Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Well earlier in the thread the debate turned to the legality (or not) of grey imports/sourcing from Hong Kong and avoiding import duty - I for one am going to DigitalRev for mine and the money I save will pay for the metabones adapter for my EF lenses :) no more struggling at 18-24db for dark evening receptions - happy days :)

I enquired with Digitalrev and Panamoz, and they both say that they pay the import duties, not the customer.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Good man Peter!

I'm also excited about evening parties. I used to have to talk to the band and the venue about light levels - I also had to carry lighting rig with me in the car for extreme darkness. No more!

Also, even in occasions where the light is ok, I can now narrow the aperture and have more than one person at a time in focus on the dancefloor!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I enquired with Digitalrev and Panamoz, and they both say that they pay the import duties, not the customer.

I've used Digitalrev several times over the years for high value items and they've been solid. I have no experience of Panamoz.

But be careful - Digitalrev can have two listings on its website, one the price with everything paid up front and the other (lower) where you take your chances so to speak. So you may have been talking at cross purposes. I'd be surprised if anything got through customs nowadays from Digitalrev as they are such a large well established seller.

You may not get to know about import duties vat and processing fees until after delivery. I've had invoices from Fedex after delivery and there was no mention of it before or on delivery. Other couriers may require you to pay on physical delivery or notify you once delivery is possible so that you settle beforehand.

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

This is the response I got from DigitalRev

"Furthermore, please note our listing price has already included import tax fee therefore our customers are not liable for this charge. Therefore to confirm, the final price you find on our check out page is the final price for your order price".

Pete

I'm excited about this camera for it's low light performance, focus aids, Zebras (not to mention 50p and an articulated screen) - the 5D3 will be relegated to stills work from now on - Canon dropped the ball on the mark 3 for me.

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I've bought a couple of times from Digital Rev, always fast delivery, always included delivery and taxes. Nothing more to pay.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I know this is a bit off topic but for those that have purchased from digital rev, is the price on the invoice vat included and what's the percentage of vat? Or do they sell ex vat like Panamoz does? This is quite important to know because if they don't charge vat it is much cheaper to buy the same camera locally as a company. A a7s f.i. would be 1980 euro ex tax where I live and digital rev charges 2261 euro but the question remains, is there any vat to deduct as a company and what percentage is that?

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

For those who have moved from canon to the a7s, what are you doing regards lenses? Are you switching to sony lenses as well? Or are you using adapters? If so which ones?

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I'm planning to keep my Canon EF lenses and buy the Metabones smart adapter

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I've gone for this cheap one, bit of a risk but have read some fairly decent experiences with it - the Metabones is probably better made but for the money they ask there are some fairly mixed reviews to do with losing connection, having to restart camera etc

Commlite ComTrig AF Mount Adapter EF-NEX fr Canon Lens to Sony+IS Exact Exposure | eBay

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

That's interesting Ade - Never heard of Commlite before - let us know how it performs as i'm tempted - The Metabones is expensive - nearly the same price as the speedbooster and yet it has no glass - you'd think it would be a little less pricey than it is!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

yes would have gone Metabones if it was rock solid but am loath to pay premium prices if it has issues.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Yes please Ade share your experience - I'm going to purchase real soon and wouldn't want to make an expensive mistake!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Will do when I actually get it - their free shipping means any time in 1st half of August it seems

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Finally felt confident enough to use the A7s on a wedding and the camera is simply amazing. It matched VERY closely post grading to our C100s and the image just looks so filmic. The 50mbps codec was perfect for a same day edit as well.

I'll post footage Monday.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Edward, what picture Profile did you go for? I've decided that SLog 2 will not be used for weddings for me!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Kholis Picture Profile 6 settings. Yeah S log 2 was too much of a pain to deal with and gets noisy in the shadows in post.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Just a quick heads up - mine arrived today and even though it's the 'World' version it's still limited to 29 minutes recording time - not really a problem for me but will be for those of you wanting to use it for ceremonies/speeches

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Anyone using the A7s with EF lenses yet? Thoguhts?

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Cool Pete

You can now shoot in the dark castle at F8 and still make it look like daylight!!

Chris

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Chris the picture profiles at first glance look exactly like the ones for our EA50 cameras! I'm hoping as it has the same (although larger) Exmor sensor I should be able to match the footage nicely!

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Here is a same day edit that utilized 2 C100s and an A7s with EF glass. Only had 2 hours after the ceremony to put the edit together so some of the colors are a bit off. The A7s produces more green in its footage and as a result, I'd remove more green from the highlights in the future.

No stabilization was used for the A7s except for a monopod and IS on the glass.

Overall my only complaint with the camera (as a B camera) is the lackluster battery life.

Film Convert 2 and Impulz were used to color correct and grade.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Nice clip Edward, how long can you shoot with one battery on the a7s?

I guess the very shallow dof shots in the video where from the a7s?

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

One battery lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, more towards 1.5.

The a7s was used for most of the bridal prep minus the sliding shot of the groom and the outdoor/staircase shots.

It was also used during the ceremony for reaction shots, center, and the exit.

The only shots I was really displeased with were the center aisle shot. Then again the entire background were sunny windows. Maybe using slog 2 might have been better for highlight recovery.

All shots were taken with Kholis pp6 picture profile.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

That's quite good battery life or where you expecting better? with my rx10 I often can't get passed 45 minutes on one battery and it takes ages to load the battery in camera.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Yeah the gh4 battery lasts muuuuuch longer and 1 a7s battery takes over 2 hours to charge.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Yes, the gh4 batterylife is exceptional, I do have to say that if you use stabilised lenses the battery drains a lot quicker but if you stick with non stabilised the battery just keeps on going.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

The A7s comes with 2 batteries though :)

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

1,5 hour is really not bad, 2 of these batteries should get you through an entire weddingday if you have a second camera as well.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Yea, shot a wedding yesterday on two batteries. Had to put the first one on charge again at reception venue as precaution, but didn't actually need to use it. Two batteries was enough - but i will probably buy a third just for the peace of mind.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I have a friend in Nashville who was able to get a brand new Sony a7S for $2,249. Not a bad discount! Apparently they will price match Ebay prices. Saved $250 by negotiating with them. Something to keep in mind if you're looking at buying. Always negotiate!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Some low light high ISO shots I put together from my A7S.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Can any A7s owner confirm an issue I'm having before I send mine back as faulty please (although it may be the lens adapter - not sure)

In manual mode with a fixed ISO (not auto) cycle up and down through the apertures - all is ok. Now press record and do the same - do you experience white flashes as the aperture opens up? Don't know if this is a fault or just the way it is with this camera - It happens with Metabones smart adapter and EF lenses but not with NEX lenses and camera in APS-C mode - Clive what adapter are you using and do you experience this?

Pete

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Peter, just tried it and yes, I'm getting white flashes when the aperture is widening. Not when narrowing.

Would you normally change aperture whilst recording though? I know I wouldn't... not unless necessary. And if it were the case of light drastically changing mid clip - would ISO not be a better way to brighten the scene (theres no shortage of it! ;-) )

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

It's not the amount of iso you can use that will make the difference, it's how smooth the transition is. I guess the best way to have a smooth aperture change is to use a adapter that has a clickless aperture ring. I wish all dslr's could handle iso and aperture changes the way my rx10 can, that would be a big improvement.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

I guess unless I'm going for a particular DOF then I do quite often use the iris to control exposure - a throwback to old school camcorders that had 3 fixed gain positions (low/mid/hi) but also I've been using the 5D3 for the last year and have kept my ISO settings to multiples of 160 for a cleaner image (apparently the 5D introduces noise for 'inbetween' ISO settings) so I never just scrolled through ISO to adjust exposure.

Anyway I emailed Metabones and problem solved - I just needed to turn on advanced mode for the adapter - happy days!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Good to know!

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Looks like I'm going against the flow here and just picked up a GH4.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Congrats on your new camera Dave! I really love the GH4.. I've had one problem with audio thus far, which was related to one particular codec (24p @100mbps), but internal 4K, peaking and zebras are amazing additions to an already great camera (GH3). Just shot my second wedding with it yesterday and it was a dream.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Well I really want to go with the A7s just for my receptions.. but jeeze the camera and then a lens.. thats 3,000 bucks. Damn.

Re: A7s or GH4 - which for you?
 

Ok just to report back on Commlite adapter for using Canon lenses.....

Everything but continuous autofocus works, yet the camera will autofocus (slowly) if you press the shutter down half way.
Fit to camera is snug, a bit loose on the lens side but is very minor

Canon 70-200mm 2.8 mk2, Canon 17-55 2.8 (apsc), Canon 50mm 1.4 all work as above
lenses with quirks -
Canon 18-135mm STM will work auto focus but not manually - presume because it is focus by wire
Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro - will only go down to 3.2 on aperture - EDIT - can get 2.8 after all, just need to take off and put on again