Sony A6300 Camera Discussion

[violetwolf]

I'm an Adobe guy all the way. Either Adobe Premiere or After Effects. But for just cutting and color no need to look further than Premiere. They have added some pretty good color tools recently. Note: the above video had no treatment of any kind. That's straight off the camera with the settings I mentioned.

 

[Area21]

I have been looking at various photo reviews on the A6300 and the two that are mostly repeated are the camera gets hot when operating in video mode for lengthy periods ie + 30 mins and that should not effect short aerial flights. The 2nd is the rolling shutter which in video mode does not do a good job capturing movement when panning the camera. Now that may well have an effect with some aerial video shots closer to a subject, but at a distance the rolling shutter effect should not be noticed. All in all it gets a great review.

 

[violetwolf]

Yes, I'm finding under normal usage the rolling shutter is a non issue. Mine has also displayed no overheating issue either. I have found some very interesting information regarding overheating that may explain why there are varying reports on this. It also includes a cure. I'm just on the run right now but I'll post about it within a day or two at the most.

 

[GGoodrum]

I thought I read somewhere that the heat issue could be tied to using slower speed SD cards. This could be the reason that some experience this issue and others do not. Anyway, I haven't had the heat issue, to date. I also don't see a rolling shudder problem, unless you are doing superfast pans.

 

[violetwolf]

Overheating

Hi Gary, thanks for bumping I'd forgotten to follow up on the overheating cure. Yes, you are right it is a fellow named Eric Naso who seems to have found what Sony missed.

He's found that using slower SD cards the card itself heats up a lot trying to cram data in a small pipe as it were. He found through testing he can eliminate the heating issue by going to very fast cards. One that he tested is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...om-20&linkId=ecf71c0b89cf56726b1e08a1be1326d8

You can read his whole article here: It's worth the time to read it as there s more pertinent information: http://eriknaso.com/2016/06/29/how-i-solved-the-a6300-overheating-issue-when-shooting-4k-video/

Thank you Eric Naso

 

[violetwolf]

More on Cards:

Just my luck I'd found that article the day after I'd ordered 4 slower (95 mbs) cards

But that said I have yet to have any heating issues with mine. And for aerial we don't record that long anyway... the cooling from the props etc. I've been fine with the 95 mbs so far.

MAKE SURE to get the SDXC cards and not the SDHC cards as well. The HC ones can only be formatted to FAT32 which has a file size limit of 4 gigs. The XC cards are X-FAT. The camera will break the video into smaller files seamlessly but it is a hassle in post to import more files and line them up.

This information is also nowhere to be found in Sony literature

 

[AirShooter]

I'm loving my a6300. I've only had it for a week but used it on one tripod shoot as a B cam and slayed the 5D's used for A cams lol. Had it out on a photo walk yesterday and loved shooting stills with itvas well.

I haven't used it for aerial yet as I don't have an AV out for it yet. If anyone finds a good AV out device please post a link

I'm flying the A6300 using the Connex HD downlink, best bang for the buck in a zero latency 1080 60 downlink.
I like the camera but on my mac the workflow sucks. the file I import says "private"
then I have to add an extension ".mov" then it turns into a folder?!? once I open that folder I see the 4k mp4 files, which for some reason FCP 7 does not like them and they take forever to convert to apple pro-res 422. Not sure what your using or what your work flow is but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[violetwolf]

I'm flying the A6300 using the Connex HD downlink, best bang for the buck in a zero latency 1080 60 downlink.
I like the camera but on my mac the workflow sucks. the file I import says "private"
then I have to add an extension ".mov" then it turns into a folder?!? once I open that folder I see the 4k mp4 files, which for some reason FCP 7 does not like them and they take forever to convert to apple pro-res 422. Not sure what your using or what your work flow is but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'm on PC and use Premiere Pro. It has no problems at all with the Sony files. I wonder if you just need to update your video codecs in FCP? The Sony codecs are fairly new... I know we had to update codecs to read the RAW photo files in LightRoom and Photoshop when the a6300 came out.

 

[GGoodrum]

I received my 18-105 lens last week, and I'm quite happy with it. I used it last weekend at wedding I was at, down in San Diego. I love the zoom range, and from what I've seen, this is a very sharp lens. Rick is right, the quality is quite good and it is only a bit more than half the price of the CZ 16-70mm, but it is a beast. It pretty much weighs as much as the a6300 body. For airborne use, I'm going to need something smaller and lighter, unless I end up with something like a Matrice 600 with a Ronin MX.

I'm just now looking at what sort of workflow issues I will end up with, if I want to use FCP X. I have a scratch-built PC that I mainly built as video editing platform, but it is now three years old. I originally had the latest version of the Premier CC suite, but I absolutely hate the "pay as you go" payment model Adobe uses with all their products now. Say what you will about Apple, they don't try and keep squeezing every last penny out of you each month on their software products. I bought FCP X four years ago, and just yesterday I was able to upgrade to the latest version, and it didn't cost me a cent. Same upgrading to the new "El Capitan" OSX variant.

As for the workflow issues, I'm starting with a four year old 17" MacBook Pro laptop, which less than optimum, from a hardware POV. I really hope to make this work, however, because of its portability. I'm traveling a lot, these days, and I want to be able to edit on the road. Anyway, the first thing I'm going to do is see about upgrading the memory. Right now it has two 2GB modules, so only 4GB. I will upgrade to a total of 16GB. The other upgrade I will look at is either replacing or augmenting the existing 750GB hard drive with a 1TB SSD. This model has an optical drive, which I really don't need, so I will look to replace this with a drive caddy, and the SSD.

Next I will to figure out a workflow for editing 4K footage. I do think the new camera update should allow for direct input of the a6300 XAVC S files, but I haven't checked.

-- Gary

 

[violetwolf]

Yes the 18-105 is definitely not an aerial lens. Not only is it too heavy but you would only ever use the 18mm end of its range anyway.

The 10-18 on the other hand is nice and light and is useful through its entire range.

I hear you about the Adobe subscription model. Painful indeed. My business partner and I (in music) cheat and split a subscription between us and even then I feel it's over priced.

 

[GGoodrum]

Yep, the 10-18 is definitely on my wishlist.

Re: the workflow issue, I'm happy to report that I have upgraded my MB Pro's memory to 16GB, and I've added 500GB San Disk SSD in place of the optical drive. It was actually a very easy mod, and only took about 40 minutes, total. FCP is now a ton faster. One very handy feature of the latest version is that everything related to a project is all stored in a single database file called a Library. Actually, you can have multiple projects stored in a single library, along with all media clips, optimized media and render files. All you have to do to get the fastest performance is to move the whole library file to the internal SSD. You have the option, when importing the clip files, to have it optimize the media files, generate proxy files, fix any audio issues and even do color correction/clip matching.

Anyway, I never would've thought, even a week ago, that I'd be editing 4k video on a 4-1/2 year old laptop, with no external media. Can't do that with Premiere.

More later. I'm still looking at platform and gimbal options. I'm really looking forward to getting this camera in the air. The 4k video out of this camera is pretty amazing, when I compare it against my Inspire 1 X3 footage. You wouldn't think there'd be a big difference between 60mbps and 100mbps codecs, but the differences are pretty dramatic. I think some of this might be that the Sony XAVC S codec is very efficient.

-- Gary

 

[Lutz]

Hi guys, first time here, so be gentle please
I have a 6300 but for aerials I m using it with a friend's copter. For aerials, the overheating is not an issue as the camera gets lots of airflow through.
Problem is I am looking for a compact FPV HDMI converter similar to the one for a6000, but, of course, with reversed micro HDMI connector. any luck finding one?
I did a test flight but I had to remove the connector's door on the side to be able to use it (a6000 compact gimbal, also, the 1/4" mount position is a bit different).
Also, as I discovered only lately (to my shame) that the a6300 is also able to clearzoom while with a prime lens, I decided to get a multiport controller for it.
So, any CamRemote owner can please help with some feedback? Are there some cheaper alternatives available (shutter, focus, start/stop video rec, zoom)??
Maybe one complain, no HDMI info in 4k, that s a shame for Sony to make this option unavailable in 4k.
This is the first and only test made, gimbal was balansed for the a6000 not the a6300, therefore some occasional vibrations

 

[violetwolf]

I haven't looked for any recently myself. There are a few hdmi cables out now with reversed plug. It's probably worth a serious search through the various vendors to see if they have any reversed boards yet. Please let us know what you find out.

Video looks pretty good but perhaps a better lens to get the full value out of the camera.

Interesting idea to try to use clear zoom for aerial. I have yet to try that function with mine.

 

[Lutz]

Indeed, the sigma 19 and 30mm lenses are decent for the price, but no match for the a6300's sensor. Upgrades are planned but it s a fresh build so for now...anyone shooting aerials with the a6300 and the sel35f18 from Sony and care to share some footage?

 

[violetwolf]

Indeed, the sigma 19 and 30mm lenses are decent for the price, but no match for the a6300's sensor. Upgrades are planned but it s a fresh build so for now...anyone shooting aerials with the a6300 and the sel35f18 from Sony and care to share some footage?

This is the lens you want: http://amzn.to/2aePMoU

The Sel35f18 is too narrow and there's no point in spending on fast glass when you'll be shooting at f8-f11 for DOF anyway.

The SEL1018 10-18mm covers all the bases, is sharp as hell for a wide angle. And the zoom throw is very short so you can balance in the middle of it's range and zoom without re-tuning your gimbal.

Oh and it's lightweight

 

[Lutz]

I would like a narrow fov on aerials, not always but with the nice AF on the a6300, a f2.8 or f4 aperture will give a much nicer dof, matching the ground shots, tracking subjects etc. Also, a longer focal will make possible AND safe shooting crowded areas, such as concerts from a safe uncrowded area. Hope I m not totally off topic

 

[Lutz]

violetwolf, do you please have some aerial footage with this combo, a6300+10-18?

 

[violetwolf]

I haven't flown the a6300 yet as my machine is still set up for my Canon 5D but what difference does it make if it's aerial or ground footage. The lens is still great.

We should note that with crop factor the 10-18 equals a 16-24 which is the sweet spot for aerial.

If you want to see footage with this combo I'm pretty sure I posted some earlier in this thread. And I always search YouTube for as much footage as I can find before buying a lens ... I think I posted some of those links too

 

[GGoodrum]

There is a new firmware upgrade for the a6300 that supposedly fixes the thermal problem: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-releases-new-firmware-update-a6300-fixes-overheating-issue/

-- Gary

 

[Lutz]

it certainly improves it, but as reported on the FB a6300 group, not on all models, which is certainly weird.