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MIRRORLESS GUIDE
VIDEO-CENTRIC SUPERSTARS • SONYA7S III £3799/$3498
If the vast majority of your work is shooting video and you are far less interested in stills, these are the cameras to be looking at. The newest is the Sony A7S III, which has been a huge seller since its launch last autumn. It internally records full-frame 4K at 60p and 120p and 240p in HD, all in 10-bit 4:2:2 with no time limits, and the advanced autofocus works at all settings. Due to resolution of just 12.1-megapixels, it is not ideal for large stills. But this low resolution means the signal processing is faster, so there is great high ISO performance, low rolling shutter, and no excessive heat generation. There is a choice of XAVC settings in both 4K and HD. For HD, the options are the standard XAVC S, or a higher-quality All-Intra version. Both are an H.264 file. In 4K, you also have the standard XAVC S and All-Intra H.264 codecs, too. But there is also an XAVC HS setting which is H.265. This saves a lot of space on your memory cards, which are either SD or the new CFexpress Type A. The AF is impressive and very precise, and there is IBIS. To use continuous AF in full live view without interruption for stills shooting, you have to drop the maximum frame rate from 10fps to 8fps. So, it’s still pretty quick and fast enough to make it useful as an action camera. It’s far more capable than just shooting YouTube thumbnails. • PANASONIC LUMIX S1H £3598/$3997 • PANASONIC LUMIX S5 £1691/$1997
with the A1 yet, but the A9 and A9 II offer a viewfinder experience for stills that no other mirrorless camera comes close to. For users of flash, the Sony can sync at 1/400th sec with its mechanical shutter or 1/200th sec with electronic. The EOS R5 is 1/200th sec mechanically or 1/250th sec via electronic first curtain. Where the R5 does excel over the Sony in spec is its wider native ISO range and sheer number of AF points, as well as autofocus in low light and animal AF in video. While the Canon shoots 8K/30p Raw internally in 4:2:2 12-bit Canon Log, the Sony’s 8K is 4:2:0 in Sony Log. It’s claimed the Sony’s lower bit rate means it will record in 8K for longer, though. Sony’s edge in video comes in terms of 4K/120p in 4:2:2 10-bit and 240fps in FHD, as well as 16-bit Raw video output over HDMI and S-Cinetone colour, like its big-brother cinema cameras. Both cameras offer amazing high-resolution stills. The Sony A1 has a better sports and action spec thanks to a blackout-free viewfinder, 30fps stills frame rate at up to 1/32,000th sec shutter speed, and 4K/120p and FHD 240fps video shooting. And that fast sensor readout should mean far less rolling shutter. The Sony has better connectivity and a higher-spec viewfinder, the Canon has an articulating LCD screen where the Sony’s just tilts. Horses for courses. “The biggest-budget Hollywood films are going to large sensors” ABOVE The new Fujifilm GFX100S is not much bigger than a 35mm mirrorless camera, but has a much larger sensor with a resolution of more than 100 megapixels
The Fujifilm GFX100S is a totally different beast. It has a huge BSI sensor in a body that’s not a lot bigger than a 35mm rival. The big sensor means longer focal-length lenses are needed to give the same angle of view as a 35mm camera. But these focal lengths give a shallower depth-of-field, so the look you get from the Fujifilm is more cinematic. That’s why the biggest-budget Hollywood films are going to very large sensors. At 5fps it’s not a sports stills camera, but for slower work gives stunning quality. Unlike medium format cameras of old, it has great AF and in-body image stabilisation. It shoots 4K/30p video up to 400Mbps in H.264 and H.265, which it can output via HDMI as 10-bit 4:2:2 or 12-bit Raw footage. With no slow-motion video it’s not a speed merchant, but good for considered work, where the look of that lovely sensor is what it’s all about. The 47.72-megapixel Panasonic Lumix S1R, with its 9fps stills shooting for action and a massive 187-megapixel sensor- shift option. For video, the £3400/$3697 Lumix shoots rich and detailed 4K/60p and 180fps HD files, but there are no 10-bit 4:2:2 options or Log. ALSO CONSIDER…
ABOVE The Sony A7S III has video technology that many have dreamed of – and shoots decent stills
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