Deciding between 70d and sony a77...

Jeff Harper · January 6th, 2014, 09:28 AM

Very nice Phil, fantastic image, very nice stabilization.

Robert I have a GH1 and GH2 background so a time limit is a restriction I am not accustomed to. When you shoot 4 cameras solo, any unnecessary distraction has the potential for disaster. For example if I'm stuck in the front getting closeups of the vows I cannot ask them to stop the ceremony while I run and and restart my camera. I record and deliver entire events without interruption so this aspect is important to me.

Does anyone know if the Clear Image Zoom can be activated whilst the camera is recording?

Robert Benda · January 6th, 2014, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Harper

Robert I have a GH1 and GH2 background so a time limit is a restriction I am not accustomed to. When you shoot 4 cameras solo, any unnecessary distraction has the potential for disaster. For example if I'm stuck in the front getting closeups of the vows I cannot ask them to stop the ceremony while I run and and restart my camera. I record and deliver entire events without interruption so this aspect is important to me.

We're reasonably new Canon shooters so Magic Lantern solved the time limit issue for us before we even started (along with several other benefits like still recording use of digital zoom to check focus); Literally my only compromise is that there is a 1/4 second break in the 12 minute clips and, frankly, I don't stay on a shot for that long continuously. To make certain it doesn't happen during vows, I try to make sure I do a manual restart before vows/rings but if I don't it's no big deal.

May I ask, Jeff, when you mention being down front for vows, are you off to the side, in the pews, in the aisle? I do recall one church we've shot in where there was plenty of space, so I hid in front of the pews down front to film, but could still slip off to the side to escape. We're also considering, when there isn't room up front, taking an aisle seat for a camera, like we've seen some photographers do, so you can film back and front without being in the aisle.

Jeff Harper · January 6th, 2014, 12:16 PM

Where I am located during vows is dependent on the church/venue/priest/officiant. I always get as close as I can without becoming noticeable. Sometimes I will be almost in front of the couple on my knees shooting up when I can hide in front of the first pew privacy partition, other times I will be off to the side. Other times I will be in the back. In Protestant churches I have sat in the first pew and minded a camera almost the whole ceremony, if it was kept empty, but that does not occurs often. For Baptists specifically I will often ask the bride to keep the first pew empty and they will normally do that. Baptists and non-denominational are the easiest to work with, I have found, but the vast majority of my customers are catholic and do full hour long mass including communion. And for these I can sometimes be down front and other times off to the side. I have seen a few ceremonies run 75 minutes, hence my desire for uninterrupted recording.

Dave Blackhurst · January 6th, 2014, 05:04 PM

@ Jeff - you just set CIZ or CIZ+digital in the menus, and it's a reasonably smooth transition (there's a little hiccup between optical and digital zoom ranges), just using normal ring or the zoom lever by the shutter button.

There's a little "C" or "D" in the zoom indicator, a multiplier is displayed, and there's a small line in the zoom indicator bar (as is Sony's typical approach) to indicate where the transition between optical and "non-optical" will happen.

Jeff Harper · January 6th, 2014, 05:48 PM

Thanks Dave. Let me see if I understand...if CIZ is turned on, then in the early part of a zoom it's optical. Only at a certain point does it then use CIZ?

Dave Blackhurst · January 6th, 2014, 11:43 PM

Yep, optical from 28-200mm, then it will begin to digital zoom (processing the substantial amount of data off the sensor to keep resolution decent), they call it "Clear Image Zoom" since it retains detail fairly well to about 2x optical (400mm), but you can go to 4x, or around 800mm in digital if you set it to C+D in the menus. I shot some footage to test, and it holds up decently most of the way through the digital range, but it does degrade as you start past the CIZ range, might be usable in a pinch is how I'd rate it!

You might want to have a look in the "news" section at the top of the forum - two new VIDEO cameras (one is 4K!) just announced, with the 1" sensor and Bionz X, probably complicating the decision making process!

Jeff Harper · January 9th, 2014, 12:15 PM

Thanks, Dave, I'll check out the article you refer to.

January 6th, 2014, 09:28 AM	#16
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... Very nice Phil, fantastic image, very nice stabilization. Robert I have a GH1 and GH2 background so a time limit is a restriction I am not accustomed to. When you shoot 4 cameras solo, any unnecessary distraction has the potential for disaster. For example if I'm stuck in the front getting closeups of the vows I cannot ask them to stop the ceremony while I run and and restart my camera. I record and deliver entire events without interruption so this aspect is important to me. Does anyone know if the Clear Image Zoom can be activated whilst the camera is recording?

January 6th, 2014, 12:16 PM	#18
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... Where I am located during vows is dependent on the church/venue/priest/officiant. I always get as close as I can without becoming noticeable. Sometimes I will be almost in front of the couple on my knees shooting up when I can hide in front of the first pew privacy partition, other times I will be off to the side. Other times I will be in the back. In Protestant churches I have sat in the first pew and minded a camera almost the whole ceremony, if it was kept empty, but that does not occurs often. For Baptists specifically I will often ask the bride to keep the first pew empty and they will normally do that. Baptists and non-denominational are the easiest to work with, I have found, but the vast majority of my customers are catholic and do full hour long mass including communion. And for these I can sometimes be down front and other times off to the side. I have seen a few ceremonies run 75 minutes, hence my desire for uninterrupted recording. Last edited by Jeff Harper; January 6th, 2014 at 05:32 PM.

January 6th, 2014, 05:04 PM	#19
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... @ Jeff - you just set CIZ or CIZ+digital in the menus, and it's a reasonably smooth transition (there's a little hiccup between optical and digital zoom ranges), just using normal ring or the zoom lever by the shutter button. There's a little "C" or "D" in the zoom indicator, a multiplier is displayed, and there's a small line in the zoom indicator bar (as is Sony's typical approach) to indicate where the transition between optical and "non-optical" will happen.

January 6th, 2014, 05:48 PM	#20
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... Thanks Dave. Let me see if I understand...if CIZ is turned on, then in the early part of a zoom it's optical. Only at a certain point does it then use CIZ?

January 6th, 2014, 11:43 PM	#21
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... Yep, optical from 28-200mm, then it will begin to digital zoom (processing the substantial amount of data off the sensor to keep resolution decent), they call it "Clear Image Zoom" since it retains detail fairly well to about 2x optical (400mm), but you can go to 4x, or around 800mm in digital if you set it to C+D in the menus. I shot some footage to test, and it holds up decently most of the way through the digital range, but it does degrade as you start past the CIZ range, might be usable in a pinch is how I'd rate it! You might want to have a look in the "news" section at the top of the forum - two new VIDEO cameras (one is 4K!) just announced, with the 1" sensor and Bionz X, probably complicating the decision making process!

January 9th, 2014, 12:15 PM	#22
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Deciding between 70d and sony a77... Thanks, Dave, I'll check out the article you refer to.