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Sony A7s ii for long continuous shoots/recording without overheating
I’m planning to buy an Sony A7s ii. One of the uses, among many others, will be for live webinars and video conferences, which are usually very long, at about 3 hours.
To prevent overheating and recording limits, I’m planning to buy an external battery with a dc coupler like the Varavon (or connect directly to wall power outlet), and then record externally with either an Atomos or Blackmagic video assist, then loop out to my computer for webcasting.
Usual venues are hotels, which of course, have airconditioning. Do you think this will work?
Thanks! God bless!
ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus
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9 Replies
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The issue is that it is unpredictable, plus unless you install the hack, you’ll be limited to 30 minutes per clip.
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Thanks Gary! Overheating and stoppages in the middle of a shoot is unacceptable, especially in live webinars.
When you said that it’s unpredictable, is that even with an external battery supply (dc coupler to wall outlet) and with only 1080p internal recording? If this is the case, I might lean towards the GH5, with metabones to improve light sensitivity.
Speaking of the GH5, I’m wondering how Panasonic was able to address moire issues without the low pass filter.
ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus
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[clyde villegas] “When you said that it’s unpredictable, is that even with an external battery supply (dc coupler to wall outlet) and with only 1080p internal recording?”
1080p is a different story. I can attest that, with the unlimited recording hack installed, I filmed 7 90-120 minute talks in 1080p30 without any issues. I was using the AC power adapter.
However, one thing to keep in mind when recording long takes like this in MP4…I was filming an hour long talk the same way and the AC power was disconnected on me unexpectedly (was using an extension cord). The MP4 was nearly impossible to recover and I almost lost the entire shoot. I was able to get it fixed thankfully, but it was not a fun process and I would not want to go through it again. I highly recommend filming in AVCHD or using battery/USB power combo if you can.
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Thanks for the advice, Gary.
Yesterday, we streamed video with our client using a rented Panasonic video camera. The client asked us to start the stream a little over three hours before the actual event. We did not record anything during that idle time; just sending video signal out of the HDMI port. No issues whatsoever for the Panasonic video camera. Now I’m wondering what will happen if I do that with the Sony a7s ii. I know a video camera is the right tool for that kind of job. But if the a7s ii can double duty as a cinema camera and a video camera, that would be great. I really need that low light capability.
We always use 1080p and AC power adapter when streaming.
ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus
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[clyde villegas] “Now I’m wondering what will happen if I do that with the Sony a7s ii.”
If you don’t run the internal recording on the A7S II, it will work fine. That was always the solution for overheating for the stock bodies. You can record pretty much until you run out of power if you’re going externally only.
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Thanks Gary. I am now confident with the a7s ii. I am originally leaning towards the GH5 because i can also use it for green screen work (10 bit 4:2:2). But to my eyes, the a7s ii looks more filmic and its low light capability is unmatched. I am putting the C100 at the bottom of my list (which used to be first) because while it offers me the comfort and convenience of handling like a video camera, and not to mention that most clients here want to see me with a “big” camera, both GH5 and a7s ii will beat it in bitrate, resolution, and many other features.
ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus
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Gary – and anyone else –
Might you guys have any idea why my Sony A7Sii seems to stop recording and then immediately start new QT Files without me hitting stop and start? There is about 4 seconds of missing footage each time it does this, which is very frustrating in the edit.
I am recording 4k QT files not internally, but only to an Atomos Ninja Flame via HDMI cable. This same problem also happened when I was recording HD QT files to the Atomos Ninja Star via HDMI cable. Two totally different units, so it doesn’t seem like it could be an Atomos problem…
Gary, I see you mentioned the a7sii 30 minute file limit, but this doesn’t seem related. Some of the files cut off after less than that, and other files run for longer than 30 minutes. It seems like a random problem.
Would love any ideas on how to proceed in testing this, or suggestions of other resources or people to ask.
Thanks!
James
https://www.InterPositive.com -
For anyone who’s interested, I just had a good talk with tech support at Atomos.
They have encountered this problem when the camera’s signal to an Atomos unit is interrupted due to:
1. A bad HDMI cable.
2. An SSD drive whose buffer gets filled due to a firmware issue with the drive, a malfunctioning drive, or a not-fully-compatible-with Atomos drive model.
3. A malfunctioning Ninja Flame.The Atomos unit will stop recording if the signal is interrupted for any reason, including a full drive buffer, and then it will start recording again with a new clip.
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[Gary Huff] “I was filming an hour long talk the same way and the AC power was disconnected on me unexpectedly (was using an extension cord). The MP4 was nearly impossible to recover and I almost lost the entire shoot. I was able to get it fixed thankfully, but it was not a fun process and I would not want to go through it again.”
I had a similar issue today, although I was running off batteries. I’m still not exactly sure what happened, maybe a power short? Suffice it to say the camera was rolling (4K internal) for 12-15min of interview just fine and all of a sudden it had a stroke; leaving me with a functional 6min clip and 17gb clip that’s unreadable with various applications and the camera itself.
Just wondering how you managed to recover your footage, any advice? We had a second camera rolling, thankfully, but this was our A shot, so would love to try and recover the clip.
Thanks!
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