Sony NEX-VG10 and Canon 7D Shoot a Video

So the other night, my good friend Mike Florio and I shot some video footage for my friend’s band: Mancie. The footage is in the video above, but we’d like to know if you can tell which was used more: the Canon 7D or the Sony NEX VG-10. Here are some hints:

- The Sony was shot at +24 decibels of gain and the Canon was shot at ISO 6400.

- The Canon had the 50mm F/1.8 on it and the Sony had the 50mm F/1.4. Because of how dark the venue was, the lenses were shot wide open.

- One camera’s footage was much more difficult to transcode than the other, and it was all edited in Final Cut.

- One camera is better resolution wise.

- One camera’s sensor has a larger dynamic range than the other as well as better high ISO handling. DXoMark could help you with this one.

As you know, I’ve stated that I wanted to throw the NEX VG-10 out the window, but I’ve also admitted that it has some terrific footage. Additionally, I swear by my Canon 7D, and still consider it one of the best cameras out there for the money. Don’t think it’s possible? You’d be surprised.

Let us know in the comments below with a good reason and once we’ve reached 30 comments we’ll reveal the answer.

Update: Most of the footage in the video was from the Canon 7D. Indeed, the footage from the Sony NEX-VG10 is the pixelated footage. At first, I thought it was just a creative effect. I was wrong, Final Cut was having problems transcoding the footage.

Tagged as: 7d, canon, final cut, mancie, mike florio, NEX, sony, vg-10, video

Carlo C

Sony footage is interpolated, I think it’s quite visible the difference with Canon progressive one. Sony also tends to a strong saturation on skin colour, Canon is more natural and stable . I think that’s the right hint to recognize the origins of the footage. I definitely prefer Canon !
- http://www.facebook.com/chrisgampat Chris Gampat
  
  Okay, so what do you think did most of the shooting for this video? Also, you do know that the video can be converted to progressive from interpolated, correct? I used to do this all the time back in college with Mini DV tapes and the footage looked wonderful.
  - Carlo C
    
    Yes, you’re right . Anyway, as Pearly says, ther’s “some residue from the deinterlacing” . It’s hard to say, but I think it’s mostly done with Sony, because of the AF, focusing seems often to be searching like AF does. Plus, I do thing AVCHD it’s a bit trickier in editing and PP than Canon codec (“normal” H.264 ?) . Did I come closer to solution ?
    P.S. : it’d be impossible to me to focus manually that way all the time …
spoorthy vemula

I think the 7d was used more
- Anonymous
  
  What are your reasons for saying so?
  - http://www.jonathanmatthie.com Jonathan
    
    I would go with the jello effect, as the causal factor for assuming the 7D was the most-used tool for your video. It seems to be affluent throughout most of your video. And DSLR sensors, to date, are still generally known for this, during fast-moving footage. Although, it’s not to say, the same isn’t true for the Sony cam. I don’t know, I am not familiar with the tech.
    - http://www.facebook.com/chrisgampat Chris Gampat
      
      The Sony NEX VG-10 has a DSLR sized sensor. In fact, it’s a tiny bit larger than the 7D’s.
http://twitter.com/PearlyProductns Pearly Productions

I think the Canon was used more as the Sony footage has problems transcoding into Mac FCP and you can see some residue from the deinterlacing where lines seem jagged. Also the Sony has a tendency to have a more bluish tinge to the white balance, while the Canon’s are a lot warmer.

Come on people, comment! I want to know the answer!
- http://www.facebook.com/chrisgampat Chris Gampat
  
  Thanks for your comment Pearly. I appreciate it. I really want to expand on this, but I’m afraid I’ll be giving away too much then.
  
  I’d share this posting via twitter or facebook to get more comments hahaha.
Hendrik_dik

curious…
- Hendrik_dik
  
  I have no idea what to think about both of these, this will be part of the decision making information between getting the 7D and waiting for a while longer… I hope the 7D is the better of the two in this test otherwise its gone and made me even more confused and I don’t feel like researching for another week! There will always be a new toy on the market
AL

Yikes! Was the horrible, pixellated footage interspersed an intended effect or was that the Sony, due to transcoding problems?
http://www.eisenkind.com ekind

I don’t mean to be negative but this looks like a load of fail. What is the point of comparing footage that was imported with wrong settings all over the place? Aspect ratio messed up? Interlaced setting on progressive footage? WB? I’m not a “pro” and I never had any problems with NEX footage in FCP, just use log and transfer and make sure field dominance is set to none, it looks and works perfect! Seriously, it’s not that hard. Things like this only enforce the spread of false rumours, things like the NEX footage is interlaced etc.