Sony A7S Review: First Look
Sony A7s Review from Matthew Allard ACS on Vimeo.
We have been waiting on it, and now here it is. Matthew Allard has been in Singapore this week covering the Broadcast Asia show and for the duration of his trip he’s had a production model a7S with him on loan from Sony. In that time he has put together the 37 minute long review you see above. Matthew says he tried to be as comprehensive as possible shooting in as many real world situations as he could. I, for one, am very glad he did. So many “First Look Reviews” are little more than surface fluff, intended more to draw in new readers than to actually convey much in the way of actual information on the new cameras. For all of us, including Matthew, this gives a truer representation of the abilities of the a7S than just filming in a pretty location with ideal lighting. I mean, really; what are any of us going to learn from that?
In this review you will see low light footage, Standard Picture Profile and Slog2 ungraded and graded shots. There is also a clip demonstrating the rolling shutter and a couple of small clips showing 60 and 120P slow motion. You will also get a full look at the menu system and functions. All of Matthew’s A7S test footage was recorded in the camera to SD cards in XAVC HD because he didn’t have access to a 4K recording device. The footage at the start shot by Den Lennie was originally shot in 4K, however it is shown in HD here.
One of the most eye opening things for Matthew was seeing his a7S footage professionally graded. He’s included a screen capture of it being manipulated in DaVinci Resolve 11 by a colorist at Broadcast Asia. Wow, impressive!
The A7s is quite unique for a hybrid stills/video camera because it bucks the trend of going for ever increasing megapixels. Instead Sony have used a full frame 12MP CMOS sensor – which results in dramatically increased low light sensitivity and dynamic range. This camera really is the new low light king according to Matthew Allard. He states this confidently, without a shadow of a doubt.
Many thanks to Matthew Allard for doing this Sony a7s review and sharing it with all of us. It appears to cover just about everything you need to know to make a purchase decision. I haven’t even tried it myself yet, and I am already sold! <Grin> More on this coming soon with my own Sony a7s review.
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