Sony announces a9 24MP 20fps high-end full frame sports camera

NorBro said:
Would you really spend $4500 for it if it had S-Log?

Sooner or later, a new video-focused mirrorless will arrive and it may have many features the a9 doesn't.

I immediately thought how insane it was for them to not include S-Log, but they are actually doing me a favor by omitting it.

We get to save our money for the next big release, which will probably be 10x better for video than this one is.
Click to expand...

I was under the assumption that this new sensor tech would be the heart of the next round of cameras. So in my view, this camera is the start of the next round. People are not liking the A7R II for studio work with strobes but love it for other photography and video.

The great thing about the this $4,500 camera is the video quality is the same between crop modes and resolutions. 24MP seems like a perfect size for both stills and video. It is all there outside of the picture profiles which exist on their $1,000 models. I think it is just insane to not include them on your most expensive model? I just will never understand these camera companies...
 
Maybe a firmware update will change things...I wouldn't rule it out from Sony.

From all of the YouTube videos I've watched over time about their various cameras, I think they seem to be in touch with a lot of different people, and they probably have heard more than once that the a9 should have S-Log from some of these guys and gals.
 
NorBro said:
Would you really spend $4500 for it if it had S-Log?
Click to expand...

It depends. If it's the same slog3 from the FS7, yes, I'd be getting one. If it's the same slog from previous a7 and a6x00 cameras, with one stop less DR than the FS7, then no, that wouldn't be enough, since it would be just matching what previous bodies give me at a lower price. And still: that a7 kind of slog plus 4k 60 fps and I'm in again.

But yes, they're definitely doing me a favor by not including slog on the a7, it makes it waaaaaay easier to resist.
 
That kind of pours salt on the wound. The eye focus features have been reserved for still use up until this camera. Great they have moved it to the video side but too bad videographers are going to stay away from the model due to the crippling. BTW, it is not just S-Log, it is the lack of picture profiles that allow you to setup your image. That is pretty basic imho.
 
My understanding was that, on the a6500 and the a7R II, you could not use eye-detect AF when shooting video. Has that changed with the a9? I would still find it a useless cam for video but I'd be amused if they had enabled it precisely on the a9.
 
Stills test showing DR is the same with mechanical and electronic shutter. This was not the case in other models: at least for Sony, cameras usually revert from 14 bit ADC to 12 bit ADC when using electronic shutter, which has a visible impact in terms of DR. I believe this is the reason the a7S has lower DR than the FS7.

The sensor in the a9 looks absolutely amazing for video. I'm ever more surprised that they crippled the video side of this body. Maybe they wanted to divide demand in two halves to avoid going out of stock at launch? I mean: cripple the video side in firmware and sell to the photogs, then provide slog3 with a firmware update and sell to the video guys.
 
OK, it seems it was indeed a "staggered launch" strategy: the a9 is getting slog through a firmware update, according to Sony support: link.
If it can match the DR from the FS7 (and I think it can), this update is very likely to cost me big $$$$.
 
Ooh sounds interesting but how will you get fs7 levels of dr in 8 bit? Have tried slog3 on the a6300 and while at times it can look lovely, it breaks down under the slightest provocation
 
You can get as much DR as you want in 8-bit, it's just that you'll get more banding issues and a coarse gradation if you go too far. I'd be happy having slog2 for normal use and slog3 with a couple of stops more DR for whenever I need it (it already has one stop, I'm asking for another one so it can match the DR of the FS7 and the BM 4.6k; link). Of course with an 8-bit codec it's going to be far from ideal, but I can try to fix banding in post, there's no point in trying to fix clipping in post.

This Saturday I'm shooting a short and I already know I'm goning to be crying for DR in one specific shot. I think it would look beautiful if I could pull it off, but I'm not sure I'm going to have enough lights to make the interior bright enough.
 
I get what you're saying just that my experience with the a6300 and slog3 is that banding and other artifacts was very easy to trigger with hardly any pushing of the image. Slog2 was brittle but a little more usable. Just can only imagine trying to cram even more dr into 8 bit is going to make it even harder to work with. Hope you're right though
 
My experience with the a6300 and slog3cine is just lovely and I use it for gimbal cam with my FS7 all the time. And while I usually record directly to PIX E5 with it, I've recently used it in doc style shoot going straight to internal card. And was completely surprised at the lack of artifacts and banding I saw.
I'm in the market for a new dedicated stills camera and becoming more & more interested in the a9 but would never purchase based on future fw. So, let's go Sony...
 
markfpv said:
My experience with the a6300 and slog3cine is just lovely and I use it for gimbal cam with my FS7 all the time. And while I usually record directly to PIX E5 with it, I've recently used it in doc style shoot going straight to internal card. And was completely surprised at the lack of artifacts and banding I saw.
Click to expand...

Interesting and sorry for the slightly off topic but do you create your own luts for slog3 with the a6300? my grading skills aren't the best so have tried to use film convert and other off the shelf ways of de logging slog3 and the banding would show up quite easily. Have tried creating luts in Premiere and have less trouble with banding that way but I could never get enough contrast in the image to lose the milky log feel to the footage. Any advice would be much appreciated
 
markfpv said:
... I'm in the market for a new dedicated stills camera and becoming more & more interested in the a9 but would never purchase based on future fw. So, let's go Sony...
Click to expand...
That "s-log" promise was made during an online chat with a Sony tech rep (I flagged it as "erroneous" ... but not intentionally so ... fat finger problem). I would not be taking it to the bank.

This doesn't mean that there will be no S-log on it ever but I speculate there'll be other Sony cameras that will be more video geared anyway. At this point, Sony has released two upmarket cameras in a row (A99II and A9) with video features severely crippled. This streak ought to end soon enough.
 
DLD said:
That "s-log" promise was made during an online chat with a Sony tech rep (I flagged it as "erroneous" ... but not intentionally so ... fat finger problem). I would not be taking it to the bank.
Click to expand...

Don't worry. I make a habit out of waiting. Promises often don't happen...

"do you create your own luts for slog3 with the a6300?"

Yes - I do... but I also highly recommend Art Adams slog3 lut (article here) as well as CD's extended range lut (here) at least as starting points. rate the camera & shoot at 800 ISO and use the exposure compensation luts to bring down in post (i'm not a fan of PP and would suggest DaVinci Resolve or even FCPX - with Color Finale) for nice clean results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top