I've been trying to shoot as much as possible with the new beast, trying to get to grips with the little quirks, the Sony menu interface, the physical feeling of operating. Skip to the chase, here's some footage, some graded, most raw, from the last few days:
Download the original file here: https://vimeo.com/135418762
This is not a scientific test, more me just trying everything all at once and seeing what sticks. As you can tell from the footage, it's a mix of tripod and hand-held. The only shots that were 'setup' were the car 'scene' with my girlfriend playing the part of 'girl whimsically staring into the sun'. (Thanks Sarah!) Otherwise it's all very handycam esque.
Discoveries so far:
There are a LOT of cool things about this camera but for now I'm just going to concentrate on some negatives.
- Switching between Full Frame and Super 35 has to be through the menu. You're unable to assign it to a shortcut. Sony please fix this through a firmware update!
- I've found Peaking to be a little buggy, sometimes it just stops working, haven't narrowed it down to why just yet! (UPDATE: when autofocus is enabled on a lens, (physical switch) this will disable peaking in camera. I guess it makes sense, but would be nice to have the option.
- Magnify during recording to check focus is awesome. Downside is, it's still quite hard to tell without peaking. In the Canon 5dMk3 the image kind of popped into focus. With the Sony it's a little more subtle. Need to get used to this.
- You can't take photos in video mode. Pretty annoying.
- When shooting 4k it can be a little slow to start. Not an instance record, a lag of a second or so. A bit frustrating when shooting fast action like skateboarding but not a massive deal.
Equipment used:
Metabones EF-E mount
Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS
Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 IS
Canon 50mm f1.4
Tiffen Variable ND filters
Miller Air Tripod
Stay tuned for some more gear reviews and thoughts on the a7rii!