Sony A7 and A7r , FF gems, like GH3 but FF

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Specs, A7

24Mp CMOS FF sensors
14bit RAW
E mount
100-51200 ISO
Phase AF on sensor, 117 points
Applications support
OLED 2.4Mp EVF
SDHC card slot
Whether sealed
1/8000 shutter speed
1/250 flash sync speed
Serial shooting - 5fps and 2.5fps modes
Movie modes - 24p/60i/60p w/uncompressed HDMI output
- PS - 1920 x 1080/60p@28Mbps
- FX - 1920 x 1080/60i@24Mbps
- FH - 1920 x 1080/60i@17Mbps
- FX - 1920 x 1080/24p@24Mbps
- FH - 1920 x 1080/24p@17Mbps
Headphone Jack
Microphone Input
XLR adaptor kit available. Separate control of the left and right channel inputs is available via this adaptor.
Tiltable 920kp LCD screen
Focus peaking
MIDI output compatible with 4K TVs (for photo only now)
Wi-Fi, NFC
Size - 127mm x 95mm x 48mm
Weight - 474gr
$1698 (or 1500 EUR)

Specs, A7r

36Mp CMOS FF sensors
14bit RAW
E mount
100-51200 ISO
Contrast AF only
Applications support
OLED 2.4Mp EVF
SDHC card slot
Whether sealed
1/8000 shutter speed
1/250 flash sync speed
Serial shooting - 5fps and 2.5fps modes
Movie modes - 24p/60i/60p w/uncompressed HDMI output
- PS - 1920 x 1080/60p@28Mbps
- FX - 1920 x 1080/60i@24Mbps
- FH - 1920 x 1080/60i@17Mbps
- FX - 1920 x 1080/24p@24Mbps
- FH - 1920 x 1080/24p@17Mbps
Headphone Jack
Microphone Input
XLR adaptor kit available. Separate control of the left and right channel inputs is available via this adaptor.
Tiltable 920kp LCD screen
Focus peaking
Wi-Fi, NFC
Size - 127mm x 95mm x 48mm
Weight - 465gr
$2198 (2100 EUR) body price

Preorder at:

A7 body, best option - http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ILCE7-Full-Frame-Interchangeable-Digital/dp/B00FRDUZXM/
A7r body, 36Mp - http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ILCE7R-Full-Frame-Interchangeable-Digital/dp/B00FRDUZUK/
A7 kit - http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ILCE7K-Full-Frame-Interchangeable-Digital/dp/B00FRDV06I

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Sony a7R Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera, $1848

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Full-Frame-Mirrorless-Digital-Camera/dp/B00FRDUZUK/

eatstoomuchjam

From the test shots that the guy has been posting in Voldemort's hideout, they look a lot like normal vintage lenses. Next maybe somebody can make a speed booster with a bellows so that I can be claiming to get a 4x5 or 8x10 look on a 35mm sensor. :)

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@eatstoomuchjam

Well, some part of medium format look is big glass lenses, unfortunately they are limited in size by human anatomy :-)

It'll be interesting to make some formal tests or check existing ones, and see how speed booster shift the results.

eatstoomuchjam

That's the guy who hangs out in Voldemort's hideout trying to convince people that using a medium format - e mount speed booster somehow results in a magical medium format look instead of just being a way to use very large slow lenses on your camera (an 80mm f/2.8 Hasselblad lens will turn into a 56mm f/2, not very exciting).

MikeLinn

amateur

should i buy the a7s over a7 considering that i would not overpass iso 80 (only for photography? is the dynamic range very better like said in specs ? 14.1 for a7...

MikeLinn

Vitaliy_Kiselev

joethepro

A7/A7S/A7R (possibly APS-c models as well which use similar image processing) - Image processing is eating stars in in-camera noise reduction in bulb mode:
http://community.sony.com/t5/Alpha-NEX-Cameras/Star-eater-in-bulb-mode/m-p/508740/highlight/true#M5625

It looks like the camera's internal image processing is removing some of the stars in bulb exposure mode. The above webpage is about A7, but there are A7S owners who confirm the same problem. ...Note how a large number of stars have had their bright centres completely punched out. This was taken at a focal length of 500mm. At short focal lengths, where the star occupies fewer pixels they end up being completely deleted. ...It's very simple, the camera's internal processing (which cannot be turned off by users) tried to remove hot pixels from long-exposure images, and this removes part of the stars. The same thing will happen even if the sensor is a monochromatic one. Actually, stars will be sharper on monochromatic sensors, which make them look even more like hot pixels, and therefore even more likely to be removed by such algorithms.

LongJohnSilver

@Manu4Vendetta

Please do not mix-up A7 and A7R or A7S or A7II. I'm using the original A7 since one month and it's pure crap for video. I'm struggling to get a decent image from them. I film mostly underwater and while my Panasonic setup is under service, Nauticam lent me an entire A7 kit. Probably not the best choice but it's free. I have a Sony A7 + Sony 10-18mm F/4 lens (APSC) + Nauticam NA-A7 housing. The first time I used this kit it was given to me on the boat. I had just the time to search on google for some setting explanation and one hour later I was on the water with this gear. Murphy's law was waiting for me : I set everything to 1080@60p 28Mbps but once in the water I pressed a custom button loading a custom setup previously saved hence the camera recorded everything in a ultra-compressed 1440@30p MOV. The 10-18mm lens is APSC and on the boat they told me to zoom in a little bit to cover the FF sensor. Actually later at home I discovered that the camera has a special APSC Crop Mode (*) for this. So my shots exhibited a strong vignetting while with this mode everything is ok. This is the video I was capable to get.

It's in nearly dark condition filmed at ISO 1250 only with artificial lights (two Keldan Luna 8 - 5000 Lumen - CRI 95) Colors are wonderful but file were untouchable One minute file is 80MB... One minute on my GH2 is 1GB. And border quality is embarassing.

Studying settings at home the camera was a mess (basically a rent camera) so I reset everything and I started again. I'm filming with color profile Natural with everything zeroed. I'm nearly sure that even the above video was shot with this profile but now I'm getting crap colors no matter what I set. I shot with this gear further 8 hours underwater but I'm not able to get a decent result. I do not understand how I was capable to get that colors. Uh!

(*) Later at home I tested the lens at 10mm with APSC Crop Mode ON and zoomed at 15mm with APSC Corp Mode OFF (Basically FF). In APSC mode you get no vignetting and distortion free borders but a huge moire(!?!?) In FF mode you get vignetting and distorted border but nearly zero moire (?!?)

Manu4Vendetta

nomad

I think he didn't test the APS-C mode for video. As far as I can tell from the specs, it shouldn't have any moiré problems with that size and after all, it's like S-35.

Manu4Vendetta

Interesting test with te A7II:

I put this video together to showcase what the Sony A7ii can and can't do. Ill start off by saying I absolutely adore this camera for stills and on the fly video shooting. The video out of this camera is significantly better than any Canon DSLR or Nikon (Aside from the Canon 1DC) but has two major issues from what I can tell. Moire and Aliasing. If you're going to buy this camera for all your video needs then please reframe from pointing this at any building. Its not as bad as the Canon 6D but still really bad. Im quite confused by why the camera has such a hard time reading the sensor properly by that i mean line skipping. On paper this camera and the A7s have near the same video specs. Yes the A7s only has 12 megapixels and the A7ii has 24 so its easier for the A7s but the body is fairly bigger in the A7ii. You think sony would be able to have the mkii do a full sensor read out as well as have enough room to cool the sensor. Im not sure if this is a potential firmware upgrade that could fix this issue, one can only hope.

Aside from those two things the camera is one fancy little machine. The Slog2 took some time to get used. I played around with several different luts and in camera settings to find what really worked for me. In the end i just found that exposing +2 stops over was the sweet spot for the camera. Almost every frame in here was shot using Slog2 and graded with Vision Color "Osiris" lut. Absolutely adore their presets! The Dynamic Range from what i can tell is fantastic in Slog2 and even PP6. Haven't really explored any other preset or changed much in camera to see how well it holds. Shooting in Slog2 on this camera requires a native ISO of 1600 so heavy NDs will be needed. Now for lenses i only have one Sony lens and thats the 28-70 kit. Once i bought this camera my legacy glass addiction went through the roof. I think i used the kit lens on two shots out of this whole thing. There is a mixture of legacy glass and Canon EF throughout. To name a few...

Canon FD 135mm f2.5 S.C Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 58mm 1.4 Canon 24-105mm f4 Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 135 f2.8 Minolta MD 28mm f2.8

For adapters I use the Fotga MD-NEX, Commelite EF-NEX Autofocus and Fotodiox FD-NEX. They all work perfectly on this system. The Commelite does autofocus but go ahead and and have a few drinks before it locks into place. We will not be seeing a perfect autofocus for Canon lenses until the A7Rii drops. I did try out the Metabones and couldn't justify spending that much money on an adaptor that flickers when dropping down the f stop? Not sure if they have fixed that issue or not but even if so I still would not spend $400 on an adaptor just so I can put my Canon lenses on them. Commelite works like a dream.

Conclusion! The camera is everything I imagined it would be. Perfect photography camera that takes exceptional video. The 5 axis stabilizer built into the sensor is incredible. I N C R E D I B L E. Paired with a Sony FE OSS lens and you will be all set for taking photos at an 8th of second handheld with sharp results. Im sure you can go lower I haven't tested but shooting at an 8th looks like I was on a pair of sticks. The built in Peaking makes it so much easier to gain perfect in focus shots manually. So using legacy glass for me is like using an autofocus lens sometimes. Its that spot on. I could go on and on about the PROS of this camera but frankly its past my bedtime and need to stop. To sum it up...Sony has sold me on their Innovative journey with these cameras. I consider myself a fan and looking forward to seeing what else they pull out. Can't wait for the A7smkii with the built in 5axis and internal 4k. Maybe even 10bit recording. Now I'm asking for too much.

Music by Jordan Casey titled "Young"

Dragonfly Productions

Manu4Vendetta

@LongJohnSilver, good question. Im interested in the A7, a full frame relatively cheap, a monster in still, but I dont get enough reliable references about video performance.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

OK, From what I see I'm the only one trying to use this piece of s**t

LOL. Nope, but this guys are too busy shooting things, not much talks.

A7 is very popular body as can be get affordable, especially refurbished used now.

I do not think it has super specific settings for video, you can check previous pages, they have lots of references.

LongJohnSilver

OK, From what I see I'm the only one trying to use this piece of s**t

LongJohnSilver

I got an A7 body as a present.

Some suggestion on best settings for video?

MikeLinn

Manu4Vendetta

I've noticed something curious, these two cameras are great references in still, almost nobody uses or are leaders in video, maybe only perception.

I've been tempted to acquire the body of the A7 which is now below US $ 1,000 and I fixed a lot of still, but I make videos and shorts and maybe in video arent ideal camera. Apparently the A5100/A6000 (APSC) do better job in video.

Am I wrong?