4K Movies and simply staggering 409,600 ISO for low light photography

Sony has announced the Alpha 7S, a 12MP full-frame mirrorless camera designed for both stills and video.

Much like Panasonic once did with the launch of the 'G' Series, Sony have created three strands to the increasingly popular Alpha 7 Series.  Unlike Panasonic, however, Sony have further developed the video capture which will give the likes of Panasonic, Canon and Nikon something to think about.

The camera can read out its entire sensor fast enough to output 8-bit 4:2:2 4K video over HDMI at up to 30p, without the need for line skipping or pixel binning. This also promises higher quality for the 1080p video (at up to 60p) it can record internally. Unlike the a7 and a7R, the latest model is not constrained by the AVCHD standard, also offering the XAVC S system, with bitrates of up to 50Mbps.

The camera records at up to 1080/60p internally with 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling. The higher quality footage is only available over HDMI - to ensure the camera could be kept to a small size. It also offers a 'Dual Record' feature that records both low bitrate 720p and XAVCS 1080p footage simultaneously.

The 'S' in the camera's name denotes 'sensitivity.' In movie shooting, it offers an ISO 200 - 102,400, with extension to 409,600. In stills it offers ISO 100 - 102,400, extendible to an ISO 50 - 409,600 range. The company also says the camera's large pixels will offer good dynamic range, gradation and colour fidelity for stills shooters.

The camera also features a newly developed on-sensor technology that allows it to optimize the dynamic range throughout the entirety of the ISO50 – 409,600 sensitivity range. This on-sensor technology also broadens the range of tonal gradation in bright environments and minimizes noise in dark scenes, allowing the camera to deliver impressive results in these extreme conditions where other cameras (and image sensors) typically struggle

The high ISO sensitivity range of the α7S camera is extremely effective for still image shooting, especially in low-light conditions, where the camera can shoot at high shutter speeds while keeping noise as low as possible. This is particularly useful for shooting indoor, dimly lit sporting events or other situations where most cameras typically struggle.a7slowloight

The camera is also equipped with the same high-precision Fast Intelligent AF system as the α7R camera, with drastically improved low-light AF sensitivity that can go as low as -4EV.

The Alpha 7S will include time code with userbit (user-applied metadata to help at the editing stage). It also includes a range of movie-centric S-Log2 gamma, along with several Picture Profiles previously found in Sony's FS range of high-end camcorders.

From starry night-time skies to atmospheric, candle-lit interiors: there’s now a camera that opens up extraordinary creative possibilities for capturing flawless, emotionally engaging movie footage and professional-quality still images.

For more information on the camera, along with some EXCLUSIVE Kits, please click here