Each day that passes is another day closer to the announcement of the Sony a7S III. We all know it’s coming, but what new features should it have?
In September 2015, Sony announced the a7S II sporting a groundbreaking sensor specializing in low light videography. As time went on, other companies introduced very competitive alternatives that either matched or exceeded many of the a7S II’s video specifications. Personally, I think it’s a little uncharacteristic for the Sony of the past few years give their competitors enough time to catch up. But what this may mean in the end is that they have something worth waiting for.
Another thing to keep in mind is that although Sony hasn’t announced anything new in the a7S series for a few years, they have introduced solid video options into their latest a7 and a7R releases. If you’re a videographer through and through, however, the a7S III is likely still worth the holdout if you haven't already seeked out alternatives.
In this video from Max Yuryev, he goes over five new features that the a7S III needs in order to stay competitive. What’s on your own personal wishlist for this camera?
Ideally:
- 4k/60. Full sensor read out without crop and line skipping
- Better colors and skin tones
- 10 bits 422 in 4k/60
- Improved AF (DPAF or similar performance)
- Improved battery life (A9 body and battery type)
- 1080 at 180 or 240fps (not converted in body to 24,25 or 30fps)
- Better menu
The color science is already improved greatly, the battery life will no doubt have the new Z battery which lasts a long while, the autofocus is already awesome on the a7iii and they'll no doubt either match that or improve on it, and the menu is definitely going to include the 'my menu' feature where you can customize the settings you use most into one area. Not sure about the other features, but just wanted to address the features you mentioned that you wanted but already exist.
4k60 and better AF should be the top items besides the obvious like the bigger battery and body style of the a7iii/a7riii. The contrast only AF was trash when I had an a7s. Haven't tried the a7sii but I think it was contrast only as well.
The A7sii AF is generally considered excellent, and there are good reasons why phase detect is of questionable value for video: https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2017/03/14/panasonic-cpplus-2017-g...
In addition to the 5 things you listed I would like to see the following in the 7s iii:
1. Build-in ND filters so that I do not have to constantly screw on and off ND filters.
2. 24 Megapixel sensor
3. 4K cinema instead of UHD or in addition to UHD in both full frame and cropped mode.
>> 24 Megapixel sensor
You might want to think about why the GH5s is only 12MP.
Larger pixels means fewer pixels to process if you're shooting at 4K or 6K and a more optimal microlens design - that's why the 7s series vignette much less with eg legacy wide angles. They also generally give better tonality than averaging down from a higher resolution sensor of the same size and reduce the amount of bandwidth needed to do a full sensor readout.
Talking of the GH5s, no one has talked about the obvious possibility of dual iso.
Price. Honestly. Most of these cutting edge cameras are way too expensive for what they are.
An article with an embed link to a youtube video that is almost a month old? No content in the article other than saying "here's a video"
...Is this journalism?
Who hurt you
I wonder if Sony will ever rewrite their menu system?
There is a system behind their menu? ;-)
First remember that Sony has FS5, FS5mkII , FS7 , FS7mkII that cost double or more.
You expect they will give you more features and better image quality in a smaller body for half the price?
Good luck.
My bet is , they will implement 4K60 and HLG, possibly AF from a73.
Maybe one or two stops cleaner image.
Though the A7riii is a bit noisy and I wish it had 10 bit color, it’s a great camera in many respects. For the A7siii, I’d really like to see them fix the color response... Improved dynamic range would always be welcome with any digital camera, but color response and depth seems to be a really weak point. At least to my tastes, color is more important than resolution, and I suspect that the reason for the resolution improving so much while color response remains sketchy is that the technical hurdles are more significant. Of coarse, superlative color response, depth and dynamic range are possible with digital cameras as evidenced by Red movie production cameras, though they require significant processing capability and such processing, along with the sensor, really add to the size, weight, and power demand of the camera. Anyway, like many others, I’m looking forward to any improvements that may be forthcoming from Sony, and truly wish that Canon could get back in the DSLR game as well!
Fix the terrible rolling shutter would be more than necessary!
- 4:3 shooting 4:3 shooting call it "anamorphic mode" I don't care, that'll be make or break for me and why I bought my GH5s over the A7SII