The Sony A7s debuts at Pinewood Studios UK, in 4K!

[Craig Marshall]

The Sony A7s debuts at Pinewood Studios UK, in 4K! Industry heavyweights were recently invited to an exclusive demo of the new Sony A7s at the legendary Pinewood Studios in the UK. Here are some comments:

"Quite simply, this was the sharpest-looking thing I have ever seen in a cinema...

...Finally, I saw some low-light HD shots from the Alpha 7S side-by-side with a Canon 5D Mk III. There was an obvious difference in sharpness. The Canon was noticeably softer. This wasn’t a surprise at all: it just shows how technology has moved on and what’s possible at a given price point...

...It’s quite clear to me and to Phil Rhodes, RedShark’s Technical Editor, who was there with me, that the Alpha 7S is a watershed product. It’s going to change the buying habits of film makers for some time to come."

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks for posting, so cool how fast gear is advancing. Really like the look of the motion and picture, and the 16-35 looks great.

Time to look into this further since I need a second b-cam.

[Tim Polster]

The tech has changed but if Canon released a firmware update that properly encoded the RAW video stream like Magic Lantern the MKIII would not be very far behind, if at all. The marketplace has just forced the manufacturers to offer more for less. Sony has been quite aggressive ever since the EX-1 in offering a lot of features and new products. Canon's next DSLR move is quite a toss up right now.

[Paul Cronin]

Tim the big difference I see is the mirrorless. Canon has not made this a priority yet.

[Tim Polster]

Yes, mirrorless is more video-centric. I think there is a perceived bias from pro still photographers that mirrorless is "consumer" and Canon is aware of this. They already have their C line and do not want to burn a still camera taking a chance on pros adopting a mirrorless model.

This a tough market. You basically have to cannibalize your own products to stay ahead of the curve. I bet the camera makers are wishing 4K would wait a while until the general public had time to adopt and also time to squeeze the juice out of HD cameras.

I only mention the 5D because people including myself keep on coming back to the filmic quality of the images. All it is missing is detail which ML RAW delivers. No doubt the A7s is stunning especially when the 4k gets rolling...

[Craig Marshall]

Some of the best Video pictures I have seen out of any DSLR are from the 5D Mk 111 running ML RAW and all this from a very cheap and reliable camera but they are big and clunky compared with mirror less varieties and most if not all DSLR form factor cameras can be a nightmare to shoot video without additional hardware.

As I already have a large collection of Zeiss Contax full frame vintage primes which I currently use on a Sony APS-C camera via the Metabones 'speed booster' C/Y>NEX adapter, an A7s offers me an attractive upgrade option.

[Brett Sherman]

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

Yes, mirrorless is more video-centric. I think there is a perceived bias from pro still photographers that mirrorless is "consumer" and Canon is aware of this. They already have their C line and do not want to burn a still camera taking a chance on pros adopting a mirrorless model.

It is just bizarre. With modern LCD viewfinders, there is no way in which they are not superior to optical. Even for photographers, problems such as brightness, image size for critical focus, information overlay, just aren't there with LCD viewfinders. It is really an antiquated notion that you have to look through the lens anymore. To me, this will be one of the greatest weaknesses for the 7D Mark II, the fact that you can't use the viewfinder in video mode. Shame, I'd probably buy one otherwise. Now looking at Sony A7S or Panasonic GH4.