puredrifting
Major Contributor
Or you might be like me and not give a toss if my mirrorless and A camera match. I know its important for certain situations for the cameras to match but it is more fun to try a mixed media approach sometimes too.
Sony announces FX9 4K camcorder with 6K fullframe sensor
- Thread starter indiawilds
- Start date
Bern Caughey
Veteran
For one of our largest clients we shoot their commercials, & stills campaigns, at the same time. First we’ll film part of the commercial, & then the corresponding stills, then back to the commercial, & again with the stills. Rinse & repeat. This is dictated by the ‘talent’ scheduling.
What kills me is the Alexas we use for the commercials have so much more dynamic range then the Canons we use for the stills, so I’m keeping an eye out for whatever Sony releases to replace the A9.
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NorBro
Major Contributor
I think the Sonys have been more than ready for a few years now, but you just can't move mountains...it's a standard and/or stigma that will not change until an entire generation or two expires.
Same with motion pictures and ARRI vs. everything else.
As life moves on maybe there will be changes.
Same with motion pictures and ARRI vs. everything else.
As life moves on maybe there will be changes.
deltoidjohn
Veteran
Those cameras totally have their markets and some unique features. If you need tiny form factor, or you need Raw in a run-n-gun package, those cameras are designed to meet certain needs. Whereas the FS7/FX9 are the cameras to buy if you don't know what to buy; they are a pretty safe bet.
In real world production, in most markets, almost nobody is going to not hire you because you have a FX9 (even if they want Red/Arri they're probably renting one anyway), but the same cannot be said of those other cameras above.
cyvideo
Veteran
Yes when I say short lived I guess I mean relative to analogue Beta. One of our networks in Australia, Network TEN went 100% with it for the ENG work. Five years later nobody really wanted it. For news because of the low data load it was great for live links. Any heavy serious post work with it though and you were struggling. Sony loaned my business two VTRs and a camera for 90 days to see if it would suit our production requirements but it couldn't compete with Digi Beta or DVC Pro 50. The cameras were great as the front ends were the same as the Digi Beta cams so visually the quality was great. Just didn't like them in post.
Chris Young
Run&Gun
Veteran
Yeah, in quick-turn news, post wasn’t much of an issue. It was generally either being cut straight tape-to-tape in the field or ingested into an NLE and cut and spit right back out in the studio. And back then, most of the photogs still knew how to WB and expose, too. A much simpler time...
I will say though, that trying to cue up a tape from a full shuttle was damn near impossible.
cyvideo
Veteran
Know where you are coming from. Talking about cueing up I fought for weeks trying to get Panasonic DVCPro VTRs to cue up frame accurately with Sony BVE-910 and 2000 Edit controllers. They refused to be frame accurate. I spent many dog hours adjusting the HEX codes in the BVE setup software, something like 16 pairs of HEX ballistic codes. Finally I got it right and had 100% frame accurate insert editing. Panasonic Australia told me other post hoses were having the same issues and could I supply them the new HEX stings for DVC Pro decks to work with Sony edit controllers, "Yes"I said. About two weeks later a Panasonic factory bulletin out of Japan was issued outlining the HEX strings to be used when using DVC Pro decks with Sony controllers. "Hmm!" I thought "I've seen these somewhere else before." Exactly the same HEX strings I gave Panasonic Australia
Chris Young
indiawilds
Veteran
Surprising to hear that XQD cards are limited to 256GB currently. Tough to shoot long interviews and docs without constantly worrying about card getting over at the most inappropriate time. What is the booting time of FX9? Or you just change cards without switching off?
Good thing about CFExpress is that higher capacities will soon come. Already Canon is giving a 512GB free with C500II. I am sure 1 TB and more when it comes will be very helpful.
Joshua Milligan
Well-known member
I record a lot of long form interviews with my FS7 and have not found the XQD size limitations to be a problem. I usually go to a shoot with six 128GB XQD cards and since the FS7 (and now FX9) have two card slots, I load two up at a time and use relay recording. When card 1 fills up, it automatically records to card 2 without losing a single frame. I then hot swap and remove card 1 during recording and replace it with a new card, all while card 2 is still recording. This process works very well and allows you to record until the end of time if needed haha.
Also, the FS7 records 4K 24p at 240Mbps, so a 128GB card can hold like 40 something minutes of record time. That's pretty solid. When I shoot TED Talks I use the above process and it works very well. I can fit 10-12 Talks plus performances that happen in between the Talks into around 5 cards usually.
dmitrizigany
Veteran
Oops. I just pre-ordered an FX9 :-o
Danilo Del Tufo
Well-known member
I'd like to know more about the upcoming FX9. Did someone test the camera on the shoulder? Never used a FS7, but I've noticed a change under the camera, the recess for the shoulder seem to be gone or is very hidden in pictures or videos that I've watched. Someone said it's more comfortable to hold with the shoulder than FS7, but I'd like to know if there's still a little of shoulder's recess, to accomodate the camera well on the shoulder. Thanks!
JPNola
Veteran
I noticed the disappearance of the shoulder cut-out as well. That cut-out on the Fs7 allowed the camera to more sit "down" on your shoulder than other cameras, if you used a shoulder-plate such as the Chrosziel plate that followed the contour of the bottom of the Fs7.
I do like that on the Fx9 the point where the cable attaches to the LCD is angled towards the direction from which the cable approaches [ image below ]. It still is not detachable, something I would prefer because it allows you to replace the cable alone should it go bad and not have to send off the entire LCD along with it for repair. I read that the Fx9's focus mag is much better than on the Fs7 and less becomes blocky / pixelated when using the image magnification to check focus.
Congrats dmitrizigany on your pre-order commitment! I'm right there on the cusp of taking the plunge myself.
Don't you hate it when you accidently hit the order button? Now you are just going to have to go ahead and keep it
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)and tell us how you like it so we might accidently order one too
JPNola
Veteran
Potentially longer if you do not pre-order. When the Fs7 was released I had difficulty finding any retailer that had one in stock. I did happen upon one rather quickly. But others had to wait several more months after the official release date.
dmitrizigany
Veteran
Yes, hate it when it happens!Don't you hate it when you accidently hit the order button? Now you are just going to have to go ahead and keep it
It is cancellable and refundable though, so commitment isn’t that bad. I can still chicken out.
dmitrizigany
Veteran
I tried it. Haven’t used the FS7 enough to really tell the difference though. And as there were cables attached (power etc) and no battery, it was kinda hard to get a feel for how it would really be to use...