Andrew Reid of EOS HD has written a post on his first impressions on the video abilities of the new Sony NEX 7.
Seems to me this thing lands right in-between the NEX 5n and the A77. Check out what Andrew writes in regard to the 5n:
What’s new over the NEX 5N?
Newer 24MP sensor. To my eye Sony’s new sensor has better colour and a finer noise grain than the video from the 16MP NEX 5N. There were doubts about it in low light. We’ll come to that later in the full review.
TruFinder OLED EVF – Sony are a leader in this technology and it shows. Unlike on DSLRs with a mirror, you can of course shoot video through the viewfinder on the NEX 7. I shot the video above entirely handheld through the EVF without a rig.
CineStyle-alike flat picture profile – The NEX 7 has an extremely useful picture profile called Neutral that offers the flattest image I have ever seen in a DSLR video mode. Fantastic for grading, and no other camera holds onto as much detail in the lows as the NEX 7 with this profile dialled down.
Beefier handling – To have shutter speed, aperture and ISO on dials rather than buttons is a real pleasure. Although I cannot seem to reassign the Tri Navi aperture control wheel for something else when the aperture control is on the lens which is a minor issue.
Unlike the A77 / A65, there is no 20% FOV crop in video mode (but no Steady Shot Inside unfortunately)
The controls and menus seem more responsive
A new live view display mode with no text overlays on the image
Standard 3.5mm mic socket and hotshoe (NEX 5N had neither)
Check out his post for more info and a video sample.
So check it out, remember the top handle rig I talked about? Well using the same parts you can mount any follow focus with a 1/4 inch mounting point to your Magic Arm! Check out the video to see how I did this with my D|Focus.
Remember that interview I did with Director Ken Simpson and DP Alex Dacev? Well, they have recently finished their feature film HEADCASE. You can watch the trailer here. Ken has put together a great series that debuts today. This series gives viewers a look into how these filmmakers made such an ambitious film for only $50,000. Every monday they will be releasing a new episode.
They also set up an IndiGoGo page to raise money for marketing and distributing the film. Definitely take a look and give them a hand in getting this film out.
Don’t forget to sign up for a chance to win an Alzo Transformer Rig! And other gear every month! Subscribe to the DSLR Video Shooter newsletter below this post to enter to win. More info here.
Looks like Express35 Changed their handle design so it functions more like the Cinevate handle. So you might be able to find a more affordable option elsewhere or just use the Cinevate handle.
Friction monitor arms for a top handle, who knew? Check out this simple yet efficient rig.
Remember that killer little shoulder rig I did a show on a while back? Well its price just dropped to $16 on Amazon. Grab yours before the deal is gone or they are out of stock! I’ve shot several projects using this little rig and it has perform very well for me. Check out the images below for a couple rigged up versions.
I know a lot of the time I fret much too much about what I will use to film something, or how I will go about filming something and I completely miss the point. Filming the darn thing. Well, its a new year so I will have the opportunity to reform my filmmaking behavior.
All that said here are a couple videos from a group of incredibly creative guys that just went out there created something. Sure their backgrounds aren’t to greatest, but they didn’t let anything stop them:
Over the past several months I have felt quite bogged down with various corporate projects, emails, meetings, web dev projects etc. So This year I am accepting less work over the summer to get out and shoot. I am working on a series of projects related to a theme.
So what are you going to shoot this year? If you don’t make it happen it never will. Don’t let 2012 be another year of tweeting about cameras, shooting flowers, and buying gear you don’t need.
First off I have to apologize for taking so long to get this review up. I had this camera in for review the same time Dave Dugdale did and he posted his quite a while ago. Check out his review below as well. Unlike Dave, I did not shoot a lot of footage with this camera. Sure I dinked around with it but whenever I reached for a camera to shoot something I chose the 7D, or the Sony 5n. That should say a lot about what I think about this camera.
My general synopsis is this: Cool new focus and EVF tech, slow camera, ISO cap at 1600 ain’t cool, the cropped sensor turns me off. These things may have been accepted back in the “dark ages” when we didn’t expect better video features from DSLRs but that time is no longer. Think I am totally off? Whats your opinion?
If you are seriously considering getting this camera for video use please watch the whole review.
Remember that killer little shoulder rig I did a 
Photo credit: