mrjim

It's fantastic and great fun to see what people used for this challenge. I bought this used Sony WX500 fixed zoom (30X) lens compact about 22 months ago on ebay for £133 plus postage. It has a 1/2.3 type Exmor R CMOS sensor and seems to be a cheaper version of the Sony HX90V minus the EVF, and I believe is missing some of that model's more sophisticated manual settings. It does have a flip-up LCD screen (not touch), which is useful for waist-level video and selfies. I shot the video using the XAVC S HD format at 25p which tops out at around 50mbps. You can also choose the same codec at 50p. AVCHD and MP4 are other options, but no 4K.  

Leaving it on automatic is ok but you can get blown highlights, and the ISO is pumped up to get a useable picture inevitably resulting in some noise in lower light conditions. However, there are some manual tweaks available. You can adjust and fix the ISO setting and, in the case of the Bexhill video shot in bright sunlight, I chose 200 ISO. I selected Multi Metering Mode, Focus Area Wide, Daylight white balance, Steadyshot Active, face detection ON and Low Soft Skin Effect. I didn't grade the footage, it's straight out of camera. Being a small sensor camera, optimal image quality is achieved by shooting in well-lit situations, which was the case here. I was impressed by the fine detail captured by the WX500, and the dynamic range in the scenes isn't bad at all. It's fair to say it's a surprisingly capable and inexpensive pocket video-cam with effective stabilisation.

Voted. Well done all.

If I can remove the risk of losing the camera then I'm happy to have my entry for the jury vote alone. Even if I did happen to win I wouldn't want to take the camera off the person who came last!  It's going to be interesting to read when the cameras are revealed.

7 hours ago, ZEEK said:

Really like the look of this one. The look is nostalgic and seems as though it was shot using B4 Lenses or C Mount Lens. Good work!
(Just hope the GH2 wasn't used to make this, otherwise I might add this camera to my shopping cart). 

Thank you ZEEK. I'm bound to not provide any hint of the camera used right now,  but your comments are encouraging and appreciated. I can tell you that the camera I used can be quite cheaply bought used on ebay, and it will be interesting to read any reactions when it is revealed. 

5 hours ago, Framed_By_Dan said:

Got lucky with the weather yesterday out filming my piece! Definitely a challenge using my chosen camera body and was wary of it's pitfalls. 

In keeping with the rules, I'm not revealing my choice but the only thing I will say is that I use the latest version of this model in my professional work and boy do we have it lucky now!! The technology has definitely moved on considerably in a relatively short period of time.

Looking forward to the results from the judging phase!

 

Very nicely observed and filmed. It will be interesting to see what the set up is here.

21 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I got quite nostalgic there seeing those vintage cars as I regularly went on Sunday trips to the beach in one of those as a child. Sadly, it was the Ford Anglia and not the E Type Jag !

Got to admire a man with the self assurance to still be able to dole out a suspicious "what on earth are you up to?" look at someone else when he's the one casually taking his Dalek for a walk.

 

Thanks BTM-Pix. Yes surprisingly  he seemed curious that he was being filmed!  

20 hours ago, kye said:

Great work!  

What a classic moment!  That's hilarious!! 

Thanks Kye. I had some fun creating this.

18 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

EXTERMINATE!

Amazing what people keep as exotic pets these days.

Whatever you picked up there for £133 it is good. Plenty of detail.

Haha! Thanks Andrew,. Not a bad purchase. You can pick these cameras up for not much.

If I was working for Sony on the A7S range my thinking is what are the essential attributes of the A7s series that could be improved upon to have a successful m3 version? First of all, low light. When the A7s was launched it was quality of the video in low light that blew everyone away and was a prime reason for people wanting to buy one, and that’s been retained in the A7SII.  Whether Sony continue with a 12mp sensor or replace with a larger one, they won’t be able to go backwards and make it less capable in low light, as arguably it would no longer be an a7S series camera.

IBIS introduced into the A7SII was a step forward, and if it’s of at least satisfactory quality  then I don’t believe they will spend a lot of capital making it significantly better.

As has already been mentioned by several people here, a key new attraction that Sony could offer in a new version is PDAF. This would appeal to both professional filmmakers and mainstream serious consumers wanting to shoot well-focused images in a wide range of situations without having to mess about with manual focusing. It would make the camera usable for anyone, hence likely to appeal to a wider market. If the PDAF works really well, they might not bother with a touchscreen and so keep the price down. If they don’t provide PDAF in an A7SIII  then you begin to wonder how many people would want to upgrade expensively from either of the earlier versions.

Bigger, or at least higher capacity batteries would address one of the long-standing complaints about the series. I would find it surprising if Sony did not extend shooting times, and again if they didn’t it’s going to offer another good reason not to upgrade.

Rolling shutter simply has to be dealt with. If you shoot any sort of run & gun video it restricts you. Solve that, or at least reduce the occurrence of rolling shutter so it’s definitely not such an issue, then it’s going to be a big plus.

I’m assuming the same frame-rates and bit-rates would have to offered as in the A7SII but also internal 4K at 50/60p would be a major boost to capabilities to attract buyers if it can be done without overheating.

If all the above can be achieved, they still have to keep the camera compact as otherwise it defeats the purpose of being able to offer a small full-frame camera which is one of the main selling points of the range. Even if you are happy with a bigger body, there will be lots of potential customers put off by a bulky pumped up camera that no longer can be carried around so easily. I’m assuming similar or improved weather resistance is a given. Just some thoughts.

I've just bought a Sony RX10 (the first version of the RX range but with the XAVC S codec available) and I've been checking this forum to see if EOSHD Pro Color can be applied to this camera. I understand Pro Color can be used with the later RX10 II etc, but unless I've missed it the RX10 isn't mentioned. I'm not going to assume I can use it on the RX10 because the sensor on this first of the RX range is not quite the same as the later ones. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if it was applicable with maybe a tweak or two. Andrew, I would be very grateful if you would confirm the Pro Color situation regarding the RX10. Cheers.