As a loyal Lumix shooter and customer for many years, replacing my GH4 with the Sony A7S II was not an easy decision. I’ve been a big fan of the Lumix mirrorless line since the GH2, and their cameras have served me very well on countless projects. But after several years of shooting on the GH2, GH3 and GH4, it was finally time for a change. that’s why–
When Lumix launched the GH2, the digital SLR camera market was shaken for the first time since the Canon 5D MK II. Independent filmmakers finally have a viable alternative to the ever-popular 5D that delivers superior image quality at a lower cost in many ways.
Lumix seems to be all about innovation. They’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible from a feature and budget perspective, and filmmakers everywhere are catching up. Ultimately, this is why I have stayed loyal to their brand for so long.
But it wasn’t until the GH4 came out that we saw Canon users switching to Panasonic/Lumix in large numbers… mainly because the features and quality offered by the GH4 were far beyond anything Canon could offer in its price range. While Canon was still struggling with 1080p, the fact that the GH4 was able to record beautiful, high-quality 4K footage internally was enough to turn many users away.
But while the GH4 was gaining momentum, Sony was also gaining huge market share with the A7 series (or, more specifically, the A7S). For some former Canon users, switching to Lumix wasn’t ideal (mainly because they were used to shooting with full-frame sensors), so many shooters switched to Sony.
Personally, I’ve always been impressed by the original Sony A7S, but I never thought about investing in one because I’m so happy with my Lumix GH4. I’ve been shooting with crop-sensor cameras for so long that the full-frame look isn’t that important to me, and the A7S’s low-light capabilities aren’t that important to me either. Don’t get me wrong, being able to shoot relatively cleanly at 25,600 ISO is great, but I don’t particularly make a habit of shooting in low light, and I think the A7S’s low-light feature is more of a luxury.
So the two biggest strengths of the original A7S (low light and full frame) are essentially irrelevant to me. I’m happy to stick with my trusty Lumix GH4, which is capable of recording 4K directly in camera and still captures beautiful results under the right conditions.
But then the A7S II was released…
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to the A7R II before the A7S II was released.
The A7R II appears to offer a true hybrid video/photo experience, easily capturing perfect motion and still images. Of course, while I primarily shoot video, I also shoot stills from time to time, and being able to shoot 42MP stills and 4K video on the same device is very tempting. Not to mention, the 5-axis internal stabilization is almost enough to make me choose the Sony brand.
But in the end I waited. I knew it was only a matter of time before the A7S II was released, and I really wanted to see what Sony had up its sleeve. In the end, the A7S II pretty much lived up to my expectations and hopes.
On the A7S II, Sony was able to improve low-light capabilities by about a stop, while also offering internal 4K recording, S-Log 3, 5-axis stabilization, and a host of other great features. The only trade-off between the A7S II and A7R II (at least from my perspective) is static resolution – 12MP vs 42MP. But even 12MP stills have enough resolution for the vast majority of web and printing purposes, and I already own several other stills cameras, so the lower stills resolution on the A7S II is definitely not a deal breaker for me A big problem.
Eventually, I made the jump to Sony and haven’t looked back.
I’ve only had the A7S II for a week, but already love what this camera can do. The quality of both video and stills is absolutely stunning, and I was impressed by the dynamic range when shooting in S-Log 3.
Strictly from a dynamic range perspective, it feels very Alexa-like at times – although the color science is still a long way off. The image could be graded to look nice, but I don’t think the color balance on the card is particularly good. Canon still seems to have the best color science in the DSLR world, and Blackmagic has certainly mastered it when it comes to budget cinema cameras…
Sony will certainly continue to improve their color science over time, but for now I’m taking some extra time into Da Vinci when processing my A7S II footage. Regardless, I’m really impressed with this camera so far and can’t wait to use it on some real-world productions.
Why I gave up on Lumix
While I’ve touched on some of the technical reasons why I switched from Lumix to Sony, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, if I were just comparing the technical specs between the two cameras, I’m not sure I would switch…
At the top of this article, I mentioned that one of the biggest elements that initially drew me to Lumix was their innovation. When I see manufacturers coming from real innovation, it goes a long way toward investing in their products.
Lumix has been at the forefront of innovation in mirrorless technology for years, but Sony is currently innovating faster than anyone else. Their cameras were pushing the limits of technology and creativity, and their ability to introduce new cameras so quickly was starting to blow away the competition.
A year from now, who knows where things will go. Maybe the Lumix GH5 will surprise others, or maybe it will show us that the GH4 is actually the pinnacle of the Lumix range. Of course, only time will tell, but for now, Sony is definitely raising the bar for innovation, and I’d like to see other competitors step up as well.
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