Jump to content

Sony a7 III discussion


GreekBeast
 Share

Recommended Posts

2 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Thanks! Actually, it wasn't dark at all. Lit the scene with a Rifa 66 over the table, Kinos on the floor raking the back wall, and an Altman 650 through a roll of Lee 216 diffusion to clean up the coverage and give faces some shape. I wanted f/4 for sharpness and to give actors some freedom to move without focus having to chase too much, so I pushed ISO here and there, but I kept it within 800-2000 throughout. Overexposed a bit too, so overall not a challenging scene in terms of levels. Even still, the A7 has some noticeable color noise weirdness; desaturating and crushing them down hid it pretty effectively, but it simply doesn't deal with contrasty light as well as an F3. 

Ahh no doubt more bits sure does help. Pretty hard to beat a PMW F3, even today. Actually more Cine looking than a C100. Both have their place. One more studio, the other more portable for changing conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
11 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Ahh no doubt more bits sure does help. Pretty hard to beat a PMW F3, even today. Actually more Cine looking than a C100. Both have their place. One more studio, the other more portable for changing conditions.

I missed the battery life of the F3, but since I didn't have a ton of help on this shoot, having a bare bones camera setup did help me move a little faster. Particularly on the table dolly shot (the dead on low angle still), the A7 definitely didn't feel as demanding to rig. For the most part though, I'm a dolly/tripod/shoulder shooter, and in those cases the F3's size doesn't hurt much. 

Ironically enough, I actually prefer the A7 II in studio. Easier to tailor lighting to the needs of the camera, able to power the camera from AC, 4K for cropping on on static shots, and an easier environment to mess around with NDs and such. The F3's battery life, XLRs, internal NDs, top handle/shoulder ergonomics, and huge dynamic range make it my weapon of choice for outdoor and location/doc stuff. Night exteriors especially, that sensor's shadow latitude just brings scenes to life. 

Both definitely have their place, and now that I've switched from the Color Space Transform tool to Resolve's Color Managed workflow, I'm finding it very easy to get both where I want them to go. With the competition out there, though, it's a tough choice deciding whether I'll keep the A7 or dump it for a Fuji/Nikon. Always more to consider...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah for the money that Fuji X-T3 is tempting, but so is the Nikon Z6. But i am not sure either of them are a money making machine. I think the PK4 is more a money maker than all the rest other than a GH5s. I am not saying you can't use them at all on money jobs, but man what are you going to mix those two with? Sony, Panny, Canon, BMD have paths to go with, the other not so much. Sure for fun, hobby you can use anything. For your kids shoes, house payment ehh that takes a plan, a system, upward mobility, or older proven pro gear. I am glad I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah for the money that Fuji X-T3 is tempting, but so is the Nikon Z6. But i am not sure either of them are a money making machine. I think the PK4 is more a money maker than all the rest other than a GH5s. I am not saying you can't use them at all on money jobs, but man what are you going to mix those two with? Sony, Panny, Canon, BMD have paths to go with, the other not so much. Sure for fun, hobby you can use anything. For your kids shoes, house payment ehh that takes a plan, a system, upward mobility, or older proven pro gear. I am glad I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore.

I agree mostly, but do not forget that some of us are doing some photo jobs as well. It is just a tiny percentage of my income, but I couldn't see myself without a hybrid system. In that sense the P4K is a good specialized video camera. Maybe it could replace JVC LS300/C100 cameras we use for lower tier jobs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I agree mostly, but do not forget that some of us are doing some photo jobs as well. It is just a tiny percentage of my income, but I couldn't see myself without a hybrid system. In that sense the P4K is a good specialized video camera. Maybe it could replace JVC LS300/C100 cameras we use for lower tier jobs.

Yeah but you can buy any cheaper camera that shoots good high rez Photos. You are allowed to own both LoL. Hang a Leica off your belt.  Get one of those Man Bags. Hell it's Only money.

Ah I don't think I would sell both those Cine cameras for a PK4. It is in reality going to be a tripod camera.  You have two of them now. Good ones. I just don't see a PK4 fitting into many peoples workflow to be honest. It ain't going to mix nice with many cameras. Who has many BMD higher end cameras? By the time you rig it it is going to look like a full blown Cine camera. I think it will be a great learning tool, and have damn good output, but for what, web bragging rights. What paid jobs you really going to use it for? Weddings, Sports, Docs, Corporate, hiking, Kids running around? Ehh don't think so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I agree mostly, but do not forget that some of us are doing some photo jobs as well. It is just a tiny percentage of my income, but I couldn't see myself without a hybrid system. In that sense the P4K is a good specialized video camera. Maybe it could replace JVC LS300/C100 cameras we use for lower tier jobs.

That's my struggle as well. The A7III does solid video, but my main reason to keep it right now is as my primary stills machine. Just gotta weight how many stills I actually take these days, and whether the camera as a whole offers more monetary opportunities and flexibility than its competition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

That's my struggle as well. The A7III does solid video, but my main reason to keep it right now is as my primary stills machine. Just gotta weight how many stills I actually take these days, and whether the camera as a whole offers more monetary opportunities and flexibility than its competition.

Truth is the A7iii is the best Sony hybrid. I still do not like a lot of things about it, but it is a great tool and especially now that they have reversed the lens situation. I did 3 video jobs with it early summer, dedinitely the best Sony I have used but it still is lacking in ergonomics, touch screen interface, menu etc

The last few years photographers doing video jobs is the norm, I thought, why not the opposite?! 

@webrunner5 weddings, corporates and sorts. Raw gives you the chance to manipulate the image a lot more than other cameras in the market and one of the companies I work for (I do not own the C100 and LS300), own LS300 and GH5 (a lot of them) so it is convinient to stay in the mount. I could use adapters for my FD and M42 lenses also, and it goes to somwthing like X1.3 with a speedbooster, also the P4K is bigger than other m43, so better weighted to use with adapters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super Members
1 hour ago, Inazuma said:

I have to rescind my previous comments on the 85mm. On the grey market they go for just £400-450. A real steal.  

Here its £430 on the white market after cash back :)
Great bang for the buck. One of my favorite Instagramers use it almost exclusively and gets mind blowning results.

BTW, Anyone heard any release date and price on the Sigma 70-200 in E-mount?
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New firmware update for a7r III and a7 III ver.2.00

A7III an A7rIII: Benefits and Improvements from the latest update

Support of “SEL400F28GM”and “SEL24F14GM”

Optimization of the optical image stabilization performance, and addition of a new image stabilization mode of the lens (Mode 3)(Only “SEL400F28GM”).

Addition of a Function Ring(Lens) to the menu.
Note: For the SEL400F28GM lens, the APS-C S35/Full Frame Sel. setting is assignable to the Function Ring in addition to Power Focus.

Addition of [Aperture Drive in AF] setting in the menu.
*Using the lens “SEL400F28GM” or “SEL24F14GM”, when [Silent priority] is selected, the sound emitted by the aperture drive will be reduced. This is useful in shooting conditions where camera noise should be kept to a minimum. Note that Auto Focus may become slower when [Silent priority] is selected.

New features:

[AF Track Sens] can be assigned to a custom key.

When used with the LA-EA3 mount adaptor [link to product page], all focus areas are supported.
Note : Focus Area options added : Zone, Expand Flexible Spot, and Lock-on AF.


Bracket shooting is available during silent shooting when [File Format] is set to [RAW] or [RAW & JPEG] and [RAW File Type] is set to [Uncompressed].

Other improvements:

Improvement of the performance and the overall stability of the camera.

Better reproduction of the gradation of RAW pictures.
Note: Imaging Edge software needs to be updated to benefit from the improvement in the RAW processing.

When shooting with a flash in an environment with flickering light sources, the stability of the exposure is improved.

Improvement of managing continuously shot images as a group.

source

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/9/2018 at 11:38 AM, TheRenaissanceMan said:

My only real complaint with the files is that highlight detail is VERY brittle. Desaturating and other tricks for reigning in highlights help, but anything remotely close to clipping is going to fight manipulation hard, even in LOG. Such is the nature of 8-bit files.

Yeah, I always go into curves, saturation v luminance, and desaturate the highlights and blacks. It seems to cut down on the monkey business a little bit.

And as @Deadcode has reminded me, set the data levels to full (instead of auto), and in RCM make sure that you have your monitor's nits levels set to above 200 or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, jonpais said:

After reading all the heated debate, it’s clear to me why Sony did this. I only buy OEM batteries anyhow.

Nothing special, they just simply did a carbon copy of what Canon does with the 1DX II (does not support most aftermarket batteries and when it does it will display a warning and not indicate the level).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, padam said:

Nothing special, they just simply did a carbon copy of what Canon does with the 1DX II (does not support most aftermarket batteries and when it does it will display a warning and not indicate the level).

I think you and I both know there are possibly very good reasons for the change, but I see I’m not about to convince you or the hundreds of others over at SAR.

Even the Pocket 4K exhibits different behavior when using generic Canon batteries. I don’t automatically jump to conclusions. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras
    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
    EOSHD Dynamic Range Enhancer for H.264/H.265
×
×
  • Create New...