The new FS5 4K E-mount camera is now in Stock and shipping at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
And Newsshooter reviewed the FS5 with Kai from Digitalrev:
As a B-camera on larger productions the FS5 should work well in places where you might previously have used a DSLR, GH4 or Sony a7S. Obvious uses include on brushless gimbals and in-car rigs, although you will probably want to record externally.
Newsshooter also tested the camera at anti-war protests:
Unboxing a Sony PXW-FS5 | Sony | 4K Creators
23 Responses
So the FS5 “review’s” 2 minutes were 1 minutes of sponsor logos, 40 seconds of Kai crashing a wedding shoot, and 20 seconds made up of a few random cuts. What is this teasing, as there are no expectations after seeing this clip? Quite useless.
That’s what I thought, but you have to click on the linked ‘Newsshooter’ name (in blue) to get their written review. The video is just a bit of nonsense and not worth viewing.
It said *teaser footage*, the review itself is written not filmed.
I’m not a ‘video guy’, so have almost no experience of these cameras, but I’m fascinated by the different approach and perceptions.
The A7S is touted as being good for video, if you have the need of both, but how the two are presented so differently leaves me puzzled.
For instance, when it comes to all the A7 bodies, there is a lot of discussion relating to ergonomics and button placement: whether there are too many, or if they can be customised.
On these dedicated video bodies, however, it seems like all the buttons are precisely dedicated and you can never have too many! More to the point, there is barely a mention of ergonomics and handling, other than the grip and how it attaches to a rig.
Am I missing something here, or which group has it wrong?
No group has it wrong.
The video DSLR revolution started with Nikon, but it was Canon that implemented it properly with the 5D2. The idea was to give stills news photographers the ability to do some video on the job. Cameras like the A7 series, or DSLRs in general, are STILLS cameras first and video cameras second. Now, with the A7s, the video is a first in image quality, but a distant second in operation. With the AX100, video is a first in image quality and operation, but stills play a 10th place in the importance of its implementation.
No, DSLR cameras are NOT video cameras, but they can do video extremely well (like the A7s/sII), that is: to get a moving image.
But HOW you get it, is what sets the cameras apart. Video cameras have different shutter speed nominations. While they come in “shutter angles”, still cameras that can do video come in “th of a second”. They are not the same, albeit they would approximate exposure. The most notable difference between these two shutter speed/angle effects is motion blur.
Another factor that makes them different is the ability to modify other settings on the go, like internal ND filters, audio gain, channels, white balance, etc without stopping the recording. Also, power zooms allow you to zoom in and out without touching the lens and with a consistent and variable speed. Same goes for the iris (aperture) changes, which would be smooth and also can be changed without touching the lens. Still cameras, with electronic control of aperture, will only change it in full stepped stops, hence the rise of the “clickless” aperture ring from some manufacturers.
So, while the A7s/sII can capture outstanding video and it is a very compact camera, its operational ability falls considerably short from a video oriented camera and the files may also not carry the necessary metadata that gets embedded with a video camera.
Also worth noting is that video cameras may have better codecs for video and in the case of some cameras like the FS7, have XLR inputs with phantom power to gather high quality audio for ENG work without needing to resort to an external recorder and pre-amp combo that will not only add heft to your A7s/sII/GHwhatever but also ruin the overall integrity of the compact package and be a bit more…awkward.
But if compact is your thing, A7s is the way to go. Or a7rII if you want an all rounder. It all depends on the application.
Yes they are designed as stills cameras primarily, but their basic implementation is that of a video camera. If there’s a live-view function, its a video camera!
I think you and ‘Sibuzaru’ have misunderstood my question.
I appreciate the differences in terms of what they do and the concerns of dealing with different issues (i.e. shutter speed). However, while considering the merits of still cameras, at least as much time and column inches are spent discussing the UI and controls as for the image quality, whereas for these video cameras there is not the slightest mention of whether you can easily reach that button, or operate this switch, despite that there are dozens of them!
To the uninitiated, the UI of these video machines looks like a nightmare and it seems that much of the bulk is there for no other reason than providing real estate to place the controls.
I’m just curious as to why the discussion of the two disciplines varies so much when, ultimately, both are framing pictures and recording light!
As an aside regarding the A7 series, I’m equally fascinated that despite, as you so rightly say, they are still cameras with a video ability, the vast majority of reviews are all about the video side. It took almost 6 months before I found a half decent review of the A7Rii for photographs!
I think you want to have a look at the video forums like personalview, dvxuser and so on. There you may find the similarities.
> “I’m just curious as to why the discussion of the two disciplines varies so much when, ultimately, both are framing pictures and recording light!”
Because while they have those basic similarities, in practice being a photographer vs a filmmaker/videographer is *VERY* different.
Again, I do appreciate the different disciplines (that is why I mentioned my lack of video experience), but still no-one has answered why the photographers zone in on the UI and ergonomics, yet the videographers discuss the technicalities of the picture and barely mention whether a camera is a dog to use, or not.
Indeed, often it is a criticism of still cameras that they have too many dedicated buttons, but here we see a camera that is more button than body and no-one turns a hair!
Curious.
ha! Just go hang around the right forums and you’ll find videographers also discussing in over the top detail the UI and ergonomics of each camera…
Just perhaps over here were we focus on stills cameras, filmmakers just accept it as a given that UI/ergonomics will be a bit sh*t useless and so they focus more on the image out of them?
Video demands a lot of tweaking while recording, while photography doesn’t.
But I think video guys get most right, they are not locked to a system, they hate that and demands more modularity from their equipment, photographers just forgot that and accepted the brand crippling everything for them.
The A7s mk1 and the FS7 are at radically different price points, the A7s mk1 video guys are just complaining it isn’t like the much more expensive FS7…
Though the price gap between the newer A7s mk2 and the new FS5 isn’t so much…. especially if you’re a working pro and earning your income from it. I expect a significant number of A7s mk2 purchases will instead be going for the superior FS5 instead.
I’ll point you to my other reply to you.
I’m not so much concerned about the individual cameras abilities or weaknesses, rather how they are discussed by each group and what they view as important.
Panasonic has just invested a lot of money into 8k and now expects thier 8k to be ready in 2018 rather that in 2020 as they originally projected.
8k has the advantage of allowing extraction of 32mp individual high resolution frames that are usable as still pictures.
Since I have no other interest in recording video 8k is the first video that would actually appeal to me.
A camera that could shoot video of subjects like birds in flight at 32mp and take even higher resllution still pictures would appeal to me, and probably other still picture photographers that currently have no use for video.
By then they’ll have 150mp sensor cameras and anything below 50 will be too small for professional use. Don’t believe me? Prove me wrong based on trends over the past decade.
It wouldn’t be bad anyway, with greater pixel density you can do on sensor HDR without losing much resolution and avoid moire issues.
Sony still have some advantages, I’m pretty sure that they are working hard on making a stacked BSI FF sensor, when they achieve that, they can basically make a camera without shutter with great speed and drive.
I just would like to see more collaboration with other divisions, they already have a state of the art viewfinder (960×1080@90Hz/120Hz) that is used on the Playstation VR, and the highest density screen ever with 808ppi on the Xperia Z5 Premium.
Battery could be a issue but big battery shouldn’t be an issue for a A9 model, and with quick charge you can easily recharge a spare on the go.
If you’re happy with highly compressed iPhone quality jpeg images that’ll work. These images will be 4:2:0 quality and basically useless for anything other than screen resolution reference images.
I am not an expert on this but I think the sensor in the a7rii is already 8k. It shoots stills at 8k dimensions.
I think Sony did not enable 8k in the camera because of overheating issues and the inability of the camera’s storage to keep up with it.
I would guess that the next camera Sony puts out with the a7rii sensor would be a professional video camcorder with more space to avoid overheating and an SSD drives to store the data fast enough.
Bleh! By 2018 I’m sure the marketing flavour-du-jour will be something other than 8K, when we all realise that that nobody actually sits close enough to their TVs to see any difference after about 3.5K. Stills from video is a bit hit-and-miss ’cause you can’t adjust the shutter angle / speed on the fly for the subject matter. Birds shot at 180° shutter is not going to freeze motion enough for stills, and shot at 1/500th is not going to be fluid enough for video.
I wish there would have been a different sample video, rather than watching a bunch of morons protest.
They still couldn’t replace Kai…