing 85mm for autofocus in E mount. That honor goes to the Sony 85mm f/1.8. I'm not sure how the Sony 85mm f/1.4 compares. But I think that generally lighter, smaller lenses (and with smaller apertures) are faster. My Sigma 35mm f/1.4 has snappier autofocus and it's lighter and less girthy than the 85mm.
The slow-mo isn't to smooth out a bumpy shot, it's just for the vibe. They may use it in real-time, I dunno. It's certainly usable.
And for the purposes of these edits, this is way more than they need. They will probably use one or two 1- or 2-second shots for a 1-minute Instagram cut. Then 2 or 3 3- or 4-second shots for a 3-5 minute music video. Then if they do a long-form "documentary" edit they may use 4 or 5 5- or 6-second shots. That last one is where slow mo can help again, by dragging out the length of the usable shots. So, generally speaking, the focus buzzes aren't a problem if there are long sections of usable in-focus material. They're not going to need a 30-second clip.
I haven't shot it in 240fps yet but I did shoot some stuff at 120fps and here are some selects to demonstrate autofocus at 35mm and 85mm f/1.4 wide open (they probably also demonstrate why 60fps is enough for this material):
Bassman2003
Veteran
I know the horse is out of the barn so to speak but this camera has so many different examples, good and bad I thought I would post one more good one. The shooter states it was shot with PP off and uploaded straight out of the camera. I watched this and did not think it looked like a "Sony" nor do I think an R5 would have made it look better. I think this footage sort of has its own look going. Video looking for sure, but easy to view with nice color and setup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWp3EuO0kQ&feature=emb_title
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Well, he shot it in 60p and played back in 60p so it's bound to look like video. I think the colors look fine, though. PP off is not that meaningful because there are so many different "creative styles" as well. I'm also not sure what the default Dynamic Range Optimizer setting is. But the standard color and "Movie" color (which might be the same thing, I'm not sure) look good to me. Although there are many other color settings that dont look as good or would need work.
He's using the Tamron 28-200 I've been considering. Looks fine-ish. Very good for a superzoom
Trek of Joy
Member
To be fair, the Samyang isn't the best AF-c lens. I had it but found it would drift more than I liked or just take a hair longer to reacquire focus compared to my FE 35 or 24 GM, so I swapped it for the FE 85/1.8 which is much snappier and IMO more reliable AF-wise. The subject tracking impresses me every time I use it, its just phenomenal.
Cheers
Chris
C100Scottie
Active member
damn, the slomo is really nice to have, but man, these aren't blowing me away. Did you light this?
scorsesefan
Veteran
I don't think the videographer has much control over the lighting at a wedding...
ahalpert
Major Contributor
No, this particular company mandates no lighting for the sake of fly-on-the-wall shooting. However, the photographers threw up a couple continuous LEDs, which is unusual but happens on occasion. Only the first dance was lit by their lights, the rest of the clips are pure environmental.
And at any rate, these clips were only supposed to illustrate continuous AF performance, and even then with less than the best autofocus lenses available.
These are also all HD and not 4K. And usually I dont even shoot 120p at weddings, although I think it could be useful in a few places here just for dragging out shot length