My VG900 Test: line-skipping killing it for me

[Ryan Douthit]

Originally Posted by Chris Joy

Its not just me. I wish it was better, but that's just not the case.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera Shootout - 2.5K Version on Vimeo

Yes, in the test Andrew acts like no other FF DSLR produces images like that. When in fact every one of them would fail on that scene (the 5D MkII with aliasing, the 5D Mk III with softness) and he should of expected that in advance. Not sure what his game is, but his opinions don't seem to be very well thought out. It pains me that so many point to his "tests" as proof of something or other. Yes, I would have liked the VG900 to produce clean details, but I can't pretend like it's completely unexpected or insulting that it does -- when the same issue is sill present on every single FF DSLR made. Likewise, it's unfair to acknowledge the unique benefits that such chips do provide. Every camera has weaknesses. Let's not claim a conspiracy.

[Chris Joy]

EOSHD is certainly no authority and all the relentless "GH2 is king" talk made me tune him out a long time ago, but those results mirror what I get and what others get - heavily aliased and moire filled mush.

I never said anything about a conspiracy and I've never said anything about the issues with the A99 being exclusive to the A99 compared to any other FF DSLR. I am saying that its softness, moire and aliasing are really bad - the worst I've ever seen in a FF camera. Its so bad it kills every shot when you try to get lots of detail. If I shot everything at huge apertures and just obliterated every background it would probably be acceptable. A 5d2 (with or without a mosaic filter) and a few Zeiss C/Y's or ZE's produce better results IMO.

I've had a dialogue with Sony tech about this, they had me send them my first camera and have asked for footage from my second. I've even had other A99/VG900 owners PM me after I got roasted by the fanboys and offer up more sample footage to forward to Sony and demonstrate its not an isolated problem. If the A99 sold in 5d2/5d3/D800 numbers to video professionals, I think the chorus would be much louder. It sucks because Sony offers so many features that we can't get in any other camera and its the only way to get a range a AF Zeiss glass outside of expensive and slow Contax N to EF conversions.

Sorry to take your thread OT, my input ends here.

[Joe Ogiba]

Originally Posted by Peter Siamidis

Yeah I have heard others complain as well here and there. The pattern seems to be with very wide shots with deep dof, that's where people seem to be complaining. It turns out that's the complete opposite of what I film hence maybe why it hasn't been an issue to me. I do have an old 17-35mm full frame Minolta lens from the 80s which I should try at some point, and see how that footage comes out.

What do you think of my sample clip? Do you think an FS-100 would offer substantial improvement?

Peter, if your goal is maximum DOF then the VG900 full frame sensor beats the FS-100 APS-C sensor.

Sony FOV/DOF comparison VG900 full frame vs APS-C :

Video Footage Comparison of the Sony NEX-VG900 - YouTube

Full frame vs APS-C lens comparison :

5Dmk2/7D lens comparison test on Vimeo

[Joe Ogiba]

Here is short clip I uploaded to Vimeo today and the original .MTS file (1920x1080 / 118MB) file is available for download for the next week .

Sony NEX-VG900 with 50mm F1.4 Pentax FA @ F4 , 1080p60 and 0 gain on Vimeo