NEX FS700R discontinued

F

firehawk

Veteran
Looks like it's the end of the line for the old FS700R. It's been discontinued for a while now, but looks like most stores are finally out of stock. Still a few left so if you want a new one, better act fast :)
This camera has had quite an unusually long life span. The 2012 FS700U later became the FS700R adding the RAW update and really made high bit rate 4K and high frame rate recordings accessible to the common man. This is pretty much thanks to Convergent Design (O7Q) and later Atomos (Shogun/Inferno) since it seems almost no one went the original (and very expensive) Sony 4K route using the AXS-R5 Recorder and HXR-IFR5 Interface Unit.

I remember looking at the $8000 camera online and thinking, no way I can afford that. But later the price dropped about in half and I'm grateful to have one now.
Even now in 2017 the thing still does a good job and I plan on using it for years to come, thanks to it's 4K ability.

This thread will be a road mark when someone in the future looks back to figure out when the FS700 went away and what it last sold for.
The camera with 18-200PZ last sold new for $4199 on Adorama and $3399 and then back up to $3499 body only.

fs700r.jpgfs700r 2.jpg
 
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Reminds of the time when Vimeo was only in 720p.

And also brings up the FS-5 related announcement. Which is supposed to be streamed today.
 
Still love mine and can't afford to upgrade... saddest thing about it being discontinued is that now it's unlikely that Sony will update the firmware to support new lenses etc...
 
Yup end of an era...I still think it may be one of the best (if not the best) price vs. performance cameras ever made. I first picked up the FS100, then sold that as soon as the 700 was introduced. I bought it from B&H with the original 18-200 kit lens, the silver one, and If I remember correctly it was about $8900. I think I had it for about a year when they released the 2k/4k firmware option...jumped on that with a 7q purchase and I haven't looked back.

I now have an FS7 but still use the 700/7q combo often as I'm still partial to the image that combination produces and I actually still see me using it for many years to come.
 
thirdyearff said:
Yup end of an era...I still think it may be one of the best (if not the best) price vs. performance cameras ever made. I first picked up the FS100, then sold that as soon as the 700 was introduced. I bought it from B&H with the original 18-200 kit lens, the silver one, and If I remember correctly it was about $8900. I think I had it for about a year when they released the 2k/4k firmware option...jumped on that with a 7q purchase and I haven't looked back.

I now have an FS7 but still use the 700/7q combo often as I'm still partial to the image that combination produces and I actually still see me using it for many years to come.
Click to expand...

It's strange because it's like Sony have capped the FS5's capability. The 700/7Q combo still produces better imagery than an FS5/7Q even with the new lower iso of 2000 or an FS7 internally. It's like the FS700 slipped through Sonys net. I have been looking to upgrade mine for quite some time but nothing under the £10k price range produces a much better image so I'm still filming away on my setup
 
The FS700R is still my A cam. I am hoping to be able to use it for several more years.
When I discovered my biggest local competitor is still using the original Panasonic AF100s for most of their work that encouraged me. Maybe the FS700 with external recorder can still compete. :)
 
boosh said:
It's strange because it's like Sony have capped the FS5's capability. The 700/7Q combo still produces better imagery than an FS5/7Q even with the new lower iso of 2000 or an FS7 internally. It's like the FS700 slipped through Sonys net. I have been looking to upgrade mine for quite some time but nothing under the £10k price range produces a much better image so I'm still filming away on my setup
Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY what I have been saying. I think the FS700 is destined to go down as one of those cameras which 'slipped through the cracks.'
Back at that time, there was no FS5 or FS7 to compete with in the 'mid range'. I think Sony built all this stuff into the camera ....and later
they may have been kicking themselves. Like how do you get people to pay to upgrade to a FS5? They had to come up with that nifty variable
ND and so on, to give people a reason. I still use my FS700 as my A camera, and judging by what they now sell for, I will be hanging on to it.
I don't see any upgrade for me in the near future. I might think about upgrading when the FS5 II comes out. I'd like a smaller, more ergonomic
camera and internal 10bit 4K 60 would be nice :) But really, I like all the features they packed into the FS700. It's like it was a camera 'ahead of
it's time.'
 
I picked up my FS700R in March of 2014, used, for $5k.

I did enough work with it to pay for the O7Q and RAW license. Since then, I was able to open up to 4K RAW and higher bit-rates and now I was able to do work that was just about on par with folks using a Red Epic. I still use it quite a lot, and that 12bit 4K RAW will still be a viable spec and deliver acceptable results for a while to come.

I don't rig mine for shoulder mount ever, since for me, I think the FS700 goes light and tight easier than it goes shoulder rig...but I know others feel differently. So what I do is I have a very light top handle on the FS700, with a cable running to the O7Q hung on my belt...I got some v-mount to 1/4 20 that I have bolted the female side onto my belt...so I just snap the O7Q onto my belt, and monitor from the little screen. I still get my master exposure on the O7Q, but once I'm exposed for the shot, I operate from the camera LCD screen. I also have a very comfortable shoulder strap on my FS700, so that I can let go of it while I attend to the O7Q. The camera strap also comes in handy as a third stability point and weight distribution when holding it in front of you. Of course, I use very light prime lenses, so that helps.

This is still not as ergonomic as an FS7, but I find it is a good compromise when I think about the price for upgrading. The cable from the camera to the monitor is something you have to be very careful with, but I've shot in protests and in cars, and I still have not had it snag.

So yeah, still a nice camera for it's age, specially considering its price. For $2,500 or $3,000 you can be shooting 4K RAW 12bit, up to 120fps continuous, with internal NDs and decent audio inputs. I'd say that is not bad at all.
 
abreu-canedo said:
I picked up my FS700R in March of 2014, used, for $5k.

I did enough work with it to pay for the O7Q and RAW license. Since then, I was able to open up to 4K RAW and higher bit-rates and now I was able to do work that was just about on par with folks using a Red Epic. I still use it quite a lot, and that 12bit 4K RAW will still be a viable spec and deliver acceptable results for a while to come.

I don't rig mine for shoulder mount ever, since for me, I think the FS700 goes light and tight easier than it goes shoulder rig...but I know others feel differently. So what I do is I have a very light top handle on the FS700, with a cable running to the O7Q hung on my belt...I got some v-mount to 1/4 20 that I have bolted the female side onto my belt...so I just snap the O7Q onto my belt, and monitor from the little screen. I still get my master exposure on the O7Q, but once I'm exposed for the shot, I operate from the camera LCD screen. I also have a very comfortable shoulder strap on my FS700, so that I can let go of it while I attend to the O7Q. The camera strap also comes in handy as a third stability point and weight distribution when holding it in front of you. Of course, I use very light prime lenses, so that helps.

This is still not as ergonomic as an FS7, but I find it is a good compromise when I think about the price for upgrading. The cable from the camera to the monitor is something you have to be very careful with, but I've shot in protests and in cars, and I still have not had it snag.

So yeah, still a nice camera for it's age, specially considering its price. For $2,500 or $3,000 you can be shooting 4K RAW 12bit, up to 120fps continuous, with internal NDs and decent audio inputs. I'd say that is not bad at all.
Click to expand...

Would love to see a picture of this set up because the only reason I want to upgrade from the fs700 is to get an fs5 for the size. I still might do it if the price is right and I can sell my F3, then have a fs700 and fs5. But really its not a big deal at the end of the day as the fs700 and O7Q+ combo gets the job done and will for a long time.
 
FS700+O7Q is still my favourite tool. Love the picture, size, ergonomic. Had to change to RED Dragon becouse of slow motion only. But would be always in my mind :D
 
I jumped into this camera used a couple years ago and it quickly paid for itself with it's slow mo capabilities. Honestly thank this camera, because it changed my shooting style coming from all the DSLRs.
 
FS700 + O7Q rules! I shot B-Roll footage for one of this years oscar nominated shorts. About 35 shots ended up in the movie. A camera was the Alexa :)
 
Sad day, but not surprising at all. I managed to pick one up a few months ago for a mere $1500. Had the 4k RAW update, and I already had a Shogun that I mainly bought as a 7" 4k monitor with luts. It's like everything aligned perfectly, since just before I bought the 700r, Atomos announced 4k RAW support from the FS700.

So, I can now do 4k RAW for $2300 bucks. It did take me a few weeks to find somebody who had a top plate in stock for it, and I think I may have got the last wooden camera top plate for the FS700 anywhere in the world. I live in Boise, and it came from Warsaw Poland. ;)

I still have my FS100, and will still be using that, but it's now a B-cam or low light only camera.

Still one heck of a deal. They'll be available on Ebay for some time, but finding replacement stuff for them may start to get a bit difficult.
 
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