Image by Emanuel Pampuri The FS7 was announced at this year's IBC trade show event in Amsterdam and it took the industry by storm offering 4K XAVC internal recording, Super35mm sensor and high-speed frame rates at Full HD at an affordable price of less than £6,500 including VAT (body only). We'll take a look at some popular accessories for this camera today. Sony provided a solid professional camera, which video professionals can pick up straight from the box in a convenient ENG style package featuring a shoulder pad and a rotatable grip for major lens control with compatible E-mount lenses. Whether you are a one-man band type of operation or a shoot with a small crew, the FS7 offers incredible versatility for a variety of type of productions from live events, corporate work, documentaries, music videos and even narrative projects. The high bit rate recording offered straight in the camera ensures broadcast compatibility. However, for those users, who want to add the extra versatility to their kit, we've sorted a few extra options below to give you that extra oomph needed to wow your clients.
    • • XDCA-FS7 Extension Unit – provides 12-bit 4K Raw output via SDI with compatible external recorders (such as the Atomos Shogun, Convergent Design Odyssey7Q and the Sony AXS-R5 Raw recorder with the HXR-IFR5 interface, Timecode and Genlock for multi-camera operation. The extension unit also provides power connection for additional accessories and or the possibility to use common V-Mount batteries. In addition to the above, the extension unit adds 10bit ProRes 422 HQ recording in Full 1080p HD in camera on the XQD media cards. A few things to keep in mind when using this adapter – it connects to the camera via electronic pins and does not allow for the internal BP-U30/60 battery to be used, hence it requires power via a V-lock compatible battery.
   
      • • Sony FE PZ 28-135mm F4 G OSS Servo Zoom lens – available as a kit with the FS7 dubbed the “PXW-FS7K” the Sony 28-135mm F4 power zoom is an excellent lens for ENG style productions giving you full control over your image at your fingertips withouth having to bother with extra adapters and changing lenses. The lens is available to purchase separately or as a kit with the FS7 and is due to ship in mid to late December.
 
      • • Metabones Speed Booster EF to E-Mount adapter & Metabones Smart Adapter Mark IV (Non-speed boosted version) – the native E-mount on the FS7 has a short flange distance, allowing for a multitude of third party lenses to be adapted ranging from Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Leica, PL and many others. As long as the lens you're planning on using can cover the Super 35mm CMOS imager at the heart of the FS7 chances are there's an adapter for it. Metabones are known for their high quality adapters and focal reducers under their Speed Booster line giving (especially) Canon and Nikon lens owners to use their existing lenses with their new FS7 camera.
   
      • • Atomos Ninja Star / Atomos Ninja Blade External ProRes Recorder – Sony is giving users an option to record high quality 10bit ProRes 422HQ on board on the internal XQD cards with the XDCA-FS7 extension unit (see above), however for a fraction of the cost of the XDCA-FS7, those requiring ProRes recording can use an external recorder such as the Atomos Ninja Blade or Ninja Star to record in such a codec externally. Keep in mind that, without the XDCA-FS7 the FS7 does not support timecode or V-lock battery operation and you have to factor in the cost of media for the recorder – such as SSD/HDD's for the Ninja or Cfast 1.0 or 2.0 cards for the Ninja Star.
 
    • • Vocas FS7 Baseplate/Top handle and Vocas hand held rig – Dutch equipment manufacturer Vocas are making a dediacted baseplate for the FS7 (0350-1600) designed to fit specifically to the bottom fo the camera round its native curvature. The 15mm rods allow for additional accessories such a follow focus unit and a mattebox to be attached on the front.
The FS7 top handle system has the following features:
      • • Adjustable and reversible handgrip position
      • • Wooden inlay for extra comfort
      • • Multiple cold-shoe attachments
      • • Height adjustable 15mm top rails
      • • Cheese plate
      • • Detachable 15mm viewfinder mount
      • • Viewfinder mount and cheese plate also separately available #0350-1160
    • • Alphatron Electronic View Finder EVF-035W-3G – The FS7 has a decent viewfinder, which ships with the camera combined with an eyepiece, however, for those video professionals requiring higher resolution and a brighter image combined with all profesisonal image control features such as waveforms, focus peaking, and vector scope.Here are some of the features of the Alphatron EVF-035W-3G
      • • Magnesium Housing-Light Weight
      • • Retina LCD Display; 3,54” (960x640, 16:9)
      • • 160˚(H) / 160˚(V)
      • • HDMI Input & Output
      • • Various Scan Mode
      • • Lens Shutter for protection of the EVF LCD Monitor
      • • Internal Colourbar + Pluge Pattern
      • • HDMI~HDMI A. Loop Through
      • • SDI~SDI A. Loop Through
      • • Phone Jack for Calibration
  At Visual Impact our FS7 specialists are available to assist you with your Sony FS7 requirements so give us a buzz at 0208 977 1222.