Sony NEX7 and/or A77.... Anyone using them?

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day and he was impressed by what he saw on Discovery's Gold Rush. We were talking about it (I only saw it the one time when it was on) and I thought they had used a Black Magic PC camera but he was pretty sure it was an NEX7.....long story short, he looked into it and it was an NEX7.

He also compared the GH3 to the A77 and thought the A77 came out on top.

Is anyone flying either of these cameras? Just wondering what your experiences might be. I thought the footage in Gold Rush was pretty spectacular so they can't be all bad. :)

Thanks,
Bart
 


G

ghaynes

Member
Bart I was using the NEX7 on my Cinestar. Results for stills or videos was fine but limited to 30fps. Had both the small zoom that comes with the kit and the 16mm pancake. The 16mm was a little soft in the corners. Overall worked fine and with the StratoSnapper IR control using a three way switch I could control whether I was shooting stills or video without needing to land.

I looked at the A77 but ended up getting the Nikon D800 for something larger.

For a smaller MR the NEX7 isn't a bad choice but would run up against the GH2 (hacked) and GH3. Those would only be slightly more weight and some additional frame rate options.
 

T

tahoelight

Member
There certainly seem to be plenty of gimbal options out there for the nex. Not so much or the GH3 I am finding unless I use a cinestar style gimbal which is overkill on size. I am building a single operator Y6 with a front mounted brushless gimbal, and there is no way a tube and clamp style gimbal will work, so the Nex 7 is certainly enticing. I have never been a Sony guy, but have considered it for a single operator option.
 


Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I don't know Chuck....gotta check that out
I'd guess the A77 will fit a GH3 gimbal maybe with a little tweaking but I haven't had either one of them in front of me to size up

What I'm interested in is great video so this might end up being moot if I can get better results from my Sony CX580 or if I jump in and get the Black Magic. My Canon T2i still suits me fine for stills but I've got to get brushless video rolling very soon and need to make some decisions.
 


Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
ghaynes said:
Bart I was using the NEX7 on my Cinestar. Results for stills or videos was fine but limited to 30fps.
Click to expand...

Bartman what kind of video do you want to shoot?

I shoot a lot of DSLR 5d3 video but there's no way I'd fly that camera now. I got an NEX5n thinking it was good enough to cut in with my DSLR video and had some fairly good success early on without a gimbal but once I started trying to use my NEX5n with a gimbal I was getting really mixed results, some of the footage was great, some not as good as shooting without the gimbal. Without the gimbal I had a pretty good idea what the footage was going to be like based on the environmental conditions, once I started using a gimbal it took longer to setup, I couldn't really predict how good the footage would turn out, the flight might go well but after downloading the footage I'n notice little twitches or there was a shift in the horizon. I'd much prefer to use a gimbal but I have not had the kind of predictable consistent results I'd like to have. I find the larger gimbals to be quite frustrating, just when you think you've got it all figured out you power it up again after a great flight and it just does something weird for no apparent reason...

So I've actually decided to go the other way, a relatively less expensive 3 axis Hero3 gimbal, not the quality of footage I'd like but I think the smaller gimbals are a little more baked than the larger NEX and GH2 versions so I'm hoping that I can get some reasonably good aerial footage. I'm sure things will improve this year and hopefully I can get a gimbal that works for my NEX later.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Av8Chuck said:
Bartman what kind of video do you want to shoot?

I shoot a lot of DSLR 5d3 video but there's no way I'd fly that camera now. I got an NEX5n thinking it was good enough to cut in with my DSLR video and had some fairly good success early on without a gimbal but once I started trying to use my NEX5n with a gimbal I was getting really mixed results, some of the footage was great, some not as good as shooting without the gimbal. Without the gimbal I had a pretty good idea what the footage was going to be like based on the environmental conditions, once I started using a gimbal it took longer to setup, I couldn't really predict how good the footage would turn out, the flight might go well but after downloading the footage I'n notice little twitches or there was a shift in the horizon. I'd much prefer to use a gimbal but I have not had the kind of predictable consistent results I'd like to have. I find the larger gimbals to be quite frustrating, just when you think you've got it all figured out you power it up again after a great flight and it just does something weird for no apparent reason...

So I've actually decided to go the other way, a relatively less expensive 3 axis Hero3 gimbal, not the quality of footage I'd like but I think the smaller gimbals are a little more baked than the larger NEX and GH2 versions so I'm hoping that I can get some reasonably good aerial footage. I'm sure things will improve this year and hopefully I can get a gimbal that works for my NEX later.
Click to expand...


Chuck,

I'm also awaiting delivery of a GoPro brushless gimbal. I've got the NAZA for the group build I've been hosting so I bought an H3-2D to mount to a new XY4 quad I'll build when the group build is done.

Not sure what this year holds as far as video projects go. I usually try to avoid video and stick to stills but video is video and I know I can compete with anyone else already doing it but I've just got to get the right equipment and then keep it flying. For starters it will be real estate and small low-budget stuff. With the small network I have though I'd expect to have access to more complicated work once we start putting out the word. I'm not really looking to travel though to do projects so it will be limited to what is available in the area. If it's mostly real estate and personal creative projects then that will probably be fine.

it's a tricky thing to try to prepare for. i still don't know which flight controller I'll use for the 'big magilla' build!

fwiw, if I were a better tig welder I'd have my prototype NEX brushless mount already done. what's cool about it, other than the fact that you can drive a truck over it (almost), is that if you want to make one with slightly different dimensions or slightly larger motors it's all very scalable. my bigger camera mount can hold a 5D (it's nickname is Kevin Bacon because it's so reliable) but I just haven't had the time to revise it for brushless drive and I haven't had a lot of faith that the Alexmos boards were up to the task yet.

Bart
 
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M

midnight999

Member
Bartman said:
I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day and he was impressed by what he saw on Discovery's Gold Rush. We were talking about it (I only saw it the one time when it was on) and I thought they had used a Black Magic PC camera but he was pretty sure it was an NEX7.....long story short, he looked into it and it was an NEX7.

He also compared the GH3 to the A77 and thought the A77 came out on top.

Is anyone flying either of these cameras? Just wondering what your experiences might be. I thought the footage in Gold Rush was pretty spectacular so they can't be all bad. :)

Thanks,
Bart
Click to expand...

Hey Bart, we use a NEX 7 on a Zenmuse and it's a great camera, been happy with everything it's done so far
 

Cheshirecat

Cheshirecat

Member
I also fly the NEX7 on a Zenmuse and have been very happy with the results, it works very nicely with a second TX is nice and compact. Side by side with my 5D MKII (which i originally planned to fly but now will not) the Canon is better in difficult light but then i have many other lenses to choose from with it. The NEX is stuck on the 16mm at the moment but i am very tempted to try re balancing the Zenmuse with a 24mm lens which others appear to have done successfully, most critics of the NEX7 seem to attack the codec Sony use but my videography skills aren't good enough to expose it at this stage. But all way better than video or stills out of my Hero3.
 

photobobga

photobobga

Member
Hi Bart,

I'm pretty sure Ben at Yonder Blue Films has used all the products you've listed. He would be a great resource for expert advise. They just added one of the Black Magic cameras as well. I have a new Sony NEX 5r on a 2x brushless gimbal, all works well as long as I balance it perfectly.

-Bob
 

W

W. Reimer

Member
Bart, I shared your dislike for anything Sony until the Nex system was introduced. I purchased my first Nex under duress; I was doing a 3 week stills shoot in the Nicaraguan jungle and had to haul any equipment I needed on my back. My Nikon gear was just too much weight, I needed something fast, light and capable of good images. The Nex was suggested by someone I respect a great deal, and it performed flawlessly.
I'm on my fourth NEX now, a Nex7, and am waiting on a gimbal to mount it on an f550. It does a tremendous job across the board, and I have zero doubt that it will not perform admirably onboard a multi
 

Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
I think something we should keep in mind is how well, finicky and expensive the entire package is when making these comparisons, the camera, gimbal and MR, we probably don't need to discuss controllers unless there's a reason too, controllers have been debated to death..

I too decided to get an NEX5n to take to Africa to fly on a small quad with no gimbal and I was really happy with the results. I just needed something I could leave in a pelican case pretty much ready to fly so I could launch in a moments notice. I doubt I could have done that with a Gimbal. I have a Brushless Gimbal for the NEX but its too heavy, I can't imagine flying an NEX and a 2-axis gimbal with an f550.

The NEX camera's are great but about the only serious aerial footage I've seen shot with them was using a Zenmuse, and isn't the Zenmuse Z15 around $2500? Does the Z15 only work with DJI controllers?

This should probably be a different thread but I think hoe the gimbal and camera perform are one and the same for AP, otherwise we're just debating camera's.
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
Speaking of new cameras.....Bart you can use this for your T-shirt if you need an idea. :)

View attachment 15568
 

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Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
i lost track of this thread guys, sorry about that. i'll try the NEX5 I have as the weather begins to improve and then it'll be a decision between a handful of different cameras if/when the need develops.

i don't know about you guys but I'm going like crazy trying to be ready for spring!
 

Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
Me too, I have a shoot for the next three days, its kind of cold today, around 65 but I'll dress in layers so if it gets up to 75 I'll be comfortable. Hehehe.

You know what sucks here in CA is when the Santa Ana winds start up for about a month. Not good for AP.
 

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