Andrew Reid

Looks impressive at high ISOs.

Remember the HDMI output in 4K is uncompressed...

YouTube does not give you the full image quality.Read the full article here

I am not disappointed in the S-lightest :)

 

Just picture the full frame 4K image out of the HDMI on this thing... going to look AMAZING.

Breaking news... The Sony A7S has been announced at NAB 2014.

It records 1080p internally in XAVC-S format at 50Mbit but the big news is the support for full 4K output via HDMI to an external recorder.

Unfortunately it does NOT have an internal 4K recording codec like the Panasonic GH4.

Read the full article here

Sony is making some 4K related camera announcements at NAB

Watch the live announcement here or scroll down on the home page

Here are my running thoughts as we watch the Sony presentations...

Read the full article here

As we get closer to the press conference, more unconfirmed rumours on the A7S have come in from NAB.

Read the full article here

NAB 2014 kicks off today (Sunday) with the first major announcements. Here's a look at what could be in store for filmmakers at the biggest video and broadcast trade show of the year...

Read the full article here

No poetry on the forums ;)

I've seen some people tossing around the notion that lower total pixel count (and the implied greater pixel pitch) doesn't necessarily improve low light performance. Is this true, or potentially true (not necessarily for this camera, but in general)? 

 

For video it definitely does.

 

For stills, depends on print size. 36MP loses some low light performance but the oversampling makes up for it. Like going 4k to 1080p.

 

Other thing that matters is the pixel design, micro lenses and gaps between pixels. For example Blackmagic Production Camera has only 8MP but tiny pixels because most of the space on the sensor is taken up by global shutter circuitry.

You know what I mean.

 

A one shot AF confirm to grab focus quickly is fine, then AF lock, I have used that myself. But the hunting and electronic buzzing of AF is not suitable for cinema. Photojournalists if aesthetics don't matter, then yeah, grab the shot whichever way you can.

First I mentioned 4K (look at the date of the article) then after they say 4K too.

 

Then I mention XAVC-S, which 5 hours later appears there too.

 

Forgive me for the paranoia :)

 

Next I may mention BS-detection mode and XABCXYZ codec and see if it ends up on any other sites too.

By the way Sony Alpha Rumors seems to have copied my info! But they made a mistake which needs clarifying...

 

They suggested no 'clean' 4K to the SD card.

 

'Clean' means free of icons and text.

 

Unless you can't turn the date stamp off I highly doubt the SD card recording of 4K XAVC isn't 'clean'.

On the snipers, it isn't so much the fact they point out an error as the sheer hatred and bitterness in which they do it. I don't want a forum full of people like this, therefore both users have been banned permanently.

Sorry for the 60Mbit confusion. Indeed the codec is not limited to that. The AX100 is. The paragraph should have read as follows and I have corrected it in the article...

 

I also did some research on the AX100's implementation of XAVC-S. It records in MP4 format but perhaps rather disturbingly it has a much lower bitrate than the GH4's 4K codec. It is just 60Mbit/s vs 100Mbit/s on the GH4 in Ultra HD. I have not yet graded any footage from the Sony AX100 but it will be interesting to see how XAVC-S stands up at that bitrate. It is a very modern codec and bitrate isn't everything.

The AX100 sensor is 20MP though.

 

This is 12MP and will run a lot faster hence the "S".

 

Unless that stands for 'slow' ;)

Well I know for sure I haven't seen any GH4 4K footage that's better than the AX100, and that's with $8000 lenses in the hands of professionals.

 

I'm curious what AX100 footage looks better than the GH4. Really curious.

 

Was it the bendy trains that did it for you?

 

And you do realise that 90% of the look is defined by the lens, and with the AX100 you only have one!

 

F0.95 vs F2.8... hmmm. Quite a difference.

 

Cooke vs consumer camcorder zoom lens. Hmm.

 

I'm not convinced AX100 has the imaging prowess over the GH4 and the codec is a full 40Mbit short of the GH4 in 4K too.

 This is pretty much why I went with the Nikon D5300 despite Andrew basically taking a huge crap all over it. It got me what I needed now so I can go shoot while I wait for something that exceeds or meets my needs later. Plus, it's an awesome lightweight stills camera for when I get a better video/cinema camera it will still be useful to me as a stills photographer who owns Nikon glass. I would have been really pissed had I heeded the suggestions to spend the extra money on a GH3 or Pocket Cinema with all the required extras now that I know what the GH4 can do and what the A6000 "might" do once it's released. 

 

You just can't fall for all the prerelease excitement on ANY site. Some site admins get paid to promote, other's get paid for ads, some get free gear and pre-production gear they ultimately get the keep, etc. Point being... if a manufacturer was giving ME free gear, or giving ME sneak peaks on what's coming, or paying me outright via online ads, etc. I'd be hard pressed to say anything negative about their line. 

 

Truth is, I have no idea how folks who run any of these sites keep the gears greased. But, find it hard to believe they're investing the time and hosting bills as a hobby alone. ;)

 

I don't get paid to promote anything.

 

I do believe I was first to sing the praises of the D5200. When the D5300 came out it was way too small a step to be considered "golden", especially after all the revolutions of the previous year such as raw on the Canon DSLRs and Blackmagic Pocket ProRes.

 

Now the GH4 is here and all that nice Nikon glass you have can go on the Speed Booster. You could shoot 4K with the same effective sensor size as the Nikon D5300, with an extra stop of low light performance, for under $2000.

 

Look to where the ball is headed not to where it has been if you wanna catch it.

 

If you don't want to catch it then stick to whatever works for you, just don't bother us with it :) It's boring.

I've just had some information from a source that may be of interest to those awaiting Sony's NAB announcement.

Read the full article here

In theory 4K over HDMI works and GH4 has it.

 

If this had 10bit 4K over HDMI as well then great.

 

If not and the internal Sony codec sucks then I will be sticking with GH4, full frame or no full frame :)

I think the rumoured 12MP is a genius decision by Sony. A real gap in the market for low light and lower resolution camera with amazing video.

 

Just tweeted this but bears repeating...

 

Nikon D3S is 12MP like rumoured A7S. Horizontal pixel count on that was 4256. Not gonna be a big crop to 4096 4K video on A7S

I must say, Sony should be commended for their approach to adapters. They even display them on cameras in some stores and sell Novoflex adapters in their Berlin flagship store at the Sony Centre.

 

Perhaps Metabones have found problems with Canon or Panasonic which have delayed it.

 

I am sure they are trying their upmost to get them done and shipped.

From my week long experience with shooting GH4, dynamic range is at least a match for the 5D Mark III raw.

I still think the 600mm will be sharper obviously, but putting the 600mm in front of a Canon video mode will lose you a lot of sharpness and full frame will lose you a lot of reach, so if you are shooting 1080p at 600mm on full frame, the sharpness and reach of such an expensive lens can get a little wasted.

 

4K will gain whatever you lose in terms of sharpness with the much cheaper 100-300mm OIS.

5D Mark III is in raw... that is the optimal setting :)

Well a $12k lens is going to be clear isn't it? If it wasn't I'd be very upset ;)

 

I think you should try the 100-300 in 1080p crop mode (or 4K mode and crop in post) and that 1680mm maximum reach whilst maintaining full HD should satisfy. Last time I used the 100-300mm I remember sharpness was pretty good.

 

If it doesn't, then fair enough. No amount of consumer gear is going to be good enough.

 

You might want to consider Sony A7R + the $12k Canon 600mm for stills though... 36MP would help.... and for video wait for the Smart EF adapter for Micro Four Thirds & shoot 4K with the Canon on the GH4.