The Sony A7S II is a hot camera right now and I slept on it when it was first released so it was sold out from everywhere as soon it came out. I got a call from Allens Camera in Allentown, PA that they got it back in stock right before I was leaving for California and saw this as a perfect opportunity to test it out. It was delivered a couple of hours before I got on the plane to LA and was eager to shoot with it.
My buddy Adam moved to Santa Monica from NYC a few years back to pursue a career in acting. within a few minutes we came out with a quick idea to make an Instagram clip featuring himself and shot with the A7S II. Since its hard to fit so much in 15 seconds, we had extra footage which I made in this 43 second extended version:
Coincidentally, a friend of mine, Shane Drummond, from back in New York was also in LA for work helped out on his day off and shot some cool behind the scenes photos.
The 5 axis built in stabilizer helped out with this glidecam shot with the Canon 85mm f/1.8 which normally would be a little tricky since I walked about 15ft from the sidewalk off the curb into the street.
I love being able to hold the camera right up to my face with the EVF to make extra stable footage. Since I was trying to travel light for my trip, I didn't pack a monopod or tripod but it wasn't hard at all to achieve steady shots handheld.
Shooting with a silver car comes in handy, it also doubles as a huge reflector so any shot I had of Adam by the car he was fully filled in by the reflected sunlight.
The menu was a bit tricky to learn. This is probably me fumbling through the different settings.
I honestly would've been happy with whatever we shot as long as it involved me skitching on the side of car.
Probably the most fun shot of the shoot. We did a few takes back and forth to make sure it came out right without me getting hit by oncoming traffic.
The man himself, Adam.
Here's the final shot with the Sony A7S II with the Metabones Mark IV adapter to a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L.
Afterwords, we rejoiced with an intense game of air hockey!