The Sony a1 is the second 8K-capable camera to come into our studio, so we took advantage of some rare spring sunshine to put together a sample reel.

All the footage in the video was recorded using the camera’s internal 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS capture mode. It was all shot using the S-Log3/S-Gamut3.Cine profile, to maximize the available dynamic range on a shoot that regularly crosses from sunshine into shade.

Most footage was shot using AF tracking with the lens stopped-down to F8.

Is 8K overkill?

8K might sound like it’s completely unnecessary, given how few people have 8K displays and the diminishing returns that higher-resolution panels show at comfortable viewing distances. However, just like the early days of 4K, there’s a distinct value to being able to capture footage at higher resolution than you intend it to be viewed.

In this instance, most of the footage has been downsampled to 4K resolution, which should give higher levels of detail than you’d get from native 4K capture. The higher resolution also offers the possibility to crop and pan within the larger 8K region, while still offering at least 4K quality. Such examples are marked in the video.

To view the results in more detail, you can download a higher quality version (without YouTube compression) from here:

Download less-compressed version (~1GB)

We’ve also made two full, unprocessed 8K clips available for download, if you wish to try applying your own processing, grading or post-shoot stabilization.

Download clip 1 (~840 MB)

Download clip 2 (~480 MB)

Exposure and processing

Exposure was assessed by setting zebras to 95% to check for clipping (S-Log3 rarely hits 100%). Other adjustment was done by eye with Gamma Display Assist showing corrected midtones on the camera’s screen and viewfinder.

Footage was processed using Final Cut Pro’s built-in S-Log3/S-Gamut3.Cine LUT, with a slight Color Temp adjustment to some clips and curves applied to pull down the black level.