Speedster159
Active member
What do you guys think of it?
And what would you guess the price is going to be?
And what would you guess the price is going to be?
Sony HXR NX100?
- Thread starter Speedster159
- Start date
BrandonT
Well-known member
It's up for pre-sale at $1,700 USD.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1156385-REG/sony_hxr_nx100.html
I'm a little bit excited about this camera-- because of the price tag, mostly, but also the sensor. I have a C100 Mark II and a Panasonic AC130A. I think I'm going to sell the AC130 after an ongoing sports job ends in December. I want to cover some expenses from the C100 Mark II (namely, the Canon 70 - 200 II lens that I just bought new). But, I wanted to know that I would be able to get something to replace it if some job comes up that I will need an ENG zoom style camera for, long term. And at that price, I could probably sell the AC130A and not lose money.
I was more excited about the Panasonic DVX200. Not excited enough that I was planning to spend $5k on it. If that camera pans out well, it will definitely be on my shortlist of rentals for reality projects. But with the exception of 4K, I think that this Sony with its 1" sensor should make footage that looks almost as good as the DVX200.
The "24x Clear Image Zoom" sounds like it ought to work well. It uses a cropping of the sensor kind of technology, and isn't a "digital zoom". When I was first looking at it, I was kind of surprised to see that it had (user selectable) ND filters at that price, too.
Assuming the camera works as it should, I think they'll have a good camera with it. Can't predict if it'll become "the" camera at that price range. But it ought to beat out Canon's XF line, and really any of the cameras that are considered pro, but don't have user selectable ND filters.
So looking into the future in December, when I plan to try to sell the Panasonic AC130A, does my Panasonic have any advantages over the Sony NX100? It is a 22x optical zoom. Hopefully I won't end up having trouble selling it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1156385-REG/sony_hxr_nx100.html
I'm a little bit excited about this camera-- because of the price tag, mostly, but also the sensor. I have a C100 Mark II and a Panasonic AC130A. I think I'm going to sell the AC130 after an ongoing sports job ends in December. I want to cover some expenses from the C100 Mark II (namely, the Canon 70 - 200 II lens that I just bought new). But, I wanted to know that I would be able to get something to replace it if some job comes up that I will need an ENG zoom style camera for, long term. And at that price, I could probably sell the AC130A and not lose money.
I was more excited about the Panasonic DVX200. Not excited enough that I was planning to spend $5k on it. If that camera pans out well, it will definitely be on my shortlist of rentals for reality projects. But with the exception of 4K, I think that this Sony with its 1" sensor should make footage that looks almost as good as the DVX200.
The "24x Clear Image Zoom" sounds like it ought to work well. It uses a cropping of the sensor kind of technology, and isn't a "digital zoom". When I was first looking at it, I was kind of surprised to see that it had (user selectable) ND filters at that price, too.
Assuming the camera works as it should, I think they'll have a good camera with it. Can't predict if it'll become "the" camera at that price range. But it ought to beat out Canon's XF line, and really any of the cameras that are considered pro, but don't have user selectable ND filters.
So looking into the future in December, when I plan to try to sell the Panasonic AC130A, does my Panasonic have any advantages over the Sony NX100? It is a 22x optical zoom. Hopefully I won't end up having trouble selling it.
It looks to be a better professional camera than the AX100 with dual card slots & 3 independent control rings for focus, zoom & aperture but frustratingly it does not shoot 4K despite having what looks like the same lens & same sensor as the AX100. Hopefully Sony will eventually bring out a 4K version of this camera & hopefully they will use the F/2.8 constant aperture lens from he RX10.
stevedocmaker
Well-known member
I have some sports event shooting to do, and I don't need extreme low light or 4K, so I thought I'd get one and see how it works. My quick first impression is that it's very good at what it does.
The IQ is very good. Useable DR is perhaps around 9 stops, maybe even 10 with a little tweeking. Highlight management seems excellent. As far as noise is concerned, it's not close to an A7s in low light, but honestly I like the color rendition better than on the A7s. It's more accurate. The image is usable up to 19 or maybe 21db (matter of opinion of course). I'm guessing this is equivalent to around ISO 4000.
I like the 1" chip. It yields a decent depth of field, so I can see shooting wide open in low light without having to worry about focus issues much, but it also has some shallowness. It's not a DSLR, so you're probably not going to shoot an award-winning narrative film with this, but that's not what it's for. Rolling shutter looks VERY good, from a very quick test.
The controls are easy to use and minimal. It has built-in ND filters. The three ring lens is awesome and gives great control. Sure, it would be better if it was constant aperture, but I don't think that's possible at this price point, and it would weigh more. Zoom control with the rocker is excellent. IS is excellent, "Active" mode is really good but does crop the image slightly. It's light enough to hand hold (barely), and uses readily available np-f batteries. The dual card slots and SD compatibility are great. The EVF is mediocre, I've seen better. I'm not a huge fan of this form factor, but I'll be able to rig it up on a simple shoulder rig easly enough.
It has focus magnification, and a histogram. A waveform would have been nice and this is my biggest complaint. I don't know if there's another camera in this price range that gives you 50Mbps 1080/60p, and all the other resolution/shutter speed combinations one might want (except slomo). Very versatile.
This is an extremely solid camera, and the best value out there for the price from what I've seen. If you want a 2K camera that you can just turn on and start shooting that gives you a broadcast quality picture, this is probably hard to beat.
The IQ is very good. Useable DR is perhaps around 9 stops, maybe even 10 with a little tweeking. Highlight management seems excellent. As far as noise is concerned, it's not close to an A7s in low light, but honestly I like the color rendition better than on the A7s. It's more accurate. The image is usable up to 19 or maybe 21db (matter of opinion of course). I'm guessing this is equivalent to around ISO 4000.
I like the 1" chip. It yields a decent depth of field, so I can see shooting wide open in low light without having to worry about focus issues much, but it also has some shallowness. It's not a DSLR, so you're probably not going to shoot an award-winning narrative film with this, but that's not what it's for. Rolling shutter looks VERY good, from a very quick test.
The controls are easy to use and minimal. It has built-in ND filters. The three ring lens is awesome and gives great control. Sure, it would be better if it was constant aperture, but I don't think that's possible at this price point, and it would weigh more. Zoom control with the rocker is excellent. IS is excellent, "Active" mode is really good but does crop the image slightly. It's light enough to hand hold (barely), and uses readily available np-f batteries. The dual card slots and SD compatibility are great. The EVF is mediocre, I've seen better. I'm not a huge fan of this form factor, but I'll be able to rig it up on a simple shoulder rig easly enough.
It has focus magnification, and a histogram. A waveform would have been nice and this is my biggest complaint. I don't know if there's another camera in this price range that gives you 50Mbps 1080/60p, and all the other resolution/shutter speed combinations one might want (except slomo). Very versatile.
This is an extremely solid camera, and the best value out there for the price from what I've seen. If you want a 2K camera that you can just turn on and start shooting that gives you a broadcast quality picture, this is probably hard to beat.
Andy Turner
Active member
How would you compare the IQ and low light capability to 1/3" or 1/2" sensor camcorders?
stevedocmaker
Well-known member
IQ is excellent. Really excellent. Low light also seems bit better than a good 1/2" sensor camera. I shot some test footage this weekend to test. At 18db the noise is very acceptable. I would even go to 21db in a pinch. I was shooting a low light MMA event (sorry, can't post samples). At f4 the depth of field was more than adequate, there were no focus issues at all. Keep in mind it's not a hockey game, the subjects move around in a 24 foot ring and the camera is right on top of the cage, so most of the shots are pretty wide. I think this is a great blend of 1/2" utility and DSLR esthetics. I've shot these events with an A7s, and I've had to crank the ISO up to 8000 in this venue (and shoot at f9 to be able to capture the action without focus issues, and even then focus is tight). And I would say that the 21db NX1000 is on par with the A7s at ISO 8000. When I tested in my "lab" it didn't seem quite this good, so it probably depends on the scene. Unscientific mind you. But you also get the utility of a smaller sensor of course, so wider apertures are available if you need more depth of field.
I don't think this camera is going to get anywhere near the hype of the AG-DVX200, but if you don't need 4K and can live with a 50Mbps codec, then this is going to be hard to beat.
I don't think this camera is going to get anywhere near the hype of the AG-DVX200, but if you don't need 4K and can live with a 50Mbps codec, then this is going to be hard to beat.
stevedocmaker
Well-known member
No touch screen.
Bummer. That would have made it a great camera for me. Will stay with my NX5U and wait for the next iteration !!!
fastfinger
Well-known member
This camera does really nice video. Is this the same sensor as the RX100?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6YEkBla4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6YEkBla4Q
Not sure if it has the same sensor exactly and whether that is the same sensor as the CX900, AX100 or X70 . Very likely the same !! I was hoping it had much the same touch focus as the AX100 and X70 but with the option of full manual lens controls and larger batteries which would have made it really attractive to me. Those focus pulls in the video are very easy to do with touch focus on my AX100 or NX30U.
I just got the NX100.
I'm comparing to the AC90, primarily for sports use.
NX100:
1) Focus ring is stiff
2) No focus numbers (like the AC90 has), only feet or meters... and the focus reading only stays on the LCD for 3 seconds. I'm about to do a test outside but I think fine control may be difficult without focus numbers option, and the status staying on the lens.
3) Sensor is reasonably nice for DoF, but I think the NX100 is worse with light than the AC90.
The AC90 has 8,040,000 pixels (2,680,000 X 3 1/4.7 chips). The NX100 has 14,200,000 effective pixels on the 1" chip. So the AC90 takes in about 60% of the light the NX100 does, which would appear to give the NX100 a 3/4 stop advantage. The AC90 lens is more than a full stop faster, so overall, the AC90 would be about 1/2 stop better in low light. Now this doesn't consider and pixel size/density difference between the two cameras, only pixel count, so I don't know how that should effect things. But I did a test last night at full open with 0dB gain and the NX100 was much darker. (Please correct me if I'm wrong with the math or am looking at this incorrectly.)
I do like the Active Steadyshot setting which zooms in .08 times into the sensor toward telephoto. This is the same principle behind the Clear Image Zoom, which after the lens telephoto reach has been hit, crops in on the sensor for no resolution loss. The Standard Steadyshot uses mechanical stabilization only.
I'm comparing to the AC90, primarily for sports use.
NX100:
1) Focus ring is stiff
2) No focus numbers (like the AC90 has), only feet or meters... and the focus reading only stays on the LCD for 3 seconds. I'm about to do a test outside but I think fine control may be difficult without focus numbers option, and the status staying on the lens.
3) Sensor is reasonably nice for DoF, but I think the NX100 is worse with light than the AC90.
The AC90 has 8,040,000 pixels (2,680,000 X 3 1/4.7 chips). The NX100 has 14,200,000 effective pixels on the 1" chip. So the AC90 takes in about 60% of the light the NX100 does, which would appear to give the NX100 a 3/4 stop advantage. The AC90 lens is more than a full stop faster, so overall, the AC90 would be about 1/2 stop better in low light. Now this doesn't consider and pixel size/density difference between the two cameras, only pixel count, so I don't know how that should effect things. But I did a test last night at full open with 0dB gain and the NX100 was much darker. (Please correct me if I'm wrong with the math or am looking at this incorrectly.)
I do like the Active Steadyshot setting which zooms in .08 times into the sensor toward telephoto. This is the same principle behind the Clear Image Zoom, which after the lens telephoto reach has been hit, crops in on the sensor for no resolution loss. The Standard Steadyshot uses mechanical stabilization only.
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I want to tentatively revise that last post to say that another quick test (more controlled) showed the NX100 to be slightly more sensitive than the AC90 at open iris 0dB. My guess is about 1/3 stop. I will try to look more closely and with more care in the next few days.
fastfinger
Well-known member
If you have time would you do a few side by side comparison clips with the AC90 in low & good light? Thank you!
I've used the NX100 on a couple of events and interviews. If I turn the shutter off (1080p30 1/30) I can get decent light in and keep gain down to 6bD or below for a clean image. DoF is not shallow enough to make pretty bokeh or blurred background, but it does nicely separate subject.
Short hockey clip.
[Download the "original" file to get 60p.]
Rec Format – 59.94
1/90
f5.2
12dB
AF
Very pleasing image. Without the severe macroblocking of the AC90 or DVX200 when gained up.
Real disqualifer for sports though is issues with manual focus I mentioned earlier.
I may keep the camera as an inexpensive second cam for commercial shoots and events because of the semi-shallow DOF of the 1" sensor, but I won't put it out on any sports shoot where MF is required.
[Download the "original" file to get 60p.]
Rec Format – 59.94
1/90
f5.2
12dB
AF
Very pleasing image. Without the severe macroblocking of the AC90 or DVX200 when gained up.
Real disqualifer for sports though is issues with manual focus I mentioned earlier.
I may keep the camera as an inexpensive second cam for commercial shoots and events because of the semi-shallow DOF of the 1" sensor, but I won't put it out on any sports shoot where MF is required.
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