Panasonic GH4 versus the Sony A7SII
Here’s our Sony A7SII review. We used to use the Panasonic GH4 for our smaller budget shoots but have recently moved over to the Sony A7SII. The S stands for sensitivity and with an ISO base of 3200 you can be sure that it’s low light capability is absolutely incredible.
So when would we use the GH4 over the Sony? Well let’s see, colour profile – SONY, Low light – SONY, dynamic range – SONY, auto focus – SONY, full frame sensor – SONY, frame rate – SONY.
So what about the Sony A7SII review? Well the build is great; it’s really compact and fits right in your hand. Try picking up the old 5D III and its like holding a brick by comparison. The Sony is lightweight and just a fantastic size. It’s easy to transport and completely versatile.
We love the full frame sensor because the photographic lenses available are now native to its size. So with the Sony when you put on a 16mm wide angle you get an image, which is true to its size. No cropping and no vignetting.
We use the metabones e-mount to canon mount so that we can use the full range of canon photo lenses. The metabones seems to be the best available on the market which is fast and smooth.
We use the wooden camera E-mount to PL mount adapter. That’s working perfectly and allows you to mount some incredible glass in front of this little camera. We recently shot with the Cooke Pancro range and got some incredible results, a really creamy looking vintage feel and spectacular flares.
Now if you are going to use the autofocus or especially the great face detection feature then you’ll need the Sony lenses that are native to this camera. We have never been able to use the autofocus on other similar cameras so this is a welcome advance in the area. And lets just say that for long tracking interview shots using the Ronan-M, it’s the perfect solution. No need for a focus puller anymore.
Another great feature is the 5-axis image stabilization. If you are on the fly but don’t have your steadycam or even your shoulder rig, this feature can provide incredible results. With a small camera like this you can often have a jittery effect when filimg handheld, since it’s so lightweight, but this system really helps to smooth it all out. You could use a 50mm lens and do a walk around a subject and the results can be very close to a dolly shot. If we were doing the same kind of shot with the GH4 we couldn’t even attempt it. So the Sony 5 axis image stabilization is really worth playing around with to see just how far you can push it. It’s ideal for music video shooting.
Of course one of the most important features is the 4k resolution. And if you think that with an Alexxa Mini you only get 3.2k it really is incredible. Say you want to punch in and do digital zooms with the 4k base you have a lot of flexibility.
And if you want to go slow motion you can shoot 1080p at 100 frames per second. The only draw back is the sensor resize and the image is cropped in. So you have to compensate by shooting wider lenses. But that’s a small price to pay for the kind of images you can shoot on a budget and also with a camera of this size.
But the greatest aspect that this camera offers is its incredible low light capabilities. We heard a lot about it, but until you get stuck in you cant quite believe how good it is. So if you are into practical light photography and also love a clean image without noise and grain then this is the camera for you. It’s a beast.
So what about the s-log profiles? Well here’s where you get into the details and with Sony S-log you get to keep them all, no clipping and no burnt highlights if you expose properly. It really does start to feel like a professional proposition at this point. Here’s a watch out though – Sony says that when shooting S-log you should over expose. That’s a tough pill to swallow but if you want to avoid any muddiness in the image this is the route to go. Of course it’s something you have to play with, then you’ll soon get the hang of the camera and all of it’s nuances.