Sony FS5 vs Sony A7SII

[Docea Marius]

I am in a dilemma :-) for fil wedding is bether Sony FS5 or A7SII ? it is clear that in dim light A7SII It is the winner.From reasons pro FS5 is safe, shooting on two cards..the only thing that bothers me to FS5 is low light performance :-(
but still think that if you use a lens opening 1.8 18-35 sigma is ok on 6400 ISO,I have no where to rent and see them both,if you can help me with some reviews, tests.
It is a difference of money but it's not a problem :-) and I hope that Sony has to solve problems to FS5,
Do not know if a7sII,Do not know if a7sii,in 4k have the problem with sensor warms.

Thanks

[Noa Put]

I have seen several users report the a7s has issues with correctly displaying certain led lights used by the DJ, especially blue, as these light are becoming more commonly used it's something worth considering.

[Cliff Totten]

The blue light clipping problem on the A7s is a very real issue. I shot a show in SLOG-2 that was jam packed with blue clipping and nasty halo problems.

However! They seemed to have fixed it in the A7S-II. There seems to be a very big difference on how the Mark II handles color. The problem is not completely gone but I'd say that it been reduced to only 10% of what it used to be.

Oh...and by the way. Turning picture profiles completely off removes the problem entirely on both A7s models.

[Anthony Mozora]

same dillema here... can not deside !

[Docea Marius]

i buy fs5 :-)

[Cliff Totten]

You might want to wait for NAB. There are rumors that Sony could bust out with a full frame camcorder. Could we see a future "PXW-FS1" with an A7s-II sensor?

Interesting....

[Chad Johnson]

Get both! One camera is never enough anyway. That being said, with the Metabones Speedbooster Ultra you gain 1 stop of light (twice as bright). And with fast Canon lenses your low light noisiness will be somewhat mitigated.

[Olof Ekbergh]

Yes the short answer is buy both.

They are completely different cameras.

The A7s cams are just a smaller DSLR with all the ergonomic problems they entail, but smaller lighter and fantastic in low light. Needs cage etc to function well for video. No Pro audio.

The FS5 is a real video camera with fantastic ND built in, very sensible video cam switches and buttons, very easy to use, if you are used to a "real" video camera. Fine to go w/o additional kit. And balanced audio input.

Both will do the same job, but IMHO the general shooting quality is far superior in the FS5 until you go low light, then the A7s is better, but the FS5 is still quite good at low light.

I have both, and I use the FS5 much more often. The only time I use the A7s is in very low light and if I need stills as well, though the Canon 5DmkII is better at stills.

[Doug Jensen]

+1
All true.

[Richard D. George]

I owned Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 6D full-frame cameras with many L lenses. Neither are better than my Sony a7R ii for stills. Not even close. I also like stills from my A7S.

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Currently going thru the same decision process. When it comes to low-light, if you go too low looks unnatural. I started carrying a small aputure 4x6 led panel on a light stand. Helps things without being to annoying, when place near DJ hardly noticeably. Creates a nice rim lighting effect of people dancing.

Other things to consider which my help:

Sony A7S II compared to - Sony FS5
battery less than an hour - BP-U90 up to 4 hours
Need variable ND - built-in variable ND
Mic only input - XLR inputs
Smaller ergonomics, few buttons - Better ergonomics, flexibility, more buttons
Continous 120fps recording - buffered recording with end trigger at higher frame rates
Xavc S slower codec on editing systems - Xavc L more support and cleaner codec
Single SD card slot - Dual SD cards slots
Full frame, increased rolling shutter, better lowlight - Super 35mm, less rolling shutter, center crop to get more zoom.

Hope the helps.

Cheers!

[Cliff Totten]

I see it this way:

A7s-II: Rolling shutter argument aside, if you are willing to suffer the A7s-II's ergonomic and time limit deficiencies, you could easily match the image quality that the FS5 could give you on just about any shot.

FS5: This camera's ergonomics are WONDERFUL. However, in low light conditions, the FS5 will NOT be able to match the image quality that an A7s-II could deliver. (I see my A7s-II out resolving my FS5 by a slight amount. It does oversample it's UHD while the FS5 is only a 1:1 pixel readout)

As far as the "end result" image quality is concerned, with a little inconvenience, the A7s-II CAN be an FS5.but the FS5 CANT be an A7s-II no mater how good it's ergonomics are. Again, I'm throwing out the ergonomics discussion and yes, that not fair.

I have always said that when you deliver a project and people love your video. When it's finished, nobody cares about how much you had to jump through DSLR hoops in the field when you shot it.

If it looks beautiful in the end, than it's mission accomplished.

CT