photo:sonya7s
Table of Contents
Sony a7S full frame mirrorless camera
see also:
introduction
- announced Oct 2013
- has been replaced by the Sony a7S II full frame mirrorless camera
- who is it for?
- low light photographers - eg. astrophotographic landscapes of the Milky Way
- 4K videographers (but need external 4K recorder)
- videographers using image stabilisation gear or tripod
- newly developed, 12.2 mp 35mm full frame Exmor® CMOS sensor
- class leading high ISO performance
- 1st full frame camera with full pixel read out in movie mode (ie. no pixel binning) which allows videos with much reduced aliasing, moiré and false color artifacts
- 4K video output to a external recorder
specs
- new 12.2 mp sensor
- 25 CDAF points
- no PDAF
- 5fps burst
- shutter 30sec - 1/8000th sec but loud
- electronic first curtain mode, which allows for a quieter shutter, and reduces the potential for 'shutter shock' vibration
- electronic silent mode
- flash sync 1/250th sec
- no built-in flash but multi-interface flash shoe
- exp. compensation ±5 EV
- Auto ISO usable in manual mode via exposure compensation dial
- awesome high ISO performance:
- ISO 50 – 4096002 (but lowest in movie mode is 200 ISO)
- lower dynamic range but 1 stop better noise than the Sony a7 II full frame mirrorless camera up to 6400 ISO, and 2 stops better at 102,400
- similar high ISO performance as Nikon D750 full frame dSLR and Nikon D4s sports dSLR
- 3“ tilting 1.23m dot LCD but not touch sensitive
- XGA EVF
- awesome video capabilities:
- excellent high ISO videos
- 1st full frame camera with full pixel read out in movie mode (ie. no pixel binning) which allows videos with much reduced aliasing, moiré and false color artifacts
- 4K (QFHD 3840 x 2160 pixels 4:2:2 8-bit) video using the full width of the sensor, this can be output to a 3rd party external recorder (eg. Atomos Shogun ~$2000) but cannot be saved to a memory card
- 1080 HD video at 60p, 60o, 30p and 24p direct to memory card
- video can be cropped to Super 35mm (APS-C) and at this crop can shoot at 120fps
- S-Log2 gamma for expanded dynamic range
- XAVC S recording format at 50Mbps in HD video mode in addition to AVCHD and MP4 codecs
- video mode picture profile that can adjust settings like gamma, black, level and color adjustment
- time code/user bit
- various marker and zebra displays on both the LCD screen and viewfinder
- no timelapse recording
- USB 2.0
- weather sealed, composite body
- WiFi with NFC
- 489g
- 126.9 x 94.4 x 48.2mm (approx. 5 x 3 3/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
- NB. does not ship with a proper battery charger, instead it comes with a Micro USB cable and the AC-UUD11 AC Battery Charging Adapter (a USB to AC converter)
reviews
-
- lower dynamic range and resolution than immediate peers
- raw compression can lead to posterization at high contrast edges
- overly sensitive eye sensor is annoying
- 4K footage from APS-C region of sensor is disappointing
- small battery can be restrictive, especially for video shooting
- ergonomics poor for video work
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- issues with Metabones adapters
- more film-like and shallower depth of field (DOF) than the Panasonic GH4 4K video stills camera which was important at 35-50mm focal lengths but not at telephoto
- GH4 still has many advantages the A7S doesn’t have, like longer battery run-times, a better screen, quicker boot time and of course an internal 4K codec
photo/sonya7s.txt · Last modified: 2015/09/12 10:44 by gary1