VTC

Not much of an endorsement for the DCI. I didn't expect so much lateral wobble and vertical displacement. No fluidity at all. The problem may be caused by leaving IBIS on while gimballed. Run the footage through your NLE again and set stabilization to optical flow then let that magic do its thing for four or five hours and it should take the edge out of those wobbles. Content wise it's fine. The technology portion of the 3 legged stool was half the length of the others and really let the video down.

Ifixit did a disassembly of a salt water damaged A7 something. Look for the article and scope out the pictures. Not a simple 10 minute fix or simple repair at all to get to the squeezie holdie thing that keeps the cover in place. The replacement may be able to be shoved in without opening camera up. The Canon XHA1-S had covers easily removed by squeezing the insert portion together. The A7 doesn't quite work that way but if the replacement has hooks at the end you may be able to jam it in providing the previous rubber hasn't been left behind and blocking insertion.

If the camera is set to shoot in one of the Profile modes (mine almost always is Slog 2) images shot in Silent mode aren't affected by whatever Profile is selected, at least on the 7Sii I use.

Check size of AVCHD file. Empty it's about 600kb. Had mine mysteriously change record type from mp4 to AVCHD once. Saw in camera but not in the folder where mp4 files live because they were hidden inside the AVCHD folder. Show package contents (Mac) gets inside the container/folder. Take files from there. Cannot display image error pops up when I change MP4 to mp4 on the card so I know which files I transferred to computer but don't wan't to delete off card just yet. Image file database won't recognize the renamed files but they're still viable.

Check the input jack where it goes into the camera. When running an external monitor and mic setup on mine at first brush the jack didn't seat all the way in due to having to go through the base of the supplied cable strain relief. The jack plastic kept it from seating all the way & only get connection to one channel. I use right angle jacks as strain reliefs for mic & headphone cables. One I had to trim away plastic to get a secure & full connection through the Sony supplied cable strain relief. I did manage to find another brand of jack not needing modification. Also, verify actual two channel output from the Tascam. Insert the Tascam jack into a stereo port duplicator jack you can insert headphones into the other port. Easy test.

I'd stay away from the shutter button to focus when rolling video as it introduces a brief jump / hiccup / stutter while it locks on. Here's my solution (A7Sii) Continuous AF works swell (Turn off when shooting HFR as it introduces a visual jitteriness not seen at standard frame rates but will on slow motion) but set up camera for back button focus. This way you can rack focus, in or out, by holding button down to enter manual focus, rotate out of focus, then letup whereby it acquires focus smoothly. Or reverse the procedure then say adios forever to those focus jumps pressing shutter button gives you.

This SHOULD be helpful. (Snarky reference to that 'might be interesting' stupidness often found here. http://www.myshuttercount.com

Don't know why people are squeamish about renaming their files. So what happens if every number IS different? You still have a bunch of vague numbers without any idea of what the content is without looking at it. I rename mine with a number first then the context of what was taken, in this case a Joe Ely performance. Any clip in the timeline has a name, not a number. Helpful when different clips are mixed in. I can differentiate the Joe Ely clips from the Marcia Ball clips. Not so easy if it's a bunch of numbers. Searching the drives is faster, too. I use the free app NameChanger on Mac. If you're on Windows you're on your own.

In the distant past previous cameras didn't have the processing powers of todays units. My unscientific understanding is that the camera was cranking away trying to extract an image out of total darkness in an environment that couldn't dissipate the heat from an endless attempt at imaging something from a dark nothing. I placed a Blackmagic recorder in a bag without turning it off. The fan couldn't keep the unit cool and that puppy wound up close to unhandleably hot. Thought I cooked the unit but all was well after it cooled down. Now it's standard practice for me to dislodge all batteries briefly before storing gear which shuts them off and keeps them from cooking or grabbing the gear later only to discover a depleted battery. Auto Power Off after X minutes might be your savior here.

Bunch available on Amazon. Some just have a cable alone but I got one that also had a mains plug in for $20 or so. Have a cradle that holds NP-F battery with 2 pigtails / ports (I modified the cradle so I could power multiple devices) that I will power both the camera and Blackmagic Video Assist V when rigged up.

The exact reason I use a dummy battery setup. Once you have that port occupied for power it pretty much botches tethering or using a remote, wired or otherwise. I've found the power outgo is more than incoming and doesn't keep up with battery depletion.

Is there any easier way? Been doing this for eons instead of letting some program ingest the files and placing them who knows where. Then I use a rename program to batch rename them from an ambiguous C0185.mp4 (There'd be hundreds of those on my drives) to a more identifiable 185 - Kites.mp4, of which there's only one.

Like error codes. The engineers know what they mean and caused it and possibly how to remedy it but everyones else is left in the dark. Sony might have well have thrown up a screen saying Stop Trying to Do That. Equally as helpful.

Has to be in VIDEO mode. (Verified using A7Sii) You need to have selected MANUAL in VIDEO mode (4,5) for it to work and not photo mode (1,2,3). Image 4 showing P instead of M but it works for all iterations when doing video. Remember to toggle back up to where there's an orange box around the mic level adjustment scale as shown (5) or any changes won't stick. Don't leave the menu when RESET is highlighted or it reverts back to whatever pervious level you set.

Register fish shape/face as recognition shape priority? Or small aperture / slow shutter speed / manual focus and hold fish in same plane as your face.