sony FS7 vs panasonic DVX200

BONLEV

BONLEV

Active member
I have now a panasonic GH5S and a panasonic DVX200. The GH5S has (for me) the better picture quality.

I can now buy (not far from my place) a second hand FS7 (1436 hours) with 64 and 128 XQD cards. If I buy the FS7 I have to sell the DVX200. My wife doesn't allow me to keep both of them. Already have too many camcorders now. (also have the sony FS100, sony A7, gopro 7 black, dji mini pro 3)

Still have the powerzoom 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 from my sony FS100. So the plan is put that lens on the FS7 for general work like shooting dance performances, theatre. In the deal is also a tamron 24-70mm F2.8, speedbooster, XQD cards, tripod... asking price about 2200 euro.

I have also have a few full frame lenses from sony. (that I use on my A7 for stills)

I have only found one video from the FS7 and the 18-200mm lens and It looked very good to me.

Always liked the viewfinder loupe on my FS100.

I always shoot in 8bit now. Because XQD cards can't hold that long of footage in 10bit I will shoot in XAVC-L in 8bit on the FS7 for longer projects like theatre,...
And 10bit XAV-I for special short projects.

So what are your thoughts ?
 
I think you'd mostly be paying for convenience for some of that work you could use it for and the satisfaction of using the Sony glass.

The larger sensor will be a nice upgrade and I'd say the ND filters (if you sell your DVX200) and 10-bit too, but you won't seem to be using much of the latter.
 
If it fits your needs I would get it. I owned an fs7 and it's a great cinema camera, but Sony's newest color science (on the A7siii, fx3, fx6, etc.) is far more pleasing to the eye IMO.
 
scorsesefan said:
If it fits your needs I would get it. I owned an fs7 and it's a great cinema camera, but Sony's newest color science (on the A7siii, fx3, fx6, etc.) is far more pleasing to the eye IMO.
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No doubt it's a great cinema camera. I have watched lots of youtube reviews/video's of it. But is a step up from my dvx200? I guess you stepped up to a FX6 or FX9?
 
Yes, it's a step up if you use it right.

Love Panasonic and the 100/A/B is near and dear to most of our hearts, but the DVX200 was known to be one of the more underperforming cameras released in the last 10 years (especially with all of its hype).

Record in 10-bit with high datarates and good glass and you'll be taken aback. If you dumb down the camera then maybe not.
 
NorBro said:
Yes, it's a step up if you use it right.

Love Panasonic and the 100/A/B is near and dear to most of our hearts, but the DVX200 was known to be one of the more underperforming cameras released in the last 10 years (especially with all of its hype).

Record in 10-bit with high datarates and good glass and you'll be taken aback. If you dumb down the camera then maybe not.
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but I won't record much in 10bit. For the most things I shoot (communion, theatre, dance performance) 8bit is good enough and can I record more footage on the XDQ cards because I always shoot 50P.
 
BONLEV said:
No doubt it's a great cinema camera. I have watched lots of youtube reviews/video's of it. But is a step up from my dvx200? I guess you stepped up to a FX6 or FX9?
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I purchased an a7siii and then an fx6 last year. 10bit and a low light performer is a must for my shooting needs. I don't know much about the dvx200 except that I was shooting a concert a few years back and there was a shooter making a doc with the dvx and he seemed really frustrated by its low light abilities and lack of lens choices.
 
BONLEV said:
but I won't record much in 10bit. For the most things I shoot (communion, theatre, dance performance) 8bit is good enough and can I record more footage on the XDQ cards because I always shoot 50P.
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Given your use cases, you might look into an Fs5 instead. It has 10-bit in HD and 8-bit in UHD, plus a much easier way to get raw output for better quality 4K (than the internal recording). Plus you can use all your regular SD cards.
 
drboffa said:
Given your use cases, you might look into an Fs5 instead. It has 10-bit in HD and 8-bit in UHD, plus a much easier way to get raw output for better quality 4K (than the internal recording). Plus you can use all your regular SD cards.
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FS5 doesn't shoot 4K/50P internal and I always liked the loupe of FS100 with looks similar than the one the FS7. But thanks for the answer!
 
scorsesefan said:
I purchased an a7siii and then an fx6 last year. 10bit and a low light performer is a must for my shooting needs. I don't know much about the dvx200 except that I was shooting a concert a few years back and there was a shooter making a doc with the dvx and he seemed really frustrated by its low light abilities and lack of lens choices.
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the DVX200 has a fixed 13x zoom lens. I can push the iso till max 2000. Above that it's too noisy.
 
The 18-200 lens is fine but very slow for your purposes. It would be useless in Slog on the FS7. Depends on the price of the FS7. It6s a great camera but better paired with faster lenses. I would consider getting an FS6 if its not too much more. Much faster with newer technology for Auto Focus. Even an A7siii or FX3 would give you those advantages though the form factor is limiting. I just consider the 18-200 a 6.3 lens because that's what you need to be able to zoom through the lens.
 
LennyLevy said:
The 18-200 lens is fine but very slow for your purposes. It would be useless in Slog on the FS7. Depends on the price of the FS7. It6s a great camera but better paired with faster lenses. I would consider getting an FS6 if its not too much more. Much faster with newer technology for Auto Focus. Even an A7siii or FX3 would give you those advantages though the form factor is limiting. I just consider the 18-200 a 6.3 lens because that's what you need to be able to zoom through the lens.
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asking price is about 2200 euro. FS7 + XQD cards, metabones, tamron 24-70mm F2.8 lens, 1436 hours meter. I know that 18-200mm is slow but it worked perfectly on my older sony FS100. For slog I can use faster lenses
 
I went to the seller of the FS7 near my place. He didn't know much about the camcorder because it was from a friend. Bacause I couldn't find the settings i wanted to test he was so kindly to give it to me for further testing! The problem was that the 2x XQD cards were not there at the moment. I said no problem. I will test in HD 1080p on regural sd cards. But now it seems that only XQD cards can be inserted? There are also lots of scratches -> is it possible to remove (cover) them with some black pen ??
 
I've used both the FS7 and the dvx200. I shot a broadcast doc for BBC4 on the dvx200 (which is unusual as they normally stipulate 10 bit) and I was pleased with the way it looked.

Yes, the FS7 is a big upgrade on the dvx200 but no, you probably won't see much of a difference if:

- you're only shooting in 8 bit
- you always have enough light to expose correctly (i.e. daylight ext or properly lit interiors, low light performance above base ISO is very poor on the dvx200)
- you are religious about white balancing.
 
jvc said:
I've used both the FS7 and the dvx200. I shot a broadcast doc for BBC4 on the dvx200 (which is unusual as they normally stipulate 10 bit) and I was pleased with the way it looked.

Yes, the FS7 is a big upgrade on the dvx200 but no, you probably won't see much of a difference if:

- you're only shooting in 8 bit
- you always have enough light to expose correctly (i.e. daylight ext or properly lit interiors, low light performance above base ISO is very poor on the dvx200)
- you are religious about white balancing.
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thx for the answer! Indoors in churches (for example) I have to shoot above base iso (which is 500 iso).

I have limited time with FS7 but I found the settings which are important for me. I really like the viewfinder loupe for checking focus. (like I did on my sony FS100) On the DVX200 the electronic viewfinder is so small for me.

Also you can have peaking with autofocus and you can easlly override the autofocus on fs7 when turning the focus of the lens (in my test case the 18-200mm powerzoom) The DVX200 can't do this so quickly and doesn't have peaking while autofocusing. I'm waiting for the XQD cards (from the seller) to record some test footage.
 
yes I could test the DVX200 vs FS7 now. Seller give my a XQD 128gig card. I recorded UHD XAVC-L on FS7 and UHD on DVX200 (also 8bit long gop)
I tested my 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 powerzoom lens. I did several low light tests inside my house and always the FS7 was "way" darker. If the FS7 needed ISO 6400 then that was that too bright on dvx200. (cine-d profile) On the fs7 was a custom profile. I didn't see much difference between the 2. and the test were shot wide open so F3.5 on the FS7 vs F2.8 on dvx200. shutter both on 1/50.

Maybe there are better profiles for low light on the FS7? At this moment I see no reason to sell my DVX200 and buy the FS7. Yes faster lenses will have the edge in low light but I mostly use an all in lens that shoots wide open and can zoom in a lot.
 
Also when i rotate the nd wheel it shows on display nd clear, 1/4 1/16 and 1/64 but this doesnt effect my image? I tested this also without a lens and turned the nd wheel again. I thought there would rotate filters before thé lens? Nothing happening. Is the ND filter not working?
 
Unless something else is going on (auto gain compensating?) then yes, the filter wheel is not working. I had one break on me with a rented FS7. I don't recall if just the knob was loose or if the internal mechanism was shot.
 
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