Sony's FDR-AX100 4K Handycam ships in March for $2,000 (hands-on)

Ken7 said:
That could be, but they are both compromised by YouTube. So it doesn't give the AX100 any advantage at all. The HD clip softness is due to the fact that it pales by comparison to the 4K footage.
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Since Google owns YouTube - the level of video quality off the internet will be controlled by those with the money and power. Not a whole lot you can do unless you have a billionaire friend who wants to compete with the powers to be.
This has been the case with media distribution since the advent of communications.
 
I honestly think it looks bad, but I also watch hundreds of videos a week that were shot on RED, Alexa, etc., so I can't really say anything.
 
NorBro said:
Another video?

http://vimeo.com/84009898
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That's a fake, bank on it. Why would Sony give their brand new 4K camcorder that hadn't even been shown at CES yet, to a guy on vacation. Did you look at his other videos? Sorry, there is no way that Sony would give this guy the camera, let him shoot with it, edit it, upload a rather poor 720p, low bitrate sample (not even 1080p) and then proclaim this was shot with the AX100.

If I was Sony, pre-release, I'd assure only excellent quality samples of the video were out there. That video defies all logic.
 
Ken7 said:
That could be, but they are both compromised by YouTube. So it doesn't give the AX100 any advantage at all. The HD clip softness is due to the fact that it pales by comparison to the 4K footage.
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4K YouTube footage evev when downscaled to a 1080P monitor does hold more information than highly compressed 1080P YouTube footage. So there is an obvious advantage for the AX-100's footage.
 
I would really like to see someone like PB get his hands on one...but he is so busy, doubt that is likely. I really think this has more going for it than meets the eye. The first HD Sony consumer cameras were actually not great other than the HD factor. This on the other hand is a pretty impressive camera for the price point before getting to the 4K part. A super 16 size sensor ( MUCH bigger than all of their prosumer ENG cameras) along with 3 step ND, better recording options for HD than most of their prosumer ENG cameras, 120 fps slow motion, nice manual controls for a small camera - could be a great documentary cam.

I don't know, every now and then a camera comes out that has more than it's price would reflect, and usually the company makes one model then steps back on features the next time realizing they may have gone overboard. (Panasonic PVGS400 anyone? lol) Hopefully, we'll see how the footage looks in multiple scenarios, both HD and 4K....but on paper at least, this thing has lots of potential that most small chip handy cams can't touch.
 
joe 1008 said:
4K YouTube footage evev when downscaled to a 1080P monitor does hold more information than highly compressed 1080P YouTube footage. So there is an obvious advantage for the AX-100's footage.
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Joe, regardless (and I'm not sure how much compression is applied to 1080p clips vs 4K clips or if the compression is the same), there's an obvious advantage in the extra resolution, whether downscaled to 1080p or viewed at full rez.

BTW, in your original post you said "these two clips seem to have originated from the same footage". I assume you're not implying that, in reality, one camera shot both demos. The clouds are in slightly different locations in each grab, but regardless, similarities would be easy to explain.

I've seen some nutty theories from one or two people on other forums who are obviously not a fan of this yet to be released camera.
 
Ken7 said:
...in your original post you said "these two clips seem to have originated from the same footage". I assume you're not implying that, in reality, one camera shot both demos. The clouds are in slightly different locations in each grab, but regardless, similarities would be easy to explain.
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Who am I to claim such thing with certainty? But the clouds indicate towards that possibility. Anyway, considering that the AX100 and the HDR900 in HD mode are probably identical (same housing, same lens, same sensor, same processor, same compression) I wouldn't even call such a way of shooting cheating.
 
My point was the clouds are actually in a different position if you look closely, no question about it. Further, there are easily made rigs that people have used for years to mount two camera to the same bracket plate and shoot simultaneously, so that they can conduct A/Bs. So using a rig like that, an almost identical positioning can be achieved quite easily.

Nothing sinister. :)
 
Ken7 said:
My point was the clouds are actually in a different position if you look closely, no question about it. Further, there are easily made rigs that people have used for years to mount two camera to the same bracket plate and shoot simultaneously, so that they can conduct A/Bs. So using a rig like that, an almost identical positioning can be achieved quite easily.

Nothing sinister. :)
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Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MUjlwnHq14
 
Sony would not get people to pay $500 more for the 4K AX100 than the 1080p CX900 if there was not a noticeable improvement in at least resolution.
 
Several people made comments about the sample video being static and suggesting the footage might fall apart with movement and action. Can someone explain how or why that could be a problem?
 
If the codec is weak, it will fall apart as soon as there's a moving subject or some camera motion.

On my NEX-5N, some people complain that the codec breaks apart very badly. It only does so with fast camera motion, anything static is absolutely fine. Shoot 4 times as many pixels with not-really-that-much-higher bitrates, and the problem may become worse. Or it may not even exist, if the encoder is better built. That's why we would need to see some samples with camera motion.
 
Thanks.

Samuel H said:
If the codec is weak, it will fall apart as soon as there's a moving subject or some camera motion.

On my NEX-5N, some people complain that the codec breaks apart very badly. It only does so with fast camera motion, anything static is absolutely fine. Shoot 4 times as many pixels with not-really-that-much-higher bitrates, and the problem may become worse. Or it may not even exist, if the encoder is better built. That's why we would need to see some samples with camera motion.
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