Sony Fs7 in 2022. Still documentary king? (My experience)

[@noBfilm]

two years ago, a colleague and I were shooting a doc in the winter in the middle of the alps. -10 degree, snow was falling all the time, so both of the FS7 (rental back then) had about 3-5 cm snow on it all of the time, just now and then we put it away with our hands. we went all the time for 2-3 hours outdoor, shooting in the snow, then interview inside - 25 degree, just wiped off the water and snow with an towel, then back out for hours and indoor again - I that that would kill the camera - absolutely no problem at all! that was the selling point for me! I agree with all your points, great cam. picture wise, think with shooting in SLOG 3 you have a very nice starting point for good color grading. Hypergammas and internal color are so and so, never been exited about it, with SLOG it's good. Sony F-3 still got "nicer" colors. for a minimum of camera balancing I would say that using V-Mount batteries is very useful. for very bright exterior shooting the internal ND filters are too weak, here a additional ND .9 / 1.2 comes handy. also there are the Sony lav-mics where you can use the hot shoe on front of the grip, so you get signal + power through the camera and don't have to think about another cable. very useful cam!

Its a tank 😅✌️ I definitely want the sony mics. I have the stereo hot shoe mic and like the concept a lot.

[@davidcmpeterson]

A super in depth head to head shoot out comparison of the a7Smk3 vs FS7 vs F3 would be awesome content for the next video!

[@Plaughrey]

Glad your loving the FS7! Thanks for sharing your experiences 🙌

[@ispeedonthe4055]

I keep coming back to this video (very informative) because I'm thinking of going to an FS7 m2 away from FX30. Yes FX30 newer, but I don't like the DSLR system, and moving to FX6 means new lenses unless I want to shoot HD (I don't). FX9 to pricey for a hobbyist like me.

@@ispeedonthe4055 cheap fs7 is nice 👍

[@davidmorefield]

Absolutely love hearing your real works experience…and how you got to this point in your career. New subscriber! Looking forward to more content!!

Thx dude. Im a big fan of mr cranky. But now I have more vlogs to look forward to. Keep it up!

[@davidmorefield]

@ thanks man!! Who doesn’t love a good Cranky vlog? 😁

Yeah who doesn’t. Must be his Swedish heritage… 🌲

[@CraigMarshall_HDvideo4K]

Since my FS7 arrived, my pattern has been to shoot 4K I frame internally and very high bitrate HD externally on SSD via my SDI Samurai Blade recorder. Both files have identical Timecode so I sometimes edit the HD on a field laptop then drop in the 4K later in my DaVinci Resolve suite. I've tried Log and made my own BT-709 LUTs but really, the FS7's BT709 custom mode is so good, Log is just a waste of time. Especially as I have the FS7 closely matched to my FS5. I have fitted the LCD and Zacuto Z-Finder loup from the FS5 to the FS7 as it gives superior monitoring to the FS7's native loup and is a bit shorter so better for shoulder mount ENG style shooting.(My FS5 is now equipped with a 7 Artisans 12mm T2.9 cinema lens where it is set at T5.6 with the electronic ND performing all the exposure adjustments where I exclusively use the camera's built in EVF. Brilliant!)

[@CaleMcCollough]

I just picked up the Sony 10-20mm F/4 PZ G lens and that is a perfect lens. That lens has the new focus motor in it that is much better for focus pulls, and it doesn't have vignetting and it's sharp.

[@steveaustin8817]

Thanks - this is really useful for me. Thinking about buying one for video podcasts.

[@Supercon57]

I did a ton of corporate shoots with the FS7, it's a beast It's crazy to see it fall out of favor and sell for dirt cheap

[@TLFILMS]

same

[@kyleranney]

I have two FX9s, but I get asked for the 7 more often.

[@noBfilm]

@@kyleranney are there any benefits for you regarding dynamic range / color when shooting in Slog3 ?

[@KHUFU1]

I’m interested in buying the Sony Fs7 for music clips

[@winfilms3681]

Just wanted to say thank you for your videos here! Your F3 videos especially!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Thanks for the tips!

[@ClaesFeldt]

Hi Josef, completly OT but whats the name for that music you use as intro when you where a young kid ? I have but i have forgotten the name of it. Regards from Claes in Borås

[@Blucki]

Supernice vid bro! Love to see more of your work and an upcoming video with your best clips from that sailing journey!

Thanks bro. Ill keep em coming!

[@StrongFrontTV]

I just bought a used one and love it as well!

[@joas162]

I just got a used FS7 mark II with the 18-110 lens. It's a great lens, but it's on the heavier side and that makes it hard to balance the camera on my shoulder. Also not looking to add more weight on the back with a v-mount. Any other option than getting a lens with a lower weight? Also curious if a lens without OSS will perform good enough with longer focal lengths. Really awesome review by the way. Learned some things and also like the way you think. Rigging a camera seems like a chore to me 😛

The camera becoming front heavy is a problem I’m sure. However I think you can’t get a better lens for the Job. Oss is great at longer lenses. Sony has smaller lenses for s35 but they have horrible non linier focusing. Shooting is not very ergonomically in general. If you find a xdca box with vmount it will balance the camera nice on the shoulder. But will add size and a lite bit of weight. Its a trade of. 🤷‍♂️ Thank you 🙏

[@kyleranney]

You can grab a dovetail setup. I use the Shape Arri Dovetail shouldermount with Hand15 handles and it's great. Allows you to move the camera and shoulder plate and then I have the universal bridge plate and dovetail on both of my cameras and sticks. Can balance a small setup with prime or a huge lens with batteryback and wireless video.

[@TJA86]

interesting to hear your comment on shooting in 1080p... We use these cameras all the time in film school for in class shoots, and always shoot in 1080p, XAVC-i, and have never noticed weird artifacts or anything in the footage. If anything it looks too crisp and sharp (and digital). I've also never heard of anyone having issues focusing using the standard monitor. Anyway, enjoyed the video, just very curious about the 1080p thing.

It has Aliasing problems in 1080p. However its not visible in a lot of situations. Shooting faceses etc is fine. But it very visible when there is lots of straight lines and complicated patterns in the shot. If you shot it in slowmo mode this effect will be even more exaggerated and visible. But good its not a problem for you at school. I also work at a film school. I wish we had fs7n there. We use Bmpcc 4k and they just brake and cause a lot of problems all the time...

[@WimSchoonenberg]

Love your enthusiasm mate, well done!

[@bigtaquito]

me & my boys were doing crazy wheelies

[@Nqrgaard]

I am new to the FS7. My first recording had a little distorted audio. I both used NTG-3 and a Lavalier, but both had issues. Do you know what could be the reason? Also I am looking for a AC/DC power supply to connect it to the wall when shooting long shoots. Do you know what the output are on this unit? Both Volt, Amp and Watt? 🙏😊

Go to audio and trim your input setting if you need to boost the gain much on the dial.

[@paulbeckmann]

Great info! Thanks! A stellar camera for the price!

[@sixofsix]

Dude Im happy for you bro. Nice setup. Simple.

[@carlwingard8241]

Inspirerande video! Gillar hur du hittade drömkameran även om det inte var den senaste modellen Sony släppt. Har en hårddisk från Sony som jag slog till på nästan enbart för att det var en disk jag drömde om när jag började med kameror. Min största behållning med den här videon var storyn om resan och drömmen som ledde fram till kameran 🙂 Känner igen mycket av den. Lycka till med nästa steg på resan!

Tack för kommentaren! 🙏 Jag håller er alla uppdaterade om vad som händer framåt! 😊

[@boahandarrowsproductions4326]

Wow, that F3 just looks good

[@relaxwithme3266]

I sold my two FS7s. I miss them.

[@bobtronic73]

love your excitement about your new camera :) thanks for sharing your thoughts

Haha 🫶 i live for this stuff!

[@magnusselander]

Thank you for this great review of the Fs7. I have done some shooting with the fs7 and I think it is a great workhorse, however since the new Fx9 and 6 is the new standard now and that they have the benefit of great autofocus, I somewhat hesitate to get the Fs7 today. You could of course argue for or against autofocus in many ways but it’s a good thing to have if you need it in some situations. FF is also a game changer but I think the super 35 holds up pretty well. So i don’t knew if i’ll go for a used Fs7 or a new Fx6 yet?

Autofocus rules. 👍 fx6/fx9 is the way to go today. Also, all good E lenses are made for full-frame. But used Fs7 can be worth the price today. (like mine was) I am not selling my fs7s for an upgrade. I would keep them and add an fx6/fx9 to the mix. Sometimes I do multi-cam and I can still rent them out cheaply.

[@magnusselander]

@ Yes, I think we have about the same thoughts about this. I did a 2 camera shoot recently with a Fx9 and the Fs7 both shooting on 70-200 but the Fx9 was in FF mode and autofocus and I struggled with the Fs7 in manual focus and the Fx9 looked just beautiful with tack sharp eye focus all the way. If I buy one now I think I’ll just go for the middle way with a Fx6 as it will probably last for some years to come.

@@magnusselander Yeah. I have been looking at the Fx9 for a long time now. Never pulled the trigger because of the price. Might just do the same thing and pick up the fx6 in the end... ( Pulling focus on 70-200 is terrible 😢)

[@PrashkFilms]

thanks for providing your insights..

[@emilsonksen9399]

Mycket spännande Josef! Långfilm snart!

[@SamBondPhoto]

What d-tap splitter are you using at 12.04? I've just added a second FS7 to my kit and I'm getting a couple of XDCA's next and would be great to know how to power my monitors etc! Great videos by the way, please keep them coming!

I think it is shape 👍

[@meirchaimo6960]

That cat!!!! Great video!

[@SimplicityForGood]

what about the Black Magic 6k Pro!? 😇

Never tested. But If you want to know what i think about the pocket 4k i also have a video about it. 🤭

[@SimplicityForGood]

@ I see. but do you think is worth still using the Black Magicpocket cameras, we have the Micro Cinema, the OG pocket and the 4 k you mentioned that all use 4/3 micro lenses like the Lumix GH lenses... what is your opinion of those three cameras? *should I just get a OG pocket to go over from my GH3 Lumix camera and get into more of the Cinema style of cameras or should I buy a micro cinema and rig it more as I want or should I use the 4K you mentioned? *and why one over the other Black Magic Camera? * or are these pocket cameras past history and not worth it and would I be better off with just getting a new GH camera like the GH 5S or GH5 ll that are still not too expensive as a second hand camera? and feel is as good as it needs to be? I feel this is a hard call and for second hand gamers they are sometimes very close in price to be honest no matter is 4k or the OG as examples... but after film school I feel a bit overwhelmed of all cameras, lenses etc... I love directing, acting and writing and sometimes producing.. I am good with cameras when it comes to directly shooting but I do not know all tech stuff.. I saved up money now and have used the GH3 professionally in a commercial production company in Stockholm, not for making the actual production of course but for location scouting , like filming for the director and producer to find the right locations, angles, where the sun comes top and down , and making all preparation from renting houses, lakes, forests and when one can film where and set up the location management for them and then the GH3 was highly useful together with an iPad .... ... but now I like to do my own short films and KZbin podcasts and feel the GH3 done its time and I should let it go... but what to get now? the black magic pocket cameras seem really cool, I something about them I am drawn to... I really like the micro cinema and how one can connect it in small areas like inside a car or motorcycle... ... but it seems also complicated to set up for a weekly podcast at home, but I might be totally wrong and is great for that as well?... ... so I look here and there and now feel overwhelmed when one see the Gh 5 S film look ,is great but is not RAW the way even the old Black Magic OG can give you... and so here're I am asking you... sorry for all my questions... I see you and some other people I begun to follow here on yt done a lot more serious work than me.. I have a master in Documentary film production and a BA in journalism and a film school and screen writing school behind me, even an acting conservatory in New York City university .. so I done a lot of student work and news work with DSLR and tape video cameras.. but as said, I wanna make my own things now.... just feel confused to the huge amount of cameras that exist today and where to put your money's worth-.- so all advices are welcome... would be cool to make more poetic style of documentaries than digital news styled ones and work with social actors where one first observe people's lifestyles and then set up scenes with those people as social actors and ask them to repeat things they do in life to make short documentaries with a more poetic and symbolic flavour based on people's lives to make a bigger dramatic impact for the audience of show many different destinies and lives that we otherwise never hear about.. thanks for getting back and listening to my rant or confused mind at the time

[@user-sx8uo6oi8h]

Just subscribed to you, keep it up! Hope to see more useful user experiences.🤟

[@Jesussoldierstv]

Great content ....pls which camera did you use to shoot this KZbin video presentation???? Thank you

Its my other FS7 👍

[@CraigMarshall_HDvideo4K]

Interesting. I love my FS5 for doc work. I have it rigged out for a very balanced ENG solution so weighs in at 7KG. Rock steady and brilliant like the Betacams of old but I have an FS7 coming to which I will fit my 18-110mm servo zoom and nothing else. I rarely shoot 4K as I prefer I frame HD then bump the Master to 4K with Topaz AI so I'm concerned about your comments regarding internal HD quality on the FS7. Do you see the FS7 as a 4K camera only?

The camera is certainly thought out to be a 4k camera by Sony. However if you are happy with the fs5 in hd you will find that the fs7 performs equally as the fs5. But with better codecs options on top of that if you need it.

[@user-ne3zr9er1h]

I have shot mostly HD with it. For all kinds of projects. It's soooo good. You just shoot HD also in AVC-I and not in AVC-L.

[@carminedepaola8018]

What lens there is on the camera at minute 16-17 ?

Tokina 16-28mm T3 cine. Its an older cinezoom from Tokina.

[@honghanguyenthi8754]

How can you get such a stable shot with PL lens ?

[@QuestionnMark]

Btw where did u get that Tokina lens, I can’t seem to find it anywhere

Its discontinued. They have a new version now.

[@loudmotion5639]

wow man! I really love your footages. look super solid for doc work! been looking at these fs cameras as b-cam instead of an fx30..I used internal nd on a shoot and i keep missing it lol and some old guys in the industry keep telling me how they are build like tanks and are pure workhorses. Is the fs7 an upgrade to the fs5m2? or they are just the same? Does the slog3 easily match well with the fx series? :) thx

Thanks mate. If you want to shoot log then the fs7 is much better. Fs5 does not record 10bit in 4k. If you dont shoot log then i think fs5 is better. It has face detect autofocus with never firmware and smaller footprint over-all. I can match my fs7 and fx9 quite close. But it takes some time. Not sure how it will match with the fx30. But i have access to all the sony cameras so i will make a test with them soon. Stayed tuned.

[@loudmotion5639]

@ oh wow! nice cant wait to see the comparisons :) even the fs5m2 dnt record in 10bit?

@@loudmotion5639 only in HD but i think the HD is bad on these cameras. 😹

[@pjworkinprogress]

Hello, thank you very much for your work! sorry I speak French, and I need some advice. I film on a sony A7sii modified to cool better and which is equipped with a large Vmount battery. I have to go to the tornado alley to chase the storms, but after some testing my camera is having a problem. the biggest problem is the 8 bit which causes color banding to film a sunlit landscape, and the rolling shutter which makes me miss many lightning strikes so I thought of changing the camera My lenses are Sony G and Canon EF. I don't use Raw. I would have liked the fx6 or A7SIII but too expensive. So I hesitate between the Ursa mini 4k which is in global shutter and the fs7 mk1 which has better equipment and ND filters and a super 35 sensor. I'm not a professional so in your opinion is it really worth changing the camera or waiting for the fx6 to drop or staying on the a7sii? Regards Best regards ;)

For filming the storms. I would get a Global shutter camera. Your options are BM Ursa 4k / BM Production Camera 4K. Or if you can get hands on a Sony F55 however that one is kinda pricy. I think the fs7 is a much better camera over the Bm ones. But no global shutter. The Production Camera 4K is so inexpensive so maby get that one on the side with a fs7/fs5 hehe.

[@pjworkinprogress]

​@ thank you very much for your answer, the f55 is too big and has a PL mount for having tested the fs5, I believe that the fs7 will be able to meet my needs, especially in terms of ergonomics, provided that it is equipped to withstand dust, wind and heavy rain. the Ursa is mainly for lightning.

@@pjworkinprogress Sounds like a good setup. 👍 I ownd the ursa 4k. Beautiful skin tones. Great for interviews if you light it also.

[@pjworkinprogress]

@ You almost convinced me, just one last question, i use davinci resolve (macbook pro m1 16go ram ) the 8bit XAVC of the fs5 never gave me a problem, even the 4k Raw from Blackmagic the XAVC of the fs7 does not slow down your machine?

@@pjworkinprogress No its good to work with. 👍

[@zikarnfelt5795]

Hej! Bra video! Jag känner två som jobbar med FS7 och gör mycket teatertrailers för operor

[@Psarogiannis]

Thank very much for the video. Please tell me your opinion which is better camera, the Sony Fs7 or Sony Fs5

[@jackb3985]

How does this compare to the A7 iv

I haven’t had the opportunity to test the a7iv. It looks like a good buy. I considering it if I want to upgrade from my A7c. But if i am to take a guess The fs7 will have: More robust Image. More depth(not depth of field) Softer image(good softness) Better quality of ports and more ports. Built in nd. A7iv has: Small formfactor Autofocus Better colors in slog3 (without heavy grade)

[@DreamSProductionCo.]

How is the autofocus?

Its both ok and horribly bad at the same time. The video you just commented is shot in autofocus on all the "talking head" shots of me. So it can work for that. But if not given the conditions it wont help you a lot... I will elaborate in future video!

[@DreamSProductionCo.]

@ yes please i am planning to get Fs7II so just want to check autofocus. i can’t find anywhere on youtube

[@user-ne3zr9er1h]

Do no use the autofocus:) it really sucks!

[@yellowlids]

Subscription

[@yzmike]

Bikelife bro 🫡🏍️🤞🏿

[@TwatMcGee]

Have you checked out the fuji mk zooms? They are some really good e mount S35 zooms.