Sony Cinema Line & FX6
- Thread starter Teddy_Dem
- Start date
Or FX-9 II (one has to assume that it's a hardware limitation).
Grug
Veteran
Hugely impressive specs, and a great price. I don't think Sony will be selling many FX9s from here on out.
The only things I can really even gripe about are the lack of a locking e-mount (which really does suck), and the camera NOT cropping into S35mm for its HD/2k 240fps (so you know it's going to be nasty, line-skipped mush).
Outside of that though? There just isn't much else to complain about (for me at least).
The only things I can really even gripe about are the lack of a locking e-mount (which really does suck), and the camera NOT cropping into S35mm for its HD/2k 240fps (so you know it's going to be nasty, line-skipped mush).
Outside of that though? There just isn't much else to complain about (for me at least).
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Autofocus is the sticking point. If you don't want to use autofocus, you can happily use any lens from any DSLR system.
I think E mount samyangs have a warm, soft look. And good autofocus to boot. But they don't make zooms.
Sigma zooms are not quite as sharp as their primes. I rather like the 24-70 FE. Still a bit more clinical than canon L zooms though.
What we all want is a full-frame equivalent of canon 18-80 for sony.
But I will say that the sony 28-135 is an awesome value for a servo zoom with a pretty usable range for doc shooting. I got one used for $1300. Not a perfect lens by any stretch of the imagination. But it has internal zoom, servo zoom, parfocal, OSS. By and large, it is functionally superior to any stills lens when it comes to doc shooting. I suppose you could throw a subtle filter on it if you want to level up the mojo
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Without touch tracking, autofocus critics can reasonably say, "I dont use autofocus because I dont want the camera telling me where to put focus."
I use touch tracking all the time. It's what video autofocus should be. I'm not even sure how I would do AF without it - joystick the box around? The thing is, when you pan and reframe etc, the thing you're focused on is going to drift across the frame... or it's going to drive across the frame even if you're locked off.
Otherwise - camera looks cool. Personally, I probably won't upgrade my FS7 until people stop requesting it and/or start requesting the FX6 instead. I only bought the FS7 to make $ anyway. If I followed my heart, I would have bought a UMP and P6K. and would buy a Komodo now before an FX6, if I were going to buy a $6k camera.
Any word on WDR implementation? I know they said it wasn't coming till later firmware...
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NorBro
Major Contributor
Joystick focusing is brutal. There's no point.
But in regards to touch focusing/tracking...it's about how the camera operates.
Like in a regular mode you can touch the screen to focus on a cat in the foreground, and the box will stay there in that area. But with tracking, the camera would put the box on the cat/its head, eyes and be ready to move with it.
Theoretically, both methods should provide the same results (stay in focus) whether the box is in that area or if it's technically tracking, but it's semantics with what exactly is being discussed in reference to what the camera allows you to do.
With the a7SIII, you could do both - which is how it should be.
But in regards to touch focusing/tracking...it's about how the camera operates.
Like in a regular mode you can touch the screen to focus on a cat in the foreground, and the box will stay there in that area. But with tracking, the camera would put the box on the cat/its head, eyes and be ready to move with it.
Theoretically, both methods should provide the same results (stay in focus) whether the box is in that area or if it's technically tracking, but it's semantics with what exactly is being discussed in reference to what the camera allows you to do.
With the a7SIII, you could do both - which is how it should be.
G
Guest
Guest
That describes the difference more clearly than anything else, haha, thank you. I'll remember that when I start getting back into auto focus.
rob norton
Veteran
As far as choosing fx6 vs. fx9 for shooting, do you think it mostly comes down to SDI/battery requirements? As in, fx9 has an extra BNC and should be easier to run larger batteries.
At this price, it's pretty easy to be an fx6 owner/op despite already being heavily invested in other systems.
The size looks perfect, I'd personally keep it as bare bones as possible.
There's never been a better/worse time to be making films etc.
Grug
Veteran
I don't think it'll be any more complicated to get bigger v-mount batteries on the FX6 than it is on the FX9 (though I really wished the manufacturer had considered all the mini v-mounts readily available these days, and just put mini v-mount plates on these new cameras (instead of using these frustrating proprietary systems, that require you to own and lug around an additional set of batteries and chargers).
There are a couple of BPU battery options out there now that offer dual DTAP outputs though (which is probably the cleanest option build-wise)
The extra BNC on the FX9 is certainly handy. But with the FX6's (re-positionable) onboard monitor having its own cable, and the camera having two additional outputs (1x BNC, 1x HDMI) I don't think the FX6 is going to be anywhere near as painful as the Komodo or C70 for dealing with monitoring.
The FX9 has never really held any interest to me personally (though the image is superb). But this little guy is super tempting. Specs-wise at least, it sounds like it would basically handle any shoot you'd care to throw at it - right up until you get to the bigger-budget stuff, at which point you're renting everything in anyway. So I think it might be a near ideal owner-op camera for most people.
The lack of a rigid/locking lens mount concerns me a lot though (as it always does), and a couple of the youtube reviews I've watched this morning have implied that the operational ergonomics suffer from the same unintuitive layout as the FS5 (which was always a concern with this update). And that gives me pause.
I used the FS5 only once, and it was so horrific to operate that I've never touched one since. If Sony haven't made significant improvements on that front, it's a non-starter to me.
Grug
Veteran
I'm a little worried about this "fix" to the "green cast" of the A7Siii/FX9 that Gerald speaks about. It's that "horrible" green/yellow bias in Sony's new colour science, that has taken them from a painfully-ugly, magenta-tinged hell - into being gorgeous right out of the box (like the Venice).
If they've reverted back to the nasty magenta thing they were doing before (from listening to the same youtube crybabies who've probably prevented the camera from getting a locking-lens mount - because they keep complaining about their "one-handed" lens changes) then I'm going to march down to Youtube, and punch said Tubers in the face!
ReelFilmGeek
Well-known member
Anyone else noticing the difference in the black shirts in this video. Internal ND filter seem to be skewing a bit? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlFK4RZRI0
ahalpert
Major Contributor
So, basically, you feel like the FX6 will either be close to perfect or it'll be a nonstarter?
Grug
Veteran
So, basically, you feel like the FX6 will either be close to perfect or it'll be a nonstarter?
Pretty much! Doesn't really matter what a camera's capable of, if you can't easily deploy those features.
G
Guest
Guest
Please buy the FX9 XDCA back, so that everyone else can benefit from the free firmware update that gets released the day after your purchase.
Who will be the buyers of the FX6 or FX9? If we look at only the buyers coming from Sony brands:
People updating from their F55/F5: think most of them will go for the FX9
People upgrading from their FS7: most will now be considering the FX6, when before many where going to the FX9, but I expect a healthy proportion will still go from the FS7 to the FX9. Just not the majority.
People upgrading from their FS5/FS700 or mirrorless cameras: the vast majority will go to the FX6