Really considering purchasing a Sony FS100u = Things I should know?

V

vision_filmz

Carbonite Member
The announcement of the red "Scarlet" really pushed me over the edge..... Still recording to $1000 Hard Drives and such expensive accessories it is simply out of my league. I shoot on a Canon dslr and I'm looking to really step it up, hence the reason I am here.


What I want is 1080p at 60fps, a low light camera and a beautiful image. Can you adapt eos lenses to this camera? For anyone who shot on a Canon dslr how does it compare?
* Do I have to convert the files to pro res to edit?
* What media does it record too?
* weight of the camera?
* Recording time limit?
* sensor size?

Thanks!
 
great choice my friend! the fs100 is an amazing camera.

you can use canon lenses but you can't control the aperture yet. adapters are being made but no release date yet.

shooting on am fs100 vs a dslr is night and day its a real professional video cam vs a prosumer photo camera with a video mode.

if you use adobe you can edit raw avchd (fs100 coded) but emitting raw is silly. you can log and transfer with fcp or use clip wrap to transcode files.

the camera is light, 1000 grams about 2.2 lbs.

there is no record limit, you can use 128gb cards and record forever. the sensor is s35 it's the same size as a nikon 1.5x crop sensor
 
vision_filmz said:
The announcement of the red "Scarlet" really pushed me over the edge..... Still recording to $1000 Hard Drives and such expensive accessories it is simply out of my league. I shoot on a Canon dslr and I'm looking to really step it up, hence the reason I am here.


What I want is 1080p at 60fps, a low light camera and a beautiful image. Can you adapt eos lenses to this camera? For anyone who shot on a Canon dslr how does it compare?
* Do I have to convert the files to pro res to edit?
* What media does it record too?
* weight of the camera?
* Recording time limit?
* sensor size?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The FS100 is just a sweet camera. Never shot on a DSLR as I DESPISE them. However I think I can answer your questions.

1. Depends on your NLE. FCP 7 pretty much needs to convert to pro res to edit. It's fast to convert though, on my quad
core Mac Pro it like 2-3 times faster than realtime. FCP X and Adobe CS 5 will edit it without converting.

2. It records to SDHC cards. I can buy 16gig cards at the local walmark for between $30-$40. They hold 90 minutes
of footage at the highest bitrate 1080 24P video.

3. Camera body by itself is 2.3 pounds. With the kit lens it's 6 pounds.

4. No recording limit. Limited only by your card size. 16 gigs give you an hour and a half. 32 gigs would
give you 3 hours. 64 would give you 6 hours. 128 would give you 12 hours. It's up to you what size
cards you would like to buy.

5. Sensor size is 23.6 x 13.3 mm

Finally, for Canon lenses you will need an adapter. Currently there are just 'dumb' adapters that don't allow
you to control the iris, so you have to set iris on a Canon DSLR body and then put the lens on the FS100.
However there are adapters from MTF and Birger that are supposed to be out soon, which will allow you to
use Canon lenses on the FS 100. That is one issue that there is for people who are former DSLR users who have
heavily invested in Canon lenses.....However, it is just one sweet camera. Especially if you are used to
video cameras. It works like a video camera should, not a still camera with a video mode just 'slapped' on.
Just a joy to shoot with. Only caveat, be ready to add some sort of ND. I use a variable ND from Heliopan
which is just sweet. Expensive though...cost me about $400.

One other thing. You can shoot 1080 60p in two different ways on this camera. Overcranked 1080
60p which has NO audio and will be 2.5 times slow mo when played back at 24P. Or you can shoot
1080 60P with full audio at 28mbps, up from the normal 24 mbps. However, not many NLE's will play
nice with this video yet, although I bet they will before too long. Any other questions, let us
know.
 
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One thing I would say, is get an EVF over an external monitor. I've got a DP1x, and with the camera properly balanced on my shoulder the monitor is right up in my face. Ended up buying a used cineroid today so I can operate handheld like an ENG camera.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Call me crazy but I never got used to shooting with any form of EVF, always with an lcd. Even from the older dvx-100 days (first camera I really operated). Second to me it was never about the camera, it was only a tool to achieve what I wanted. DSLR introduced HD , shallow DOF, small form factor and low light capabilities at a price point that was amazing for video. What it also brought to me that I really dislike were

*Moire
*Aliasing

Let it be known that I love shooting video on Canon Dslr and think in the right hands can provide some very great visuals especially when the content being shot is there. Proper framing, lighting etc. and understanding your camera are king. Now even with all of that in place it is still very very difficult to avoid moire, aliasing and a soft image (especially on wide shots).

What I really want to know is how does the Fs100u handle Moire and Aliasing? How does it handle shots of telephone pole wires? Does anyone have any footage that can share to things they have shot?


Thank you!!
 
If you're not into an EVF, I'd say get a smaller 5.6 sized monitor. The 8" one I have is great on sticks, but too big for handheld. If I had the money I'd got for the TV logic, but the Small HD DP6 is nice too.

The FS100 handles moire and aliasing really well. Someone posted aerial footage here a week ago that shows it in a cornfield, but in my use in the field I have not detected any.
 
robmneilson said:
If you're not into an EVF, I'd say get a smaller 5.6 sized monitor. The 8" one I have is great on sticks, but too big for handheld. If I had the money I'd got for the TV logic, but the Small HD DP6 is nice too.
Click to expand...

I am ACing an FS100 short currently and we have a DP4 from SmallHD and it is absolutely incredible. it *might* be my favorite monitor I have used thus far (including some panasonic and marshall larger HD-SDI monitors). The build, versatility (EVF or monitor), menus and features are awesome, plus it is very sharp (much sharper than the on-board FS-100 monitor) and is very bright. AND it can run off of canon batteries from the 5DII, 7D, or 60D.

Those were just my thoughts on it. I have used the SmallHD DP1 prior and was not impressed at all, but it seems they have come a long way.
 
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