Sony Adds 4K a7S to its DSLR Camera Line

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Thu, 04/17/2014 - 11:43 -- Nick Dager

Sony adds 4K a7S to its DSLR camera line.Sony has added the a7S to its line of full-frame interchangeable lens DSLR cameras. The announcement came during last week’s National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas.

The a7S camera features a newly developed, 12.2 effective megapixel 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor paired with a powerful Bionz X image processor, allowing it to shoot at a sensitivity range of ISO 50 – 409600 with unprecedented dynamic range and low noise.

Sony says the new model is also the world’s first camera to utilize the entire width of a full-frame image sensor in 4K video acquisition and does this without cropping or line skipping as it can read and process data from every one of the sensor’s pixels.  This allows 4K video shooters to utilize all of the artistic and creative benefits provided by the unique sensor.

“The α7S gives Sony the most complete, versatile lineup of full-frame cameras in market today,” said Neal Manowitz, director of the interchangeable lens camera business at Sony Electronics.  “Between the α99, VG900, RX1, α7, α7R and now α7S models, we have completely revolutionized what it means to be a full-frame camera, bringing a new level of quality and portability to enthusiast photographers and videographers.”

In video mode, the α7S can output 4K video at QFHD (3840×2160) to an optional external third party 4K recorder and can record full HD (1920×1080) at frame rates of 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p directly to a compatible memory card.   Video modes can be changed from full-frame to APS-C (super 35mm equivalent) if desired, and in this crop mode, the camera can support high frame rate 120fps shooting at standard HD resolution (1280 x 720p), creating a 5x slow-motion effect.

The α7S camera is also equipped with S-Log2 gamma.  Common to Sony’s range of professional video cameras, S-Log2 expands the dynamic range by up to 1300 percent to minimize clipped highlights and loss of detail in shadows.  Additionally, for the first time ever in a Sony α camera, the α7S adopts the workflow-friendly XAVC S recording format in addition to AVCHD and MP4 codecs.  XAVC S format allows for full HD recording at a data rate of 50 mbps with lower compression for improved video quality.

Other specialist video functions on the new camera include a picture profile that can adjust settings like gamma, black, level and color adjustment, and can be saved for use in a multi-camera shoot.  It also has Full HD and 4K base band HDMI output, time code/user bit for easier editing, synchronous recording feature with compatible devices, various marker and zebra displays on both the LCD screen and viewfinder and can dual record XAVC S as well as MP4 (1280×720 @30p).

The camera also has a Multi-terminal interface shoe that is compatible with Sony’s XLR Adaptor Microphone Kits (XLR-K1M plus a new model under development), allowing the use of professional microphone systems.