Full Frame Cameras with 4k60 10 bit 422 vs GH5M2

[ehanauer 37]

I encountered this situation earlier this year. My GH5 was getting long in the tooth, and the GH6 was announced. That would have required a new housing. Instead I bought a GH5II. Exactly the same form factor, fits in GH5 housing. Improved autofocus, log included, improved stabilization, 10 bit 4k at 60fps. What's not to like? 

Why don't I move on from 4/3? For myself, I don't see the need. Most of my video work ends up online. I've had excellent results when projected on 30x30 foot screens. I rarely shoot iso higher than 3200. On a trip to the Philippines in September I shot all my underwater footage with the Lumix 14-42mm lens and the WWL 1 wet lens. 

The added cost and weight and bulk of moving to full frame is a non starter in my situation. 

Your experience may differ.

 

[Interceptor121 707]

I encountered this situation earlier this year. My GH5 was getting long in the tooth, and the GH6 was announced. That would have required a new housing. Instead I bought a GH5II. Exactly the same form factor, fits in GH5 housing. Improved autofocus, log included, improved stabilization, 10 bit 4k at 60fps. What's not to like? 
Why don't I move on from 4/3? For myself, I don't see the need. Most of my video work ends up online. I've had excellent results when projected on 30x30 foot screens. I rarely shoot iso higher than 3200. On a trip to the Philippines in September I shot all my underwater footage with the Lumix 14-42mm lens and the WWL 1 wet lens. 
The added cost and weight and bulk of moving to full frame is a non starter in my situation. 
Your experience may differ.
 

You can use a sony full frame with the wwl-1 the weight and bulk is identical to GH5
Size is not a benefit until you look at macro top and Uw or long telephoto lenses for topside


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[Whipauee 13]

I have and shoot the a1 and a7s3, they both fit in the Nauticam housing for the a7s3. My last trip (November) I used the both bodies typically at a depth of 25 to 60 ft. I would like to stick with a 35mm prime lens but using a 24-70mm G Master with glass dome provided better neutral buoyancy and adaptability to shooting situations. In the past I WB about every 10 feet (Keldan grey card) or when the light changes. This time I decided to go AWB in both bodies and was surprised with the accuracy in both bodies. I suppose the key difference for me is that with the a1 really has a large range of clean ISO’s and with the a7s3 just 640 and 12800 that are clean from most noise. The a7s3 is a stop or 2 more light sensitive which is a real benefit in twilight environments. I still draw on a pair of Keldan 4x lights but try to use as little as possible since I am after fish behavior these days.

I did shoot a bunch of 8k 30fps, s-log3 gamma 3, 422 10bit footage on the a1 and it’s worth mentioning that for a long clip say 5 to 10 mins runtime the camera will overheat in the housing. But shutting it down for a couple of minutes it will work just fine. I usually only shoot 30 sec clips so that does not involve any overheating. I love both, love the Sony eco system of lenses. If I had to choose I’d pick the a1, but if shooting natural light the a7s3 in twilight situations is what I would prefer.

[Interceptor121 707]

6 hours ago, Whipauee said:

I have and shoot the a1 and a7s3, they both fit in the Nauticam housing for the a7s3. My last trip (November) I used the both bodies typically at a depth of 25 to 60 ft. I would like to stick with a 35mm prime lens but using a 24-70mm G Master with glass dome provided better neutral buoyancy and adaptability to shooting situations. In the past I WB about every 10 feet (Keldan grey card) or when the light changes. This time I decided to go AWB in both bodies and was surprised with the accuracy in both bodies. I suppose the key difference for me is that with the a1 really has a large range of clean ISO’s and with the a7s3 just 640 and 12800 that are clean from most noise. The a7s3 is a stop or 2 more light sensitive which is a real benefit in twilight environments. I still draw on a pair of Keldan 4x lights but try to use as little as possible since I am after fish behavior these days.

I did shoot a bunch of 8k 30fps, s-log3 gamma 3, 422 10bit footage on the a1 and it’s worth mentioning that for a long clip say 5 to 10 mins runtime the camera will overheat in the housing. But shutting it down for a couple of minutes it will work just fine. I usually only shoot 30 sec clips so that does not involve any overheating. I love both, love the Sony eco system of lenses. If I had to choose I’d pick the a1, but if shooting natural light the a7s3 in twilight situations is what I would prefer.

I just bought the A1. I believe the dual ISO implementation is more suitable for underwater use 

The A1 ISO 12800 is useable actually

If you have a water contact optic shooting at f/5.6 and shoot single frame rate 30fps with the A1 in UHD full frame the performance is excellent

The A7S3 with the level at 12800 for me is not as useful I am not running a detective business and the A1 beats it up to 10000

Take into account the A1 has aliasing in UHD full frame if that matters to you more than the A7S3

Edited December 2, 2022 by Interceptor121

[Whipauee 13]

The a1 and a7s3 are fine UW cameras. IMHO the variances are nuanced and condition dependent. The 12800 ISO in both cameras are fine. the bigger micron sensor of the a7s3 is just a touch more light sensitive. Thats all.

[Interceptor121 707]

The a1 and a7s3 are fine UW cameras. IMHO the variances are nuanced and condition dependent. The 12800 ISO in both cameras are fine. the bigger micron sensor of the a7s3 is just a touch more light sensitive. Thats all.

Nothing to do with pixel size besides in UHD mode the A1 is binned and has the same pitch
The two cameras use sensors with different construction the one in the A7S3 is not stacked so it has higher sensitivity
Pixel size at identical construction only changes readout speed but again the A1 sensor is stacked so a comparison is not really possible on that base


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[jplaurel 37]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:46 AM, Lionfi2s said:

For video, the A1 is not really the camera to use underwater. The A7s3 is much better. The difference is not only in noise performance but in color "science" and wb as well. 

I have both. I prefer the A7SIII for video, mostly because the A1 overheats much faster.

[Interceptor121 707]

I have both. I prefer the A7SIII for video, mostly because the A1 overheats much faster.

When you shoot it in 4k binned mode it heats up exactly the same
8k generates heat and to an extent APSC modes the A7S3 doesn’t have


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[jplaurel 37]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:19 PM, Interceptor121 said:

When you shoot it in 4k binned mode it heats up exactly the same
8k generates heat and to an extent APSC modes the A7S3 doesn’t have


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I love the A1, but the overheating is a problem. I was using it on a film and music recording project in Cuba recently, and it would overheat in under 10 min. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's not really a problem, but in high ambient heat, it's debilitating. The A7SIII and FX3 cameras we used had no trouble with the heat at all.

[Interceptor121 707]

9 hours ago, jplaurel said:

I love the A1, but the overheating is a problem. I was using it on a film and music recording project in Cuba recently, and it would overheat in under 10 min. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's not really a problem, but in high ambient heat, it's debilitating. The A7SIII and FX3 cameras we used had no trouble with the heat at all.

What codec were you using? And how have you set the heat management in the settings?