Thoughts on the announcement of the A7s II?

Sony a7S II Camera Announced with Internal 4K & 5-Axis Image Stabilization (http://nofilmschool.com/2015/09/sony-a7s-ii-mirrorless-internal-4k-1080p-120fps)

Some headlines:
Internal 4k recording
5-axis image stabilization
120fps at 1080p
Better lowlight (or so they claim)
S-log 3

It looks really amazing. I was a big fan of the original a7S. The first time i shot with the a7S was the first time i shot video with a photo camera the really felt like it was designed by people who understood the needs of a video user. This version retains everything that was great about the original, adds the 5-axis stabilization, adds internal 4K recording, adds S-Log3 color/gamma, and 120p in full 1080. Whats not to love?

I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts and opinions. What concerns are there that i'm overlooking or haven't considered?

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Eric Petrie
epetrie@provideoandtape.com
Finance the Sony FS7 for $248/month, $0 down
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The only concern I can antiticape is the flood of people claiming it overheats and shuts down when recording extended 4K clips, like the A7rII.

Personally, for the news type work I shoot, I might end up with only 4-7 minutes of footage on a 30-45 minute long news story, so overheating should present a problem for me.

Paul

The price of the a7s has come down around these parts to 2040 euro and I"m sure the mark 2 will be around 3200 euro if b&h has it listed for 3K, the stabilization, though helpful, doesn't seem very effective, my rx10 has stabilization as well but I have to use a stabilization plugin on a lot of footage to take the jitter out. If I was interested in a new camera and had a 3.2k budget I rather would go for the a7s mark 1 and get the latest rx100 or stretch my budget a bit and get the rx10 II, not sure if the price difference between the mark 1 and 2 of the a7s would be worth it for me as I would be mainly interested in the full frame and low light sensitivity.

I am currently in the market to upgrade, however my budget sits closer to $2-2.5k. That being said, this might be worth saving a bit more. Since most of what I do is weddings, and short films in my spare time, internal 4k definitely sounds appealing. I shot with an A7s for the first time yesterday and loved most of the controls and the low light as well as the s-log2. The problem I have with s-log is that 3200 minimum iso. If that is lower, maybe 1600 or even 800 iso for s-log 3, I'd definitely consider this as my next camera, especially since the A7s was top of my list till this dropped. (I typically shoot with a 6d or 5d mkiii so to me, this is very exciting stuff.)

I've kept hold of my EA50 that sits in the boot of the car at wedding shoots as a spare in case anything happens to my A7s - guess what...

...I'll be selling my EA50 early next year and getting the A7s II - the original A7s will be my spare - good times!

How can it be better low light??? It already sees better than my eyes!

Some more details here - http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2015/09/11/press-release-the-all-new-sony-a7sii-is-announced-ships-october/

I hope they've improved the style and location of the record button

Waiting now.............

I believe they did make some minor changes to the record button as seen in the video by B&H.

Sony a7S II: First Look Interview with Sony - YouTube

I am surprised to see B&H with it starting at 2999 USD, just 500 USD over the current Sony A7s. I expect the A7s will drop in price over the next few months. I got to shoot extensively with the A7s over this weekend while using a metabones adapter for Canon EF glass. I kept having connection issues that forced me to shoot wide open when I wanted f/4 or f/8 (shooting with the 85mm f/1.2 or the 70-200 f/2.8), especially since I had so much room to work with the ISO, I was looking forward to using f/8 in some lower light situations at 200mm, but had trouble with the connection. Maybe that's just an issue with the particular metabones adapter I had, but it will definitely stop me from looking further into the A7s II for future gig work until I decide to sell all the canon glass for some native Sony E mount lenses.

I'll be buying in the new year - before next season starts - it's a no-brainer for me as this camera suits me perfectly - the only gripe I have is with battery life which is pants and not mentioned so I guess it's the same.

As soon as in Uk i will be getting it. Best lens Pete? I have tamron 24-70 as you know, 50mm 1.4 but need a stabilzed lens, should i just get the new sony 85, 55mm

I just received my A7s I bought on eBay a day before the A7sII was announced! Paired it with a 24-240 FE lens that I was horrified to discover is NOT parafocal......grrrr! The biggest gripe I have about the A7s is the stupid flat style handgrip. I see the A7sII has one that pokes out forward, and I see this, and the 4K internal functions as reason enough to trade this puppy in for the new camera when it is available. It really is amazing how well this camera performs in low light at f6.3 with this crappy superzoom!

I found the 4x digital zoom in the menu, maybe I should trade this new 24-240 in for the f4.0 24-70 Zeiss? My final output is always 720p60 for broadcast, and the 2 stop reduction in grain noise would help make 2-4x digital zoom in 4K mode tolerable. :)

Paul

Before settling on the 24-70, I'd highly recommend you take a look at the 28-135. Longer zoom ratio, parfocal, consistent exposure... Of course larger and not quite as wide,

S log 3 / gamma3cine is the biggest news about this new camera! If the 8bit can hold up to it, but I doubt it :-/

It's HUGE, but it is on my list. Waiting to see how many more have the rear plastic mounts snap off, rendering them unrepairable by Sony!

Paul

Really? Mm not seen that problem.

Check B&H reviews.........prob not an issue with these cameras.

Paul

As soon as in Uk i will be getting it. Best lens Pete? I have tamron 24-70 as you know, 50mm 1.4 but need a stabilzed lens, should i just get the new sony 85, 55mm

Steve for me I use 4 lenses during a wedding shoot. I'll start by saying I don't use primes - I would love to if I didn't work alone but as I do I find them to limiting in a fast paced environment.

I use Tamron 24-70 2.8 (With metabones smart adapter) for bridal prep and then switch to Zeiss 24-70 f4 for the guest arrivals (autofocus handy here). For ceremony and speeches I use the Canon 24-105 f4 which I use with a Speedbooster that renders the camera into APS-C mode, but gives me f2.8 and a longer reach. For afternoon reception again I use the Zeiss and for evening reception I'm back to the Tamron. The other lens I use is the Sony 16mm pancake lens for some architecture and cake shots etc - with this lens the camera needs to be in APS-C mode.

I think the Zeiss is overpriced for what it is - I don't like the focus by wire arrangement and the imaging I would say is on par with Canon L glass - despite this lens costing more - In terms of image quality the tamron reigns. I bought the Zeiss purely for it's autofocus and for that price it should have been f2.8 but being the A7s, F4 is ok. Zeiss/Sony do an A-mount 24-70 f2.8 but you'd need an adapter and it's a whopping £1,300

The autofocus on the Zeiss 24-70 is not as snappy as e-mount lenses on my old NEX-EA50 but the A7s II reportedly has improved this (twice as fast apparently)

If primes are your thing then Zeiss make a lot, and they get good reviews, and maybe someone else can weigh in.

Regarding stabilisation - as the A7sII has 5 axis in-camera stabilisation giving 4 stops surely any lens will do no?

I am surprised to see B&H with it starting at 2999 USD, just 500 USD over the current Sony A7s.

Well lucky you, on this side of the pond the a7s is 2040 euro and I found the first Dutch store that has the a7sII at 3400 euro.

Steve for me I use 4 lenses during a wedding shoot. I'll start by saying I don't use primes - I would love to if I didn't work alone but as I do I find them to limiting in a fast paced environment.

I use Tamron 24-70 2.8 (With metabones smart adapter) for bridal prep and then switch to Zeiss 24-70 f4 for the guest arrivals (autofocus handy here). For ceremony and speeches I use the Canon 24-105 f4 which I use with a Speedbooster that renders the camera into APS-C mode, but gives me f2.8 and a longer reach. For afternoon reception again I use the Zeiss and for evening reception I'm back to the Tamron. The other lens I use is the Sony 16mm pancake lens for some architecture and cake shots etc - with this lens the camera needs to be in APS-C mode.

I think the Zeiss is overpriced for what it is - I don't like the focus by wire arrangement and the imaging I would say is on par with Canon L glass - despite this lens costing more - In terms of image quality the tamron reigns. I bought the Zeiss purely for it's autofocus and for that price it should have been f2.8 but being the A7s, F4 is ok. Zeiss/Sony do an A-mount 24-70 f2.8 but you'd need an adapter and it's a whopping £1,300

The autofocus on the Zeiss 24-70 is not as snappy as e-mount lenses on my old NEX-EA50 but the A7s II reportedly has improved this (twice as fast apparently)

If primes are your thing then Zeiss make a lot, and they get good reviews, and maybe someone else can weigh in.

Regarding stabilisation - as the A7sII has 5 axis in-camera stabilisation giving 4 stops surely any lens will do no?

Cheers pete, i will use my tamron 24-70 then and get the 85mm 1.8 sony, may get the canon 35mm f2 as reoprted to be great on the a7s. steve

Steve i beleive the latest metabones smart adapter ef - e-mount has autofocus but don't quote me on that

No dual media card slot it seems - that's a pretty big omission for a 'pro' camera - especially as I've had on several heart-stopping occasions 'data recovery' messages! I miss my FMU/SD card safety net that I had on the EA50

Cheers pete, i will use my tamron 24-70 then and get the 85mm 1.8 sony, may get the canon 35mm f2 as reoprted to be great on the a7s. steve

Steve I would also go so far as saying that for a lens that retails at about £800, the zeiss 24-70 has sh**t manual focus - it is literally impossible to do a rack focus with this lens as it seems to focus in small incremental stages - I can't speak for other Zeiss lenses but I won't buy another simply because of this - my advice would be try before you buy

OK thanks Pete, so used to canon lens, all else a mystery isn't it?

I hope to god they've refined the width of the zebra stripes - nailing exposure is a bit hit and miss as they are so thick!