{"id":9049,"date":"2015-12-01T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/?p=9049"},"modified":"2016-01-07T09:11:09","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T19:11:09","slug":"sony-a7s2-features-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/blog\/sony-a7s2-features-support\/","title":{"rendered":"The Support Crew: Is Sony’s a7S II Fit for Full-Time Video Production?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Will using the Sony a7S II<\/strong> for full-time video production be a breeze or will it end up being a battle?<\/p>\n In the last post<\/a>, we looked at the a7S II’s big-ticket features such as internal 4K recording, 5-axis sensor stabilization, 120fps slow motion, and of course, insane low-light sensitivity.<\/p>\n Now it’s time to dig deeper and look at whether the a7S II has the supporting features it needs to be effective in day to day production work. These features may not garner the same attention as the more exciting features, but they can mean the difference between a camera takes care of business and one that fights against you at every turn.<\/p>\n For shooters coming from traditional DSLRs, the a7S II’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a revelation. Simply being able to put your eye up to the camera when shooting video is much easier than holding your camera out at arms-length to use the screen on the back of the camera.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> The a7S II’s EVF is big, bright, and smooth. A solid EVF for shooting video, but it loses a few points for lacking detail and failing to display important details while shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n No matter how good a camera’s menus are, customizable hardware controls are essential to shooting efficiently and avoiding downtime.<\/p>\n With the a7S II’s menus as disjointed as they are, user-assignable hardware controls are even more important. Thankfully, the a7S II has a good amount of customizability to help you stay out of the menus.<\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> The a7S II has a lot of options for customization, but lacks access to key video production settings and can be a bit buggy at times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The a7S II has a trio of tools to help you nail exposure.<\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> While a waveform monitor would be nice, the a7S II has the essential tools for properly exposing your footage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The a7S II’s EVF and rear screen are not bad, but you’ll definitely want to use the camera’s additional tools for maintaining critical focus.<\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> The a7S II’s focus aids lack refinement, but they are usable as guides to help you keep your subjects in focus. Punch-in magnification while recording is also very helpful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The a7S II provides a variety of on-screen guides, including guides for different aspect ratios. This allows you to maintain proper framing when delivering to different formats such as 4:3 or 2.35:1.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> The a7S II’s customizable on-screen guides help you frame your shot for a variety of common aspect ratios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The micro HDMI port gives you access to a high quality video signal from the camera, but it’s also one of the main points of failure on these compact cameras. These ports are generally not robust enough to stand up to heavy use and stress on the plugs.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Repairing a broken HDMI port can be expensive, so it’s great to see that Sony has designed a custom solution to protect the a7S II’s HDMI port. The a7S II comes with a small plastic housing that attaches to multiple points on the camera’s body for a secure hold around the HDMI port.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This housing protects the HDMI cable from bumps, and it also features a cable pinch to keep the cable from being pulled out of the port.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Bottom line:<\/strong> It’s refreshing to see a camera manufacturer include a solution for protecting the HDMI port, let alone one that is well-designed and quite effective in reasonable conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The a7S II has a lot going for it when it comes to using the camera for video production.<\/p>\n Following the action is easy with the large EVF and almost every button is customizable for quick access to frequently-used features and settings. The camera’s focus and exposure tools are also helpful, as are the on-screen guides for various aspect ratios.<\/p>\n That said, there are also a few issues knock the a7S II down a peg or two, such as no access to key video-specific settings via the function buttons and only two in-camera slots for user presets.<\/p>\n The unrefined focus peaking and limited punch-in magnification could also be better considering cameras with better performance like the Panasonic GH4 were released over a year before the a7S II.<\/p>\n Overall the camera’s support features are usable, so whether the a7S II is a good fit really comes down to whether you’re willing to work around these inconveniences.<\/p>\n For users who need faster access to frame rates and recording modes, these omissions could be deal breakers. However, features like punch-in magnification during recording and aspect ratio guides may be more important to other shooters.<\/p>\n Personally, I’m sure I’ll never enjoy<\/em> having to trudge through the menus just to switch from 4K to HD, but I’m hoping I’ll at least get used to it after shooting more with the camera.<\/p>\n Ideally, Sony would include access to these strangely-missing settings in a future firmware update. This would make the a7S II much more usable, but setting up different custom presets for switching between 4K and slow-motion recording also help to ease the pain a bit in the meantime.<\/p>\n Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons of the a7S II’s big and small features, the next post in this series will dig into the a7S II’s real issues<\/strong>, which could knock this camera out of the running for many shooters. Sign up below for automatic updates find out when the next installment in this series is released.<\/p>\n You may know about the Sony a7S II’s big-ticket features, but does it have supporting features it needs to be effective in day to day production work?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[675,245,454,666,663,249,313,247,656,453,540,653,346],"medium":[],"theme":[],"tool":[],"series":[674],"yoast_head":"\nElectronic Viewfinder<\/h2>\n
The Good<\/h3>\n
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The Bad<\/h3>\n
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User Customization<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nEvaluating Exposure<\/h2>\n
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Staying Focused<\/h2>\n
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Aspect Ratio Guides<\/h2>\n
The Good<\/h3>\n
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The Bad<\/h3>\n
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Built-in HDMI Port Protection<\/h2>\n
The Good<\/h3>\n
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The Bad<\/h3>\n
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Is the a7S II Fit for Video Production?<\/h2>\n
Related<\/h2>\n
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Getting to Know the Sony a7S II<\/h2>\n
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