Thoughts on the a7s after a year of use

caseywilsondp

caseywilsondp

Well-known member
After using the a7s for pretty much exactly one year, and now having just sold it, I had a couple of thoughts.
First is that it is one of the most capable cameras I've had the privileged of using. That might seem trite, but I'm talking about comparing it against fs7, f55 and 65, red dragon and the amira. I know everyone will think I'm crazy, and maybe it's because I owned it and got to know it so well, but I really trusted that camera to deliver what I needed to make a great image. the others were really situation dependent (regarding how confident in the image I was). the f65 is a beast that delivers a gorgeous image, but its user menu and limits on adjusting things like WB, log profiles...are very weird. And among the rest of the Sony line up... it really might have had the most latitude with slog2 (and a wonderful full frame). Granted it was in an 8 bit 422 (shogun) image... but it still seemed like quite a bit of information.

Second, I feel a little betrayed by Sony. I haven't hid that, and its a major reason I sold the camera. I think the a7s2 is great, but I really wish some attention had been paid to the first iteration (button mapping, sgamut3... other simple firmware things). And honestly, the menus are terrible, but everyone knows that.

Third, and lastly (thanks for indulging me) after I was putting together a 2015 highlight video I found myself choosing to use the a7s footage more often than other shoots that used other cameras... I just have fonder memories of that little package on set (the nikon lenses I used deserve much of the credit for image I found to be so pleasing). I'm not sure why. The arri camera most definitely delivers an image that is darn near perfect right out of the box... but something in me loves to fiddle in color and eek out every last bit of detail and color I can with the slog2 footage.

I know I'll miss that camera, but I think I'll still poke my head around in this forum because it's been a great part of owning the camera as well. (too bad the nx1 has little to no love on dvxuser).

anyways, here is a bit of what I got to work on last year... and at least this particular video is dominated by a7s footage:

 
I've been seeing your work posted on some of the a7S threads and you've been making this camera sing like no one else I have seen. Really nice looking stuff.

What's your next camera?
 
ReelWorksMedia said:
Gorgeous footage man. Nicely done.
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You are very kind, thank you.

QuickHitRecord said:
I've been seeing your work posted on some of the a7S threads and you've been making this camera sing like no one else I have seen. Really nice looking stuff.

What's your next camera?
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That's very nice of you to say. I bought an nx1 (and 16-50S) lens with the proceeds of just selling the a7s camera body, and I'll largely just be using that for my family (just had our first baby a few months ago) and probably interview stuff (though I'm doing a lens test on it tomorrow, I hope to upload to results to dvxuser in some appropriate sub forum). One of my colleagues has a pre order for the Ursa 4.6k so I look forward to using that in the coming months.
I must say, I didn't think I'd miss the low-light abilities as much as I already do, even just shooting my drooling baby around the house.
 
Nice work, I agree, I use all the high end stuff and end up coming back to my a7s over and over. I just beefed it up with a new cage and PL mount.
 
The camera is really excellent, but the real star is the controlled lighting.
That is down to the man behind it. Good job, sir.
 
bill totolo said:
Nice work, I agree, I use all the high end stuff and end up coming back to my a7s over and over. I just beefed it up with a new cage and PL mount.
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What lenses do you plan on using with the pl? I assume you'll have to use it in apsc mode then? Which is probably good, helps eliminate one of my biggest gripes: rolling shutter.

yoclay said:
The camera is really excellent, but the real star is the controlled lighting.
That is down to the man behind it. Good job, sir.
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Thank you, I've taken it upon myself to learn this year from some great local gaffers and photographers about lighting this past year, it's begun to pay off. However some of my favorite shots like the one with the girl at the tree... Just natural lighting and a ton of color.
 
caseywilsondp said:
What lenses do you plan on using with the pl? I assume you'll have to use it in apsc mode then? Which is probably good, helps eliminate one of my biggest gripes: rolling shutter.

The Celere HS lenses are all full frame, as are Zeiss CP's. For aps-c, as you said, I can use anything.
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casey-

was over-heating ever an issue for you?

which nikon glass was your go-to set-up?

with all of your obvious talent and acquired a7s knowledge base, why didn't you go with ver2?

congrats on the reel and your lovely babina ;-)

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions/nyc
 
bill totolo said:
The Celere HS lenses are all full frame, as are Zeiss CP's. For aps-c, as you said, I can use anything.
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Totally forgot about the cp.2s. Do the canon cnes come in pl I wonder?

robfilms said:
casey-

was over-heating ever an issue for you?

which nikon glass was your go-to set-up?

with all of your obvious talent and acquired a7s knowledge base, why didn't you go with ver2?

congrats on the reel and your lovely babina ;-)

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions/nyc
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Thanks Rob,
Never had any overheating on the 1, very solid. I didn't go with the 2 largely because it didn't offer much I needed that I didn't feel the 1 could get via firmware ( I honestly only wanted sgamut3 and slog3) didn't have much use for internal 4k (I like having 422 on the shogun), and while ibis is nice, not necessary for most of my work. The reason for leaving altogether was largely financial, and partially personal. As I mentioned I felt like Sony totally ignored first gen users, and with my professional life I was rarely getting to use my camera on set anyways, so after careful consideration I realized I could sell the a7s body, and get an nx1 and 16-50 lens for what I sold it for... And having a really nice autofocus is great for family things. It's not as good of a professional camera for sure, but it's much easier to use and my wife can easily pick it up and take photos or video as needed. Plus if needed I can still pair it to the shogun and get some great stuff.
Lastly, the lenses were Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 2.8s. I mainly used the vizelex nd throttle so I could shoot wide open in slog2.
 
* Awesome stuff.

* I had to look for the unicorn ad. Then I had to contain my laughter because I'm at work and I shouldn't be laughing out loud.

* I also sold my a7S after some very happy 18 months together. For very similar reasons. In my case, I went for an RX100 IV, which is no a7S alternative at all, but it's a great complement: it's a different kind of animal, one that I'd like to have even if I had, say an a7S II or an FS5. So I got it and it's filling the void while I wait for something worth my $$$$ to appear on the market.
 
Samuel H said:
* Awesome stuff.

* I had to look for the unicorn ad. Then I had to contain my laughter because I'm at work and I shouldn't be laughing out loud.

* I also sold my a7S after some very happy 18 months together. For very similar reasons. In my case, I went for an RX100 IV, which is no a7S alternative at all, but it's a great complement: it's a different kind of animal, one that I'd like to have even if I had, say an a7S II or an FS5. So I got it and it's filling the void while I wait for something worth my $$$$ to appear on the market.
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Ha thanks man! I'm interested to see what you finally deem worthy of your money. Also nice choice with the rx100, I was very tempted to get something similar... Having such a low profile portable camera has many appeals, and that's quite a capable one at that.
 
caseywilsondp said:
Lastly, the lenses were Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 2.8s. I mainly used the vizelex nd throttle so I could shoot wide open in slog2.
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I too like the results I got with my Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 lens on the A7s.
The only Sony lens I like is the 28-135 Cine. It really helps in Video,
and is now dedicated to my Camera.

I think you are going to miss the A7s, especially in poor/low light.
I use a GH4 for travel and hiking. It is great in good light.
 
RRRoger said:
I too like the results I got with my Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 lens on the A7s.
The only Sony lens I like is the 28-135 Cine. It really helps in Video,
and is now dedicated to my Camera.

I think you are going to miss the A7s, especially in poor/low light.
I use a GH4 for travel and hiking. It is great in good light.
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Yep miss it sometimes when things are dark around the house, but for set work the nx1 does well. What I miss most is the latitude. The nx1 can technically get very close, but the banding is unforgivable when shot flat enough to do so.

Javier Tito said:
Best A7S footage i ever seen online. Casey, do you expose to the right when filming in SLOG2?
Damn, i need a shogun ;)
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If you can control your scene with lights, the only thing I'd expose to the right of the shadows so you can crush them back down. If you're just shooting all natural light, I would err on exposing about 1.5+
External monitor that supports luts and false colors can be really helpful in exposing properly!
 
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