Sony Cinema Line & FX6

andykwilkinson said:
Hi there, sure I understand the huge improvement the FX6 has over my FS5 codec wise but it's usability in the field because the XDCAM menus and options are so much more flexible and designed for professional interaction, making the camera an easier to use tool (if that makes sense). Doug Jensen sums up the differences between the XDCAM and the ones like my FS5 brilliantly in several sections of his introductory Z280 video...which is also very high (in fact at the top!) of my list to replace my PMW-300 as well.

In particular see at around 6.30; 7.30 and 11.30 in on the video and you'll get the gist of how I also think about this.

https://vimeo.com/297946781

So what I'm asking is, does the FX6 now have menu options like the XDCAMs (last clip delete, ability to custom name clips...no more Clip0001, 0002 etc., Clip duration display etc. etc.) or would it be more like the FS5 still. Thanks!
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It seems like the camera lines are now more blurred than ever. It's unclear which family this camera belongs to.

A search for the word 'XDCAM' in the FX6's marketing materiel didn't reveal any matches.

Menu options could be the same in all of their cameras if they wanted them to be, but because there are different individuals/departments working on them they naturally provide different settings based on internal discussions.

Last clip delete is a great function...hopefully you'll have everything you need.
 
So I understand that the Sony FX6 doesn't have a super 35 mode... only full frame.

But I heard the clear image zoom of 1.5x (or is it 2x?) can basically give you an exact 35mm sensor image size?

Is this true?

Does sony clear image zoom give this camera an EXACT 35mm sensor field of view when being used?
 
I don't know if the FX6 has clear image zoom. It probably does, I just haven't read about it.

If it does, you can get a 1.5x 4K zoom with it through some sort of AI interpolation. But I don't think it would be possible to do that and output RAW. 1.5x crop is S35.

And you can get 2x crop in HD. Which is M43 crop factor

If your lens fills a 1.4x cropped view, you could even get some extra width from your zoom if you want
 
So If I'm understanding correctly... a 1.5x clear image zoom will be an exact match for a super 35 sensor field of view?

(P.S. Philip Bloom confirmed it does indeed have clear image zoom. I was made aware by Sony that there is a Clear image zoom even in 4K/QFHD. In 4K/QFHD it’s up to 1.5x, and in 1080p it’s up to 2x. Very nice to hear that the function even works in 4K although I guess it’s interpolating pixels as we are dealing with a 4K sensor."
 
sodotoguwangus said:
So I understand that the Sony FX6 doesn't have a super 35 mode... only full frame.

But I heard the clear image zoom of 1.5x (or is it 2x?) can basically give you an exact 35mm sensor image size?

Is this true?

Does sony clear image zoom give this camera an EXACT 35mm sensor field of view when being used?
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I believe it has a S35 mode but only in HD, and not in all frame rates (e.g., I don't think S35 mode works with the 100/120/200/240 HD frame rates).
 
Tnanks, one more noob question.

I own regular (non full-frame glass). If I use my regular old glass on the fx6 in 4k mode with the 1.5x crop enabled... will this be the equivalent of a super 35mm camera or do I need to use actual full-frame glass to pull this off?

In other words are my old glass (non full-frame) going to work?
 
sodotoguwangus said:
Tnanks, one more noob question.

I own regular (non full-frame glass). If I use my regular old glass on the fx6 in 4k mode with the 1.5x crop enabled... will this be the equivalent of a super 35mm camera or do I need to use actual full-frame glass to pull this off?

In other words are my old glass (non full-frame) going to work?
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yes, they will work. I don't know how the quality of clear image zoom compares to regular 4K. but some people on dvxuser seem to really like it. I have yet to properly test it. Oh, and I don't know which frame rates will work

apparently you can do up to 4k60p in clear image zoom.

ANSWERS! http://www.xdcam-user.com/2020/11/common-fx6-questions/

Could I use Clear Image Zoom in UHD/4K to work with super 35mm lenses?

Short answer is yes, in some modes. The longer answer is maybe. For a start clear image zoom is not available when shooting above 60fps or when outputting raw. As you need to typically use between 1.4x and 1.5x zoom there is a small but noticeable loss of image quality. It’s slight, but the images are a bit softer and look a touch more processed. Any noise becomes more noticeable as the noise grain gets bigger. It’s not horrid, but the image definitely loses a little of the crispness and clarity that it normally has. This isn’t really a surprise as by the time you have zoomed in by 1.4x you are upscaling around 3.2K to 4K. You could use it if you really need to, but it’s a shame to use it as it just takes the edge off what are otherwise exceptionally good images, it’s definitely not comparable to the FX9’s proper 4K s35 mode. I will put together some example images soon.
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NorBro said:
Might also be disablbled in RAW. IDK, but best to confirm.
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If it's anything like the Fs5 then yes, it will be disabled in RAW.

EDIT: that said, given the choice of excellent codecs, I'm not sure I see the appeal of raw with this camera. Cheaper media is the only benefit that really jumps out at me (SSDs vs cards).
 
It's an in-camera upscaling, aka digital processing. So, in Raw, there's no processing, which means no upscaling.

A while ago, JCS brought this up on the Cafe forum. ARRI had been doing the in-camera upscaling on the Alexa for a Faux 4K. Hypotheoretically speaking, this ought to be done in post, where one can choose where and how the crop is taking place, with the upscaling performed afterwards.
 
I'm not sure if that's the best comparison...

ARRI is upscaling to a higher resolution from a lower one.

Sony's clear zoom technology appears to be using its highest possible resolution (for the mode off the sensor, 4K video/6K photo) and then punching in. So in other words, it appears to be using what it has versus creating something it doesn't (like ARRI).
 
Peter C. said:
I couldn't resist.

How to shoot cat videos with the FX6!
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Next step from their, is take friend's and family's encouragement seriously, and wipe your instagram clean and start over only posting in 2.40 aspect ratio....
 
Nice thanks for taking the time to answer. So, If I am understanding correctly, I should be able to use my old (non full-frame) glass on the FX6 in 4k mode with the 1.5x clear zoom enabled and end up with the same framing/field of view as my super 35 camera with the same lense?

In theory, this should work?
 
In theory, yes; give or take. But wider ones may need a bit more zoom to completely clear any vignetting.

But honestly...do you really want to buy such a nice and $6,000 camera to do this? Just a real waste, IMO.
 
BTW, another consideration is to evaluate how AF behaves in the clear zoom mode. Even the gyro IS. Sony disables various functions in certain hardware states.

It's possible face-tracking or object tracking (or other modes) are disabled in clear zoom...if you care about AF.
 
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