FS5: Sony Discounts in Mid 2017 - Advantages/Disadvantages of Sony FS7MkII and Sony FS5

[Budgieboots]

Hello,

There are some pretty substantial discounts on Sony video cameras currently, such as the Sony FS7mkII and FS5.

I am interested in upgrading my old video cameras (Sony FS100s), but I am having trouble figuring out the main differences now between the FS7MK2 and FS5.

What I remember originally from 2015 is that the image from the FS5 was supposed to be "weaker" than that from the FS7 -- however my understanding is that has now changed, given recent improvements in external recording and firmware upgrades.

So what I wonder is, what purposes or scenarios is the FS7mk2 a superior choice to the FS5? I don't know much about the image quality from the FS7mk2 - how much better is it? What I sort of remember is that if you're predominantly shooting 1080p for corporate/wedding videos, go with FS5 -- but if you're doing indie films, or broadcast television work being shot in 4K, FS7 is your tool.

I use a FS5 fairly regularly for work purposes, and am happy with it -- it's lightweight, compact and nobody has complained to me about image quality. I largely only shoot in SLOG2 and grade it afterward -- I've had less success finding a "straight out of the camera" picture profile that I like because I tend to run into highlights blowing out to pure white much sooner than they do in SLOG2.

Thank you for any insights.

Alternatively, is holding out for the Panasonic EVA-1 worthwhile? I am a little unclear on how the Canon C200 was received.

 

[jpham]

The problem with external recording is the cable - SDI cable or HDMI cable. I have an O7Q and SDI cable can go bad on you
in the middle of the shoot. If you're on a movie set and can re-shoot, a problem like the external recorder goes bad is just to re-shoot that segment. If you're on critical live shoot/once of a kind - then you want the reliability of internal recording.

 

[Adrock]

I love my FS5 for run n'gun and the camera has become rock solid/amazing after the rounds of firmware updates since it's release. I have not shot RAW with it since I don't yet own an external recorder but having the RAW option on such a small camera is pretty spectacular.

A friend of mine just took delivery of his brand new FS7 mk2 last week and is floored by the image quality he has witnessed straight out of the box. It's a little more cumbersome than the FS5 and is clearly aimed at more shoulder/tripod use.

As far as your comment about a "straight out of the box" camera profile...
I have had great luck using PP5 and cinegamma 1/cinegamma 4 with Pro Color. I followed Alistir Chapman's advice to underexpose by 1-1.5 stops and it has really made a difference in protecting my highlights. Based on the research I have done, Cinegamma 1 is used in brighter sunny scenes when trying to preserve highlights while Cinegamma 4 is better at pulling details out of the shadows in low light scenarios.

I haven't shot a lot of Slog because I don't really have the time with most projects to color correct/tweak a lot. The PP5 profile is nice because you're getting a nice middle ground point between a baked in Rec709 and Slog. You're getting 10-11 stops of dynamic range with PP5 as opposed to the 14 with Slog. So far, I haven't regretted using that profile.

Hope this helps.

 

[Budgieboots]

Solid advice, thank you!

On my FS100, I was always very happy with the "G-Log Ultimate 1.0 Picture Profile for the Sony FS100" by Frank Glencairn, so had been looking for an equivalent ever since!