Author: Matt Johnson

The Sony a7S III has been the undisputed king of high ISO performance since 2020. It shares its sensor with the FX3 and FX6, and for years, no camera has come close to touching it in low light. But the new Panasonic S1II is here with a partially stacked sensor (the same one found in the Nikon Z6III), and Panasonic has a long history of squeezing every last drop of performance out of whatever sensor they get their hands on.

So I put both cameras head to head in a controlled low light test to see how the S1II stacks up. Here’s what I found.

The Test Setup

Both cameras start at the same base ISO of 640, which is a nice even playing field. The Sony a7S III is recording in XAVC HS 4K, which is H.265 and arguably the best quality codec the camera offers. A quick tip here: some people assume the XAVC S-I codec is higher quality because it produces larger file sizes, but in all of my low light testing over the years, the XAVC HS codec actually has slightly better noise reduction and produces a cleaner image at high ISOs. If you’re shooting the a7S III in low light, you want XAVC HS.

For the S1II, I’m shooting in MOV format with H.265 at 5.9K resolution. I know that’s a higher resolution than the 4K the a7S III is shooting in, but I didn’t want to introduce any potential image quality issues from downscaling in-camera, which can sometimes soften the image. So we’re comparing native resolution from both cameras, both in H.265, both in their respective log profiles (S-Log3 on the Sony, V-Log on the Panasonic), and no color grading applied so you can see the raw noise as clearly as possible.

The Lower ISO Range: Clean All the Way Up

Cranking through the early ISO values, both cameras look excellent. ISO 800, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500 all look fantastic. At ISO 3200 the S1II is handling it with ease, which is impressive when you remember that on an older camera like the Panasonic GH5, ISO 3200 was basically the limit before things got too noisy. The full-frame sensor and newer technology make a huge difference here.

At ISO 4000, things get interesting on the S1II. This is the ISO right below its second base ISO of 5000, and that positioning shows. There’s some noticeable noise creeping in. It’s not unusable, but it’s definitely the weakest link in the S1II’s ISO range.

Dual Base ISO: Why It’s Such a Big Deal

At ISO 5000 on the S1II, something really cool happens. The image gets significantly cleaner. That’s because ISO 5000 is the second base ISO of the S1II, meaning anything filmed at ISO 5000 is going to look just as clean as if you filmed it at ISO 640. The camera essentially resets its noise floor at that point.

The a7S III has the same dual base ISO feature, but its second base ISO is much higher at 12,800. This is one of the most interesting differences between these two cameras, and it’s worth thinking carefully about which one is more useful for how you actually shoot.

The S1II’s ISO 5000 second base ISO is arguably more practical for general filmmaking situations. If you’re shooting in a dark environment where you need to push to ISO 5000, you can do it cleanly. The a7S III’s second base ISO of 12,800 is extraordinarily powerful, but there’s also such a big jump between 640 and 12,800 that it can sometimes be tricky to manage exposure between those two points. At ISO 12,800, you often need an ND filter to avoid overexposure, even in a moderately lit room.

ISO 10,000: A Weak Spot on the a7S III

Here’s a tip that I love to share for a7S III owners: ISO 10,000 is one of the noisiest ISOs on the a7S III. Just like ISO 4000 is the weakest on the S1II, ISO 10,000 sits right below the a7S III’s second base ISO of 12,800, and you can see the noise peak there. I’d also avoid ISO 8000 if you can help it. These are the spots where the Sony sensor looks its worst, and they’re easy to avoid once you know about them.

If you want a deeper dive into tips like this, check out my Sony a7S III review for wedding filmmakers and my full a7S III menu setup guide.

The Extreme ISOs: Sony Pulls Away

Once you get above ISO 12,800, both cameras are doing something genuinely impressive. At ISO 16,000, 20,000, and 25,600, both cameras are producing footage that I would call completely usable. Yes, there’s noise, but it’s controlled and workable. It’s wild to say that out loud when I remember shooting with DSLRs years ago where ISO 3200 felt like a gamble.

At ISO 32,000 and 40,000, the Sony starts to pull ahead more noticeably. The S1II continues to hold on, but you can see more degradation in the shadows compared to the a7S III, which stays remarkably clean.

If you want to go deeper, I’ve also got Panasonic S1II Review – The Best They’ve Ever Made.

ISO 51,200 is the maximum for the S1II, and at that ceiling, I honestly think you could still use the footage if you were in a genuinely dark environment and needed it. For a camera that isn’t specifically marketed as a low-light powerhouse, that’s a legitimately impressive result.

Where the a7S III Goes Into Another Dimension

The S1II taps out at 51,200. The Sony a7S III is just getting warmed up.

ISO 64,000, 80,000, and then 102,400, which is the standard maximum of the a7S III (anything above this is technically “extended”), and it still looks usable. I’ve been asked many times over the years what the maximum usable ISO is on the a7S III and FX3, and my honest answer is basically all of them. Other cameras force you to draw a line in the sand. The Sony sensor rarely does.

Pushing into the extended ISOs, things get progressively muddier. At ISO 128,000, you can see detail starting to soften and the image becoming overexposed even in a very dark room. At 204,800 and 256,000, sharpness continues to break down. And at the absolute maximum of ISO 409,600, the image is overexposed, swampy, and the noise is dancing everywhere. But here’s the thing: when you set that ISO 409,600 image from the Sony next to the S1II sitting at its max of ISO 51,200, the Sony is still dramatically brighter. It’s a remarkable engineering achievement.

The Sony sensor inside the a7S III, FX3, and FX6 is still the king. But the margin is smaller than it used to be.

So Which Camera Should You Choose?

This really comes down to how and where you film.

If you film in moderately dark conditions and want a second base ISO that’s practical and easy to manage in real-world situations, the S1II’s ISO 5000 second base is genuinely useful and less tricky to expose around than the Sony’s 12,800.

If you are a wedding filmmaker who regularly finds yourself in dark reception halls with limited lighting control, or you commonly film in extremely dark environments like night shoots outdoors, the a7S III and FX3 still come out on top. You’re going to lean on those upper ISOs more often, and the Sony handles them better. That said, the margin of victory is slimmer than it’s ever been. The S1II looking this good at ISO 25,600, 32,000, and 51,200 would have been jaw-dropping even a couple of years ago.

For more info on how the S1II performs as a full wedding and documentary camera, check out my Panasonic S1II menu setup guide. And if you’re looking to get your editing and color workflow locked in for either of these cameras, check out my color presets and LUTs that work across Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, and iPhone. Want to level up your overall filmmaking and editing skills? My Edit Videos Like a Pro guide is a great place to start.

I am about to show you how you can clone any voice in DaVinci Resolve. If you have someone mess up a voice line in your video, you can now clone their voice and fix it so it sounds perfect. This is a total game changer for video editors who need to save a scene where the audio just didn’t hit right.

Before we dive into the technical steps, if you want to learn some of my best editing tips, I have a completely free Edit Videos Like A Pro Guide that you can download right now.

The Real World Scenario

Imagine you are filming a wedding and the groom is reading a letter to his bride. He’s nervous, and he stumbles over a few words. Usually, you’d just have to live with it or try to cut around it. But with the AI tools in DaVinci Resolve, you can actually fix a mistake of virtually any size with very little work.

Step 1: Gathering Your Training Audio

To start, you need some audio of the person whose voice you need to clone. Ideally, you want at least five minutes of them speaking. In my case, I had about eight minutes of the groom speaking because I had a microphone on him well before he started reading his letter. Even if you have less, it is worth trying, but more data usually leads to a better voice model.

Step 2: Training the AI Voice Model

This part is incredibly easy. Right-click on your audio file in the media pool, go to AI Tools, and select DaVinci AI Voice Training. The first time you do this, you will likely need to download some extra files. Once those are ready, click it again, and you’ll see a warning screen. This tool is powerful, and Blackmagic wants to make sure you use it ethically.

Name your voice model (for example, “Paul Groom Voice”) and choose your training accuracy. I recommend choosing “Better” over “Faster” because you want the most accurate results possible. Your computer will then start generating the model. Since this happens entirely on your device and not in the cloud, it might take a while depending on your hardware, but you can keep editing in the background while it works.

I put together How to Clone a Voice in DaVinci Resolve 21 (Just By Typing) as well, which covers the part I skipped over here.

Step 3: Recording the New Line

Now for the part that sounds like magic: you need to record yourself speaking the line that the talent messed up. You don’t even need to use the same microphone or be in the same environment. I recorded my “clone” audio in a sound-treated studio with a shotgun mic, even though the original was recorded in a barn in West Texas on a lav mic. It doesn’t matter!

Step 4: Converting the Voice

Import your new recording into DaVinci Resolve and place it on your timeline. Right-click the clip, select Voice Convert, and choose the voice model you created earlier. Hit render, and watch as Resolve analyzes the audio and transforms your voice into the voice of your talent. If you want to take your visuals as seriously as your audio, don’t forget to check out my LUTs sales page for better color grading.

The Moment of Truth

When you play it back, the results are often insane. It sounds like the original person saying the words you just recorded. Now, keep in mind that this won’t automatically match the lip movements of the person on screen. This is where good editing comes in! Simply cover that section with some B-roll, and no one will ever know the audio was manipulated.

This technology is an incredible use of AI because it helps us tell stronger stories and make our videos clearer. If you found this helpful, definitely subscribe for more DaVinci Resolve tutorials and filmmaking tips.

If you have been looking for a full-frame Sony cinema camera but it is hard to stomach the price of an FX3, the Sony FX2 may be the perfect camera for you. That is, if you can look past one of its biggest compromises: a 1.5x crop in 4K 60fps. In this post, I am reviewing the FX2 from the perspective of a freelance filmmaker who uses their camera to film weddings, commercials, and documentaries to make money. I am going to tell you if this is the camera you should buy.

For the sake of ethics, this review is not paid or sponsored by Sony, but they did loan me the camera for testing. Also, if you want to see all the equipment I recommend for filmmaking, you can download my free filmmaker gear guide here.

The Sony A7IV Sensor in a Cinema Body

The first thing you need to know is that the FX2 shares its DNA with a very popular photography-focused camera. Just like the FX3 shares its sensor with the Sony A7SIII and the FX30 shares its sensor with the A6700, the FX2 shares its 33-megapixel sensor with the Sony A7IV. This means you are getting many of those same capabilities but in a body that offers features filmmakers have been requesting at a cheaper price than the FX3.

A Refined Cinema Body and a Tilting EVF

The body feels like a strong evolution of the FX3 and FX30. You still get that iconic gray cinema camera look with mounting points and plenty of customizable buttons. Sony even eliminated some of the flip-out panels, so the microphone and headphone jacks are now fully exposed and positioned so the screen won’t hit your mic jack.

However, the biggest difference is that this camera comes with an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Sony previously removed the EVF from their cinema line to make them more “video focused,” but they brought it back with a trick up its sleeve. This EVF can tilt up to 90 degrees vertically. As a filmmaker, you often have the camera mounted low at chest height, and having an articulating EVF feels much more natural. It is a game changer for confirming your shot when filming outdoors in bright sunlight.

Improved Ergonomics and Cooling

Sony also added a larger hand grip, which makes the camera incredibly comfortable to hold during 10 or 12-hour wedding days. Additionally, there is a larger cooling fan vent and an improved heat dissipation structure. While I never worried about the FX3 overheating, more protection is always welcome, especially for those of us filming in the Texas heat.

The “Mode Button” Frustration

One change I do not like is the elimination of the dedicated mode button. On the FX3, you could press a button to immediately switch between your 24fps and 60fps presets. On the FX2, you have to hold down the function menu button for a second to bring up the mode menu. It is a big interrupter to a fast workflow. You can remap a custom button to fix this, but it is still a weird step backward in design.

Speaking of which, F1.8 Full Frame Zoom Lens! Sigma 28-45 Review For Wedding Videographers is worth a look too.

Image Quality and Low Light

Because this sensor is from the A7IV, the image quality is excellent. You get 4:2:2 10-bit colors and S-Log 3 support. If you are editing your videos like a pro, you will love how this footage matches other Sony cameras. It even includes Cine EI mode and support for internal LUTs.

When it comes to low light, the FX2 has dual base ISOs at 800 and 4,000. This is a slight boost over the A7IV. While the FX3 is still the low-light king with its second base ISO at 12,800, the FX2 is more than capable for dark wedding receptions. I have pushed this sensor to ISO 16,000 before and the results were completely usable.

The Big Catch: The 4K 60fps Crop

Here is the compromise: while the FX2 can film in 4K up to 60fps, it has a 1.5x crop when shooting in 4K 60. If you want 120fps, you have to drop down to 1080p HD. This is the “big catch” that separates this camera from the more expensive FX3. However, if you mostly film in 24fps or 30fps, you actually get a sharper image oversampled from 7K, which looks fantastic.

Is the Sony FX2 Right For You?

The FX2 might just be the “Goldilocks” camera for many filmmakers. The FX30 sensor may be too small for some, and the FX3 might be too expensive. The FX2 gives you full-frame quality, a tilting EVF, and AI-enhanced autofocus in a refined cinema body. If you can live with the 4K 60fps crop, this is a powerhouse of a camera for the price.

We are out in the middle of nowhere Texas today, but you know how it is with Texas weddings. There are barns, flags, windmills, and most importantly, an incredible couple ready to get married.

Today, I’m bringing you behind the scenes to show you exactly how to film a Same Day Edit wedding video.

I’m hanging out with Matthew Reed, a fantastic filmmaker who is going to show us his workflow for capturing a wedding day and turning around a film the very same day. This is one of the best ways to provide unbeatable customer service and get guests talking about your work before the reception even ends.

The Strategy for Same Day Success

When you are filming for a same day edit, you have to be intentional from the moment you hit record. Matthew and his second shooter, Ryan, have a “clutch” trick: if they capture a shot they know they want in the edit, they immediately put their hand over the lens to create a black frame. When Matthew is culling later, he just looks for those black frames and knows the perfect clip is right before it.

Another interesting part of his workflow? He films everything in 30 frames per second. No 60fps slow-mo “crutch” here. Shooting at 30fps keeps his wedding reception workflow simple, maximizes his full-frame sensor, and makes timecode syncing with his Tentacle Sync system a breeze.

Getting the Narrative Early

To make a same day edit actually mean something, you need story. Matthew makes a point to pull the groom and bride for interviews early in the day. We’re talking six hours before the ceremony when everyone is still chilling. He asks about their history and their feelings, even touching on emotional subjects like the groom’s late father. This gives him heartfelt soundbites to anchor the edit before the “toast chaos” even begins.

If you want to make sure your films look as good as they sound, you need to be editing like a pro. Having that narrative locked in early is the first step.

The Ceremony and The “Texas Weather”

The ceremony was a beautiful, poetic event, despite the typical Texas weather. It started raining right as things kicked off, but Matthew was prepared. He kept his gear protected (including the hot shoe!) and managed to film through the drizzle. Even with the rain, the hand-fasting ceremony and the couple’s vows provided incredible content for the film.

Cranking Out the Edit

Once the reception starts, it’s crunch time. Matthew set up a DIY standing desk in the back of the room (propped up by some “Christian reading material” and his Pelican case) and started culling. He uses Adobe Premiere Pro to quickly slap clips together, keeping them to 2 to 3 seconds each to maintain a fast pace.

Since he’s working fast, he doesn’t have time for a deep color grade. He slaps on a LUT to get it looking cinematic quickly and adjusts the exposure. If you want to get that same professional look for your own films without spending hours in the color tab, check out my LUTs sales page.

The Big Reveal

The best part of a same day edit is the reaction. Matthew finished his 60-second edit, exported it, and walked it right over to the couple at their table. Seeing their faces as they watched their own wedding ceremony while still at the wedding was incredible. It makes all the “editing sweat” worth it.

If you’re interested in more behind the scenes action, you can see how I’ve handled other same day edit wedding videos in the past. It’s a lot of work, but the results speak for themselves.