This time I've shot clips as high as 204800 but applied some NeatVideo.

Honestly - ISO 204800 with Neat Video outperforms my old Canon 550D (T2i) at ISO 1600.

Its insanely good.

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Fascinating! What lenses are you using?

Indoor shots were Canon 17-40 f4 L, Outside was Canon 35mm f2 IS

I'm certainly impressed by much of what I see coming from the A7s in high ISO modes, though for me the body has no value until I can record 4K with it since I'm very happy with the C100 in low light and GH4 for 4K in good light. Once we have a viable option for 4K from a high ISO monster then things will change. If only Sony had added internal recording.

I shot a couple of interviews last week in 4K and the ability to zoom in post is most welcome!

So, the Sony ISO @ 50K, 100K & 200K even with Neat Video is pretty damn good and would be awesome in even low light corporate shoots!

We should try and get a sub-forum for this camera as a lot of us seem to be using it - I shot an entire evening reception last night with my 24-105mm f4.0 and it pretty much damn near sees in the dark. I do have a rew issues I need to get to the bottom of - one is how the exposure can adjust as you turn recording on - seems to be a couple of stops but it may be my lens/adapter combo. I also have weird posterised flashes with some DJ lights.

All in all though I love this camera - has solved quite a few issues for me.

Peter, I used to take a light rig in the car with me to weddings just in case. I regularly would be in discussion with the band or venue about what the light levels were going to be. On a few occasions, lights were turned off without notice.


Now..... I don't give it a single thought!!! Bliss!


And yea, the dynamic range, EVF, zebras, and focus peaking are also very helpful!

So glad I splashed out!

I am wondering if Sony just couldn't squeeze the 4K record capability into the body just so they could have it as compact body as possible . At least they should have offered an accessory option like a grip that accommodates a couple of batteries AND the 4k electronics in the grip to record 4K. That is the only reason I'm not buying into that camera. The shogun accessory is not only expensive but adds considerable size to the rig. No cigar this time.

4K for weddingvideography is only useful now for it's cropping abilities in a 1080p project, if you absolutely want that then yes, the a7s is an expensive camera if you combine it with the shogun and there are much cheaper options, a a7s you would get for it's full frame and lowlight capabilities, it's plenty sharp to be useful for another few years, even at "only" 1080p and especially for weddings.

People keep talking about the price of the Shogun to get 4k. But surely the price of the combo is reflected in its superiority? You can't really compare the GH4 with the A7S plus Shogun. The quality is superior in many areas, and thats why it (rightly) costs more.

The setup however might make it more impractical for weddings, but not an issue for any other video work.

Right. I like many others only do weddings and having to put up with the shogun in terms of size alone would negate any small size and weight advantage the A7s would have. If that shogun is mounted within the rig along with mic and batteries and controls then we are back to square 1 looking like robocops again and being as undescreet as possible. Shooting weddings does not allow the advantage of having lots of gear regardless of size and weight, compared to a commercial shoot or any other video work where almost everything is controllable and rig size is not a concern. GH4 has almost everything except FF and lolight, Sony has almost everything except 4k rec inside.
If only that AX1000 had the A7s sensor with interchangeable lens mount..........

This time I've shot clips as high as 204800 but applied some NeatVideo.

Honestly - ISO 204800 with Neat Video outperforms my old Canon 550D (T2i) at ISO 1600.

Its insanely good.


Which stabilizer were you using?

Its a Laing P-04. Pretty good value, but truth be told - I'd recommend a Glidecam instead. I had issues with Laing. They did however send me a new gimbal which seems to have it working better now.

I'm hoping to see some 3-axis calibrated stabilisers come down in price enough to have a look at though.

Well then, does anyone make a small 4K recorder without the monitor, like a small tethered SSD the size of a cigarette pack that either is screwed onto the bottom of the A7s or is velcroed to a shoulder rig, ?
What other compact options for 4K rec are there at this time ?
I am itching to purchase the A7s but this issue is delaying it.

You have a dead pixel near the center down a little to the right. You can forward the clock one month for it to remap, A7s does it automatic every month. On another topic, I also have problem with certain DJ LED lights giving bad artifacts, anybody seen it yet?

Sorry if this is a bit OT, but does anyone have any insight or feedback in comparing the Sony FS100 w/ the A7s?

Looking to possibly get one of the two, and just prefer the videocam body & not the DSLR. Just total comfort & preference, not knocking it. I'm a bit old school I suppose.

just prefer the videocam body & not the DSLR

You answered your own question, the a7s is a dslr :)

You answered your own question, the a7s is a dslr :)

well not really. I said I "prefer" the videocam style body, but am not adamantly against the DSLR. If the low light ability & overall features are far superior to the FS100 I'd go with it, but the two are pretty similar in abilities I'd likely go with the FS100.

Hi David

I'm with you there all the way. I just don't like the DSLR form factor to shoot video ..it feels wrong to me so I use my DSLR's purely for stills and my Sony EA-50's for Video. The FS100 is almost as bad as the A7S regarding form factor and difficult to hand hold ... If you have to go with the FS100 then you might as well go for the A7S ...You can put either camera on a rig if you want to and the A7S has a FF sensor so it's way better in low light!!

If you need a genuinely traditional video camera without any DSLR features then there's only the JVC HM850 now which is a true on shoulder 3 chip camera.

Chris

You can add a handgrip to a7s if you find the body too small to be handheld. The handgrip also accept 2 batteries which will give you additional power juice to last longer.

Anyone using the XAVC-S codec? I was filming a wedding yesterday using this for the first time and halfway through the day - despite having a 56GB card I got 'not enough room on card' message - I put it down to the codec requiring more card space and swapped cards - copying the contents of the card however shows only 15GB used - anyone have anything similar?

Pete

If you have to go with the FS100 then you might as well go for the A7S ...You can put either camera on a rig if you want to and the A7S has a FF sensor so it's way better in low light!!


Thanks. It says the FS100 has a 35mm sensor I believe, does that come close to the full frame, or is it pretty far away in terms of low light ability?

the A7S has a FF sensor so it's way better in low light!!

Having a full frame sensor does not automatically mean it's better in low light, the 5dII, 5DIII and a7s all have a full frame sensor yet in terms of low light performance there is a big difference between the 3 camera's.

Anyone using the XAVC-S codec? I was filming a wedding yesterday using this for the first time and halfway through the day - despite having a 56GB card I got 'not enough room on card' message - I put it down to the codec requiring more card space and swapped cards - copying the contents of the card however shows only 15GB used - anyone have anything similar?

Pete

The manual said that 64GB card is the minimum for it to work with XAVC-S

Having a full frame sensor does not automatically mean it's better in low light, the 5dII, 5DIII and a7s all have a full frame sensor yet in terms of low light performance there is a big difference between the 3 camera's.

Well no but there is a very strong correlation...

Anyone using the XAVC-S codec? I was filming a wedding yesterday using this for the first time and halfway through the day - despite having a 56GB card I got 'not enough room on card' message - I put it down to the codec requiring more card space and swapped cards - copying the contents of the card however shows only 15GB used - anyone have anything similar?

Pete

Is there a 56gb card? should be 32/64/128gb right?

My mistake - 64GB but I still got a message about the card being full even though it only had 15gb files when I got home and looked - despite formatting the card in the camera - never had this issue using AVCHD

Having a full frame sensor does not automatically mean it's better in low light, the 5dII, 5DIII and a7s all have a full frame sensor yet in terms of low light performance there is a big difference between the 3 camera's.

It may not mean it's better in low light when comparing cameras, but it does mean it does better in low light relative to if it had a crop factor sensor. There are other factors that matter for low light quality, and size of sensor is one of them.

For instance, we shoot with Canon 70D (crop factor) and a 5d Mark ii. If we use identical lenses, settings, and positions, the 70D is darker, so if I put my full frame 5d Mark ii on f/4, then my 70D is usually at f/3.2 to get the same exposure.

Well it can but it doesn't necessarily mean it will, that was what I was trying to say, just saying it's better in low light because it has a large sensor is not always true, there are currently camera with a smaller sensor then full frame that will outperform the 5d mark 2, one of that could be the c100. Technically a full frame sensor is capable of outperforming any smaller sensor camera when it comes to shooting in low light but there is more to it then just the size of the sensor, otherwise the 5dII would have performed the same as the a7s and there is a huge difference between those 2.

Clive (or anyone else with an A7S) do you also have an APS-C E-mount camera? Would you be able to take some test photos/frame grabs with preferably the same full frame lens on both with a focal reducer on the APS-C camera? I'm looking for the darkest environment possible, single candlelit room or similar.

I currently use a 5R, VG30, and FS100 with focal reducers on fast lenses, and while they can already see much better than I can in the dark, I'm looking for something even better and I'm trying to see exactly how much better the A7S is.

Matt, while I can't provide any samples I shoot with a Sony EA50 and a VG20 - Both same sensors as your VG30 - I use a metabones speedbooster and for indoor shots with my Tamron 24-70 f2.8 (goes to f2.0 with the speedbooster) it's OK but when the lights really go down for the evening reception I'm finding my gain going right up to 24db - on the edge of acceptable for me so that's when I switch to my A7s - with the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 it pretty much sees in the dark - trust me! I did shoot with a 5D3 for a while but had trouble with focus but the A7s with peaking and zoom assist makes it a breeze!