Sony a7S/ Atomos Shogun 4K And HD Test from Matthew Allard ACS on Vimeo.
We have two new A7s with Atomos 4K recorder test and as you will read the reviewers conclusions are not very positive:
Newshooter (Click here) writes:
Overall the Shogun ticks a lot of boxes and I think most users will be very happy with it. At the end of the day the Shogun delivers what it promises – 4K recording on a budget, a great screen and easy to use interface.
EosHD writes:
I’m learning as I go when it comes to the feel of the images and how it compares to the 1D C, GH4 and NX1 in 4K. So far the A7S 4K image to the Shogun has impressed but it isn’t as good as the 1D C. I think it’s great for enthusiasts and low-budget filmmakers who want to max out image quality on the A7S. But for me the shortcomings are significant
And a bug report: FYI on how the Sony a7S breaks SLog 2 when outputting via HDMI (Atomos Forum).
0 Responses
Ignore EOSHD’s somewhat neutral review, when read between the lines it is actually a fairly positive review. (so is Newshooter’s review, don’t see why SAR is calling them not positive!)
EOSHD just purchased a Canon 1D C, so is of course comparing everything to that, and justifying the 1D C purchase. So if you don’t care about the 1D C (which is most of us!), then ignore that spin when you’re reading his post, and you will come away with a much more positive impression of the Atomos Shogun.
I would quite like to get a Shogun for my A7s! But…. tad bit pricey I think for me.
Totally agree
EosHD went to dismiss other site test about the high A7s dynamic range compared to canon 1d c.
Agree with both of you!
I learned to ignore his site entirely, trolling canon for years about the cinema line and now buying into it. Besides the mediocre videos it’s that unbalanced petulant crap that just makes it all too obvious he has no clue and is not a working filmmaker, just some psycho nerd with a blog.
Nah, he has one of the most awesome website on the internet! You just need to adjust his comments and see them for what they are 🙂
And also the C100/C300/C500 are absolute terrible terrible value for money, at least he is not buying them!
At bet if he had the money for the C100/C300/C500 trio, he wold have said they are the best cameras in the world LOL. They are not bad don’t get me wrong, but are hugely overpriced and under featured!
Depends, bot the C100 and C300 have an amazing image quality not matched by anything, not even de FS7, don’t get me wrong I ordered the FS7. But the look of the C300 is fantastic, the LOG is shoots is fantastic and that is about all you want from a camera like that. It has some really stupid ergo issues like the silly long cable prosthetic for audio and monitoring. But pretty much anyone who bought one is very happy with the camera. there is no point in comparing pro cine gear with sony handycams, pro stuff is about image quality and ergonomics, providing the best image data for edit, not about wifi and.. I dunno what features are you missing on a C300?
Seriously, 1080p resolution only at maximum 30 fps, no RAW recording, no global shutter, only 11+ stops of dynamic range and all of this for 12.000$ (actual price).
Yes it may be a nice camera but definitly NOT at this price point. I’l take the Sony FS7, AJA Cion or the RED Scarlet any day over this.
Like I said I am taking a fs7 over the C300 but this is already a old camera, it was a kickass camera when it came out and it still gives a great image. I never bought one because of max 30P, but hired it for a few jobs and the dynamic range was lovely it renders blown highlighs really well, unlike the Scarlet and BM4K. Not a big fan of exposing for the highlights but oh well. these days, sure the C300 kinda had its day but considering I used to work with broadcast camera’s that cost 50K for a body, 20K for a recorder and 18K for a lens, to me it is great value for money hah. I only buy a camera when it can pay for itself and write it off in 3 weeks, like the FS7.
I agree with with your opinion.
I agree that you agree.
The fact is, most video for ENG, press, etc., is shot at 1080 @ 59.96i. Generally only movie work is shot at 4k at higher specs.
This is no excuse for a camera at that price to have so basic features.
Maybe canon disguised as someone else and sold the 1dc camera cheaply to him 😉
I just want a simple and less expensive 4K recorder without a screen, like an Atomos star but for 4K. Please gimme!
A four or five inch version to match the small compact camera itself would be ideal! 🙂
Strange outcome! from what I know 1D C is not actually full frame in 4K mode, it is a 1.3x crop, and the A7S does a full pixel readout. It should be much better. Maybe something is missing!
Exactly, a “full frame” 1D C is total B.S.! lol
The a7s does not record “full frame” video. If it did the picture would be 3×2 like the stills. A 16×9 portion of the full frame sensor is used for video capture, cropping the top and bottom 2 megapixels. The full pixel readout of the 16×9 portion is capture in 4k since this is 8mp. There is no down sampling or line skipping of the 16×9 portion but there is cropping.
The dude from EOS HD must be blind or something, Canon 1Dc is soft as hall in comparison. I call 1Dc a 2,5K camera, a little better than a perfect full HD.
The colors are different but I definitely prefer Sony color rendering to Canon’s!
I don’t know what he sees cinematic in 1Dc, the name maybe?
The only real disadvantage of A7s is the lack of internal 4K video recording but together with shogun is still lot cheaper than a 1Dc and much better in all ways!
EOS HD is complaining about grading S-Log again. I think he doesn’t understand that you must use a LUT if you are using S-Gamut. He never seems to do the required reading.
He also advocates all kinds of crappy video converters instead of just using FFMPEG.
Agree.
Yup, bipolar andy is what I call him.
He is a tad bit biased because he just purchased a very very very expensive Canon 1D C and is trying to rationalise that :-/
Very well spoken.
I stopped reading when he complained about having difficulties mounting the shogun via supplied camera shoe mount on the multi function hot shoe.
I’ve never trusted EOS HD. Just look at the videos he made, none has any professional look required for a demanding client.
He’s a nerd with a website who works in IT, the guy is not a filmmaker. Read his posts, nobody is going to hire someone that bipolar to do a job.
Shogun just killing all things about compact small sony a7s system . Just look how all of this look now , and how difficult must be move with all of this .4k internal with very good proper 4-5 inch display all what we need. I do not like native iso of a7s 3200( s-log) is too high . Why Sony made this camera so sensitive ? Most of us does not need it . It should be native of 1000iso to get benefit from s-log . At now is almost useless . Sony makes nice things which looks good on the paper ,and just on the paper .
You don’t need to use s-log there are many other options to get great dynamic range at lower ISO. Experiment and use different stuff, its what all that crap they put in the camera is there for 🙂
A7s native iso is 3200 so it is not wise to use low iso with this camera, even if you not using s-log it does not matter .If you care about DR do not use it low iso . Other hands s-log 2 is so flat for this 8bit camera that crash color .Check vimeo , show me good looking skin tone , colors . As I said everything looks good on the paper . Do not get me wrong it is nice small camera , for the price 2$ is bargain . I just wish to get from Sony better balance proper small camera .
“A7s native iso is 3200 so it is not wise to use low iso with this camera” thats just theoretical bulls#!t. I don’t use s-log and I shoot a lot at ISO 200, the camera delivers perfectly every time. People talking in front of a window: both window and subject have loads of detail and it looks fantastic. I don’t need to check vimeo, I got great looking footage at home thanks 🙂
Here is a link to vimeo with that terrible skin tone you are talking about: https://vimeo.com/103097236 enjoy 🙂
Killing the compactness with the screen? Try using a real shoulder mount camera and your’re opinion will change quickly.
As for ISO 3200 – this is only required for s-log picture profile mode. You can shoot video at ISO 100 and up. The a7s is good on paper and great in real life.
The problem with play 4K video on Vimeo is:
There’s no options/status that you can tell you are playing a 4K video on 4K
It is not supported by many TV natively
Vimeo doesn’t support Chromecast, but Chromecast doesn’t support 4K either.
Most of us don’t own a 4K monitor.
You can’t download the video from Vimeo even if you want to play it on a 4K TV via a USB.
One of the best reasons to shoot 4K is it makes the absolute best fullHD. Fantastic in detail, much more then a fullHD DSLR, and youTube supports lovely 1440 and UHD in case you want to resolution crazy. Vimeo has always been a bit softer, comments and resolution wise.
Please visit the Newsshooter.com related article and you will find links to downloadable files (from Vimeo) that Matt Allard has posted for others to be able to make comparisons.
The link is posted above in the article.
Dude, EOSHD, where’s your tripod? Killing me here.