SONY A7s or CANON 5D MKIII

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knoxvillesjs

Looking to upgrade to the sony a7s of the 5D mkIII.

Whats peoples opinions on the A7s, is it just a band wagon camera or is it really that special.

Will be shooting for Video only.
 
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I find no reason to pick the mk3 over the a7s, they are not even on par for video, with that in mind I recommend you research cameras and try them out as I suspect you have limited experience in this field.
 
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knoxvillesjs said:
Looking to upgrade to the sony a7s of the 5D mkIII.

Whats peoples opinions on the A7s, is it just a band wagon camera or is it really that special.

Will be shooting for Video only.
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With all that I've seen and read, The Canon 5Ds have and somewhat still are the bandwagon cameras.

They've been the Go-to because they were the first real DSLRs to be used for serious filming purposes back in 2007. The A7s, however, is one of the first DSLR's specifically designed for use in Indie film productions because it allows for incredible low-light performance, and its picture quality is one of the best in the DSLR market.

But you absolutely should do research into it and actually look at everything that people are saying about it.

My consensus, however, has found that the 5DmkII and mkIII, while being a favorite of photographers, has been the absolute last choice for many people looking into new cameras, in terms of both picture quality, noise size, ISO range, and overall versatility. People have either moved to the Micro-4/3rds range with the Panasonic GH4 or the Black-Magic Pocket Camera, or they've gone to the A7s. Or they've bought 2 or all three of these cameras, because of each camera's useful benefits.

Besides which, 4K picture is an extremely helpful and useful aspect that I would consider it unwise not to invest in at this point. 2015 really should be the point where we put straight HD behind us when it comes to shooting raw footage if we want to get the most out of our filming experience. 1080p I think is okay for phones and more special circumstance shooting, but your principal photography will look so much better if it can be shot in 4K.

The GH4 shoots 4K internally, the A7s shoots 4K with an external recorder, the Go-Pro HERO III shoots a form of 4K internally, and many other cameras will soon follow. Hopefully the BMPC will get 4K soon enough, and then people won't have to get the awkward BMCC, with its bulky and lofty footprint.
 
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A7s is sharper, can be used in fullframe and crop mode, but in full frame mode it has more rolling shutter than a 5D mkIII.
The iso goes to insanely high values with usable images, but the rec button is in an odd spot.
The A7s is also lighter than a 5D.
And (pretty important to me) has zebra. (On a 5D you can have zebra with the Magic Lntern hack, but inmy experience the ML zebras seem a bit slow and ugly)

The 5D, however, is still lineskipping, resulting in more moire and aliasing. This is sort of tackled with a filter, but that results in even a softer image than before. (FWIW: the vertical resolution of the 5D MkII and III are said to be around 800 lines that are stretched up to 1080: which explains the softness)

They both lack ND filters.

My advice is: try them both.
We can al give our own experiences, opions and state specs, but the proof is in the eating of the pudding.
 
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WalterB said:
A7s is sharper, can be used in fullframe and crop mode, but in full frame mode it has more rolling shutter than a 5D mkIII.
The iso goes to insanely high values with usable images, but the rec button is in an odd spot.
The A7s is also lighter than a 5D.
And (pretty important to me) has zebra. (On a 5D you can have zebra with the Magic Lntern hack, but inmy experience the ML zebras seem a bit slow and ugly)

The 5D, however, is still lineskipping, resulting in more moire and aliasing. This is sort of tackled with a filter, but that results in even a softer image than before. (FWIW: the vertical resolution of the 5D MkII and III are said to be around 800 lines that are stretched up to 1080: which explains the softness)

They both lack ND filters.

My advice is: try them both.
We can al give our own experiences, opions and state specs, but the proof is in the eating of the pudding.
Click to expand...

That's actually one of the biggest benefits of 4K, much less moire.
Because when you take an image shot in 4K and downscale it compared to a native 1080p image, the moire issue can be dramatically different between two similar images.
 
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I would avoid the 5D Mark III for its lack of high frame rate options and lack of an upgrade path to 4K.

If budget permits, you might want to consider the new £2399 Sony A7r II.

Two features it has that the A7s lacks are 4K internal recording and 5-axis in body stabilization.

In-body stabilization is a big deal and will save you money on stabilizers and gimbals. This was shot handheld (please watch at 2160p and your monitor's highest resolution):

Sony a7R II 5-axis stabilisation test - The story of Nikki the busker

Hope this is helpful and good luck with your decision!

Bill
 
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brunerww said:
I would avoid the 5D Mark III for its lack of high frame rate options and lack of an upgrade path to 4K.

If budget permits, you might want to consider the new £2399 Sony A7r II.

Two features it has that the A7s lacks are 4K internal recording and 5-axis in body stabilization.

In-body stabilization is a big deal and will save you money on stabilizers and gimbals. This was shot handheld (please watch at 2160p and your monitor's highest resolution):

Sony a7R II 5-axis stabilisation test - The story of Nikki the busker

Hope this is helpful and good luck with your decision!

Bill
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So you're saying Sony now has a low-light full-frame camera with 4K internal recording? Cause that's what I needed like last year. Damn.
 
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brunerww said:
It can't see in the dark like the A7s can, but it's pretty darned clean at ISO 6400:

Another A7r II low light test

If it didn't have the ridiculous 30 minute limit here in the States, I would save my money up and buy one.
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Still better than what the GH4 gives me in low-light. I get horrific noise even with super wide lenses. It's one of my main concerns. The 4K looks beautiful on a GH4 with even bright lighting, but even with around 800 ISO, the shadow noise is pretty messy.
 
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