Sony A7s, FHD camera, with 12Mp sensor, big DR

bleach551

The price,that's the $100,000 question. My logic, the Sony A7 was 24MP and cost $1699,I believe. So, For a 12MP Full-Frame with no "In-Camera" 4K recording capabilities, only 4k out through HDMI and the addition of a higher quality codec, I think a $300 to $400 premium for the A7S would be reasonable. However, we are talking about Sony here.

bozfx

I agree with you all on the price. $2K or lower and I'll consider it; above that and I'll pass and go with the GH4 by default. Your move, Sony. ;)

bleach551

Just a look at how the Sony A7S would look with battery grip.

Aria

Long as I can remember Sony has NEVER surprised me with a lower price for their product. It's just not really what they do. 2 things you can be sure of is higher prices for Sony and Apple products. If Sony ever did price this thing right they'd be pleasantly surprised with the sales IMO. The key is the low light and DR of this thing in combination with the FF Sensor. That combo is just killer.

nomad

To me the price of the A7(R) was a nice surprise, after all it's the same sensor as in the D800. I'd expect less than 2K. Regarding DOF: which that sensitivity you can always stop down if needed, it's a non-issue to me. On the contrary, you'll have the option of both shallow or deep DOF where needed. Plus, with a large sensor there is not much reason to be concerned about using f16 or even 22 when needed.

RRRR

@nomad

With the high iso's looking as clean as they do, stopping down is unlikely to be much of an issue, agree. For low light, I have no doubt this will be a beast and the 2 stop advantage of mFT I doubt will compete. As it may, however, I have little hope for satisfying quality straight from the cam.. Sony encoding has not surprised me positively, ever - but who knows, maybe this will be a first?

matthere

Does anybody have any experience of the XAVC S codec at 50mbs (is it used elsewhere?) what might be the benefits / trade offs in relation to other codecs?

RRRR

@matthere

No experience - spec-wise, as a high level h264 codec, 50mbs should be enough in theory. (works well enough on the gh3!) It all depends on implementation though.. (in the past Sony have not exactly impressed in this department, in my experience)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XAVC#XAVC_S

matthere

Thanks @RRRR :) there are a few samples from the Sony FDR-AX100 recorded in HD on youtube that look pretty good to my eye.. that ISO performance on the A7s looks really useful too :)

evero

I'm curious if the A7S will have the same built in lens corrections (for e-mount zoom lenses) for video as the coming FS700 firmware update: geometric distortion correction and shading correction...

AdamT

Based on comments in the Atomos interview I expect the price will be closer to $3,000 than $2,000. The Atomos guy mentioned that he thought an A7S/Shogun rig would come in around $5k. The Shogun will be under $2k, therefore....

RatLabProductions

@ $3,000 its dead to me and seems pretty odd to price such a niche product that much higher than its ones that have appeal to the photo set. This camera won't appeal at all to pro or amatuer photographers with the low MP count and sacrifice of some AF abilities the cheaper models will have. Are there enough people looking to ditch their 5DIII for this? I don't know the market is that big at that price point and a $3K price will chase away almost anyone on the lower end to the GH4 which has more function per $$ spent.

larouflaquette

@RatLabProductions : i am ready to squeeze my 5DIII to bring this little baby at home !!! You know what, i have bought the Canon 5DIII for its abilities to do video properly... no way... RAW obtained with ML is a pain in the ass. Not for the workflow... i mean for the quality of the blacks when pushed in camera raw... Then i have bought a Blackmagic camera... wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better to my eyes. In fact the blacks can be pushed with even less noise than 5DIII does... and the highlights well protected when you do ETTR. Better camera. What i also like with MFT sensors is the deeper DOF. Easier to focus with.

But this Alpha 7s seems to be the best of both worlds : Full frame for the great tiny DOF, and possibility to stop down thanks to the high iso capabilities !!! Frankly, yes, i'll sell my almost brand new 5DIII for this baby. The thing i gotta do will be to buy a metabones E-mount to EF for my 135mm F2 and other EF Lenses...

@ under 2K US dollars, i'll go for it. Even if the 4K ability is forwarded later on with the external recorder. I still don't need 4K because all my movies are showed in 2K right now on theatres or TV screens for my clients...

I like the GH4 too. But to my eyes it doesn't seem to go as far as the A7s does... 4K is a great feature... but low light abilities with the possibility to stop down a lot is a killer !!!! Have you seen the man of DSLR Noob pushing to 80 000 isos ??? It was all black room and the blacks stay almost clean... if you shoot on good conditions (good lightning conditions), you're gonna stop down as far as you want... Nevermind diffraction with FF...

I already love this Sony camera !!! And i always hated Sony for his prosumer cameras...

kurth

In terms of sony pricing....I think we have to look at some recent prices, esp. the a6000, which is priced aggressively in terms of what it's replacing. I still stick to my original guess at 2299 US for the body. Amazing simply because this camera sees in the friggin' dark !

duckpark

"Emotional attachment" haha, got me. I've been torn thinking about the price lately. I agree with @kurth there is still a possibility for a low price. Reasoning is that sony wants to establish E-mount as one of the standard mounts and their pricing on A7 and A7R reflect that. I mean c'mon, those cameras are worth way more than what they are sold now if compared to Canon/Nikon specs. Low price also seems logical because the camera body is no different from the A7 model.

joe1946

OMG, $3,450 for the A7s ! I am glad I didn't cancel my GH4 pre-order. "The world’s first store accepting preorders and unveiling the price of the new Sony A7s is WexUK (Click here). But asked via Twitter they also said that the price “is given to us by Sony, but it may change between now and the release date“. For comparison: WexUk sells the A7r for 1669 pounds! The A7s costs exactly $50 more! Based on the current A7r Amazon pricing the A7s could cost around $3,450! That would be higher than expected. I hope Sony will read your comments so that they will lower the price :)" http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-a7-gets-a-provisory-price-in-uk-2500-pounds/

jpbturbo

OMG, $3,450 for the A7s ! I am glad I didn't cancel my GH4 pre-order. "The world’s first store accepting preorders and unveiling the price of the new Sony A7s is WexUK (Click here). But asked via Twitter they also said that the price “is given to us by Sony, but it may change between now and the release date“. For comparison: WexUk sells the A7r for 1669 pounds! The A7s costs exactly $50 more! Based on the current A7r Amazon pricing the A7s could cost around $3,450! That would be higher than expected. I hope Sony will read your comments so that they will lower the price :)" http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-a7-gets-a-provisory-price-in-uk-2500-pounds/

The way that is worded makes no sense at all.

joe1946 · Screen shot 2014-04-10 at 1.19.37 PM.png

I agree.

arknox

Stupid move by Sony. The fact they are saying that the price could change between now and release tells us nothing we didn't know already. By making public such a high price now they just make people flock to the much cheaper, feature rich, available much sooner GH4. Someone at Sony needs a good slap.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Guys, this price is just shop guess to get free advertisement and preorders.

duckpark

Thanks Sony, it was a fun ride. Now back to the GH4 topic. ;)

jpbturbo

Guys, this price is just shop guess to get free advertisement and preorders.

IIRC, Wex did something similar when the GH3 and many other cameras were released.

arknox

Wex are usually overpriced compared to other places though. Too premature to call it at this point but it's not a nice sign.

apefos

If you have something nobody can offer so you can ask high price and get the money from the rich people who can afford. Who is offering such high iso and dr in same camera today? Just Sony, and Sony does not like to give professional toys to low budget people, the low image quality of NEX cameras full of aliasing and moire and the lack of mic input and no 60p in some new NEX models are a proof of this Sony strategies.

If you can record external audio, the A6000 is an interesting camera with a nice clean 1600 iso, and probably good 3200 also, good DR with super white and 5 levels of DRO. 24p and 60p. Good for lens turbo. good for legacy glass.

AdamT

Do I win something? :-)

I'm wondering if the sensor in the A7S was created solely for this camera? If so, and given that the potential audience is relatively small, I can understand how it could have a higher price. By way of comparison, it's likely that the GH4 sensor will eventually be used in at least 3-4 Panasonic and Olympus bodies, some of which will mostly appeal to stills shooters.

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