I use the 18-35mm on my F5 and it's a great combination, produces some extremely nice images. I've stopped using my 24mm and 35mm primes since getting this lens, it's that good. It should also be excellent on the FS7.

Thanks for the opinion on the Sigma 18-35. I am assuming that this would be the lens to use in low light situations versus the Sony 28-135 since it is f1.8 compared with f4 for the Sony?

On another topic - do you have enough experience from IBC working with the FS7(K) to write a review or will you wait until you receive your own camera? Looking forward to reading it.

Would the new Zeiss FE 16-35mm be a good combi with the FS7?

and: that Sigma 18-35 you talk about here, is that available for e-mount? (couldn't find it)

It sounds like the Sigma would work with adaptor (see below).

Here is the lens for Sony:

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Lens for Sony Alpha 210-205 B&H Photo

And here is the description. From the Sony website:

"α Mount System for a wide selection of lenses and E-mount that is suitable for movie shooting
The PXW-FS7 incorporates the α Mount System, with an E-mount lens mount. This is especially useful for motion-picture shooting because the system supports power driven silent auto focus, iris control, power zoom and more, as well as SteadyShot image stabilization and other functions. Moreover, the E-mount system's short flange-back distance (the distance from the lens-mounting surface to the image sensor) enables use of A-mount lenses via LA-EA4 lens adaptor, as well as various other lenses via third-party adaptors. The E-mount system thereby makes it possible to take advantage of a wealth of lens resources suitable for creative, versatile video expression."

I would assume with the mentioned adaptor the Sigma would work.

But the LA-EA4 lens adaptor is quite an expensive adapter with build-in AF motor, aperture-drive mechanism and Translucent Mirror... seems to me that this is not what we need. And: the Sigma has it's own HSM focus motor. Puzzled.

Dylan, could you tell me how did ou manage to pre-order it from BH? I just tried and got this message"Due to export regulations and/or manufacturers restrictions, we are unable to accept orders with a shipping address in CANADA for the following item(s):"

Have you been able to pre-order it before they apply this rule ?

The Sigma 18-35 f1.8 is an APS-C lens, will cause vignetting if used with a speed booster...

You're right of course, mental slip on my part!

Jean-Philllipe, I'm not sure why, but it let me order. It's possible they'll realize the mistake (if it is one) in a month when it's ready to ship, refund my money (they charged on order, not ship, for international) and dropping me way behind in the lineup to get one. :)

Does anybody know if that ISO 2000 figure I've seen published is really as low as the FS7 will go in ISO? If that's the case then it would need the ND filter even for indoor shooting. I know the internal filter has a 1.8 as its highest ND, which would be 6 stops. That's not enough for being able to shoot fairly wide open in bright light, so an additional ND would be needed on the lens. I'm hoping that 2000 figure is maybe as low as it goes when using the S-log, sort of like the A7S at its minimum 3200. But does anyone know what the deal is here?

If you use the standard gamma (which I wouldn't) th elowest ISO is 800 (at -3 db).
With the hypergammas you rlowest ISO will be 1600 (at -3db).
SLog3 will give you 2000ISO at -3db.

When using the hypergammas and the 1/64ND (6 stops!) you can record with an
equivalent of 25 ISO...

Maybe not enough to use F 1.4 in the sun, but fine for R+G anyways.
If you like to do controlled shots, you'll use matte box + ND...

What strikes me about this camera mostly is what a bold marketing move it is.

At this pricepoint and even beyond it is going to capture a huge market. It really makes the likes of the C300 look like an archaic offering. It even trumps off the 'cheaper' brand options like Ursa/Cion imo. Great flexibility in formats and framerates wrapped in a very useable form factor.

A find it really surprising and I'm pretty sure it will become a tv staple !

...find it really surprising and I'm pretty sure it will become a tv staple !

Before I retired as a Sales Rep in the Broadcast TV market, we had a saying that 'no Chief Engineer ever got the sack for ordering Sony equipment'. Many went off on tangents, with esoteric camera choices like Thompson, Bosch and Ikegami. Some paid the price for poor decisions but Sony was always a safe bet and their After Sales Service was legendary. I wonder if the same is true today?

Will Sony be at DVExpo in Pasadena (now Next | Video conf) next week? They are not on the exhibitor list. I want to see and hold an FS7. I'm in San Diego, and don't know what a good opportunity to hold one would be.

I would like to get some feedback about the S-Gamut3.cine/S-log3 and other log curves available on the FS7. I understand that when video is shot in these modes, the full 14 stops of dynamic range is available and also the native ISO of the camera is locked at 2,000. I have very little experience with higher end color grading (I use Edius Pro 7) and no experience with software such as Davinci.

My question is this - is basic (I'm not talking about studio quality) color grading that difficult or time consuming to bring the flat images produced by the log curves up to par? I'm also wondering if all of this could be accomplished in the new Catalyst Prepare software being released September 30th:

https://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/catalystprepare

I want to be able to realize the full potential of this camera and not be hindered by my lack of experience and time constraints.

Any comments from the professionals on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

My question is this - is basic (I'm not talking about studio quality) color grading that difficult or time consuming to bring the flat images produced by the log curves up to par? I'm also wondering if all of this could be accomplished in the new Catalyst Prepare software being released September 30th:


Using LOG is a different beast than shooting 709 based curves. You need to understand the correct way to expose it to get all the DR the camera offers. That will require more work in post to create an image that is what your audience expects.

On the plus side - IF you expose your image properly then you can use a LUT to get you in the ball park for a 709 look. This can save you a lot of time but in the end it doesn't replace the work of color correcting to get to the final image you want.

So the question you need to ask yourself is this - Do I need 14 stops of DR to capture the image I'm trying to convey?

If the answer is yes then you should read up on LOG and how to shoot it correctly first. Then you'll need to put time into learning how to grade it to get the most out of it. It will be more work but worth it if you really need it.

And additionally if you are looking for a plug-in drop and go solution then I would not recommend shooting LOG. Its not likely going to help you over shooting one of the CINE curves.

And additionally if you are looking for a plug-in drop and go solution then I would not recommend shooting LOG. Its not likely going to help you over shooting one of the CINE curves.

Chris - I appreciate your comments. The last sentence hit the mark - I was looking for a plug-in drop and go. I'll stick with the CINE curves and am sure I'll be happy with them considering the capabilities of this camera. I just don't have the time (and energy) to devote to all the complexities of color grading.

One of the nice things about this camera, like the F5/F55 is that when you use the CineEI mode you can if you wish choose to bake in the LUT. Shoot some simple test S-Log3 clips and then take these into you're preferred grading package. Grade the clips until you get the look or style that you want. Then save the LUT as a 3D Cube LUT. Then load the LUT into the FS7 as a user LUT.

Normally you will have the LUT's set so that they are added to the viewfinder output, HDMI out and one of the two HDSDI outs. The recordings remain LUT free, so they are S-log3. Then normally you would bring the Slog3 footage in to the grading suite and apply the same LUT either globally (as an output LUT) or on a clip by clip basis. The footage will then have the look you created when you did you test shots. This is actually a VERY simple workflow. If you edit with Adobe Premiere CC you can use the Lumetri plugin to add the LUT very quickly.... job done... no need to grade, the LUT will do all the work. This workflow has the benefit of allowing you to change your mind. If you decide you don't like the look it's just a case of creating a new LUT or grading the underlying S-Log3 material.

The less conventional approach is to turn on the LUT's for the internal recordings. When you do this the LUT is applied to the recordings. This way the footage will have your desired look baked in, so there is no need to do any grading. In effect you are grading as you shoot. But the downside is that once the LUT is baked in you won't have the same degree of adjustability if you change your mind as your recordings are no longer S-log3.

I have written a review and posted some footage from the FS7. Sony’s new PXW-FS7. First Impressions. | XDCAM-USER.COM (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2014/09/sonys-new-pxw-fs7-first-impressions/)

Alister - I know this is off topic but it still concerns the upcoming FS7. How do you go about previewing 4K 60p on a calibrated preview monitor? I have a Dell 32" 4K monitor that is capable of 4k 60p but only through displayport 1.2. - through HDMI it is capable of 4k 30p. The new Blackmagic Decklink Extreme 4K 12G cards handle 4K 60p and pass it through 12G SDI or HDMI but I can't find a monitor that will work with that (with SDI inputs) unless you are in the $15-20K range. What do you use for the F55 to preview 4K 60p?

The short answer is you can't. There are very, very few 4K 60P pro monitors. The Sony X300 is one and very nice but very expensive. Normally I would use a 4K HDMI consumer TV with HDMI 2.0 or down convert to HD if I want to make color critical assessments and use an HD 60P monitor. Not ideal, but affordable at least.

The short answer is you can't. There are very, very few 4K 60P pro monitors. The Sony X300 is one and very nice but very expensive. Normally I would use a 4K HDMI consumer TV with HDMI 2.0 or down convert to HD if I want to make color critical assessments and use an HD 60P monitor. Not ideal, but affordable at least.

Here is one that costs $1900 and uses 12G SDI from the Blackmagic Extreme 4K 12G preview card for connections - will do UHD60p at 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.Arrives in December. The kicker is that it is only 15.6". At least this is a start hopefully there will be others on the way.

Blackmagic Smartview 4K : https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/smartview4k

Blackmagic Decklink Extreme 4K 12G: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink/techspecs/

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but does this camera offer cache recording?

Looks like the 128 GB G series XQD cards are going to come in somewhere between $ 640 and $675. CVP told me in an email they expected the street price to be around 400 pounds and BPM (out of Germany) is listing a price of 540 Euros. Maybe we will get a further price break on this side of the pond?

I want to be able to realize the full potential of this camera and not be hindered by my lack of experience and time constraints.


Seriously I don't think you would have much problem or waste much time grading the S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3 footage. Not an ideal file to work with as it's already been heavily compressed for the web but I had a play with the S7 three minute promo video that was shot S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3.

Even with the fact that it is a heavily compressed file I found its overall color and luminance dynamics easy to work with as grade starting point. Very easy and quick to get a 'look' with. I'm not saying it's a grade that everyone will like but for my clients if I was to deliver something along the lines of the attached JPGs I know they would be happy. If anyone wants to look at the full grade both the original and my test files are available here.

https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/trxs4i

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Seriously I don't think you would have much problem or waste much time grading the S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3 footage. Not an ideal file to work with as it's already been heavily compressed for the web but I had a play with the S7 three minute promo video that was shot S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3.

Even with the fact that it is a heavily compressed file I found its overall color and luminance dynamics easy to work with as grade starting point. Very easy and quick to get a 'look' with. I'm not saying it's a grade that everyone will like but for my clients if I was to deliver something along the lines of the attached JPGs I know they would be happy. If anyone wants to look at the full grade both the original and my test files are available here.

https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/trxs4i

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Chris - I do like the grading - it really makes the images "pop" without overdoing it.

Could you share some details like what software you used and how long it takes to set up a profile to achieve the look?

As Alister mentioned, there are also guidelines on how to use the proper exposure levels when shooting in these log curves - any reading material you can point me to?

Most of my work is quick turn around and the budgets don't allow hours of grading time so a quick way of doing a simple grade without round tripping through DaVinci or some other time consuming software method was required.

This little exercise was done in Sony Vegas 13 using only Sony's Color Curves and the NewBlue ColorFast plugin. The ColorFast plugin for its price is pretty amazing as you can eye dropper select and manipulate almost any part of the image from highlights to shadows and in any of those areas tweak the tint, saturation and levels. You also have the ability to create grade masks if necessary. Once you have learnt the plugin it will only take you a couple of minutes to dial in a pretty acceptable 'look' that belies the little time spent on it.

In Vegas you can save any combination of plugins you use as a 'filter' set and then re-apply them as required and if needed tweak from shot to shot. It's obviously easier when the footage you are working with has been exposed correctly, especially if it has been shot in any of the LOG modes.

I haven't worked in S-LOG3 as yet but have done a fair whack of shooting and grading in S-LOG2 and find if I keep the max white levels to 59 IRE and skin exposure Zebras to around 45 IRE then all seems pretty easy to grade without much drama. Even in 8-bit recordings as long as you’re original footage was exposed correctly. If I need to get pretty aggressive on a grade especially with chroma-key grades then I shoot 10-bit to ProRes or DNxHD. The basic principles for exposing in LOG3 are basically the same although the levels are a little different.

The easiest way for me to get exposure right so to speak is to use a waveform monitor. I use an Alphatron viewfinder that has an inbuilt WFM so that takes most of guesswork out. It’s one of the few viewfinders that incorporates a zebra function that can be set anywhere from 0 to 100 IRE. Makes exposing for LOG fairly straight forward. If the footage is exposed correctly you don't have to push and pull too hard in the grade to get a decent look. It's also made a lot easier if the footage you are working with comes from a camera with a wide dynamic range, such as the S7 is claiming. If it’s like any of the other Sony S35 cameras then it will have.

Re reading material, well it was Alistair's early earlier suggestions that pointed me in the right direction when LOG material started to appear in cameras that mere mortals could afford, like the Sony F3. Just a reasonable amount of practice and trying different grading tools and methods was my way learning to extract the best out of LOG footage quickly.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

One of the nice things about this camera, like the F5/F55 is that when you use the CineEI mode you can if you wish choose to bake in the LUT. Shoot some simple test S-Log3 clips and then take these into you're preferred grading package. Grade the clips until you get the look or style that you want. Then save the LUT as a 3D Cube LUT. Then load the LUT into the FS7 as a user LUT.

Normally you will have the LUT's set so that they are added to the viewfinder output, HDMI out and one of the two HDSDI outs. The recordings remain LUT free, so they are S-log3. Then normally you would bring the Slog3 footage in to the grading suite and apply the same LUT either globally (as an output LUT) or on a clip by clip basis. The footage will then have the look you created when you did you test shots. This is actually a VERY simple workflow. If you edit with Adobe Premiere CC you can use the Lumetri plugin to add the LUT very quickly.... job done... no need to grade, the LUT will do all the work. This workflow has the benefit of allowing you to change your mind. If you decide you don't like the look it's just a case of creating a new LUT or grading the underlying S-Log3 material.

The less conventional approach is to turn on the LUT's for the internal recordings. When you do this the LUT is applied to the recordings. This way the footage will have your desired look baked in, so there is no need to do any grading. In effect you are grading as you shoot. But the downside is that once the LUT is baked in you won't have the same degree of adjustability if you change your mind as your recordings are no longer S-log3.

Alister - thanks for the advice. I had the time this morning to "wade through" (not meant as a criticism - I have only self taught knowledge of the technical aspects of videography - it would be the same thing if you tried wading through an article in one of my medical journals) your excellent CineE treatise on the F5/55 and I believe I understand most of the concepts and hopefully they will transfer over to the FS7.

What I came away with -

1. Shoot in the S-Log3 mode and keep the MLUT off for internal recording so your footage remains S-Log3.

2. For most purposes use LUT 709(800) for the viewfinder.(you mentioned using this most often). Zebras kept at 90%?

3. Bring the native S-Log3 footage into my NLE and apply the same LUT (or other customized LUT) to the footage - either globally or clip by clip (would prefer global). Where I may have a problem is that I'm not sure if I can apply LUT's in Edius Pro 7 - (as you can in Premiere Pro via plugin).

4. Where I may have a problem is shooting in either a higher or lower E level depending on lighting conditions - are you talking about changing settings on the menu or changing gain levels and then adjusting iris levels accordingly (I apologize if this is a stupid question).

If you use the 709(800) LUT and shoot a white card the white should be around 90%, so you can use 90% zebras if you wish.

Ideally, when working with log you want to grade using a proper grading tool such as DaVinci Resolve. LUT handling will be easier and grading capabilities better. However some NLE's such as Premiere CC have built in grading tools and can add LUT's. I don't know about Edius, but at the very least you should be able to edit in Edius and then export an XML file which would allow you to open your project in Resolve for finishing.

In the cineEI mode you are not changing the gain of the camera overall but changing the gain of the LUT's. So the LUT's become brighter/darker. In response to a brighter/darker picture in the viewfinder you would then close/open the iris to gain a "normal" looking exposure. This the alters the brightness of the recording, which you will then adjust further in post.

CineEI is a tricky concept, you have to stop thinking about camera gain and think more about post production gain. The aim is to get the best "digital negative" that will provide the optimum results after grading. Without grading it might look like rubbish. The grading aspect, which might simply be done with a LUT is critical to the final result.

I'm running workshops at the Vistek event in Toronto on Oct 15th/16th, then at the SEVA film festival in Virginia Oct 18/19th, Midtown Video, Miami Oct 24/25th, AbelCine NY, Oct 28th.

If you use the 709(800) LUT and shoot a white card the white should be around 90%, so you can use 90% zebras if you wish.

Ideally, when working with log you want to grade using a proper grading tool such as DaVinci Resolve. LUT handling will be easier and grading capabilities better. However some NLE's such as Premiere CC have built in grading tools and can add LUT's. I don't know about Edius, but at the very least you should be able to edit in Edius and then export an XML file which would allow you to open your project in Resolve .

Edius does not support LUTs directly but there is a way going through AE and using LUT Buddy from Red Giant but it sounds rather cumbersome. Edius does have some good color correction tools - the more advanced one being the YUV color filter. I found a curve with the proper nodes on the curves that simulated a Cinestyle LUT and applied it to a CineE1 4k clip (XAVC Intra) from the net (F55) and it looked rather good. I feel, with a bit of experience I could make my own that would be a good first step in grading S-Log3 clips.

Edius does not support LUTs directly but there is a way going through AE and using LUT Buddy from Red Giant but it sounds rather cumbersome. Edius does have some good color correction tools - the more advanced one being the YUV color filter. I found a curve with the proper nodes on the curves that simulated a Cinestyle LUT and applied it to a CineE1 4k clip (XAVC Intra) from the net (F55) and it looked rather good. I feel, with a bit of experience I could make my own that would be a good first step in grading S-Log3 clips.

Any way to share that curve for us Edius users? Thanks.

While there is no import/export for the YUV Curve in Edius, each node is based on values of 0-255 in each X and Y axis. So it does seem possible to create and save a YUV Curve by editing the nodes from curve data.

While there is no import/export for the YUV Curve in Edius, each node is based on values of 0-255 in each X and Y axis. So it does seem possible to create and save a YUV Curve by editing the nodes from curve data.

So, if someone posted the X/Y values for each node, I could recreate the YUV Curve. Too bad it's not easier in Edius.

Any way to share that curve for us Edius users? Thanks.

As you requested:

Also the link on the original discussion:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/grass-valley-canopus-nle/501219-cinestyle-lut-emulation-edius-yuv.html

But a simple curve won't sort out the color space correctly, that really does need a LUT to be done right. Not saying you can't grade without LUT's but it's a heck of a lot easier if you can use LUT's. With LUT's you can build up a collection of looks that you can quickly apply in a matter if minutes. In addition if you really want to take full advantage of the CineEI mode in the FS7 you are probably going to want to find a way to generate your own LUT's to upload to the camera.

Don't be afraid of round tripping from your edit package into a grading package. It's normally pretty straight forward and the additional tools and features you'll find in a good color tool such as Resolve can transform the look of your work.

But a simple curve won't sort out the color space correctly, that really does need a LUT to be done right. Not saying you can't grade without LUT's but it's a heck of a lot easier if you can use LUT's. With LUT's you can build up a collection of looks that you can quickly apply in a matter if minutes. In addition if you really want to take full advantage of the CineEI mode in the FS7 you are probably going to want to find a way to generate your own LUT's to upload to the camera.

Don't be afraid of round tripping from your edit package into a grading package. It's normally pretty straight forward and the additional tools and features you'll find in a good color tool such as Resolve can transform the look of your work.

Alister - (as usual) your points are without refute. It looks as though I will trip over to Davinci Resolve 11 Lite.

Edius has recently made this significantly easy (see the instruction file from Edius/Grass Valley):

http://www.grassvalley.com/docs/Application_Notes/professional/edius/GVB-1-0030A-EN-AN_EDIUS_DaVinci.pdf

Once I have my clips in Resolve I assume it is a simple matter to apply say the Rec709 LUT from the camera to the clips as a starting point? If I get bold enough could I then tweak the look of the LUT a bit and save it as a user present and reimport it back to the camera (I believe you mentioned 3D cube)?

I was dreading this but now am looking forward to playing around with it before my FS7K arrives in December and be up to speed for LOG grading and editing.

Thanks again for the advice.

PS - After some more reading - to render back to Edius in 4K I will need to pony up $1,000 for the full version.

You only need the full version if you want to render at 4096x2160. The lite version will do 3840x2160 which is the consumer TV 4K standard. The FS7 won't have 4096x2160 at launch anyway.

Yes, once in Resolve just add the LUT you want. All the standard Sony LUT's are available to download. For a REC709 output you would nominally use the 709 LUT. Another very popular LUT for Sony S-Log3 footage is the LC-709A LUT which mimics the Arri Alexa extremely closely. As Sony's S-log3 and SGamut3 is very close to Cineon and Arri's LogC most LogC LUT's can also be used if you want different looks. If you apply your chosen LUT as an output LUT in Resolve it gets applied to all the clips. Then you can still fine tune each clip on a clip by clip basis if you want.

Thx. Great info Alistair.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

In case anyone hasn't seen these:

Sony PXW-FS7 UHD XAVC very quick test (one hour in my garden) on Vimeo

Sony PXW-FS7: another UHD XAVC very quick test on Vimeo

Does anyone recognize this Sony camera bag from the FS7 promotional video from Sony - seems like perfect size for carrying the FS7K in the field.

Does anyone recognize this Sony camera bag from the FS7 promotional video from Sony - seems like perfect size for carrying the FS7K in the field.

Another view - apparently I can only post one pic at a time.

Here is the link to the promotional video - the camera bag is shown at about 1 minute into the video.


PXW-FS7 Official Promotion Movie - YouTube

Here is another link The Cheesemonger - FS7 Camera Test Project



The Cheesemonger - FS7 Camera Test Project on Vimeo

Does anyone recognize this Sony camera bag from the FS7 promotional video from Sony - seems like perfect size for carrying the FS7K in the field.

That appears identical to my LCS-G1BP though I don't know if Sony make different sized versions of the same design.

Buy - Sony LCS-G1BP (LCSG1BP) Soft Carry Case for HVR-V1E, HDR-FX7E, HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 Camcorders (http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/sony_lcs-g1bp)

Regards
David

That appears identical to my LCS-G1BP though I don't know if Sony make different sized versions of the same design.

Buy - Sony LCS-G1BP (LCSG1BP) Soft Carry Case for HVR-V1E, HDR-FX7E, HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 Camcorders (http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/sony_lcs-g1bp)

Regards
David

Thank you very much David - that is it!! It appears to be only available in Europe. I checked dimensions and the FS7K will definitely fit. Is this a new item or have you had it for awhile? I can order through CVP but the postage is rather dear!

This may be a similar case in the US. Soft Carrying Case - LCSVCC Review | Sony Store U.S. - Sony US (http://store.sony.com/soft-carrying-case-zid27-LCSVCC/cat-27-catid-All-Advanced-Camcorders?_t=pfm%3Dproduct_cross_sell%26pfmvalue%3D27-LCSVCC).

Ron Evans

PXW - FS7 "LIGHT SPHERE"

XDCAM???????????PXW-FS7?????? ?Sphere Of Light? - YouTube






PXW - FS7 "MAKING OF LIGHT SPHERE"

XDCAMメモリーカãƒ*コーダー　PXW-FS7撮影ãƒ*ービー 「Sphere Of Lightã€�メイã‚*ング - YouTube

Thank you very much David - that is it!! It appears to be only available in Europe. Is this a new item or have you had it for awhile?

I've had mine for ages; got it with a Sony HVR-V1E HDV/DV camcorder in 2008 ish I think? Can't help on the postage front alas ;-(

Cheers
Dave

[QUOTE=David Johns;1864725]I've had mine for ages; got it with a Sony HVR-V1E HDV/DV camcorder in 2008 ish I think? Can't help on the postage front alas ;-(

Cheers
Dave[/QUOTE

Actually, I think it has been discontinued and CVP may get one in by end of November so I ordered a new one off EBay - coming from Korea! From what I can determine on the video that shows the d.p. getting the camera out of the bag (going frame by frame) it is a tight but doable fit (the microphone mount comes up about 20mm) but should be workable. I like the idea of taking the entire camera out of the bag in an upright position and using it quickly + the bag height should be ok for overhead luggage racks on an airplane.

I had a chance to go to Sony and have a look at the FS7. I'm really impressed with it. Here's the blog I wrote about it.
http://geartrotter.com/meeting-the-sony-pxw-fs7-in-tokyo/

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but does this camera offer cache recording?
I'm curious about this, too. It's essential. This article in German says that the camera will cache record. Sony PXW-FS7; S35mm Schulterkamera (http://www.schweizervideo.ch/blog/sony-pxw-fs7-s35mm-schulterkamera/)

I have this camera on order and I wonder if it has a sensor cleaning system? I'll be using it in a few dusty places and changing lenses often so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My Canon 5D has been used in similar places and not a speck of dust has reared its ugly little head. My Hasselblad, on the other hand, needs a blow from the rocket as soon as you lift it out the bag. I've checked the specs but can't see any mention.