Sony A99 roll call

Wacharapong Chiowanich · November 20th, 2012, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betsy Moore

............Do you think anyone will come up with a firmware jailbreak for this camera to give it 30/50p options?

Why don't you shoot in 60p and convert (or discard every other frame) in post? This will be very easy to do. It's not that you'll waste away half the 28Mbps in IQ after the conversion! I shoot most of my footage in 28Mbps 50p and convert virtually all of it to either 25p or 50i for delivery. I've also shot some in Sony 24Mbps 25p FX mode and the difference when compared to the NLE frame-skipping 25p (from 50p) is unnoticeable most of the time.

I believe the reason Sony have omitted 30p in all of its NTSC DSLRs is they think too few people who buy their hybrid devices want to sacrifice temporal resolution for some minuscule gain in per frame IQ.

The motion of 50/60p when played back is so smooth and fluid. Once you've watched it, going back to half the frame rates or 24p becomes unbearable. On the acquisition side, shooting in 50/60p is very forgiving. I can set shutter speed up to 1/200 or 1/250 sec. with no trace of stuttering in panning shots. Also, on newer Sony cams that do 50/60p, rolling shutter is very minimal. Shoot normally and you'll hardly see any skews or wobbles in your footage. Try that with 24/25/30p.

Betsy Moore · November 21st, 2012, 01:17 AM

I miss Thailand!

Unfortunately I'm going to be manipulating the footage a lot in post so I'll need to be shooting raw--28 would turn into mud pretty fast. I'd also take a pretty large low light hit if I recorded the majority of the movie in 60p (wish I had the option for 50p but alas in America Sony cripples everything for sport).

Chris Joy · November 22nd, 2012, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betsy Moore

Got the camera. Love some things, not so sure about some other things. Somehow I missed/or forgot that the 30p function had been disabled in America which screws me up. And don't get me started on the menu.

Do you think anyone will come up with a firmware jailbreak for this camera to give it 30/50p options?

Chris, what ISO rating would you give it? 800? Before noise sets in?

Depends on your needs, for events and run-and-gun 3200 looks pretty good and 6400 can be cleaned up enough for me. I'm still testing picture profiles and settings to see what gives me the most DR and the least noise. Between a move and the holiday I haven't had the time to do much yet. It's still a work in progress.

Betsy Moore · November 23rd, 2012, 03:30 AM

I know these wouldn't be of much use for run-and-gun stuff (too shallow depth of field) but the images in low light with f1.4 lenses and iso 800 are pretty magical looking.

Oh, I'm embarrassed since I should know this but if I'm shooting at 24fps, since there's no mirror can I record with a shutter speed of 25? Or does that start to affect the frame rate at that point?

Chris Joy · November 23rd, 2012, 07:04 AM

I don't have any F1.4 lenses right now, but I'm looking at getting a 35, 50 and 85. Even at 2.8 the DOF is pretty thin. I just sold a Rokkor 50/1.4 that I used on the Nex, it could practically see in the dark wide open so I know what it can do.

Betsy Moore · November 25th, 2012, 05:37 AM

You're right:) F1.4 is a pain but can be a beautiful thing.

Chris Joy · November 27th, 2012, 12:35 PM

After shooting some tests, I feel like I was having an issue with my camera, it was soft at times - wide shots with lots of DOF like landscapes and cityscapes didn't look very good, worse than my Nex5n in fact. I've seen better results with the A99 than what I'm getting so after going around with Sony tech support they asked me to send back the camera so they can check it out. They're shipping me a replacement immediately since I'm within my 30-day return window.

This is very disappointing because when the camera nails it, the video is just amazing. There's so much depth with the FF sensor's DR. Stills are in another world, its better than my previous FF camera the 5d2, both in terms of IQ and responsiveness. The AF features are second to none with the Zeiss lenses. I really want to make this my workhorse - but the video has to be at a minimum better than the Nex5n. I will update when the new camera arrives, hopefully I can have it by the weekend to start testing.

Betsy Moore · November 28th, 2012, 12:18 PM

It seems as though, in movie mode, shutter speed is linked to exposure compensation adjustment. Is there a way to turn off auto exposure compensation?
I don't want the exposure to be adjusted at all and to remain at 0 at all times. When I try to adjust it using the +/- button on the top of the camera, it says I'm not allowed to change it manually unless I'm in Auto ISO mode, which I also don't want to be in. Advice?

Chris Joy · November 28th, 2012, 01:00 PM

Are you in full manual mode when you turn the top dial to movie? That's all I shoot and it never happened to me. Check the menu settings under the movie tabs, I can't remember if you can turn on/off exposure comp there or not, but it wasn't on when I shot video. There are settings to make auto adjustments and I had all of them turned off, same goes for DRO and such as I didn't want anything to interfere with getting the cleanest video possible. I did a custom setting for video with all the image aids turned off so there wasn't any interference. I had the silent control knob set to audio level, though you can select exp. comp. there as well. My camera is on its way back to Sony and a replacement is on the way so I can't check it at the moment.

Betsy Moore · November 29th, 2012, 12:32 AM

I think I'm in full manual mode. I'm in M Movie mode, Manual focus, turned DRO Auto off... If I switch over to non manual exposure modes it ironically lets me Found this troubling quote in the a99 manual:

"Exposure compensation (106)
You can compensate the exposure to adjust the brightness of the entire
screen.
Even when the exposure mode is set to M, the exposure can be
compensated if the ISO sensitivity is set to [AUTO]."

Chris Joy · November 29th, 2012, 08:06 AM

There must be something else that can be toggled because I never had any exposure compensation going on when rolling, but I was always in full manual and I never use auto ISO.

Betsy Moore · November 30th, 2012, 06:04 PM

Dang. I'll keep fiddling and report back to save the next poor filmmaker who touches the wrong button:)

Chris Joy · December 3rd, 2012, 02:20 PM

I'll have my new camera in hand tomorrow, so I'll look at setup and see if I can find where to toggle the exposure compensation. Have you tried deactivating it through the front silent control knob? Its one of the functions available on the knob. Good luck.

Andrew Clark · December 3rd, 2012, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betsy Moore

I think I'm in full manual mode. I'm in M Movie mode, Manual focus, turned DRO Auto off... If I switch over to non manual exposure modes it ironically lets me Found this troubling quote in the a99 manual:

"Exposure compensation (106)
You can compensate the exposure to adjust the brightness of the entire
screen.
Even when the exposure mode is set to M, the exposure can be
compensated if the ISO sensitivity is set to [AUTO]."

Does this mean that the "camera" will compensate the exposure automatically if the ISO is set to Auto?

If so, does it do this by adjusting the Shutter Speed or Aperture or both?

Andrew Clark · December 3rd, 2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Joy

..... My camera is on its way back to Sony and a replacement is on the way so I can't check it at the moment.

Hi Chris -

Did you get your replacement camera yet?

Curious to know more about your findings about the video quality as I am considering purchasing this camera too. I've heard a lot of pros and cons regarding this; some users stating it's superb while others are stating it's not.

November 21st, 2012, 01:17 AM	#17
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call I miss Thailand! Unfortunately I'm going to be manipulating the footage a lot in post so I'll need to be shooting raw--28 would turn into mud pretty fast. I'd also take a pretty large low light hit if I recorded the majority of the movie in 60p (wish I had the option for 50p but alas in America Sony cripples everything for sport).

November 23rd, 2012, 03:30 AM	#19
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call I know these wouldn't be of much use for run-and-gun stuff (too shallow depth of field) but the images in low light with f1.4 lenses and iso 800 are pretty magical looking. Oh, I'm embarrassed since I should know this but if I'm shooting at 24fps, since there's no mirror can I record with a shutter speed of 25? Or does that start to affect the frame rate at that point?

November 23rd, 2012, 07:04 AM	#20
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: Sony A99 roll call I don't have any F1.4 lenses right now, but I'm looking at getting a 35, 50 and 85. Even at 2.8 the DOF is pretty thin. I just sold a Rokkor 50/1.4 that I used on the Nex, it could practically see in the dark wide open so I know what it can do.

November 25th, 2012, 05:37 AM	#21
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call You're right:) F1.4 is a pain but can be a beautiful thing.

November 27th, 2012, 12:35 PM	#22
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: Sony A99 roll call After shooting some tests, I feel like I was having an issue with my camera, it was soft at times - wide shots with lots of DOF like landscapes and cityscapes didn't look very good, worse than my Nex5n in fact. I've seen better results with the A99 than what I'm getting so after going around with Sony tech support they asked me to send back the camera so they can check it out. They're shipping me a replacement immediately since I'm within my 30-day return window. This is very disappointing because when the camera nails it, the video is just amazing. There's so much depth with the FF sensor's DR. Stills are in another world, its better than my previous FF camera the 5d2, both in terms of IQ and responsiveness. The AF features are second to none with the Zeiss lenses. I really want to make this my workhorse - but the video has to be at a minimum better than the Nex5n. I will update when the new camera arrives, hopefully I can have it by the weekend to start testing.

November 28th, 2012, 12:18 PM	#23
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call It seems as though, in movie mode, shutter speed is linked to exposure compensation adjustment. Is there a way to turn off auto exposure compensation? I don't want the exposure to be adjusted at all and to remain at 0 at all times. When I try to adjust it using the +/- button on the top of the camera, it says I'm not allowed to change it manually unless I'm in Auto ISO mode, which I also don't want to be in. Advice?

November 28th, 2012, 01:00 PM	#24
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: Sony A99 roll call Are you in full manual mode when you turn the top dial to movie? That's all I shoot and it never happened to me. Check the menu settings under the movie tabs, I can't remember if you can turn on/off exposure comp there or not, but it wasn't on when I shot video. There are settings to make auto adjustments and I had all of them turned off, same goes for DRO and such as I didn't want anything to interfere with getting the cleanest video possible. I did a custom setting for video with all the image aids turned off so there wasn't any interference. I had the silent control knob set to audio level, though you can select exp. comp. there as well. My camera is on its way back to Sony and a replacement is on the way so I can't check it at the moment.

November 29th, 2012, 12:32 AM	#25
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call I think I'm in full manual mode. I'm in M Movie mode, Manual focus, turned DRO Auto off... If I switch over to non manual exposure modes it ironically lets me Found this troubling quote in the a99 manual: "Exposure compensation (106) You can compensate the exposure to adjust the brightness of the entire screen. Even when the exposure mode is set to M, the exposure can be compensated if the ISO sensitivity is set to [AUTO]."

November 29th, 2012, 08:06 AM	#26
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: Sony A99 roll call There must be something else that can be toggled because I never had any exposure compensation going on when rolling, but I was always in full manual and I never use auto ISO.

November 30th, 2012, 06:04 PM	#27
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Re: Sony A99 roll call Dang. I'll keep fiddling and report back to save the next poor filmmaker who touches the wrong button:)

December 3rd, 2012, 02:20 PM	#28
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: Sony A99 roll call I'll have my new camera in hand tomorrow, so I'll look at setup and see if I can find where to toggle the exposure compensation. Have you tried deactivating it through the front silent control knob? Its one of the functions available on the knob. Good luck.