Sony FDR-AX100: First Impressive 4K Video I've Seen

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dan.carter

Well-known member
I've been rather underwhelmed by Canon 4K video I've seen. Even Philip Bloom's 1DC footage, which is always wonderfully done, provided no incentive for a 4K move.

Then I saw this from the Sony FDR-AX100 and 1 inch sensor: http://youtu.be/hEYhkvZEVN4
 
Dan, I was wowed enough by that demo when I saw it last week, that I have an AX100 pre-ordered.

I watched that on my 23" monitor and then on my 64" plasma and in both cases my jaw dropped. My only reservation is the 30p, but when I enable the frame rate doubler on my plasma, 30p looks pretty close to 60p.
 
Ken7 said:
Dan, I was wowed enough by that demo when I saw it last week, that I have an AX100 pre-ordered.

I watched that on my 23" monitor and then on my 64" plasma and in both cases my jaw dropped. My only reservation is the 30p, but when I enable the frame rate doubler on my plasma, 30p looks pretty close to 60p.
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Well done Ken. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this camera. Haven't seen this degree of quality improvement since HD replaced SD.
 
Does anyone know if there is any "In Camera" down sampling so you can shoot 4K but walk away from the camera with 1080P?
 
shadowProd said:
Does anyone know if there is any "In Camera" down sampling so you can shoot 4K but walk away from the camera with 1080P?
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I know that the camera can play back 4K, 'on the fly', down-sampled to 1080p to a 1080p display. So it wouldn't b a stretch to think that you can also create a 1080p display. I can't say that with any certainty, but I'd think it's a distinct possibility.
 
Its a case of personal tastes i guess Dan,i was never happy with my GH2 when i had one and much prefer the overall color look of Canon DSLRs even my little EOS M,the new Sony records super sharp video but if a Canon 4K DSLR ever comes out with a less video look than the Sony i think it would be my choice.
 
flinty said:
Its a case of personal tastes i guess Dan,i was never happy with my GH2 when i had one and much prefer the overall color look of Canon DSLRs even my little EOS M,the new Sony records super sharp video but if a Canon 4K DSLR ever comes out with a less video look than the Sony i think it would be my choice.
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Definitely a personal taste issue Chris. At twice the size (4K), I'm looking for twice the detail. From what I've seen, with the exception of Sony, the current 4K cameras, including the GH4, provide no greater detail than 2K. Good for post cropping, but not image quality.
 
dan.carter said:
Definitely a personal taste issue Chris. At twice the size (4K), I'm looking for twice the detail. From what I've seen, with the exception of Sony, the current 4K cameras, including the GH4, provide no greater detail than 2K. Good for post cropping, but not image quality.
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Yes its all about content for me personaly Dan,i would rather watch an interesting well made film with good content like many of yours in 2k than boring stuff filmed 4k even if its on a 4k display.One thing with the HDR-AX100 there is great 4k resolution but from what i have seen colour wise i prefer the RX10.
 
dan.carter said:
From what I've seen, with the exception of Sony, the current 4K cameras, including the GH4, provide no greater detail than 2K. Good for post cropping, but not image quality.
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We must be wearing very different glasses.:shocked:

I will admit that we have very different aesthetics when it comes to filming. You like the extra sharp, deep depth of field look, which I don't unless the subject matter calls for it. But to say that the GH4 provides no greater detail over 2K...... wow.
 
stoneinapond said:
But to say that the GH4 provides no greater detail over 2K...... wow.
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If you know of samples that prove your point I'd love to see the links to them. I haven't seen any Canon or GH4 samples so far that even come close to the detail resolution of the Sony AX100, so I'm inclined to agree with Dan.
 
I agree, I have seem a lot of impressive footage from the AX100 but not a single impressive video from the GH4.
 
Into the lion’s den he stepped.

Pushed to his knees he repeatedly proclaimed that increased sharpness doesn’t mean greater resolution.

His reasoning was drowned out with cries of heresy.

The animals slept well that night.

:banned:
 
It's not just sharpness, it IS resolution. It IS the ability to see fine detail that can't be seen in other cameras. Therein lies the difference. Even in the comparison between the AX100 and the BMC 4K cam, elsewhere on this site, it's clear the resolution of the AX100 is in a class by itself.

Over the last 2 days I have seen some better GH4 samples, but I still don't think they rise to the level of the AX100 in terms of resolution.

Yes, there is a difference between sharpness & resolution, but the AX100 has both. That's the unequivocal truth. :)
 
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noirist said:
I agree, I have seem a lot of impressive footage from the AX100 but not a single impressive video from the GH4.
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Could you provide some links please?
I'm trying to decide between the AX100 and the GH4 but have so far only found very impressive footage from the GH4 but nothing from the Ax100 besides the samples from Sony but they aren't imo that great at all and I want to see stuff from regular users.
I would like to see something thats been graded and recorded with manual settings and using the built in NDs. All I find is regular “home videos” with blown out highlights.
I have been looking for a good camcorder for quite some time now and the only one that have almost made me get it is the XA20. And I think thats because Philip Bloom reviewed it and took some great shoots which he graded to look really good. Since film makers normally doesn't care about camcorders we don't get to see what they can accomplish.
But with the AX100 we can look to the samples from the rx100 and they look quite nice so I'm sure its capable but at the (imo) huge price point I want to be sure.
I can live with the fact that it has no XLRs and probably the worths RS I have ever seen (I like static shoots anyway) but it still needs to look good. I'm not trying to talk it down, quite the opposite, I want to justify it because I would straight out love to have a camcorder for travel, run n gun, quick turn around and so on. Its been a dream for years now.
Maybe someone have a link to some original files, preferably shoot in their cine style?
 
People are uploading original AX100 footage to vimeo; you can download some of that and grade it for yourself. Or you can look at this forum, dustylens just published a video where he intercut graded footage from the AX100 and BMPCC 4k.

Anyway, if you find the GH4 footage impressive you should go with that camera. Why would you get a camera whose output you didn't like?
 
noirist said:
People are uploading original AX100 footage to vimeo; you can download some of that and grade it for yourself. Or you can look at this forum, dustylens just published a video where he intercut graded footage from the AX100 and BMPCC 4k.

Anyway, if you find the GH4 footage impressive you should go with that camera. Why would you get a camera whose output you didn't like?
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ease of use, form factor, price, media, "good enough", lens, features, accessories, quality..... There are many reasons otherwise I would be shooting 35mm film. Why buy a tablet instead of a computer, Ferrari vs Lada, why eat Pizza when sallad is healthier, Why eat sallad when Pizza tastes better, why eat Pizza or Sallad when spagetti is more nutrition per dollar? Thanks for the tip, I will look for the comparison you mentioned.
 
Pound for pound the Gh4 will be the best of the 3 4K cameras that we know of (ax100, BMC4K and gh4). I just think the Gh4 has an overall balance of features that the other cameras don't. Size, simple SD card, 422 out with recorder (there will be a 4K HDMI recorder, count on that), DR, image profile, 96fps 1080, and the ability to mount any lens you can think of as long as there is an adapter.

The BMC4K is a camera that you would pick for specialty shooting where you think the GS will be of help and the codec might be of importance.

The AX100 holds it's own. Limited in looks because you can't set in camera sharpness. But it has it's place for being the all in one camera to run around with with it's marvelous lens and high detail. If the AX100 had 40 more bits/sec it would elevate the camera even more. I bought it as a glove box cinema camera that can always be on the ready. This weekend I travel to the Bay area in CA for a shoot next week (stills shoot) and plan on shooting with the AX100 up the coast. I did this a few weeks ago with the BMC4K as you can see in the vid below.


I will be buying the Gh4 when I can get one easily. Too bad I sold all my M4/3 glass last year :-(....
 
It is quite amazing what these low cost 4k cameras are producing. Makes me wonder about the whole camera pricing strata going forward. Clearly 4k needs a larger sensor to be light sensitive. The AX-100's 1" chip seems like a good size but that effectively makes "broadcast" cameras kind of lose their street cred. These little cameras are completely blurring the lines. What will the 4k version of the EX-1 or PX-270 be? 1/3" or 1/2" chips will probably be too small.

Dusty, thanks for posting your plane comparison. The detail seen through YouTube is just incredible. I would like 60p so I will wait for 4k but I am quite shocked by the images.
 
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