Cliff Totten

If these A7S-III specs are right. Sony seems to be targeting the Lumix S1 but maybe NOT the S1H. I suspect that the S1H is WAY over spec'd for Sony to match in any "consumer" Alpha. XDCAM managers will demand that the future A7S-III will need to be crippled in very distinct ways. Alpha will want it to have everything and XDCAM would rather it not even exist at all. At some point they will agree and compromise with each other. The S1H is overloaded with an extremely high feature set that rivals an FX9 or even possibly Venice. Lumix is using Sony's own EXMOR image sensors against them!
10bit color is a must but what about Alpha's 29 minute time limit? Will Sony allow it to properly overheat to keep the high dollar pro's away from it? Rumors also say an FX6 is on the way...the cheaper, SD card long-GOP version of the FX9.
I suspect that the A7S-III is THE most hotly debated camera in Sony headquater meeting rooms in the companies history. 
The A7S-III's biggest enemy wont be Lumix, Cannon, Nikon or BlackMagic. Its biggest enemy will be Sony's own internal politics!

It's funny. Zillions of people are waiting and waiting for the A7S-III. Its like Charlie Brown in his field waiting for the Great Pumpkin!
The A7S-III is HERE and it's right under everybody'nose!
It has:
Full frame sensor (Very likely Sony Exmor)
6k full pixel readout to 4k scaling
14+ stops of dynamic range
10bit 4:2:2 4k with clean HDMI out
4k 30p 4:2:2 full frame no time limit internal recording.
4k 60p in "Hollywood" Cine super35 frame size.
Full size HDMI with 4k raw on the way.
Waveform scopes
Huge battery
Varicam color science....so delicious!!!
NO OVERHEATING!
Boom!.....that's 99% of what we wanted in the A7S-III....yet nobody is paying any attention to the S1 yet. (Only some people)  The S1 should be the industry talk of the town but too many people seem to be unaware of it still.
Sony is going to target the S1, not the S1H. I dont know if they can match the S1 using their tiny A7 bodies but lets see how far they go. 
S1H?....haha...Sony wont touch it! With 6k raw, Its going to be WAY over spec'd for Sony to even attempt to try. They dont have the bawls and XDCAM + Sony internal politics will never allow Alpha the chance.
 

Yeah,...for me the Lumix S1H, a 10bit camera with great internal CODECs, no overheating and no recording limits and almost 6k raw? For $4,000,....is the most exciting camera I have seen in years. They just need to fix that one glaring problem with their color science and nasty blue channel clipping problem.
I already have an S1 and now the S1H is on my radar as a replacement.

Yeah,...for me the Lumix S1H, a 10bit camera with great internal CODECs, no overheating and no recording limits and almost 6k raw? For $4,000,....is the most exciting camera I have seen in years. They just need to fix that one glaring problem with their color science and nasty blue channel clipping problem.
I already have an S1 and now the S1H is on my radar as a replacement.

Yeah,...for me the Lumix S1H, a 10bit camera with great internal CODECs, no overheating and no recording limits and almost 6k raw? For $4,000,....is the most exciting camera I have seen in years. They just need to fix that one glaring problem with their color science and nasty blue channel clipping problem.
I already have an S1 and now the S1H is on my radar as a replacement.

I dont understand this blue clipping problem at all. On the S1 and S1H, while in VLog, the green and red channel have the very mild, saturation they are supposed to have. Those two have a perfectly normal response. However, blue is completely different than red and green, it just floods in with this crazy saturation that is 10 times more than red and green have. I dont get it...blue, why does THAT color respond soooo much more differently then red and green?
I did some more blue light tests last night:
S1 - Vlog = Blue 100% destroyed
S1 - HLG = Blue 100% destroyed
GH5 - VLog-l = Blue = Excellent!
GH5- HLG = Blue = Excellent!
Sony Z150 - HLG = Blue is very bad but not completely destroyed
Sony NX80 - SLOG-2 = Blue is somewhat "OK" but responds weird.
Sony NX80 - HLG = Blue is excellent!
Sony RX10-III - SLOG-2 = Blue is 100% destroyed.
Sony RX100 VII SLOG-2 (uses new Sony "Venice" color science) = Blue is excellent!!
Sony RX100 VII HLG (uses new Sony "Venice" color science) = Blue is excellent!!
All these cameras got the EXACT same blue light scene test. I dont know what to think but the GH5 is great and Sony's new color science seems to beat the problem too.
This really blows my mind.
CT

Excellent news!  I was contacted by a Panasonic operations manager about this S1 and S1H blue channel clipping problem! He wanted me to be very aware that Panasonic has seen my video and they are very interested in this issue! I wont post my emails here but I will take one quote for you guys to see:  
"Rest assured that this issue has a lot of attention right now"....[from Panasonic] engineers.
During this time, be very carefull about shooting in VLog. Outdoors should be fine. Indoors and night shooting are very prone to deep blue channel saturation, even on blue light that is not very strong. HLG will be the much safer bet for the moment.
Lets cross our fingers that Panny will figure this out with a firmware fix. 

I dont understand this blue clipping problem at all. On the S1 and S1H, while in VLog, the green and red channel have the very mild, saturation they are supposed to have. Those two have a perfectly normal response. However, blue is completely different than red and green, it just floods in with this crazy saturation that is 10 times more than red and green have. I dont get it...blue, why does THAT color respond soooo much more differently then red and green?
I did some more blue light tests last night:
S1 - Vlog = Blue 100% destroyed
S1 - HLG = Blue 100% destroyed
GH5 - VLog-l = Blue = Excellent!
GH5- HLG = Blue = Excellent!
Sony Z150 - HLG = Blue is very bad but not completely destroyed
Sony NX80 - SLOG-2 = Blue is somewhat "OK" but responds weird.
Sony NX80 - HLG = Blue is excellent!
Sony RX10-III - SLOG-2 = Blue is 100% destroyed.
Sony RX100 VII SLOG-2 (uses new Sony "Venice" color science) = Blue is excellent!!
Sony RX100 VII HLG (uses new Sony "Venice" color science) = Blue is excellent!!
All these cameras got the EXACT same blue light scene test. I dont know what to think but the GH5 is great and Sony's new color science seems to beat the problem too.
This really blows my mind.
CT

Excellent news!  I was contacted by a Panasonic operations manager about this S1 and S1H blue channel clipping problem! He wanted me to be very aware that Panasonic has seen my video and they are very interested in this issue! I wont post my emails here but I will take one quote for you guys to see:  
"Rest assured that this issue has a lot of attention right now"....[from Panasonic] engineers.
During this time, be very carefull about shooting in VLog. Outdoors should be fine. Indoors and night shooting are very prone to deep blue channel saturation, even on blue light that is not very strong. HLG will be the much safer bet for the moment.
Lets cross our fingers that Panny will figure this out with a firmware fix. 

Excellent news!  I was contacted by a Panasonic operations manager about this S1 and S1H blue channel clipping problem! He wanted me to be very aware that Panasonic has seen my video and they are very interested in this issue! I wont post my emails here but I will take one quote for you guys to see:  
"Rest assured that this issue has a lot of attention right now"....[from Panasonic] engineers.
During this time, be very carefull about shooting in VLog. Outdoors should be fine. Indoors and night shooting are very prone to deep blue channel saturation, even on blue light that is not very strong. HLG will be the much safer bet for the moment.
Lets cross our fingers that Panny will figure this out with a firmware fix. 

Excellent news!  I was contacted by a Panasonic operations manager about this S1 and S1H blue channel clipping problem! He wanted me to be very aware that Panasonic has seen my video and they are very interested in this issue! I wont post my emails here but I will take one quote for you guys to see:  
"Rest assured that this issue has a lot of attention right now"....[from Panasonic] engineers.
During this time, be very carefull about shooting in VLog. Outdoors should be fine. Indoors and night shooting are very prone to deep blue channel saturation, even on blue light that is not very strong. HLG will be the much safer bet for the moment.
Lets cross our fingers that Panny will figure this out with a firmware fix. 

Excellent news!  I was contacted by a Panasonic operations manager about this S1 and S1H blue channel clipping problem! He wanted me to be very aware that Panasonic has seen my video and they are very interested in this issue! I wont post my emails here but I will take one quote for you guys to see:  
"Rest assured that this issue has a lot of attention right now"....[from Panasonic] engineers.
During this time, be very carefull about shooting in VLog. Outdoors should be fine. Indoors and night shooting are very prone to deep blue channel saturation, even on blue light that is not very strong. HLG will be the much safer bet for the moment.
Lets cross our fingers that Panny will figure this out with a firmware fix. 

Exactly,...so for the blue channel clipping, yes we have seen this for decades on many camera models. Some camera's are more resistant that others. However, with the S1 and S1H, we are seeing these cameras having an EXTREME sensitivity to blue lights. More than any camera I have ever seen.
Oddly enough, the same blue light test scene is 100% FINE when switching to HLG. And, going further, the exact same blue light does NOT hurt the GH5 VLog-L or HLG. 
Even B&H's S1H promo sales video is riddled with severe blu channel clipping. That was a terrible way to highlight the S1H. Those guys spread blu light all over their shots! If I was Panasonic, I would BEG B&H to take their promo video down!
I "think" Panny can fix this, but of they can't, people MUST know that if you have blue light in your shot, like a stage show or wedding reception...DO NOT USE VLOG....you need to switch to HLG. Once that blu channel gets smashed, it cannot be repaired in post.
We need to raise public awareness about this. If you are doing a paid project, VLog could totally ruin you footage before you are able to switch to HLG.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET BURNED BY VLOG!
 
  

Exactly,...so for the blue channel clipping, yes we have seen this for decades on many camera models. Some camera's are more resistant that others. However, with the S1 and S1H, we are seeing these cameras having an EXTREME sensitivity to blue lights. More than any camera I have ever seen.
Oddly enough, the same blue light test scene is 100% FINE when switching to HLG. And, going further, the exact same blue light does NOT hurt the GH5 VLog-L or HLG. 
Even B&H's S1H promo sales video is riddled with severe blu channel clipping. That was a terrible way to highlight the S1H. Those guys spread blu light all over their shots! If I was Panasonic, I would BEG B&H to take their promo video down!
I "think" Panny can fix this, but of they can't, people MUST know that if you have blue light in your shot, like a stage show or wedding reception...DO NOT USE VLOG....you need to switch to HLG. Once that blu channel gets smashed, it cannot be repaired in post.
We need to raise public awareness about this. If you are doing a paid project, VLog could totally ruin you footage before you are able to switch to HLG.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET BURNED BY VLOG!
 
  

Its not funny. A Canon rep told there is a legitimate reason for no 24p. He said something about the way the sensor is read out. He said that Canon wants it to operate at a perfect temperature. It runs too cold at 24p, but is at an optimum temp at 30p. It was done for the benefit of the camera.

Non of our complaints matter to Canon one tiny bit. They have a strong history in the camera industry. Their fans are incredibly loyal and pretty much dont care how Canon cripples their cameras. Canon fans dont care about BSI or stacked image sensors. They dont care how their sensors are read out or if they are video cropped or not. Canon fans are just as happy with MJPEG as they are with H.264. Why is all this true? Because a Canon rep told them not to worry about this stuff.
Canon will make money no matter what cameras they release...because they understand how Cannon fans think. 
Canon can doesnt worry about keeping up with Sony, or Panasonic, or Ricoh, or Kodak or Poleroid technology.....because Canon fans dont buy Canon cameras for technology reasons. They buy Canon to be part of a historic "club"....to associate themselves with a good name.
And this is all Cannon needs from them.

I was being sarcastic and irreverent! I DO believe Cannon has executives that are completely BLIND to what is happening in the industry today. They are leaning heavily on their logo's historic reputation right now. I dont think they truly know that their logo's gas is running out! Cannon is turning into a dinosaur right under their own noses!
I think that Cannon is doing exactly what BlackBerry did that caused their great fall.
Arrogant....absolutely arrogant in every way. They will look back at themselves 5 years from now and clearly see how their own attitude ruined them.

It is my understanding that Sony's 5k and 6k full pixel readout and scaling to 4k video...is dont at the A/D conversion level. The sensor does that proprietary scaling right on the sensor and feeds that final 4k image to whatever video processor your camera has.
Why does this matter? Because all of the readout and scaling engine is on the chip itself. Your image processor doesnt have to do that work!
Anybody who buys a Sony sensor has access to the scaling readout modes. So when Canon buys 1 inch Sony sensors,...bang!...they got Sony-style full pixel readout. Since Canon makes their own FF and APSC sensors,...they dont have that scaling engine onboard! Their DIGIC processor has to collect and scale that readout by itself!
CLEARLY.....Canon has NOT figured out how to do 4k with anything more than a 1:1 deBayer or a 1:1 assembly using binning or line skipping!!
Canon is literly 10 years behind Sony in sensor readout and image assembly mathematics!
My God....wow.

It is my understanding that Sony's 5k and 6k full pixel readout and scaling to 4k video...is dont at the A/D conversion level. The sensor does that proprietary scaling right on the sensor and feeds that final 4k image to whatever video processor your camera has.
Why does this matter? Because all of the readout and scaling engine is on the chip itself. Your image processor doesnt have to do that work!
Anybody who buys a Sony sensor has access to the scaling readout modes. So when Canon buys 1 inch Sony sensors,...bang!...they got Sony-style full pixel readout. Since Canon makes their own FF and APSC sensors,...they dont have that scaling engine onboard! Their DIGIC processor has to collect and scale that readout by itself!
CLEARLY.....Canon has NOT figured out how to do 4k with anything more than a 1:1 deBayer or a 1:1 assembly using binning or line skipping!!
Canon is literly 10 years behind Sony in sensor readout and image assembly mathematics!
My God....wow.

It is my understanding that Sony's 5k and 6k full pixel readout and scaling to 4k video...is dont at the A/D conversion level. The sensor does that proprietary scaling right on the sensor and feeds that final 4k image to whatever video processor your camera has.
Why does this matter? Because all of the readout and scaling engine is on the chip itself. Your image processor doesnt have to do that work!
Anybody who buys a Sony sensor has access to the scaling readout modes. So when Canon buys 1 inch Sony sensors,...bang!...they got Sony-style full pixel readout. Since Canon makes their own FF and APSC sensors,...they dont have that scaling engine onboard! Their DIGIC processor has to collect and scale that readout by itself!
CLEARLY.....Canon has NOT figured out how to do 4k with anything more than a 1:1 deBayer or a 1:1 assembly using binning or line skipping!!
Canon is literly 10 years behind Sony in sensor readout and image assembly mathematics!
My God....wow.

Its not funny. A Canon rep told there is a legitimate reason for no 24p. He said something about the way the sensor is read out. He said that Canon wants it to operate at a perfect temperature. It runs too cold at 24p, but is at an optimum temp at 30p. It was done for the benefit of the camera.

Guys,...stop making fun of Canon. They may not be on Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Yoshica, Pentax, Polaroid or Kodak's level.....but they are doing they best they can.
The problem is not Canon, its YOU people that have ridiculously high expectations. Canon ahouldnt bend over backwards to try and meet your unrealistic ideas
Just buy the damn thing and be happy with the 30p you get!

I was being sarcastic and irreverent! I DO believe Cannon has executives that are completely BLIND to what is happening in the industry today. They are leaning heavily on their logo's historic reputation right now. I dont think they truly know that their logo's gas is running out! Cannon is turning into a dinosaur right under their own noses!
I think that Cannon is doing exactly what BlackBerry did that caused their great fall.
Arrogant....absolutely arrogant in every way. They will look back at themselves 5 years from now and clearly see how their own attitude ruined them.

OUCH!  Well?...Atomos DID say that "they" were ready but that the bottleneck was on Nikon's side. With Nikon not really being an experienced "video" company,  I guess they bit off more than they could chew, I have to guess the raw data pipeline just wasn't designed into the motherboard and HDMI data bus.
I was told that Atomos' raw over HDMI scheme uses the built-in and RARELY implemented Ethernet spec inside HDMI 1.4 and higher. If Nikon is going to do it the Atomos way, they need to uses an HDMI chipset that is capable of accessing that Ethernet data bus inside HDMI 1.4+.  Is it possible that Nikon's HDMI controller doesn't employ that Ethernet data channel?
Secondly, Nikon needs to dump the raw sensor readout data to the HDMI bus...pre-image processor. This motherboard needs to be wired to do that in advance. If the raw sensor data goes straight into the Z6 image processor, that's no good for raw over HDMI output. Is it possible that the Z6 HDMI is wired straight into the output of the image processor.
I don't know,....but this makes BOTH Nikon and Atomos look really bad. More so on Nikon because they seemingly told Atomos their Z6 motherboard could do it. 
What a newbie mistake on Nikon's part!
CT

I was being sarcastic and irreverent! I DO believe Cannon has executives that are completely BLIND to what is happening in the industry today. They are leaning heavily on their logo's historic reputation right now. I dont think they truly know that their logo's gas is running out! Cannon is turning into a dinosaur right under their own noses!
I think that Cannon is doing exactly what BlackBerry did that caused their great fall.
Arrogant....absolutely arrogant in every way. They will look back at themselves 5 years from now and clearly see how their own attitude ruined them.