That Japanese guy was an idiot, he didn’t even know the aperture of his own company’s lens, it’s 4.0-5.6 not 3.5-5.6. And whoever edited that movie is an idiot too because it’s such an obvious mistake that they should have either edited that part out or insisted on a retake. I’m also surprised that the cameraman filming the video didn’t know enough to correct the guy – of course he was probably using a CANIKON camera…
So the lens isn’t 3.5-5.6 but 4.0-5.6. Big deal, moron. Not only that’s just 1/5 (or something) difference, but it’s totally irrelevant to the point he was making. Grow up, nit picker. You must be really miserable for everyone who knows you in real life.
Oh that’s rich, a guy who relies on juvenile personal attacks to make his point is going to tell someone else that they’re miserable to be around. Pot, kettle, hello!
You deserved that response. You earned it. A random guy who you were insulting by calling him an “idiot” for a slip didn’t deserve that response. That’s the difference, moron, but apparently that’s too complicated for a thick head bozo like you to understand.
2) The aperture is gonna change and you can’t do anything about it. Instead of using your really expensive lens you should buy another really expensive lens.
She knows that the max aperture changes, she just wanted the aperture not to open up automatically as she zoomed out. So if she set it to f/5.6, it wouldn’t automatically open up as she zooms out just because it can.
They should drop the second guy he doesn’t seem to understand or know what he is talking about sounds very unprofessional. overall though not too much to see.
for 23.98, it is going to vary drastically depending on the display device. All displays de-interlace the signal, unless you are using a CRT tube TV or CRT 3-gun projection system (most of those have external processors). Some displays will also de-telecine or remove the 3:2 film cadence that is encoded when 23.976 is contained within a 1080/60p or 60i container. Just because the display is showing you a “1080i @ 60Hz” message, doesn’t automatically mean that your not watching a 23.976 output. That message just tells you what the input source is presented as. Most pro workflows would not typically utilize in-camera playback as an important part of the camera’s capabilities, so not necessarily a fail on the part of Sony. If your display does not automatically de-interlace and de-telecine the signal properly, you could use an intermediary such as an AJA converter or the like to perform the processing then send to the display – for real time scaling.
Hey Sony, thanks for the most useless piece of information I’ve ever seen on YouTube. Honestly, question no. 1 “you just can’t do it”. Ok, easily solved by looking at a spec sheet. Question no. 2 “umm, I know you’re a cinematographer but do you even know how to turn the mode dial? Because, you know it’s that little wheel on the left side of the body.” And lets not forget “Yeah, just buy another 2000 dollar lens.”
No wonder Sony service in Mexico is so darn awful.
Any way, I’ve been using the A99 for a documentary with the CZ 24-70mm and I’m pretty sure she was referring to the autofocus. Don’t get me wrong, the autofocus on video is a life saver when I’m doing an interview on my own and the camera is mounted on a tripod, but I would never leave it on for any other reason. FYI, in case you’re interested in the A99 or A77(own and love both but still working around their quirks) the autofocus works by opening the iris to 3.5 and setting exposure with the shutter speed, so, movement tends to look a little weird. It’s not so bad when you have a person sitting down and talking to the camera, but its just silly in any other scenario. I usually use focus peaking and stop down to at least f8.
‘I usually use focus peaking and stop down to at least f8.’
Out of interest, why not use a variable ND instead of stopping down? That way you keep DOF and maintain user focus on the interviewee.
You prob already know this, but AEL works in video AF, meaning you can keep AF AND lock shutter/aperture (you then use the ND to maintain exposure). Tricky, but very doable with practice (unless fo course you want to pan from the ground to the sky!).
I’ve heard about the variable ND and AEL workaround, haven’t gotten around to order one though. I do use AEL for solo interviews as long as I’m inside and available light wont suddenly change on me. I really do feel silly aiming the camera at every surface praying that the shutter will go down to 120(if I’m in 60p). Also, the documentary features people with terminal diseases. For me that means they deserve my full attention and I really shouldn’t be looking at the camera at all, not even to alter the variable ND. That’s why I sometimes have to do without a crew, and I just keep an eye on the red flashing light on the back to see when it stops recording. I also have to prey that I placed the mic properly and sound will be usable through out the whole interview.
Any way, I really think the most important thing in a documentary is for everything to be in focus, and I rather have a larger depth of field than I absolutely need than to loose that unrepeatable magic moment. That to me is what documentary film is all about.
Just set the lens to f5.6, and aperture won’t change in manual. Why didn’t they just say that? I can’t believe dude recommended a 70-200 in place of a 70-400… She may need the focal length. He also flubbed the f3.5… come on.
I didn’t notice her using the XLR adapter, or taking advantage of any MIS functionality. But that’s why we lost our flash system? Answer that Sony.
The A99 suffers from moire and aliasing in video. And I really hope the upcoming FF NEX hybrid doesn’t have these issues. There are better hybrids for video out there, so sell it!
Yep, but you can’t realistically *not* expect to suffer moire if you’re doing 50 fps 1080p, stopped down.
If you shoot at 25p, no greater than 1/50s and dont stop up higher than about f4.5 (i.e. the ‘DSLR film’ look), the issue goes away.
I wonder if through some clever FW update Sony could have the A99 offer two major menu/button user selectable options:
– Optimization for Stills – favoring stills features over video ( like flash system )
– Optimization for Video – favoring video features over still ( whatever… )
I’m sure some things need hardware changes, but perhaps a lot can still ( no pun…)be done by software!
I can’t get the or set the zone autofocus on the A99
On the older Canon there was a D1 and D2. I would set one as near and the other as far and everything in between was in focus. I sure your system work in the same manner, but
following the direction in the book I can’t seem to make it work. When I lock on a diver and follow him he keeps going in and out of focus even though he is in that zone. My only fallback is spot metering.
Can you help?
Richard Corrington
32 Responses
That Japanese guy was an idiot, he didn’t even know the aperture of his own company’s lens, it’s 4.0-5.6 not 3.5-5.6. And whoever edited that movie is an idiot too because it’s such an obvious mistake that they should have either edited that part out or insisted on a retake. I’m also surprised that the cameraman filming the video didn’t know enough to correct the guy – of course he was probably using a CANIKON camera…
So the lens isn’t 3.5-5.6 but 4.0-5.6. Big deal, moron. Not only that’s just 1/5 (or something) difference, but it’s totally irrelevant to the point he was making. Grow up, nit picker. You must be really miserable for everyone who knows you in real life.
Oh that’s rich, a guy who relies on juvenile personal attacks to make his point is going to tell someone else that they’re miserable to be around. Pot, kettle, hello!
You deserved that response. You earned it. A random guy who you were insulting by calling him an “idiot” for a slip didn’t deserve that response. That’s the difference, moron, but apparently that’s too complicated for a thick head bozo like you to understand.
It much be wonderful being so perfect like you.
So…
1) 23.98 is not supported. Plain and simple.
2) The aperture is gonna change and you can’t do anything about it. Instead of using your really expensive lens you should buy another really expensive lens.
That help?
No…
I think you meant:
2) …instead of using your really expensive you should buy a super crazy expensive lens!
As of a “thumbs up” button is missing …..
…. simply the only correct answer. If I would be SONY I would not publish this “Q&A”.
A straight: no – it doesn’t work would fully suffice ….
I’m just wondering why she didn’t understand that the maximum aperture of a lens changes when you zoom.
She knows that the max aperture changes, she just wanted the aperture not to open up automatically as she zoomed out. So if she set it to f/5.6, it wouldn’t automatically open up as she zooms out just because it can.
They should drop the second guy he doesn’t seem to understand or know what he is talking about sounds very unprofessional. overall though not too much to see.
for 23.98, it is going to vary drastically depending on the display device. All displays de-interlace the signal, unless you are using a CRT tube TV or CRT 3-gun projection system (most of those have external processors). Some displays will also de-telecine or remove the 3:2 film cadence that is encoded when 23.976 is contained within a 1080/60p or 60i container. Just because the display is showing you a “1080i @ 60Hz” message, doesn’t automatically mean that your not watching a 23.976 output. That message just tells you what the input source is presented as. Most pro workflows would not typically utilize in-camera playback as an important part of the camera’s capabilities, so not necessarily a fail on the part of Sony. If your display does not automatically de-interlace and de-telecine the signal properly, you could use an intermediary such as an AJA converter or the like to perform the processing then send to the display – for real time scaling.
Thank you for this, very educational.
That is a rather more professional answer ….
Hey Sony, thanks for the most useless piece of information I’ve ever seen on YouTube. Honestly, question no. 1 “you just can’t do it”. Ok, easily solved by looking at a spec sheet. Question no. 2 “umm, I know you’re a cinematographer but do you even know how to turn the mode dial? Because, you know it’s that little wheel on the left side of the body.” And lets not forget “Yeah, just buy another 2000 dollar lens.”
No wonder Sony service in Mexico is so darn awful.
Any way, I’ve been using the A99 for a documentary with the CZ 24-70mm and I’m pretty sure she was referring to the autofocus. Don’t get me wrong, the autofocus on video is a life saver when I’m doing an interview on my own and the camera is mounted on a tripod, but I would never leave it on for any other reason. FYI, in case you’re interested in the A99 or A77(own and love both but still working around their quirks) the autofocus works by opening the iris to 3.5 and setting exposure with the shutter speed, so, movement tends to look a little weird. It’s not so bad when you have a person sitting down and talking to the camera, but its just silly in any other scenario. I usually use focus peaking and stop down to at least f8.
‘I usually use focus peaking and stop down to at least f8.’
Out of interest, why not use a variable ND instead of stopping down? That way you keep DOF and maintain user focus on the interviewee.
You prob already know this, but AEL works in video AF, meaning you can keep AF AND lock shutter/aperture (you then use the ND to maintain exposure). Tricky, but very doable with practice (unless fo course you want to pan from the ground to the sky!).
I’ve heard about the variable ND and AEL workaround, haven’t gotten around to order one though. I do use AEL for solo interviews as long as I’m inside and available light wont suddenly change on me. I really do feel silly aiming the camera at every surface praying that the shutter will go down to 120(if I’m in 60p). Also, the documentary features people with terminal diseases. For me that means they deserve my full attention and I really shouldn’t be looking at the camera at all, not even to alter the variable ND. That’s why I sometimes have to do without a crew, and I just keep an eye on the red flashing light on the back to see when it stops recording. I also have to prey that I placed the mic properly and sound will be usable through out the whole interview.
Any way, I really think the most important thing in a documentary is for everything to be in focus, and I rather have a larger depth of field than I absolutely need than to loose that unrepeatable magic moment. That to me is what documentary film is all about.
Nothing prepares me for a quality Youtube video quite like seeing the word “legit” in its title.
Just set the lens to f5.6, and aperture won’t change in manual. Why didn’t they just say that? I can’t believe dude recommended a 70-200 in place of a 70-400… She may need the focal length. He also flubbed the f3.5… come on.
I didn’t notice her using the XLR adapter, or taking advantage of any MIS functionality. But that’s why we lost our flash system? Answer that Sony.
@CTPhotographX.com
The 70-200 maintains a constant f/2.8 aperture.
not in video mode dude!
It’s not so handy if you need 400mm, though.
Not in video mode with AF on. Then it just goes up to f3.5.
Guess you didn’t watch the video properly, since she actually mentioned that the aperture changed even when set to F/5.6
Because she wasn’t in manual movie mode.
Video! This is supposed to be a still camera that can take video, not a video camera that can take stills.
…and this is why Sony go so wrong with their stills cameras.
The A99 suffers from moire and aliasing in video. And I really hope the upcoming FF NEX hybrid doesn’t have these issues. There are better hybrids for video out there, so sell it!
Yep, but you can’t realistically *not* expect to suffer moire if you’re doing 50 fps 1080p, stopped down.
If you shoot at 25p, no greater than 1/50s and dont stop up higher than about f4.5 (i.e. the ‘DSLR film’ look), the issue goes away.
I wonder if through some clever FW update Sony could have the A99 offer two major menu/button user selectable options:
– Optimization for Stills – favoring stills features over video ( like flash system )
– Optimization for Video – favoring video features over still ( whatever… )
I’m sure some things need hardware changes, but perhaps a lot can still ( no pun…)be done by software!
Just remember, If you want your questions side-stepped by actually Sony engineers, just post them below.
I can’t get the or set the zone autofocus on the A99
On the older Canon there was a D1 and D2. I would set one as near and the other as far and everything in between was in focus. I sure your system work in the same manner, but
following the direction in the book I can’t seem to make it work. When I lock on a diver and follow him he keeps going in and out of focus even though he is in that zone. My only fallback is spot metering.
Can you help?
Richard Corrington