Andy Welch

I'm a bit suspicious of those results. I have the feeling that either the tester, the FS7 or the Odyssey is doing something weird. Download and do a test grade on these FS700 RAW files and see if you think they are noisy or unusable. http://blog.domisljije.si/2013/07/18/raw-fs700/ What do you mean when you say that you hope they will enable 4K over HDMI? 4K(UHD) @ 8-bit 4:2:2 is already output over HDMI. If you mean that you hope they will enable 10-bit UHD or 4K DCI, then I think you will be disappointed. I'm pretty sure that the FS5 is hardware limited to 8-bit over HDMI. If I was you, I'd sell that Assassin and get a Shogun. The price difference isn't that much anymore.

Overall, the FS5 is much better than the A7S or A7R as a video camera. The ergonomics, variable ND, audio capabilities, 10-bit 1080 recording and a sensor that is less prone to rolling shutter artifacts are all big pluses. The only scenarios where the A7Sii or A7Rii win out is in very low light and in auto focus. Personally, I'd use the FS5 as the "A" camera and the A7Sii/A7Rii as "B" cameras or when needed for poorly lit conditions. Arguably, the biggest advantage of the FS5 will be it's ability to output 12-bit linear RAW. This will be an absolute killer. Yes, I too want to know what they said about the RAW update release timeframe. @Nicolas- The output will be via SDI, like the FS700, and won't require additional hardware like the FS7.

1) Won't work. It requires 5v/580mAh and I think Android devices usually only output 5v/500mHa. I could be wrong. 2) The majority of mobile phone OLED displays are not a good choice for monitoring. Most have horribly inaccurate and oversaturated color. Even if you were able to calibrate them, you still wouldn't be able to take advantage of their increased contrast ratio and wider color gamut color because you would be feeding it an 8-bit, Rec709 signal. IPA displays, such as those used on the iPhones, are probably a better choice because they conform more closely to the Rec709/sRGB standard.

@k-robert Don't worry, Panasonic will not move away from M43 for it's still camera line (and that is what the GH series is). I wouldn't be surprised to see them release a -$10k S35 camcorder though... As far as your desire for more DR and better low light capability, there will be incremental improvements but a M43 camera will never match the performance of a FF camera (all other factors being equal). It's simply a matter of physics- the FF sensor just has more surface are to collect photons than a M43 sensor does. I wouldn't expect A7S ii performance from a M43 camera anytime soon. Maybe when the "organic" sensor is released...

While FF sensors are great, S35 will remain the professional standard for the foreseeable future. Why? Because the image circle of PL cine lenses can cover S35 but not FF 35mm. That is why professional cameras such as the Arri Alexa, which cost $70K+, still use S35 sensors.

If you think that Panasonic will abandon the M43 format for the GH5 then you are crazy. Not gonna happen. I will live stream my seppuku on EOSHD if that happens. What will happen is that Panasonic will eventually introduce their newly developed "organic" sensor tech into the GH camera line. This will give them performance better than the current generation of full-frame cameras but in the small M43 form factor. I'd guess 2017 or later. As for 6K, why? There is approximately zero demand for 6K and it's technically unfeasable for any number of reasons. A more reasonable step would be for for Panasonic to have the GH5 record 10-bit 4:2:2 4K internally, but even that would be beyond the capability of the SD card format for reasonably low compression.

Alister Chapman's response to the FS5 issues was very disappointing. He basically said shifted the blame to FS5 owners, saying that we expected too much. His argument- You knew the bit rate was low, you knew the bit depth was low, you knew that shooting at higher gain levels would add noise. You should have known that all three of those things together would add up to poor quality footage. Buyer beware.

Yes, I'll do it in the morning. I'll record 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 XAVC-L in camera as well as ProResHQ on the Shogun so you can compare and contrast. I'll also provide clips of the higher frame rate 1080 modes. Actually, I think that the XAVC QFHD Long 150 mode applies only to 50/60 fps. Bummer.

Ha! That would be nice but I doubt we'll ever see that option on this camera. I think the best we can hope for is the XAVC QFHD Long 150.

The auto variable ND is the one feature of this camera that seems to live up to the hype, it is killer and I use it all the time. On the other hand, with S-Log having a base ISO of 3200, it's almost required. Also, when I compared the FS5 to the RX10ii, I was referring to the basic image pipeline. Both cameras have almost identical bit rates, frame rates, resolutions and were released within a similar time frame. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same processing hardware. Yes, the RX10ii uses XAVC-S and not XAVC-L but the technical differences between them are few, mainly a different wrapper (mp4) and higher compression with S. and both use a LongGOP compression scheme. Basically, XAVC-S is just a crippled version of XAVC-L. As far as the FS5 goes, the good news is that Sony seems to have included a 150mbps bit rate for 8-bit 4:2:2 UHD in the LongGOP standard, so it's possible that it's just a matter of turning it on in firmware. Also, according to a year old paper, they have two more LongGOP UHD modes to be implemented in the "future". Specifically, 140mbps and 200mbps for 10-bit 4:2:2 UHD. http://www.xavc-info.org/xavc/share/data/XAVC_Naming_per_OperatingPoints.pdf

Sony could eliminate almost all of the issues by simply increasing the 1080 bit rate to 100mbps and the UHD bit rate to 200+ mbps. After all, the SD U3 standard has a minimum write speed of 240mbps. I doubt they will though, for a number of reasons. It's possible, even likely, that Sony may not be able to change the bit rates even if they want to as it may be a function of hardware, not firmware. Honestly, I very disappointed with the FS5. It seems that they simply threw the guts of a $1300 RX10ii into a nice camcorder body and replaced the 1" sensor with a Super 35 one. Even the viewfinder and LCD appear to be the same.