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A7S no successor at NAB 2015 ?


Nicolas MAILLET
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Superseding your cameras on a 12-month cycle is a pretty awful way to build brand loyalty.

IMO, Blackmagic suffers from the fact that they do this - there are some happy early adopters, but the trend is that each NAB they'll bring out something cheaper and better - so why invest now unless you urgently need to?

And what about those who eagerly invested in the Cinema or Production cams, which are both now superseded by a product that costs the same or less...

As far as I'm aware, the A7s was designed to be a top-notch 1080p camera, that also happens to be able to output 4k via HDMI. Sony also happen to sell 4K TV sets, and so at the Sony event where I bought my A7s, they had one plugged into a huge 4K TV set.

But the rep I spoke to at Sony basically said getting 4k internally into the A7 body is damn hard. He said we wanted to give you a future proof camera that shoots great 1080p internally.

The A7s has been shipping for about 9 months - I wouldn't be expecting a successor soon.

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​Well if I'm right the A7sii will have 4k in camera, if you are right it won't. We'll see what's what soon enough.

​Jimmy wasn't saying a7sii won't have 4k in camera (I assume), but the a7s with a shogun is one of the cheapest ways to get full frame 4k still. It's a great value for what it does as a 1080p camera. If it had 4k it would be more impressive, yes. The crop mode would be a little crippled in 4k too, not having enough megapixels to give 4k to match the full frame, so they might want to get a new sensor.. which would hurt the low light and apsc slow mo at least a little. so in some ways it could be better now than the later model.

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​Would you honestly prefer to shoot 4K with 10 stops over 1080p with 12 stops?

​ Would rate GH4 around 8-9 stops , nothing usable in shadows, poor iso performance and the ONLY good thing it has is imo is internal 4k. 

If I don't want a static shot I move the camera, simple.........

 

Finally A7s is a Full Frame camera + APS-C which is simply a larger more professional format when compared to smaller sensor cameras..... I believe A7s is one of the first Full Frame 4K ready cameras within this price range and is something technologically amazing. I suggest you rent one before counting it out simply because it doesn't do 4k internally

 

IMO, Dynamic Range and Iso are much more important for independent filmmakers as well vs resolution......

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​ would rate GH4 around 8-9 stops , nothing usable in shadows, poor iso performance and the ONLY and I mean ONLY good thing it has is 4k. I think Panasonic GH4 has one of the worst images out of any camera I've seen in the past couple of years.... Dynamic Range and Color is what makes Blackmagic cameras even the pocket a much better tool imo.

 

If I don't want a static shot I move the camera, simple.........

 

Finally A7s is a Full Frame camera + APS-C which is simply a larger more professional format when compared to smaller sensor cameras..... I believe A7s is one of the first Full Frame 4K ready cameras within this price range and is something technologically amazing. I suggest you rent one before counting it out simply because it doesn't do 4k internally

 

IMO, Dynamic Range and Iso are much more important for independent filmmakers as well vs resolution......

​I don't find ISO performance very important at all for independent filmmaking. Any film, independent or no, should be using lights to create mood and craft the story, and lit scenes rarely need clean results any higher than 1600, or a clean 800 pushed a stop in post. Almost any camera can do that much.

Documentary and event work, on the other hand...

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I think what's going on here is that many early adopters that bought the A7s are somewhat annoyed at the prospect of the  A7sii  rendering their investment as a last years model. You need to understand this is already going to happen. Sony already has a new replacement body for the  Alpha series. And the new model will most likely have in body image stabilization.  So those of you that feel compelled to upgrade should consider the following: do you want the replacement that you're spending good money for  to have 4k in camera, in addition to all the other new features?  0r do you want another 1080p camera?

 Or ask yourself this, if when you were originally buying your A7s there was also a model available with 4k in body which, would you have chosen?

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​I don't find ISO performance very important at all for independent filmmaking. Any film, independent or no, should be using lights to create mood and craft the story, and lit scenes rarely need clean results any higher than 1600, or a clean 800 pushed a stop in post. Almost any camera can do that much.
Documentary and event work, on the other hand...

​I cannot agree with this statement.

Clean ISO for indie filmmakers is HUGE. Why do you think the Sony A7s became much more popular than the GH4 for serious filmmakers? (along with the much superior DR)

The new technology saves you countless thousands of dollars on lights, gear, crew, food for crew, parking for crew, liability insurance..the list goes on and on..and the money adds up quick.

Yes, we all know lighting is what makes cinematography..but to go from 5 lights to one...to shoot in the woods/or city at night with no generator/operator...the noise to attract people..to steal shots with this cam you can take anywhere (day or night) and capture a beautiful image with a tiny crew (sometimes 2 people). It's freedom, man.

Money $ and time are a huge savings because of modern tech. And yes, I'll say it. The DR of the Sony A7s makes any image more "filmic" than whatever you shoot with the GH4. It's plain physics.

The lowlight and DR will continue to get better. If the Sony A7s ll takes it to the next level, and the GH5 doesn't offer significant/superior changes, I believe the filmmakers will be giving Sony, not Panasonic their money. Remember the GH4 was released before the A7s. If this had happened in reverse Panasonic would not have sold as many units as they did.

Let's not even get into Full Frame vs M43. No contest. Again, for filmmakers. 

 

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Clean ISO for indie filmmakers is HUGE. Why do you think the Sony A7s became much more popular than the GH4 for serious filmmakers? (along with the much superior DR)

The new technology saves you countless thousands of dollars on lights, gear, crew, food for crew, parking for crew, liability insurance..the list goes on and on..and the money adds up quick.

Yes, we all know lighting is what makes cinematography..but to go from 5 lights to one...to shoot in the woods/or city at night with no generator/operator...the noise to attract people..to steal shots with this cam you can take anywhere (day or night) and capture a beautiful image with a tiny crew (sometimes 2 people). It's freedom, man.

Money $ and time are a huge savings because of modern tech. And yes, I'll say it. The DR of the Sony A7s makes any image more "filmic" than whatever you shoot with the GH4. It's plain physics.

​I think it's handy - not 'huge'. 

I've shot a lot of night stuff on Alexa, even while owning an A7s. It's super handy to have a little camera that has superb ISO performance and allows you to steal shots or whatever. Yes, it's freedom etc etc.

But I've never lit a night shoot, then had my crew mount a lens on an Alexa and looked at it and thought 'man, I wish I was shooting this on my A7s' nor have I ever thought 'I reckon if I didn't light this and just used my A7s at 12500 ISO, it would look equally as good'.

I love my A7s. But if someone said to me 'would you rather shoot A7s and never be allowed to use lights, or shoot with something else and use as many lights as you want' I am going to pick lights, every time. Put your time and effort (and money) into lighting your scenes - or pushing your Producers to get you some lights. It will make a much bigger difference to the way your images look.

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​I cannot agree with this statement.

Clean ISO for indie filmmakers is HUGE. Why do you think the Sony A7s became much more popular than the GH4 for serious filmmakers? (along with the much superior DR)

The new technology saves you countless thousands of dollars on lights, gear, crew, food for crew, parking for crew, liability insurance..the list goes on and on..and the money adds up quick.

Yes, we all know lighting is what makes cinematography..but to go from 5 lights to one...to shoot in the woods/or city at night with no generator/operator...the noise to attract people..to steal shots with this cam you can take anywhere (day or night) and capture a beautiful image with a tiny crew (sometimes 2 people). It's freedom, man.

Money $ and time are a huge savings because of modern tech. And yes, I'll say it. The DR of the Sony A7s makes any image more "filmic" than whatever you shoot with the GH4. It's plain physics.

The lowlight and DR will continue to get better. If the Sony A7s ll takes it to the next level, and the GH5 doesn't offer significant/superior changes, I believe the filmmakers will be giving Sony, not Panasonic their money. Remember the GH4 was released before the A7s. If this had happened in reverse Panasonic would not have sold as many units as they did.

Let's not even get into Full Frame vs M43. No contest. Again, for filmmakers. 

 

​+1

TheRenaissanceMan has no idea what he's talking about......

Iso performance is the #1 thing for Independent Filmmaking and working with a budget. The difference of using 3 lights vs 6 is huge or the difference in wattage from 650watts to 300 is basically cutting everything in half. People who have not used both of these cameras simply cannot comment. I owned a GH4 and Sony A7s, GH4 after iso 800 is basically a noisy image and something you definitely do not want to use as you lose even more dynamic range and are introduce all kind of artifacts in your image. You can use a Sony A7s with a perfectly clean image all the way to 6400+ , I mean PERFECTLY clean image like shooting the GH4 in lowest iso setting.

 

Secondly we have dynamic range, GH4 isn't even close. The ONLY people who say different are those protecting their camera name brand and those who simply never used a Sony A7s.

 

I will say it time and time again, the A7s is simply the best tool in it's price range, point blank period. I suggest people to rent one before commenting any further.....

 

 

 

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It seems people always forget that not everyone here is making narrative work.

My income is largely generated by shooting landscapes around the world.... High ISO is very important, to me. 

I can add 4k and a great monitor for $1600. I am a very happy A7s user. When the A7s ii comes out... I will take the hit selling the cam and upgrade.

I just think of buying these cams as a lease... I lose cash each year by trading up... But get the latest tech, that makes me the money to be able to take that financial hit

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i'm waiting for an even better a7s. Do you thinkit will be announced april 23rd ?

​No. Now it's time for either E or A mount high megapixel Sony FF and if we are lucky for a A7000 like model as well. We can only speculate naturally. I would expect the A7SII by fall of this year the earliest . . While I allso hope I'm wrong :)

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As per Sony Alpha rumours and Wiki leaks a new A7 series, a new A6000 and a new RX soon.

The A7 series probably is a A7R replacement.

A7s will suit me fine for a fair while yet for my amateur video and stills low light needs.

 

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-confirmed-new-a7rii-new-a6000-and-a-new-rx-camera-coming/

 

It didn't say it was an A7rii, it simply said new A7 Series. The rest is pure speculation.

But if speculation is the game there may yet be hope for a new A7s showing up as it was the most widely sold of all the A7 Series of camera:

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr4-a77ii-and-a7-series-sales/

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It didn't say it was an A7rii, it simply said new A7 Series. The rest is pure speculation.

But if speculation is the game there may yet be hope for a new A7s showing up as it was the most widely sold of all the A7 Series of camera:

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr4-a77ii-and-a7-series-sales/

​I'm assuming there WILL be an a7sii, but I'd heard a few places that the r would be coming first, and that's the order the originals were released

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