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Sony A7S III wish list – eND, 8K, 4K/120fps, ProRes, RAW, revolutionary design, Venice colour and even new menus

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

Does Sony plan to be stone dead last for video specs much longer? Yes, stone dead last. The Canon EOS R5, Nikon Z6, Panasonic S1H, Fuji X-T3, Leica SL2 and of course Fuji GFX 100 all ace the ageing Sony A7S II and flagship A7R IV for video features and image quality. The only companies that don’t are struggling Olympus and stills-orientated Pentax.

Legend has it there is a camera called the A7S III. They say it’s going to “exceed expectations” and put Sony back on top for video. But will it? It’s 2020 and hell has frozen over. A certain Canon EOS R5 has cutting edge video specs nobody saw coming. This means only one thing – the A7S III has no choice but to be very special indeed and may even have to go back to the drawing board.

What REALLY prompted Canon suddenly to get their act together with video?

April 23, 2020April 23, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

If EOSHD were a record player, there would be one particular groove it just couldn’t get over. It’d be the part of the record where she sings “why are Canon’s video specs so rubbish and where is the Canon full frame 4K high end mirrorless camera?”, and admittedly this isn’t the stuff of a number 1 hit single. I for one am very grateful the fat lady has finally shut up. I cannot put into words how relieved I am to no longer have to complain about Canon! Even the site name now makes sense! That gamble I made 10 years ago in believing Canon would run away with the DSLR video scene may yet pay off! It’s just that I’ve spent the first 10 years shooting mostly Panasonic and Sony. Canon seriously dropped the ball and for the longest time just didn’t seem to listen.

Speculative reasons for this have been legion – some say Canon lacked the technological capability to compete. Some say Canon wanted to avoid cannibalising Cinema EOS sales, or that Canon simply didn’t see a market for full frame 4K after the relative failure of the 1D C. Some say their sales had an unassailable lead with just 8bit 1080p (especially C300 and 5D Mark III) so why bother trying harder?

Now there’s another interesting theory, that Canon R&D works on a 10-year cycle with a big leap ready to storm the market at the end of each cycle, building on the initial success (reusing sensors in multiple bodies) with incremental improvements for 8-9 years before the next big leap. Let’s go all the way back to 2000 with the genesis of the Canon DSLR and CMOS sensor technology, fast forward 10 years and the cycle has resulted in a 5D Mark II taking the world by storm, a big leap on everything that went before and ahead of every other competitor at the time.

Fast forward another 10 years to 2020 and Canon looks to be doing a similar thing with the EOS R5. Could it be that Canon are just conservative, slow to make major moves, very calculated and taking the long term picture into account?

Panasonic S1H gets anamorphic RAW and 6K RAW via HDMI to Atomos Ninja V

April 21, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

Above you can see an advert for RAW on the S1H shot in my home town of Manchester. Coincidentally these streets were where I shot with the Panasonic GH1 for the first time. I have fond memories of 10 years ago in the months leading up to EOSHD’s first blog post, taking my GH1 out on the same streets as featured in the Atomos video. Always great to see how cinematic the city is.

Now at the start of yet another decade, Panasonic is upping image quality again with HDMI RAW on the S1H. What makes this implementation of RAW unique is that it has an anamorphic RAW mode. The Canon EOS R5, 1D Mk III, Sigma Fp and Nikon Z6 aren’t anamorphic enabled in RAW mode.

Sigma Fp to get 120fps RAW recording and more coming in firmware update

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

The Sigma Fp will get 120fps Cinema DNG RAW recording at 1080p in a forthcoming firmware update, along with several other new features such as an HDR Video mode and ability to record video in the Director’s Viewfinder mode, at various aspect ratios and crop factors.

Canon officially confirms – 8K EOS R is in our roadmap

February 1, 2020January 30, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

Yesterday all sorts of rumours started flying around about an EOS R5 with unbelievable video specs. A dream camera. I didn’t believe it. However, further digging by users of the EOSHD Forum, reveal Canon are officially on the record – an 8K EOS R is coming. As well as this, there are some interesting technical aspects in the alleged “leak” which – despite the unbelievably high specs – do actually add-up.

Canon 1D X Mark III with 12bit 5.5K RAW in-depth – FINALLY Canon get serious about DSLR video

January 31, 2020January 7, 2020 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

We have waited a long time for today – a true Canon 1D C sequel. This is also the first time since the 2012 Canon have released a ‘cutting edge’ DSLR for filmmakers. There’s good news and bad news – of course it costs $6500, has no EVF or IBIS by nature and many will say the form factor is obsolete compared to the full frame 10bit mirrorless competition.

Canon’s Larry Thorpe has published an excellent technical white-paper with the camera, so let’s take an in-depth look at the video specs…

Z-CAM E2-F6 (Full frame 6K) goes head to head with Panasonic S1H (test by Flannel Ninja)

February 1, 2020November 18, 2019 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

Incredibly close between these two. I have a Panasonic S1H with me at the moment, and am getting to know it. Meanwhile the Z-CAM, I had the briefest of hands-on at IBC and will be posting some footage from it. Both cameras are capable of 6K H.265 internal recording from a full frame sensor, and both are at the lower priced-end of the pro-cinema market.

Canon join full frame 4K RAW party with 1D X Mark III – Joins Panasonic S1H, Sigma Fp and Nikon Z6

October 24, 2019 by Andrew Reid (EOSHD)

The Canon 1D X Mark III marks a surprising turn-around for Canon’s video capabilities, at least at $6000.

Although you can already shoot full frame 4K RAW on the Sigma Fp for $2000 and full frame 10bit 4:2:2 LOG on the Panasonic S1, if you do have the extra $4000 going spare down the back of the sofa, and need worse ergonomics, fewer features, no EVF and potentially some cropping, the 1D X Mark III might be a tempting choice.