A couple FS100 questions before I make a purchase

Well, I'll vouch that the 720p50 on the 550D was unusable too.

Aliasing made the image look like it was passed through a cheese grater.

Had a shoot today that was going to be talking head interviews - where the FS100 shines. Turned out to be a bunch of guys (12) round a table in an interactive discussion. Had I known, I'd have brought an EX1 with an external zoom controller. FS100, kit lens, beauty. Mad dash of GVs as suits tour a facility? EX1 would do it, FS100 did a grand job with... kit lens. I didn't even have a chance to mount or pick up an alternative. Arrive, open bag, switch camera on, put on tripod, and we're shooting. No brief, no shot list, but we had a sound guy!

Point being, no DSLR would have helped today. Shooting in garages, industrial complexes (lots of grilles, lots of parallel lines). Main concern was I was set up for beautiful interviews (LED battery operated 1x1s, barflys) and it turned into Run & Gun for half an hour, then suddenly it was round a conference table for an hour.

All on one card, all on one battery (how far away was my camera bag?!), all with great sound in synch (no soundie histrionics), 9dB gain not an issue, 11x zoom essential for round-table, adequate in GVs even though it's a slow lens.

The FS100 can be an EX1 when you really need one. No DSLR could do that. The FS100 brings home rushes with no moire or aliasing (except in exceptional circumstances that I've never met - and even then, it's not bad). No DSLR can guarantee that. White set spot-on. Exposure - bang on (thanks to zebras, picture profiles, dialable white set which IS part of a 5D, I know).

I'm just burbling - a bit of kit has got me out of the poo today, and I'm loving it. Nice to review good rushes.
 
woooo ok, back to having my mind made up. Now to manage to sell all of my DSLR stuff before I miss out on a local fs100 deal.

Still need to do some research on lenses. Thought I would do nikon samyang/rokinons but I think the fact that they focus the wrong way is really going to irk me especially since I AC on higher budget projects as much as I DP lower budget ones.
 
Michael,

DO IT. I sold all of DSLR stuff and bought FS-100 and never look back. You will love it. As for lens, I bought couple of CP2 lens and Zeiss ZE lens (since i still have one 5D mk II). Very happy with FS-100.
 
MattDavis said:
.
FS100, kit lens, beauty. Mad dash of GVs as suits tour a facility? EX1 would do it, FS100 did a grand job with... kit lens. I didn't even have a chance to mount or pick up an alternative. Arrive, open bag, switch camera on, put on tripod, and we're shooting. No brief, no shot list, but we had a sound guy!

Point being, no DSLR would have helped today. Shooting in garages, industrial complexes (lots of grilles, lots of parallel lines). Main concern was I was set up for beautiful interviews (LED battery operated 1x1s, barflys) and it turned into Run & Gun for half an hour, then suddenly it was round a conference table for an hour.

All on one card, all on one battery (how far away was my camera bag?!), all with great sound in synch (no soundie histrionics), 9dB gain not an issue, 11x zoom essential for round-table, adequate in GVs even though it's a slow lens.

The FS100 can be an EX1 when you really need one.
Click to expand...

^ This. You are spot on. I've tried to tell people, the FS100 is just so nice and versatile. With that kit lens, it really is not hard at all to
shoot run and gun style. I can put out a news story on deadline as easy as can be with that lens. And if you have time, you can throw something
faster on for a 'set up' interview to 'pop' the interview subject out from the background. You get back home, and you have this little card full
of 'goodness' I literally have sat at the big screen in my edit bay gaping at the screen. There are details in the shot that I didn't even
NOTICE when shooting, yet the camera picked them up and it just looks sweet. (Of course I always take credit for getting those special details :-)
But it's so cool to be able to just use the kit lens for fast stuff and not worry about anything, you have the range to get all the shots you need,
you can keep up with the clients. And have an option if the clients give you a few minutes to switch lenses, and have a totally different look. It's
like having 10 cameras in 1. EX-1 look and cinema style look all in one little package, used to be you had to choose one or the other (EX-1 or
DSLR) but you can kind of get the best of both worlds here.
 
I did not go with the kit lens when I bought my FS100, but let me ask, what features does it offer that makes it great for run and gun?
 
KyleProhaska said:
Why did you all get the FS100 over AF100? Just curious...
Click to expand...

Well, for me, it was the image quality differences, especially in low light, that I saw posted on line. I like the S35mm sensor size more than the m4/3. I like the design of the FS100 over the AF100, in that it can be dressed down to "Stealth Mode", very close to a DSLR, better than the AF100. I also really, really love the Sony high capacity batteries, having used them, and still had several from my SD cameras that I could use for the FS100. I used the big Sony battery, on SD tape cameras, shooting events for a while and they are amazing. I have yet to have to change one out, even on shoots as long as 10 hours. I figured that on a camera with no moving parts, the batteries would be just as long lasting. Now, to be honest, I do not have as much experience with Panasonic cameras to discount their batteries, but, to me, the big Sony batteries are the best thing since sliced buttered bread! :)!

Now, I would never diss the AF100, it seems to me to be a great camera (I have not used one), but I kind of think that at this point, it is kind of Coke vs. Pepsi... and I chose Coke.
 
David G. Smith said:
I did not go with the kit lens when I bought my FS100, but let me ask, what features does it offer that makes it great for run and gun?
Click to expand...

The auto functions (iris and focus) are really good. Not that I use them a lot, but sometimes during run and gun stuff it's nice to have, and surprisingly they
really work with this lens, almost as good as the auto functions on any camera I've ever used. The OIS 'steadyshot' is nothing short of incredible in my opinion.
Really lets you shoot handheld even at the telephoto end of the lens. And last, the range of the lens. From 18mm (nice and wide) to 200mm (decent telephoto).
Now obviously you give up something, variable aperture, and it's a fairly slow lens (this doesn't matter very often as the camera is SO sensitive!) But
often when doing run and gun, you need several different focal length shots to build your 'sequence' and you don't have time to go running all over the
place with a prime to get a wide, medium, close up, and extreme close up. I can get all four of those shots in less than a minute, even when I roll for
10 seconds on each one. Obviously you get less of the 'shallow depth of field look' with this lens (although it is actually much better than I expected
in this regard). But, the point is, with this lens, the focal range, and the way the lens and camera 'talk' to each other, which enables several functions,
this camera can act like an EX-1. And then you can change lenses and make it a totally different camera.
 
alaskacameradude said:
The auto functions (iris and focus) are really good. Not that I use them a lot, but sometimes during run and gun stuff it's nice to have, and surprisingly they
really work with this lens, almost as good as the auto functions on any camera I've ever used. The OIS 'steadyshot' is nothing short of incredible in my opinion.
Really lets you shoot handheld even at the telephoto end of the lens. And last, the range of the lens. From 18mm (nice and wide) to 200mm (decent telephoto).
Now obviously you give up something, variable aperture, and it's a fairly slow lens. But often when doing run and gun, you need several different focal length
shots to build your 'sequence' and you don't have time to go running all over the place with a prime to get a wide, medium, close up, and extreme close up.
I can get all four of those shots in less than a minute, even when I roll for 10 seconds on each one. Obviously you get less of the 'shallow depth of field
look' with this lens (although it is actually much better than I expected in this regard). But, the point is, with this lens, the focal range, and the
way the lens and camera 'talk' to each other, which enables several functions, this camera can act like an EX-1. And then you can change lenses and make
it a totally different camera.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I may go ahead an pick one of those up. I was never that impressed with the Sony "Steady Shoot" in the past, but I would hope they have improved that. What I used to love about Sony video cameras were their "Push Auto Focus" function, but I was wary that on an interchangeable lens system, it may not be up to snuff. Looks like I am going to have to pay a $200.00 premium to buy the lens separately from the camera. Oh well.

As an aside, with the "Great Camera Announcement Day" that we have just been through, I can't help but think that the real winners of that are Sony (And Panasonic) with the FS100 (And AF100). I think that there are a lot of folks that are really in the market segment best served by a camera like the FS100, but who have been holding out on buying a camera waiting to see what Canon and RED were going to announce. Now that those cameras have been announced, and it is very clear that they are not cameras that really compete, cost wise with FS100 level, folks are now able to clearly see the choices available, and many, many of them will go ahead and get into the game at the FS100 cost level. I think that it is also very important to note on this forum, originated to facilitate the revolution that the Panasonic DVX100 ushered in, that the current heirs to that great camera really are the Sony FS100 and the Panasonic AF100.
 
David G. Smith said:
Well, for me, it was the image quality differences, especially in low light, that I saw posted on line. I like the S35mm sensor size more than the m4/3. I like the design of the FS100 over the AF100, in that it can be dressed down to "Stealth Mode", very close to a DSLR, better than the AF100. I also really, really love the Sony high capacity batteries, having used them, and still had several from my SD cameras that I could use for the FS100. I used the big Sony battery, on SD tape cameras, shooting events for a while and they are amazing. I have yet to have to change one out, even on shoots as long as 10 hours. I figured that on a camera with no moving parts, the batteries would be just as long lasting. Now, to be honest, I do not have as much experience with Panasonic cameras to discount their batteries, but, to me, the big Sony batteries are the best thing since sliced buttered bread! :)!

Now, I would never diss the AF100, it seems to me to be a great camera (I have not used one), but I kind of think that at this point, it is kind of Coke vs. Pepsi... and I chose Coke.
Click to expand...

What he said. :) I owned both and this is a good summary. I do miss the waveform over the histogram, I miss the ND, and I miss the built in mic, but that is it. I wanted to keep both really, but that wasn't feasible.
 
KyleProhaska said:
Why did you all get the FS100 over AF100? Just curious...
Click to expand...

Well, I think the AF100 is probably a great camera too. I was pulled that way by the ND filters, but pulled towards the FS100 by the slightly larger sensor (actually noticeably larger) and low light performance (which I can now confirm is stellar, and this is a very big deal for me).

But the clincher was the portability and modularity of the FS100. I hike a fair bit with my whole camera gear on my back, and the FS100 breaks down small enough to make that practical. I think with the AF100, that would be a real problem.

Now that I actually have the FS100, I'm loving the picture quality, plus general ease of use.
 
David G. Smith said:
Thanks. I may go ahead an pick one of those up. I was never that impressed with the Sony "Steady Shoot" in the past, but I would hope they have improved that. What I used to love about Sony video cameras were their "Push Auto Focus" function, but I was wary that on an interchangeable lens system, it may not be up to snuff. Looks like I am going to have to pay a $200.00 premium to buy the lens separately from the camera. Oh well.

As an aside, with the "Great Camera Announcement Day" that we have just been through, I can't help but think that the real winners of that are Sony (And Panasonic) with the FS100 (And AF100). I think that there are a lot of folks that are really in the market segment best served by a camera like the FS100, but who have been holding out on buying a camera waiting to see what Canon and RED were going to announce. Now that those cameras have been announced, and it is very clear that they are not cameras that really compete, cost wise with FS100 level, folks are now able to clearly see the choices available, and many, many of them will go ahead and get into the game at the FS100 cost level. I think that it is also very important to note on this forum, originated to facilitate the revolution that the Panasonic DVX100 ushered in, that the current heirs to that great camera really are the Sony FS100 and the Panasonic AF100.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that. The FS100 has the 'push auto focus' button, where you push it
and it auto focuses, but once you release it, it goes back to manual control. It also has a
'push auto iris' button which does the same thing for exposure. Neat little features that
work great with the kit lens.

I would agree 110%. The Nov. 3 announcements were great for people with 15-20k budgets.
Those of us who need to stay close to 5k (and there are a lot of us) have two choices, the
AF100 or the FS100. There were a LOT of disappointed people, not so much at the cameras
announced as they are both great, but at the price points they come in at. And a lot of people
were waiting for the announcements to buy. I would be willing to bet, that right after the
announcements, there was a surge in the number of sales of the 'two 100' cameras.
Both are nice, nice cameras and do a lot for the price.
 
If I was buying, I would buy the camera that left me enough budget to configure the way I wanted. This would include a fantastic support package - tripod, batts, lenses, cases, monitor, cards, drives, recorders, etc. To me a complete system has always been better than a "better" camera with a crap lens and nothing else.
 
Ok last question.

Depth of field wise. When comparing this with my former full frame 5DII, I'm assuming that more is in focus given the same lighting/aperture/distance/etc. on the FS100 than the 5DII? Since essentially that's the case when you look at the smaller sensor 7D lined up with the 5DII
 
Michael Solomon said:
When comparing this with my former full frame 5DII, I'm assuming that more is in focus given the same lighting/aperture/distance/etc. on the FS100 than the 5DII?
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Yes, in fact the FS100 should be almost the same as the 7D. However you can get plenty shallow DOF on the FS100, and bear in mind Super35 is what big-budget movies are shot on (if they're shot on film). If it's good enough for Titanic...
 
I only ask because I'm still going back and forth on my lens choices. Considering a f/2.8 zoom over going to primes. Debating whether I will ever need the shallower DoF that a f/1.8 prime would offer
 
Unless you want extreme low light and razor thin DOF (especially with the camera within a few feet of the subject) a f2.8 zoom should work very well and give you enough cinematic shallow DOF. A good f1.4 35mm or 50mm can be gotten for pretty little as a special lens for when you want the extreme shallow DOF. I have a 7D with an excellent Canon 17-55 zoom and it gives me good DOF. Not always fast enough, but from what I hear, the FS100 might be quite a bit better in low light than the 7D, so this is my reasoning.
 
Michael Solomon said:
I only ask because I'm still going back and forth on my lens choices. Considering a f/2.8 zoom over going to primes. Debating whether I will ever need the shallower DoF that a f/1.8 prime would offer
Click to expand...

DOF isn't purely determined by the fstop. The length of the lens, the distance from the subject and the distance from the background all come into play. with the kit lens at f11 @200 you can get shallow DOF.
 
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