A99 video a major disappointment at DVinfo.net

Chris Joy · December 5th, 2012, 01:10 PM

I started a thread elsewhere on the site since there's not a dedicated Sony DSLR forum, but I thought this might be of interest to people here. I'll cut to the chase, the video stinks on the A99. I just switched to Sony and invested in to pricey Alpha lenses, and the A99 video is complete mush.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photo-hd...ml#post1766483

John Vincent · December 5th, 2012, 07:22 PM

I was interested in the 99, until I found out it was for Alpha glass and not NEX...

Next!

Seriously, no chance I'd take a chance on what amounts to totally new tech for glass I don't already own. While I'm sure Alpha glass owners were happy, it's hard to see who else would care about this camera in the slightest. Neither its price or performance beats other next gen DSLRs from Canon or Nikon.

We'll see if Sony brings out something in a proper DSLR form factor for NEX glass. In any case, DSLRs for video are - for me at least - only when you can't get a real video camera into the space, either because of size restrictions or security reasons.

Khoi Pham · December 5th, 2012, 08:10 PM

Yes I was ready to dump all of my Canon lens and go with Sony because I like the full frame, flip out lcd, evf, built in stabilization, just waiting for low light performance and moire/aliasing, the last 2 wasn't good and so sorry Sony, your loss.

Chris Joy · December 6th, 2012, 07:51 AM

I expected to be at least as good as my Nex5n or EM5, but it isn't. I like almost everything about the A99, amazing stills, great controls, very responsive, some teething issues that can easily be sorted with firmware, but the video is so bad its a dealbreaker. The zeiss 24-70 is the finest zoom I've ever used, the IQ is so good. I moved to Sony just for this lens and now I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

John Vincent · December 6th, 2012, 01:54 PM

Is it possible it's defective?

Chris Joy · December 7th, 2012, 03:18 PM

John, I'm on my second A99 as I returned the first one because of the poor quality. The second one is every bit as bad. Unless something drastic happens in the next week or so, my move to Sony will be very short lived.

John Vincent · December 7th, 2012, 06:40 PM

Wow. That's too bad. Maybe Sony was a bit too ambitious this year...

Bill Bruner · December 8th, 2012, 04:49 AM

Hi Chris - sorry to hear about the

A99

. I had high hopes for that camera if I ever decided to move up to full frame.

Based on your shootout video over on YouTube, it looks like you already have the

OM-D EM-5

, but have you thought about the

GH3

? It would save you $1500 compared to the

A99

. Sharpness is definitely not a problem with the

GH3

:

The

Panasonic 12-35 2.8

costs $700 less than the

Zeiss 24-70 2.8

too :)

Cheers and best of the holidays,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

Chris Joy · December 8th, 2012, 08:03 AM

I've thought about it, but the posterization I didn't like in the gh2 is still prevalent in the gh3. Everything is a compromise, I just have to figure out which direction I want to go. I shoot stills when producing videos for clients and the amazing noise levels in 5d3 files up to 6400 might be too tough to pass up. People really like the FF look, but no 60p which I really like. 5d3 files seem to have more latitude for post sharpening, the a99 just doesnt resolvev any detail so sharpening adds artifacts pretty quickly. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

EDIT: I forgot I have a Nex5n body, which does 60p and the video is better than the A99 - go figure. If I go Canon, I'll likely get a metabones adapter so I can use my lenses and get 60p plus a crop factor which is nice to get the extra reach on a long zoom.

Chris Hurd · December 12th, 2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Joy

...since there's not a dedicated Sony DSLR forum...

Despite this bad news about the A99, we should probably run a dedicated Sony Alpha board anyway...?

John McCully · December 12th, 2012, 10:04 PM

Interesting. I downloaded footage untouched off the a99 camera and it looks soft, just like footage shot with my NEX 5n, and seemingly similar to the footage shot by Philip Bloom here in New Zealand using the Canon 5Dmk3 which he described as ‘disappointing’ regarding sharpness. ‘The detail just wasn’t there, it felt really quite...almost muddy’, he said.

He goes on ‘and then something happened’. He applied sharpening in post and ‘suddenly it just went bing – and it was like it’s sharp’.

Well, I did that with the A99 footage I downloaded and some NEX 5n footage I have and I was indeed surprised and delighted with the result after sharpening in post.

Just a thought...

Matt Sharp · December 12th, 2012, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

we should probably run a dedicated Sony Alpha board anyway...?

Yes please! There are several people with the A57, A77, and A99 on here.

Shawn Clary · December 13th, 2012, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John McCully

Interesting. I downloaded footage untouched off the a99 camera and it looks soft, just like footage shot with my NEX 5n, and seemingly similar to the footage shot by Philip Bloom here in New Zealand using the Canon 5Dmk3 which he described as ‘disappointing’ regarding sharpness. ‘The detail just wasn’t there, it felt really quite...almost muddy’, he said.

He goes on ‘and then something happened’. He applied sharpening in post and ‘suddenly it just went bing – and it was like it’s sharp’.

Well, I did that with the A99 footage I downloaded and some NEX 5n footage I have and I was indeed surprised and delighted with the result after sharpening in post.

Just a thought...

The details are never there to begin with. I tried grading the a99 footage and any increase in sharpness introduced even more moire and artifacts and began looking very digital. Can you post some samples to youtube/vimeo of your graded footage?

John McCully · December 13th, 2012, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Clary

Can you post some samples to youtube/vimeo of your graded footage?

The short answer..no, unfortunately, as I am not now at a location where I can do that and I plan on being here over the holiday season. Uploading (and downloading for that matter) files here is well nigh impossible. I noted that as I increased the sharpening I did get to a point where the footage looked like rubbish. However, the ‘right’ amount was certainly helpful. Let me hasten to add that while I don’t have side by side comparisons my impression is that the a99 sharpened footage is not as sharp as produced by my EX1, or for that matter by my HX200v, but it was better than un-sharpened, for sure. I do have side by side comparing the EX1 and sharpened NEX 5n and while the NEX 5n sharpened to its best is not as sharp as the un-sharpened EX1 or the HX200v footage it is much better, to my eye, than the un-sharpened NEX 5n footage and in my judgement moves from being unacceptable to acceptable, and for me that’s a good thing. Indeed the detail may not be there, it just looks as if it is. I would say the same about the one instance of a99 footage I sharpened, the sum total of my experience - un-sharpened versus sharpened - hardly perfect but moved from unacceptable to acceptable, for me.

Moiré is subject dependent as I understand it. Please treat my input regarding the a99 and sharpening for what it is: anecdotal and essentially data-free, yet hopefully helpful. Sooner or later we might see valid well conducted tests with various NLE software.

Dave Blackhurst · December 13th, 2012, 02:43 AM

First, yes, a Sony Alpha section would be good, as they have a following with the SLT cameras. Image acquisition can come from a great many devices, it's getting hard to keep up - "DV" is starting to look a bit "dated" per se, though it's all digital video acquisition...

As far as the A99 being "soft", I'm going to guess that the stills are very sharp, and may well be creating an expectation that the video fails to meet. I know the stills from my A65 almost pop off the screen, it's sort of hard to explain, but it creates a perception of sharpness, and when you try to achieve the same level of detail with a 1920x1080 image.... it's GOOD, but not the same. I'm getting a usable image, but I haven't really had the chance to do intense comparisons vs. dedicated video cameras - I'd expect the "still" cameras to be a little soft, and would be more "focused" on the DoF capabilities and image quality. Maybe I have a different expectation as to what an SLR/SLT will produce.

Also, I know the A99 is a first generation release with a "new" sensor - can't say for certain, but perhaps a firmware tweak or two might help? Sony sometimes takes a little time to optimize the "latest" tech. I don't know offhand the firmware history of the A900/A850, but I'd expect they will not introduce "new" top end models as quickly as they do the lower end ones, so there will likely be some updates.

December 5th, 2012, 01:10 PM	#1
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	A99 video a major disappointment I started a thread elsewhere on the site since there's not a dedicated Sony DSLR forum, but I thought this might be of interest to people here. I'll cut to the chase, the video stinks on the A99. I just switched to Sony and invested in to pricey Alpha lenses, and the A99 video is complete mush. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photo-hd...ml#post1766483

December 5th, 2012, 07:22 PM	#2
John Vincent Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,065	Re: A99 video a major disappointment I was interested in the 99, until I found out it was for Alpha glass and not NEX... Next! Seriously, no chance I'd take a chance on what amounts to totally new tech for glass I don't already own. While I'm sure Alpha glass owners were happy, it's hard to see who else would care about this camera in the slightest. Neither its price or performance beats other next gen DSLRs from Canon or Nikon. We'll see if Sony brings out something in a proper DSLR form factor for NEX glass. In any case, DSLRs for video are - for me at least - only when you can't get a real video camera into the space, either because of size restrictions or security reasons.

December 5th, 2012, 08:10 PM	#3
Khoi Pham Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Dallas Posts: 747	Re: A99 video a major disappointment Yes I was ready to dump all of my Canon lens and go with Sony because I like the full frame, flip out lcd, evf, built in stabilization, just waiting for low light performance and moire/aliasing, the last 2 wasn't good and so sorry Sony, your loss. __________________ Khoi Pham www.proeditproductions.com

December 6th, 2012, 07:51 AM	#4
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: A99 video a major disappointment I expected to be at least as good as my Nex5n or EM5, but it isn't. I like almost everything about the A99, amazing stills, great controls, very responsive, some teething issues that can easily be sorted with firmware, but the video is so bad its a dealbreaker. The zeiss 24-70 is the finest zoom I've ever used, the IQ is so good. I moved to Sony just for this lens and now I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

December 6th, 2012, 01:54 PM	#5
John Vincent Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,065	Re: A99 video a major disappointment Is it possible it's defective?

December 7th, 2012, 03:18 PM	#6
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: A99 video a major disappointment John, I'm on my second A99 as I returned the first one because of the poor quality. The second one is every bit as bad. Unless something drastic happens in the next week or so, my move to Sony will be very short lived.

December 7th, 2012, 06:40 PM	#7
John Vincent Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,065	Re: A99 video a major disappointment Wow. That's too bad. Maybe Sony was a bit too ambitious this year...

December 8th, 2012, 04:49 AM	#8
Bill Bruner Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Sunny California Posts: 513	Re: A99 video a major disappointment Hi Chris - sorry to hear about the A99 A99 . I had high hopes for that camera if I ever decided to move up to full frame. Based on your shootout video over on YouTube, it looks like you already have the OM-D EM-5 OM-D EM-5 , but have you thought about the GH3 GH3 ? It would save you $1500 compared to the A99 A99 . Sharpness is definitely not a problem with the GH3 GH3 : Mme Sokhna Fall on Vimeo 5D Mark III vs GH3 on Vimeo The Panasonic 12-35 2.8 Panasonic 12-35 2.8 costs $700 less than the Zeiss 24-70 2.8 Zeiss 24-70 2.8 too :) Cheers and best of the holidays, Bill Hybrid Camera Revolution

December 8th, 2012, 08:03 AM	#9
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: A99 video a major disappointment I've thought about it, but the posterization I didn't like in the gh2 is still prevalent in the gh3. Everything is a compromise, I just have to figure out which direction I want to go. I shoot stills when producing videos for clients and the amazing noise levels in 5d3 files up to 6400 might be too tough to pass up. People really like the FF look, but no 60p which I really like. 5d3 files seem to have more latitude for post sharpening, the a99 just doesnt resolvev any detail so sharpening adds artifacts pretty quickly. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. EDIT: I forgot I have a Nex5n body, which does 60p and the video is better than the A99 - go figure. If I go Canon, I'll likely get a metabones adapter so I can use my lenses and get 60p plus a crop factor which is nice to get the extra reach on a long zoom. Last edited by Chris Joy; December 8th, 2012 at 03:40 PM.

December 12th, 2012, 10:04 PM	#11
John McCully Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: South Island, New Zealand Posts: 609 Images: 2	Re: A99 video a major disappointment Interesting. I downloaded footage untouched off the a99 camera and it looks soft, just like footage shot with my NEX 5n, and seemingly similar to the footage shot by Philip Bloom here in New Zealand using the Canon 5Dmk3 which he described as ‘disappointing’ regarding sharpness. ‘The detail just wasn’t there, it felt really quite...almost muddy’, he said. He goes on ‘and then something happened’. He applied sharpening in post and ‘suddenly it just went bing – and it was like it’s sharp’. Well, I did that with the A99 footage I downloaded and some NEX 5n footage I have and I was indeed surprised and delighted with the result after sharpening in post. Just a thought...

December 13th, 2012, 02:43 AM	#15
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: A99 video a major disappointment First, yes, a Sony Alpha section would be good, as they have a following with the SLT cameras. Image acquisition can come from a great many devices, it's getting hard to keep up - "DV" is starting to look a bit "dated" per se, though it's all digital video acquisition... As far as the A99 being "soft", I'm going to guess that the stills are very sharp, and may well be creating an expectation that the video fails to meet. I know the stills from my A65 almost pop off the screen, it's sort of hard to explain, but it creates a perception of sharpness, and when you try to achieve the same level of detail with a 1920x1080 image.... it's GOOD, but not the same. I'm getting a usable image, but I haven't really had the chance to do intense comparisons vs. dedicated video cameras - I'd expect the "still" cameras to be a little soft, and would be more "focused" on the DoF capabilities and image quality. Maybe I have a different expectation as to what an SLR/SLT will produce. Also, I know the A99 is a first generation release with a "new" sensor - can't say for certain, but perhaps a firmware tweak or two might help? Sony sometimes takes a little time to optimize the "latest" tech. I don't know offhand the firmware history of the A900/A850, but I'd expect they will not introduce "new" top end models as quickly as they do the lower end ones, so there will likely be some updates.