This is my first Sony camera: A7S3
after half a year, I would like to buy another one
today let me share with you some of my feelings of this camera!
Hello, everyone, my name is Kelvin.
Sony released this a7s3 last year, after watching the press conference I immediately want to buy one
but I am a Nikon user, switch to Sony or use both Sony and Nikon at the same time will cost quite a lot,
due to the work, I began to reach out to more local wedding photographers in New Zealand
many times they need an experienced cameraman responsible for the video capture part
and they basically use Sony camera, so they want everyone in the team is also using Sony camera
that makes me determined to buy it, be my main camera for video
at the end of August last year, I placed the order for the A7S3,
but A7S3 was so popular, was simply a hard to find,
after a long wait, finally got it at the end of November
honest, after so many months of waiting ,
When I got it, I had no sense of excitement,
there were a lot of reviews and unboxing videos at that time, and I did not create a video to talk about it.
However, after six months of intensive use, I can finally talk about its advantages and disadvantages with confidence.
Although this is my first Sony mirrorless camera,
but I personally for this size of A7S3, ergonomic, control is very satisfactory
and in the quality, I am happy as well,
at least I do not have anything issue with my camera
but the HDMI port been a little loose
there were lots of Sony users complaint about Sony's menus and control,
but thanks to the A7S3 new menu, I still clearly remember,
I took only 40 minutes to go thru all the menus and setting,
Here are some of my settings.
I set c1 to the gamma display assist on and off,
so that when shooting slog3, I can see the approximate picture after rec709 is restored without an external monitor.
c2 is the focus area.
c3 option is the automatic and manual focus switch
here I have to complain, when I rotating the focus ring in AF mode,
is unable to switch to manual mode
must be switched to manual focus mode to use manual focus, which I personally prefer Nikon's design.
c4, on and off of screen touch.
And for the custom menu, the first item is a file format, select the appropriate resolution and encoding,
the second is a dynamic image setting, set the frame rate
is the third graphic configuration file
fourth is formatted ,
fifth, It is the super 35 cropping function in 1080 mode.
I really hope that the next generation models can add s35 cropping in 4k mode.
And the screen, there are a lot of people have been complaint Sony's LCD screen
but after a long time, I use, and I basically adapted
the flip screen is great for the selfie, as well as shooting on a gimbal
focus on the touch screen is also convenient accurate,
but in outdoor shooting, this screen really hard to see
I may need to use EVF to simply view the composition and exposure
A7S3is unable to display the waveform chart, you can only display a histogram
at the beginning, when I used slog3 I can not always exposure accurately,
When I was filming the wedding and commercial project, I used Ninja V as a monitor
open waveform chart, select PQ monitoring mode
so you can assist me to choose the right accurate white balance and exposure
but after a period of use, I found that when using slog3 shooting,
as long as the histogram to the right exposure, manual meter display between +1.7 to +2.0, and 2.0 is not blinking
then state The zebra pattern is set in Custom 2, the lower limit is 94+,
and turn on gemma display assistant I mentioned above can basically achieve accurate exposure.
Next, let's talk about its actual shooting performance.
Under normal circumstances, if the clip is shot and edit by myself, I always choose xavc hs4k shoot, which is encoded with h265
I can edit the h265 footages in Final Cut Pro with my M1 MacMini without any issues
if it is to help other photography division shooting, editing by others and
I would choose xavc s 4k or xavc s hd mode in accordance with, which is encoded h264 1080p or 4k
and I usually choose 50p frame rate and bit rate of 200mbps of 422 10bit color and
since I'm in New Zealand we are using the pal format
in this standard, h265 coding is not selected 4k25, only 4k50 (4k100)
to select 4k24 or 25, I had to turn to h264 encoding, which I really want to be updated after the firmware repair in the future.
Like I said before, I tend to use slog3 shooting,
good picture quality and dynamic range, enough to meet all my shooting needs, that is why everyone loves this camera
for color grading, I normally apply Sony or Fujifilm lut and fine-tune it,
both in skin tone and exposure, it has a good performance.
And even if it is manually restored adjustment slog3 material, in fact it is not difficult,
as long as exposure and saturation adjustment under, and then pull the curve, basically you can get a very nice picture
but the latest firmware updates, the newly added pp11, s- Cinetone,
I will use it to shoot some interviews or events that don’t require post-grading. I have to say that it’s still very useful.
And when I need to work with other photographers, and they are using old models such as a7m3 or a7s2,
I will choose hlg mode to match and unify the colors, which is convenient for the editor's later work.
Autofocus, nothing worthwhile to say, this camera is Sony's strengths,
eye focus, object tracking mode is accurate, rapid, basic will not go wrong
and I always feel that it has super powers, often in the crowd AF-I want to focus on the characters,
and firmly locked photographic subject or person, even if interference occurs in people and things in the picture
High ISO performance, which is the most famous advantages of A7S camera
at the beginning, I thought that I can get a very clean picture from iso640 until iso12800
I also naive to think that even if I just use f2.8 or f4 aperture of the lens
as long as the push iso I can take all the pictures I want to shoot
then I found that the use slog3 only when I have to use a very clean picture between iso640-iso2500
between iso3000 iso10000 to just use picture noise still more to be unable to accept,
when I use iso12800, you can get a clean picture Clear, low-noise picture.
But when I shoot weddings and events, even if I use f1.8 or f2.8 aperture lens,
in fact, often you need to use iso3000-iso6000 and we can get accurate exposure
so sometimes shooting indoors during the day, if the site is If it is dark, I will also directly push the iso up to 12800,
and then add the nd filter to reduce the amount of light, so as to make the exposure accurate and get a clean picture.
When using iso12800, if the site environment is very dark
in fact, we also need to match the large aperture lens can be correctly exposed, if the amount of light is not enough, the picture is less exposed,
even in iso12800 still full of noise
Which I did not consider when I chose my lens.
next, I share with you my choices of the lens.
Since I am using Sony's camera system for the first time, I need to start from 0.
My requirements are very simple, fast focusing, small size, cost-effective, and quick payback.
At present, A7S3 is only responsible for my video shooting, and I will continue to use Nikon cameras for the photo part.
I started considering 24-70mm f2.8GM Sony, Sony 24-105mm f4G
but one is too heavy and too expensive, the the one only a f4 aperture, for my personally for all usage scenarios may not be the best choice
after some compared after, I chose Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 was not yet released, the Tamron is indeed the most appropriate and most cost-effective video capture shots
for video shooting, whether it is on the gimbal, or handheld shooting, shooting at close range has a good performance
when I purchased it, in fact, I have not got the camera,
but a week later, due to promotional activities, I purchased the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8
and I thought, I got the wide-angle, and mid-range lens,
just these two highly cost-effective shots is enough I did all the work, should soon be back to the start making money!
After 4 months of use, I found that in some shooting scenes
the lens with f2.8 aperture still could not meet my shooting needs. I started looking for a suitable 35mm prime lens.
After some comparisons, I started with Sony’s 35mm f1.8,
small volume, good focus and image quality, there is a very good breath control effects,
put it on a stable use is also very fit, and I was very happy with
it, but when I got it after one week later
Sony released 35mm f1.4gm, after watching some reviews, I still feel that the 35mm f1.8 is the better choice for now.
if one day I use Sony cameras for both photo and video
then, the 35mm f1.4 GM or the rumored Sigma 35mm f1.4 dg dn is definitely my first choice
some time ago, I began to think of Tamaron 70-180mm f2.8 and Sigma 85mm f1.4 dg dn to fill up my telephoto segment but after some thought
I found that most of the shoot is to use a gimbal or handheld
use 70-180 or 70-200 such long focal lengths lens is less likely,
and generally require the use of telephoto when speeches are shooting people in the room,
so the 85mm f1.4 perhaps more suitable for me
this lens compared to other Sigma lens has been considered a lightweight, but his hand is very weighty
plus the hood, more overbearing,
now I just owned this lens for about two weeks, a period of time Later, I will talk about it in more detail.
If there is a need and then have the money, I might even consider purchasing the Sony 50mm f1.2gm
That's all the lenses I currently use Sony A7S3 shooting video
on a memory card, I purchased a cfe type a 160G memory cards when I got the camera,
for some special reason, I can buy at a relatively low price
and I think the sd card is not stable and reliable, shooting weddings in these activities can not do it again,
if I use two sd card dual backup, the cost ratio I use a cfe type a more expensive
after a while, I found that if in fact a shoot 4k video card only 160G continuous shooting one hour and 40 minutes
for a full day wedding, I may need 2-3 of the 160G CFE , cost is still a little high,
if taken 1080,160G card definitely meet the needs for the day
and I purchased two additional Sony 128G series of tough-g sd card
to use this CFE , the most enjoyable time is to copy the footages to the computer,
with Sony's card reader, the transmission speed is really fast
when shooting important events and weddings, it takes only a few minutes of rest the material can be tens of G on the card all the backup is
completed, although it is expensive but really good
if someday launch a larger capacity version, I will consider the purchase of
another point, use the A7S3 after shooting a video, when
my hard disk space occupancy decreased significantly, I shoot Nikon Z6 nlog before, average per Youtube Video will have 500-600G data
now only produce about 100G data.
Battery
before purchasing A7S3, I watch lots of review videos on Youtube , said one day shoot, 2-3 batteries enough,
but after my personal practical experience, if shooting a video in 1080, is indeed 3 battery is sufficient
but if you shoot 4k video, I need at least 4 -6 batteries
when shooting weddings, I will bring the charger
at dinner time, the first and second day I will use batteries to charge
so my current four batteries, it is enough
A7S3 can not shoot 8k video like the Sony A1, can not be shoot in super 35 in 4k mode,
but it is 4K 100, 4K 50, 10bit 422, slog 3, ProRes Raw, High ISO, and autofocus has a very good performance
is currently perhaps the next few years the overall performance most balanced video shooting machine
after a long period of use, when I do run and gun shoot, , I discovered that in fact I still need a second A7S3 to shoot from different angles
I have been considering whether or not to purchase a second A7S3, I also compared fx3
but now their prices are still relatively high, as the second camera, the performance a little surplus
so recently I have come to expect A7M4
hope it can have a new screen, a new menu, can shoot 4k50, slog3,10bit 422 if the above functions are,
I would not hesitate to buy it
In my personal opinion, the camera just a production tools
I purchased the camera just for work and making money
honest, in daily life, if not a special day or event, I basically do not go out with a camera,
so the brand of camera and lens is not the main reason when I considered to buy them, but their performance, their cost
is the main reason when I bought them
For the photoshoot, , so far I personally prefer Nikon cameras
and for the video part, Sony, Canon, and Panasonic indeed occupy a major
market in many countries and cities we all prefer Sony, so if necessary I would also like to meet the demand
so that I can receive more work to
get paid more, in order to further improve the quality of life.
Well, that's all the contents of the current video
If you like my video, please give me a thumb up, comments, and share it, and remember to subscribe to my channel
thank you for watching, and see you in the next video, Bye-bye!