Some of the interesting tidbits:
– A7s has been developed along the A7 and A7r cameras
– development took 2-3 years
– Reason why the camera doesn’t record 4K internally is because of power consumption and because of the heating produced by the large sensor
– The one big physical change compared ot th A7-A7r is that the A7s has a stainless steel made mount.
A7s sites in different languages at Sony US, DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.
Newsshooter is busy producing videos (by the way great work guys!). And here is the a video about the new Atomos Shogun 4K recorder for Sony a7S:
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Wait now for all the comments saying this is a better camera because of the lens mount.
This is a better camera because of the lens mount.
Damn, now I feel it’s a better camera because of the premium lens mount.
So which lenses will you be using on this?
I can’t use any lenses on a7R’s plastic mount. Should’ve waited for a7S. 🙁
A7R’s plastic mount, you smoked a bit to much of your carpet, did you?
I have heard that carpet smoking interferes with sarcasm detection.
Cinema lenses are big and heavy so it needs that mount, in photography big lenses are mounted to the tripod.
From what the Atmos guy is saying this camera will be around $3000 not feeling that price tag at all!
There are other rumors circulating pinning the initial price at $2500. I doubt they will go to $3000 with the GH4 selling for $1700 unless they are planning on a series of quick rebates from the start like what they did with the A7/A7R
what does the Atmos guy knows what we don’t know, we all can give our opinion, the reality is what we see when Sony announces the price. More then 1700$, they lose the game facing GH4 which has a smaller sensor but for that some major attributes that give it a certain advantage.
Yep, >2k will diminish their sales.
But increase their profits
An unsold camera does not increase profit.
Pricing is all about finding the sweet spot between total sales and profit margin. If they can initially sell 10,000 units @ $1700 but will lose 30% of sales by pricing it at $2500 – they will still bring in both higher overall revenue and a higher profit margin per unit at $2500 all during a period when initial supplies will be constrained.
Electronics companies know that they can initially sell higher to early adopters and then target those on the fence with sales, rebates & price drops.
I hope it is $1700, I like saving money. If it’s $2500, it still seems worth it to me. Either way, I’ll hold off for independent reviews.
The Atomos CEO is in a much better position to predict the A7s’s price because 1) he’s in the industry and 2) based on this video he talks directly with Sony’s sales and marketing executives.
Looking at Sony’s graphic, the a7s is placed above the a7r, so it will quite probably cost more than the a7r launch price.
I surely am! Stainless steel mount after all!
so, when you record to an external recorder, the sensor will then not overheat. There is something that escapes to me here. Let’s see the results first and above all, let’s wait to see the pricing. If they sell it for 1700$ it can be a runner, for more than that wee stay with G4 as a target for video, it can record 4k internally and the senor does not overheat.
that is interesting I would love for one of the smart people on this site to explain that. I would love to know how that works.
The A7s has a larger sensor in a smaller camera body vs the GH4, thus the FF sensor + Bionz running @ 4K internal compressed has to run in a lower thermal budget.
Processing the 4k data to compress takes a lot of processor power constantly hence the over heating, it’s 4 times bigger in res than HD so takes 4 times the power. Sending a clean 4k signal out to an external recorder is uncompressed therefore requires far less processor power and won’t overheat. When storage is fast enough to record uncompressed 4k then maybe you will see it in this small camera along with faster more efficient processors, until then 1080 internally is more than plenty for what most people will use this camera for.
the atmos guy is saying that they will sell them as a kit for around 5K amd the Atmos is under 2k Do the math!!
It might be a kit set with FE 2470. Read from somewhere the price of body is $1699, not sure it’s rumour or not
So, Den danced right around that question of how bad/good the rolling shutter is controlled in the α7S. Too bad :/
Yep, sounds pretty bad.
You know someone blogger is going to hand an A7s to a 3-year old who will shake it like a Polaroid Picture, and everyone will be all up in arms about the “rolling shutter issue”
that’s is if they don’t find a light leak with the body cap off first
Yep, here’s a comment from Den about the rolling shutter. He skirts around the question and says it posed no problem on “the shoot”, which it wouldn’t because the camera was completely stable. http://www.fstopacademy.com/blog/sony-alpha-7s-first-hands-on-shooting-review/
His wise solution was “don’t move the camera”….
I think Sony will look at how the market response to decide on the pricing, will be under 3k according to Atomos guy.
Exactly what I said in the previous post. The reason why Sony decided not to allow 4K to be recorded internally. Overheating(because of slow writing. which could of been solved with an upgraded SD card reader to UHS-II) faster battery drain. OH MY I think all NEX users were asking Sony to make a better battery for the e mount cameras, but no for NEX 3/5/6/7/a7/a7r/a7s Sony could of not packed more mAhs in the same shaped battery? How many years will it take to work on a new battery 10+yrs? Or just have more than 1 battery.
The overheating is from the processor and sensor, which can’t be cooled fast enough in the very small α7S body to properly record UHD internally.
I say it with personal experience. I own a NEX-7 and tested video recording at top quality with Sandisk Extreme 64GB 45MB/s*. Outside in the cold winter and the camera overheated just over 3 minutes. Then I bought a Sandisk Extreme Pro 32GB 95MB/s* and recorded @ top quality, room temperature, and went over 17 minutes before there was some warmth building up. Also instead of just getting 10 raw burst shots per second. With the 95MB/s* I was able to reach 13 shots before the camera went to 1 shot per second. 10 x 24-26MB raw = 240-260MB/s. So If the camera HAD the SD card slot to support UHS-II (sandisk extreme pro UHS-II 280MB/s*) 280MB/s* > 240-260MB/s, therefore the camera would continue fire in burst mode until the camera would overheat. I think if the a7S would of had the SD UHS-II support the camera would still overheat, but like the NEX-7 you would be able to record longer before it actually overheated. A scene(before the point of view is changed) in a professional movie only is recorded from a few seconds to maybe a few minutes is enough before the camera would overheat. Not counting documentaries.
Wow. Such a shame Sony didn’t call on you when they designed this. You just solved the overheating problem with a UHS-II reader. I can’t believe they didn’t think of that. The people who design this stuff must be really stupid. You’re clearly better at designing incredibly complicated pieces of technology such as this.
Sandisk actually release their UHS-II SD card February 2014. I think Sony already had a lot of cameras already built before Sandisk released their UHS-II. 🙁 . I have a few realistic ideas for several company’s devices. Maybe I have to contact some companies to upgrade their products’s SD card reader to support UHS-II. The nice thing about the new SD card is that its still the same shape and size. Just needs more pin connections. like micro USB 3.
WOW UHS-II microSD card too! Sandisk is the best! Getting your smartphone ready for 4K recording without issues. Thats awesome.
Here are the Sandisk news. Just a bit late for sony to start soldering new SD card readers. When the cameras are already in their boxes.
http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2014/sandisk-announces-world’s-fastest-sd-card/
BHphotovideo and adorama are already selling them.
actually battery development is really on slow pace these days. Just look at smartphone industries, the bigger battery capacity the bigger the phone/battery size.
I agree and I think there is another reason for the slow development. They seam to be more concerned about energy efficient products than stronger batteries. I am pretty sure they can do it if they wanted to.
Yeah…I just buy a 2nd battery. would rather have 2 then 1 so dense that may explode from overheat. Then be blamed as a terrorist who was taking 4k recording and decided to blow there own face up, and taking others near by with expensive glass (as shrapnel) just a 0.00001% possible danger. Realistically speaking the camera would just turn off. OR…maybe cut/lose your fingers holding the grip that is blown up, and don’t forget you’d lose your right eye if you were looking in the EVF. If you seen people messing with lithium batteries on youtube. blow up like grenades definitely not safe.
How about a stainless reputation first Sony ? Like real 14 bit color.
Dude, 14 is just a number. Numbers don’t have a color. Everyone knows that.
Sony has trained us well. Wait a month and the camera will be $300 off. Wait another and it will be $600 off. Wait a year and there will be some lenses for it. Wait until the camera is broken and they will introduce the medium format and make all your lenses worthless.
Sony has a plan
My advice would be to avoid Sony products if you feel that way. Not sure why you’re on a Sony rumour site frankly.
Sounds about right..
Sony has the most ADHD marketing.
BS, I would say. Here the A7(r) is still at introduction price…(NL)
So…you don’t like discounts and saving money?
Large company in sell at launch price then discount later on shocker!!!! Read all about it!!
Jeromy from Atomos is awesome. You gotta love a guy who will openly speak his mind and curse a bit on camera.
The A7 is exciting and really disappointing at the same time. DR and IQ look fantastic, especially the fisherman video that was recorded internally. But once again Sony leaves out desired features – like internal 4K, higher bitrate codec, and the A6000’s AF so it can sell us the A7s successor in 9 months with a miraculous heat sink, more recording options and the new AF. One thing Sony likes to do is push out new bodies, and the A7 seems to be no exception.
I’m on the fence, I have a GH4 on order and I’m not canceling it, but this looks like its going to crush it in low light. As a still camera it leaves a lot to be desired (the A6000 looks far better) and the external recording options are very limited for now. If it comes in at $1700 I’ll bite and pick up a A6000 for a second stills body when I’m shooting events. Otherwise I’ll wait a few months for the blowout like with the A7/7R and get one cheap.
Apparently all these cameras were developed in parallel. So when the a7 were in development, they didn’t have access to the quick AF yet. The A7s can still focus in much darker lighting though, which might be more important than having a fast AF that can’t focus in low light.
I bet the better low light focusing performance is because of the much more light sensitive sensor. Less noise with high ISO makes it easier for CDAF and sensor based PDAF.
It is also very important to have fast AF in low light. You do not want to be saying, “Oh it would have focused if it had stayed put for a little longer”. If you want to photograph theatre productions or rock concerts professionally you need AF that can focus in low light and is still fast and not just one of them. To have one without the other is not good enough.
They have had plenty of time since the launch of the A7’s to get the new AF into the A7s. If that is still not enough time then delay the launch further. If this camera cannot focus any faster in low light than a A7r but has a great sensor for low light work it is going to be pretty pointless and a wasted opportunity.
XAVC S is actually very efficient. It’s a modern codec, and bitrate doesn’t mean everything because of that; do research on it and you’ll see a plethora of info on its good gradability and low file size.
I’ll wait for full tests and downloadable footage before passing final judgement, but internal 4k, a modern AF and $1700 makes the GH4 a keeper. The big factor for me is price, if its priced close to the GH4, I’m getting one. If not I can just wait for early adopters to unload them at a huge discount, like I did with my $1400 rx1 that was barely used.
Seems that Sony has literally been EVERYTHING wrong since A77. A fail after fail after fail.
Get SLTs almost right – then release the half-baked A99 and focus on NEX – then forget about NEX and roll out FE – then rename NEX into “Alpha” – then forget about photos entirely and take up 4K video…
If these Sonys aren’t better than what you’ve already got you wouldn’t be here, bitching or otherwise.
The a7s is more a stills camera than a 4k camera. Stupid…
Yeah, total failure with all those awesome cameras that people seem to really like. The concept of trolling is to say something that is modestly clever and on-point and create entertaining dissent. Instead, you kind of upchuck a “camera forum magnetic poetry” potpourri of ignorance. Try again tomorrow, but practice really really hard between now and then.
The only exciting piece of news I’ve read here on SAR since the A77 was about the 70200G2, and we all know how that turned out (3x overpriced). NOTHING even remotely interesting since then.
I realize there’re a lot of P&S shooters Sony made happy with all those NEXs and RXs, and from the number of people who liked your reply, this crowd must be larger than the Alpha community by now…
Lol, “P&S shooters”. That’s the best argument you came up with?
OK, how about that:
Sony’s 70200F4 is 62.900 rubles.
Canon’s 70200F4 is 18.295 rubles.
Sony’s 70200G2 is 114.900 rubles.
Canon’s 70-200 f/2.8 is 39.300 rubles.
How’s that not a fail? 3x overpricing on lenses.
Idk where do you see those prices, but I imagine you are looking at the old Canon versions to see such differences, not to mention that mirrorless lenses are generally more expensive. And even though Sony lenses might be somewhat more expensive that doesn’t make them a fail as long as people buy them.
While I don’t agree with everything Duott wrote, his assessment of the 70-200g2 pricing is correct. It costs 50% more than the Sony 70-200 G1 (which was a re-badged Minolta design) and 20% more than the Canon completely re-designed 70-200 II, which is superior and has class leading IS.
The optical design of the G2 remains the same, Sony just added a new coating and upgraded the gears in the focus motor. A 50% price increase is a failure, if not for Sony, than for loyal customers.
A 10% price increase would have been fair, which is the same as the increase from the 70-400 G1 to G2. Maybe (purely my speculation) Sony didn’t want to devote too much lens manufacturing capacity for the 70-200G2, so they upped the price to keep demand low (and profit high) while they devote manufacturing resources to the FE lenses. Introducing 5 FE lenses in as many months may be putting a strain on their resources.
Agreed. But it is not “fail after fail” or three times the price.
Well he is trolling, but even a broken clock is occasionally correct.
Either Canon lenses are very cheap in Russia, or you’re quoting the prices of older non-stabilised lenses.
OK, my bad, the new E-Mount has OSS… But still:
Sony’s 70200F4 OSS is 62.900 rubles.
Canon’s 70200F4 IS is 33.000 rubles.
Still an 2x overprice
Maybe in Russia, but it’s only about 25% more in the UK. The Sony is still at launch price so will come down sooner or later.
Right after the renaming they did the a6000. I don’t think they have forgotten anything. They are just making sure they have their presence in the 4K market
Well, indeed they have only brought the NEX 7, RX100, RX10, A7, A7R and RX1 and now they start with the A7S what a fail…
Lets star whining about the fact that they have only 20 lenses for the e-mount system, how dare they!
While everyone is mad that this camera doesn’t record 4k internally no one realizes that this camera will most probably be one of the best or THE best low light 2k consumer video camera which is arguably more valuable than internal 4k.
Sadly, Sony themselves have failed to communicate this.
is it confirmed it will use the full sensor for FullHD video, too ?
Is there any sample footage out there with camera movement? The Sony cherry blossom video felt a little misleading with 2 minutes of static shots – not even a pan or tilt.
this one have more movement (with the drone) http://vimeo.com/90739453
Thanks, the aerial and handheld shots looked good. It doesn’t seem like it will have worse rolling shutter effects than other SLRs.
So they used the HyperDeck Studio Pro ($1999) recorder from BlackMagic to record the 4k footage from the a7s. Maybe BlackMagic will release a portable 4k recorder for cheaper!… Atomos is releasing the Shogun for under $2k, and the camera shouldn’t make the “package” over $5k. Hmmm my guess is the a7s price will end up around $2000-$2500, i don’t see it going over $3k because it still needs to compete with the GH4.
a renowned camera store in australia has uploaded a pre order page for $3895 AU.
if you are hoping $2000 then you may end up paying almost double haha
Link? tks.
Many stores have preorder pages with bogus prices. This might be just one of them.
Tks, have to wait for official announcement by Sony, no point guessing.
I was interested as well so I found the link. It says it’s an estimate only but I would expect them to know. http://www.fotoriesel.com.au/en/sony-a7s-pre-order.html
tks, will wait for Sony announcement. Hope not more than 2.5k.
Dated back to last year before a7 announcement…
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr4-sony-developed-three-new-full-frame-sensors-24-32-and-16-megapixel/#disqus_thread
Andre did a good job! The truth revealed today, 3 FF sensors developed were 12M (not 32M), 24M & 36M
A good job? I hardly think so. Two were obvious, a child could have “predicted” 24 and 36, you’d have to be dumb not to. The third and actually the most important was completely wrong. Credit where credit is due, but there is no credit due on this occasion.
32MP still coming. 12MP I didn’t predict. My lack!
A77II will be 32 MP if it ever gets here and Sony dont just decide to go in a different direction and kill A-mount entirely.
So what camera will the 32MP sensor appear in? If it’s a FF sensor, I’m struggling to see the point of it, when there is already a 12, 24 and 36.
I have no SR5 info yet 🙁
Admin
We all know sony has made and tested a new 32mp sensor.
There is conflicting info about whether a77II will be 32 or 24mp.
Your latest rumer is claimed to be based on. “A trusted soarce heard that”
Can you give use any indication of how probable you think 24 or 32 mp will be in the a77II?
veyr likely 24MP. But I am still awaiting for confirmation yet.
Apparently we were both given.different info
I guess we will both know for sure in 3 weeks.
Andrea doesn’t predict anything. He simply works on information he is given by sources. Don’t shoot the messenger.
When it comes to this site, he is clearly doing a good job.
But shouldn’t be given credit for something he didn’t predict and was just chance. That’s the point.
Which is why I said he doesn’t predict anything.
I guess the road it’s pretty clear now, or at least I think so.
A7, A7R, A7S.
We have RX1 and RX1R, maybe an RX1S is coming as well, maybe more oriented to low light picture shooting?
I guess the same path we’re gonna see it in the successor of the A99: with in camera 4k recording due to bigger body size and therefore better heat dissipation.
APS-C as well?
We’ll see.
What I think is that Sony is showing some ambitions here, challenging the 2 big ones (CaNikon).
I like that.
Sony’s 70200F4 is 62.900 rubles.
Canon’s 70200F4 is 18.295 rubles.
Sony’s 70200G2 is 114.900 rubles.
Canon’s 70-200 f/2.8 is 39.300 rubles.
Challenge CaNikon my ass… That’s living in fantasy world, not competing.
The A7x series is a drop in the ocean compared to CaNikon sales. CaNikon have a fully supported system with a multitude of lenses, accessories and third-party support. There is more to challenging CaNikon than releasing a FF mirror-less body. Sure it will pick up some sales, but not much else.
Hey is Sony still recovering from that tragic incident. Remember… 300 people died, factory flooded, equipment trashed. If you own a new camera like a7/a7R where was it made? Japan or did they officially move into China.
Tailand afaik
Thanks for the information. :/ I guess Sony stayed in the same place. Hopefully no more floods. We don’t want things going slower. I read that all 3 factories are there; Sony, Nikon, and Canon. All were faced the tsunami flood damages.
yes, i can also confirm its made in thailand, it says so at the bottom of my camera (a7)
Lets just hope no more tsunamis. What beauty is there to capture when everything is destroyed T_T.
i hope so too! a lot of things were effected in that tsunami
If the A7/R form factor was not able to have a proper shutter from the developing stage why would it be able to address heat dissipation and a bigger battery? It woudln’t so Sony deliberately chose it that way, they chose to sacrifice it for something I don’t think completely worth it: getting the smallest possible FF camera. They sure accomplished that but in order to do so you just have to look the weird difference and chioces in specs between the A7 and A7R. I know that they have plans for the A99 successor and they always avoid conflict between their own line up but that didn’t need to sacrifice so much for the A7 series and then you would be able to have fast fps, 4K video and so much more. Would people really mind that much if the camera was slightly bigger in order to accommodate a proper shutter and battery?
“Would people really mind that much if the camera was slightly bigger in order to accommodate a proper shutter and battery?”
That’s an A mount camera. It’s like saying “Why don’t they put a mirror to a mirrorless?”. Because that would become a DSLR. Get it?
Something slightly bigger suddenly is equal DSLR-sized body? Seriously? You are really saying that the only way to have a proper shutter is DSLR-sized body? Please, gimme a break!
What kind of answer is that? You are allowed to try to make some irony but at least try do it when you are saying something intelligent, ok? You come with this prepotent analogy as you know it all but saying this kind of BS??
There are plenty of ways of making a FF mirrorless camera that has enough space to accommodate a proper normal shutter and enough to have better heat dissipation without getting anywhere near FF DSLR-sized body, plenty of ways, Sony just didn’t choose so.
Sony preferred the appearance over subtance, such a small FF is a pretty nice technological feat and better for marketing, but full of unnecessary flaws.
I’m confused. What is not “proper” about the A7(R)’s shutter?
He’s stuck on a rumors that has been disproved a while ago. Probably started by Panasonic.
I would like to have larger mirror less cameras. The A7 are too small for me. Half way in between A7 and A99 would fit MY needs, with extra programmable buttons, larger battery… I don’t get this hype to smaller and smaller cameras.
The OMD EM1 is the minimum size I find tolerable.
A mount is for those who want aa bigger camera.
I would like sony to start producing some new and better A mount cameras.
Sony has decided to make 2 lines for different prefferrences.
A mount users are sonys original customer base..lets see smething for us.
I agree. Small size is something that lends itself to one main thing: portability. I think if you asked anybody whose primary concern was image quality under varying conditions, portability would be something they would sacrifice. As far as handling goes, for studio work it doesn’t matter as long as there is tethering, and anybody who cares primarily about image quality holds a camera properly with 2 hands, if it is not on a tripod, monopod, or some sort of sling.
What kind of hobby shooter wants 36mp? I wouldn’t–takes longer to process, cards fill up faster, camera operates slower, etc. FF? What kind of hobby shooter cares about super-shallow DoF? None that I know of. The new A7s might be appealing to hobby shooters, but it is still too large to be pocketable, and it costs too much to want to just throw in your pocket anyway.
The incremental diminution in size of the A7 system over a DSLR/DSLT system is insufficient IMO to make it a fundamentally different form factor–all the same problems exist, only to a slightly smaller extent–and not smaller enough that you would treat the system any differently than you would a DSLT/DSLR.
For purposes of portable photography, the RX100ii is IMO 99% of the camera that any NEX is, and 95% of the camera that the A7 series is.
Give us a REAL camera. If I’m shelling out thousands of dollars for something, I want something that works, every time, all the time, no matter what I’m doing. I would rather pay $5k for something that has such a capability, than $2.5k for something that I see as crippled.
Or conversely, I would rather spend less than $1k for something that I can actually put into my pocket, like the RX100ii.
then get the NEX? lol
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I want mirrorless FF cameras, however, which are slightly larger, not cameras using SLT technology, unless, the new A-mount cameras are mirror less?
The new Xpro2 could be an alternative then.
Based on the most current rumors a new mirrorless A mount ff with 54mp stacked sensor will be anounced early to mid 2015
The a7II be announce the end of this month but the rumors about the specs vary
One rumor is 32mp mirorless c
Another rumor is 24mp c slt but with 20% light loss from the mirror rather than the current 30%. Thats thats about 1/3 of an f stop.
Like you I am frustrated by the slow pace of A mount news but I still believe it will happen.
I am hoping all this waiting will be worth it.
You are discarding one issue and exaggerating others. Might be perfectly valid for you, but overall? In the end, how big should the camera be to fit inside what you want, yet keep it different enough in size from the alpha line?
It’s not about me Mr. Fanboy, who wouldn’t had wanted 4K internally with such a powerful video camera? Who wouldn’t had wanted better AF? Faster burst fps?
The camera doesn’t need to be nowhere near the A99 size to be able to deliver these things, not at all. Without the EVF hump, the A7 is basically the same size as the NEX-7 and you are saying that it couldn’t be slightly bigger without getting too close to the A99? Please, get out of your own world and put things into perspective.
Have you ever seen the A7 side-by-side with the A99 or any other FF DSLR to say that the A7’s couldn’t be slighlty bigger that you would end up confusing the two?
It’s so hard to argue with haters/fanboys because logic is not their strongest suit and they are always in the defensive mode, whatever they like is always best and whatever they hate is always worst, a simpler life.
You are not arguing. I asked you two questions, yet you are talking about my logic and me being a fanboy? Lighten up.
When you tried to sound like smart pants and patronizing using irony, that was too much for me.
“It’s like saying “Why don’t they put a mirror to a mirrorless?”. Because that would become a DSLR. Get it?”.
Taking that aside, I’m all for a real conversation. So, do you really think that you can’t make a camera with a proper shutter – all Sony cameras are basically 10fps or more, not 2fps or 3fps – with a better heat dissipation without making it close to the A99 size rather than closer to the actual A7?
You put things as I’m looking for an angle that only suits my needs over other things but by reviews of previous A7/R and by lots of people reacting to the A7s – not that the Internet is such a reliable form of sample -, I don’t think that having a faster fps, internal 4K and A6000 like AF is something that only I think it’s a valid point. Even more if that came as a cost of wanting the most diminutive camera body possible instead of a yet small camera but not APS-C-sized small.
But nonetheless it’s totally in accordance with what Sony has been doing lately.
While I often use sarcasm, this time I didn’t. You are quoting someone else’s words as mine, do read my comment again.
Yes, I do think you are looking for an angle that only suits your needs, but that is only normal. You don’t care much about size; fps, internal 4K and battery life are more important to you. But that is not the case for everyone. Higher fps are hardly useful in most types of photography, additional batteries can be purchased etc. Not saying these aren’t valid points, but size is as valid. Personally, I value smaller cameras oand am ready to make some sacrifices in terms of features.
As to making the camera bigger, yes, there is space between an a99 and an a7. But how much? The a99 has a battery rated at 500 shots, the a7 at 340. Does it make sense to make the camera a bit bigger so we can get, what, 70 more shots? I think Sony did it right: make a smaller camera to clearly differentiate it from the alpha line. And in a couple of years, the technology will be there to give you the better battery life and higher fos anyway in that small body. Certainly makes sense. Now, whether it is the best possible solution for the consumer today, that is up to each of us.
Ignore him vlad. You replied initially like a normal decent person. He seems to be getting angry at every response. As soon as he mentioned fanboy, I lost interest.
Don’t we get additional benefits for having larger bodies (first proposal: size half-way in between a99 and a7)? What about preventing vibrations, excessive heat accumulation, more customisable buttons or an additional dial, larger grip to comfortably hold it for longer times, better balance together with larger lenses, larger battery size (I wouldn’t mind even 70 more shots)?
Yes we all would want it, but that would sacrifice the price, not everyone needs that extra stuff. I am sure the A9 will do what you need.
The A7 is meant to be small and I wouldn’t want it any bigger.
Ok, I’ll bite. What’s a proper shutter for a still camera?
http://rossfairgrieve.com/clash-of-the-4k-mini-titans-sony-a7s-vs-panasonic-gh4/
all sersier A7 mean week AF and week Battery life.
Dude shut the hell up, it is the worlds smallest mirrorless full frame with a battery half the size of a dslr, bigger battery means bigger camera. It’s a hell of an achievement to get 400 shots out of a battery half the size of a dslr that can only manage 200 in live view.
You always can use the vertical grip (battery life) and use manual focus.
This looks interesting and I may be ready to jump ship from Canon if this camera is worthwhile. I am not a pro, just an amateur photographer/videographer and want a good camera that can do both video and stills in one package. I was thinking about buying a 5D iii and installing Magic Lantern RAW for the video but there are a lot of downsides to that (unofficial software that is pre-alpha, massive files to name two big ones).
I am still considering that option but if this camera can give me high quality video that is close in resolution, detail, dynamic range, etc. to the 5D iii with Magic Lantern RAW and not mush like most dslr type video these days, then I will probably end up buying this; that is, if the price is under $k.
According to the video, with the Shogun, you’re looking at a package in the $5,000 ballpark. A bargain at any price! ;^)
Seriously, the a7S looks amazing but for an amateur like me I can wait. Maybe easy for me to say because I’m not that into video but I also realize 4k isn’t at a consumer tipping point yet and like HD before it will get better and cheaper in pretty quick order. I spent $2,000 on an early Sony HD camcorder (I think it was their 1st). Wow! Can I have that money back? Quickly became a disappointment. :^(
What have they been using for mount up until now? Sigma is using solid brass for example
Plastic I presume.
polycarbonate maybe, i know that nikon has used all three, brass, stainless steel and polycarbonate -> depends on the model, i was just curious (i’m not an engineer so i can’t tell which one is best)
– plastic is cheaper and lighter
– brass is easier to machine than stainless, provides a good sliding surface (lower coefficient of friction than stainless), and easy to chrome plate.
– stainless is harder and less likely to bend. cost of machining will be higher, but will not need to be chrome plated like brass.
– they all have their place on various cameras as best material choice for expected use.
– Reason, I would speculate, is that sony expects to see heavy off brand lenses to be used on this camera (cinema and slr big glass)
(my engineering education being of use here/i am a photographer)
thank you
Could this be to do with the light leak issues and the fact this A7 has a very sensitive sensor?
It’s more likely that us video folk would be using heavier lenses with it, more cinema lenses than stills. Mount flex has always been an issue on some of the prosumer and, to lesser degree, pro cameras
they said in a video, not sure if it’s the first one, that the A7s will use a strengthen mount due to the use of heavy cine lens.
Does anyone know what tripod and fluid head the cameras are standing on in the second atomos video?
I wonder how far back they are going to drop that 2-3yr development time?
As far back as when their youngest engineer on the project finished college I presume…
Quite many customers, who invested more than 10 000 – 15 000 € into their systems, are waiting information about a-mount FF camera. And there is none.
Question for the tech minded here. When we shoot video directly to the A7s how is the file down sampled to HD 1080p? Thanks!
It’s scaled properly in camera, so every pixel is used as part of the scale. This is different to most other cameras where they skip lines or ‘bin’ pixels together. It should mean an incredibly accurate 1080p image from that sensor.
+1 Like
missleading advertising from sony A7s does NOT record 4k.
unlike Panasonic GH4 for example.
umm 4/3 chip gh4? Is that what you are comparing this too? So I need a f1.2 to get same dof as f2.8 FF? hmmm Let me think about that for a second.
that’s irrelevant. A7s does NOT record 4k. try recording with it. you just can’t sorry. and sony advertises 4k all over. and f1.2? that’s nothing. are you expecting most people to carry around a 5kg cine lens around? no way. most will shoot with normal lens. and with a 4/3 chip and a 2.8 lens you have a more compact format that indeed records 4k. unlike this sony camera scam.
Did they say it records in 4k? They said it outputs 4k. and yeah I;m fine with that since the dynamic range and iso KILL the GH4. Maybe its not what you need but we aren’t all YOU. Well I have a BMCC 4k which shoots raw so I’m not interested in the camera for cine work either way. I want the crazy dynamic range and ISO for use in creating HDRI’s for CG IBL lighting. So we will see.
yes they said it records in 4k. It’s all over in posters and advertising and whatever.
I like the camera. imo it’s best full frame camera ever made.
I’m just complaining about the misleading marketing.
You need additional hardware to record the still images as well. On all cameras.
Is your problem that it isn’t called memorycard?
not sure if you are a troll or just stupid. and that’s actually not true. some cameras have internal memory.
Bombs of the above. But I’m a bit annoyed by the sudden notion that there is a big difference between diff
the difference is that you CAN’T record 4k without external devices. it’s NOT about storage.
A SD card doesn’t cost 2000$, doesn’t weight more than the camera, doesn’t requires power etc etc.
It’s just like film cameras. they don’t magically work without film.
The thing is that sony advertises 4k as the main selling point of this camera. That’s missleading because the camera itself does NOT! record 4k. unlike some others like panasonic gh4 that really records 4k out of the box.
With the implied thinking that it is allowed to buy one kind of storage media, but another one is not.
As you say:
“It’s just like film cameras. they don’t magically work without film.”
But they all claimed they could take and create beautiful pictures.
What would these battery complainers say about the days when I was thrilled to get 8 shots on my roll film Horseman, then have to change the roll in a shaded area. How hard is it to change a battery. I agree tell them to be quiet and buy 5 batteries.
I agree! I still shoot on a large format 617 camera and only get 4 shots on a roll.
People these days are spoilt and need to get real. 2 batteries is similar to 1 DSLR battery in capacity, and would get these cameras 800 shots all in live view, a DSLR would achieve the same but not in live view. Quite a low power consumption achievement I think since the sensor is always active.
It’s a bit odd. On the one hand they say power and heat from the 4K sensor prevents recording in 4K but all the press indicates that the 1080p is down sampled properly from the full 4K read out, plus it can do 4K out via HDMI. Therefore the sensor is always running at full scan *anyway*, can’t be a heat problem
The only ‘extra’ work that needs to be done is compression at 4K and writing to card. Perhaps the camera is not powerful enough to compress 4K, that would be the only reason.
Of course if they just dumped the RAW out then there’s even *less* processing for the camera to do internally and we post process it all outside of the camera…
Read out and compressing 4k at the same time, could really drain battery and heat up the processor.
At that point it would be interesting how Panasonic manages that in their GH4.
That’s true, but at the moment it’s doing a full 4K read out then a quality scale to 1080p, compressing that with a good codec. So the question is whether 4K compression is so much heavier than a 4K scale to 1080. It probably is, but then dumping RAW out wouldn’t be. That’s just a bandwidth issue.
Is it doing a full readout? For 1080 it just has to read half the pixels for a perfect image.
No, it’s a full read out and reading half the pixels doesn’t work, it’s like looking at a scene through venetian blinds – half the image simply isn’t there. The full read out is the whole point of this camera. Most 4K -> HD involves skipping a line (as you suggest) or binning pixels together to get a single big pixels. Because of the way bayer works that doesn’t really work either.
Which is exactly how all dlsrs do it today.
(Except 5D3 that i think does pixel binning)
I think you’ll find that is not true. Even dedicated prosumer video cameras sometimes do not do always do full read out but skip and bin (FS700, F5, F55…). It’s really quite something to do a full read, a full debayer and a full scale 25 times a second. Certainly no mirrorless or dSLR i’ve owned does it this way.
Sorry, my answer was unclear, I agree with what you say now.
what I meant was that All dslr are looking through venetian blinds. Except 5D3 which I think do binning.
So it must be working, but as moire tells us, it just doesn’t always work that good.
Maybe he meant compressing on the bionx from the large sensor data causes over heating of the bionx in that body. Which in turn heats the sensor as well.
i would like to see limited amounts of 4K recording in camera, for example, if it only had a 9 second buffer to record 4k video much like the Sony video camera has a 9 second buffer to do 240fps.
The reason why i want to do this is to take images from the 4k video and then they can be compressed into a single file for a psuedo-long exposure without the need for additional gear (e.g ND filters, remotes etc)
sounds like Sony added the a7s into the line-up last minute instead of really developing the a7/r/s all together at once…I say this because if there are so many limitations in the a7 body to prevent 4K video recording directly onto the SDcard, wouldn’t they design the body better to accommodate that to begin with? I feel like they had developed the a7/r initially then later decided to add a “s” model but is heavily compromised due to the design limitations of the a7/r body….
minipixels.net | Automotive Photography + Design
Yeah completely last minute, it only takes a couple of weeks to develop a new sensor, write the firmware etc.
when I say last minute I meant they probably only decided to put the new sensor and 4K video into the a7/r body after they have already developed the body size, firmware, etc.
I just like how sour and sarcastic some people are here ….and putting other ppl’s comments out of context….did I say it only took them a few weeks to put this together? lol
minipixels.net | Automotive Photography + Design
Last minute implies that. If you don’t mean it don’t say it. You have no idea how long a product takes to make if you say last minute. This is a good well planned stately that makes sense.
i know this camera is more for video work, but im pretty interested in it for wedding work… the high ISO and DR are interesting… i would like to wait to see how it compares to the A7 down sampled to 12MP before i decide but not sure i want to wait that long to upgrade…
(THIS IS A JOKE I just put together to cheer everyone up) I have some great news my friends. Sony has promised to speed up camera shipment. That is what the “S” stands for in a7S = Super fast shipping just for this camera. Look carefully at the picture. LOL. Just a joke.
I’m DAN1Kpro not Guest. Had some networking issues.
The new stainless steel mount is ro accomadate the new sony
BATTERY GRIP/4K RECORDER that will also all increased continuous frame rate.
That was obviosly the reason for leaving these features off the camera itself…prevent overheating and allow users to buy these features only if they want them.
Fine – the most important issue is to know a reliable company to deliver?
The gadgets have been there ready and awaiting..now it is time to get the monies..
that is Sony’s philosophy of photography and customer service. Downgrade one upgrade one..and mix ..and get the monies…easy but not very clever marketing…in a long term…
Would be better to get one piece working properly -say A7r and go from there…