FX6: The Sony ILME-FX6V Owners Club

The moment I just touched the plastic arm holding the LCD on the FX6 I realised that it will break in 6 - 9 months... it feels so fragile and wobbly. Imagining putting a loupe on that arm with a longer rod feels really pushing the limit of the attaching mechanism... can't wait for my Zacuto for the FX6.
 
Vik Kamenicky said:
The moment I just touched the plastic arm holding the LCD on the FX6 I realised that it will break in 6 - 9 months... it feels so fragile and wobbly. Imagining putting a loupe on that arm with a longer rod feels really pushing the limit of the attaching mechanism... can't wait for my Zacuto for the FX6.
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6 months? More like six days. Sony already replaced mine because it was even worse than most of them. I've been beta testing a Zacuto Z-Finder and it is a HUGE improvement.
 
I used the Smallrig solution which was a great improvement on the Panasonic EVA1 arm. I think it will help with this one too. Will let you know when the FX6 kit comes out next month.

EDIT: Andy beat me to it.
 
Just ordered mine- anyone know about shogun inferno compatibility- thinking about picking up a 7 but don't want to do so quite yet. I don't plan on getting the CFexpress cards until they come down in price.

How's 120p 4k with the v90 sd cards? Any issues so far?
 
Checking that no one knows how to import 4 x separate audio signals excluding from built-in mics and using the Sony multi-source shoe adapter?
 
andykwilkinson said:
Is it the same/similar design to the one on the FS5? ]
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It's been a long time since I sold my FS5 but I don't recall the LCD mount being anywhere near as crappy, loose, and floppy. The replacement I was sent is better than the one that came with the camera, but is still too flaccid for my taste.
 
Grug said:
Seems kinda nuts to me, to spend the same amount of money as the Zacuto, and not get the advantages of the superior build of their loupe (compared to Sony’s).
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I'm not convinced about the "superior build". The Zacuto uses a very primitive single lens element design. It's basically a single diopter lens causing chromatic aberration and pretty severe geometric distortion. FS7/FX9 uses at least 2 lens elements and is definitely better optically. It is IMPOSSIBLE to design worse brackets than those on FX6, brackets are definitely much better on Zacuto but the whole thing weighs almost as much as FX6 and is crudely designed.
 
broughtonfilm said:
I'm not convinced about the "superior build". The Zacuto uses a very primitive single lens element design. It's basically a single diopter lens causing chromatic aberration and pretty severe geometric distortion.
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I don't know if that is accurate or not, but the Z-Finder looks pretty damn good to me and provides an excellent solution to a huge misstep by Sony of not providing any viewfinder whatsoever. Even if it could be shown than the FS7/FX9 loupe was marginally better optically, the overall size, weight, price, and mounting mechanism of the Zacuto would still make it the superior choice.
 
I'm currently shooting a larger green screen production with my FX6 using the Sony 28-135. So far I'm very pleased with how it interacts with the FX6 and AF. I'm doing 90% AF and the only time I do manual focusing is when the actors moves around rapidly with their backs to the camera, then the AF system can get a bit crazy.

My work is so much easier compared to if I would have brought my FS7 constantly checking focus.

Just to make it more visible to the client I also set up my BM video switcher doing live chroma keying and giving them a glance on how the final result will be. All in all a very pleasing experience so far.
 
I've been playing with some Macro Tubes (sample - of a pan of camera stuff and water from a tap in S&Q).

When panning (which I'm still poor at esp close in like this), my settings don't look great for Autofocus. What "AF Tans Speed" and "AF Sbj Shift Sens" have people settled on for a default? This was shot using "2" (AF Tans Speed) and "3" (AF Sbj Shift Sens). I was trying to pick a balance that would smoothly pull focus without being jarring and also not be so responsive that it would grab anything new instantly.

Thanks
Nathan
 
broughtonfilm said:
I'm not convinced about the "superior build". The Zacuto uses a very primitive single lens element design. It's basically a single diopter lens causing chromatic aberration and pretty severe geometric distortion. FS7/FX9 uses at least 2 lens elements and is definitely better optically. It is IMPOSSIBLE to design worse brackets than those on FX6, brackets are definitely much better on Zacuto but the whole thing weighs almost as much as FX6 and is crudely designed.
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I don't know how the optics compare, but the metal build of the Zacuto is heads and shoulders above the cheap plastic of Sony's loupes. That's what I was referring to.
 
I saw a post on Facebook this morning that perfectly illustrates my problem with the Zacuto FX6 viewfinder system. I thought I would share that here as I love Zacuto's Z-Finders and put them on my FS7 cameras since day 1, but on the FX6 I hated the way they engineered their mounting brackets.

When you buy the Sony FX6 Z-Finder from Zacuto, you get the Z-Finder and a mounting bracket that mounts it to the FX6's viewfinder and from the viewfinder to the camera. The bracket itself is pretty big and it takes away the freedom of moving the screen by touch. When you shoot with a camera like the FS7, FX9 or even the FX6 with the monitor it comes with, when you're out shooting you can simply rotate the screen on the fly to get it to face the angle you need. This freedom of movement is essential to me personally as I am constantly moving, reframing or am getting shots in different angles and positions and being able to reach up and just rotate the screen to make sure I can see it is critical.

4Z-FIND-FX6_Custom_2048x2048_crop_center.jpg

Because of the FX6's well documented weak hinges, you can't simply mount a loupe on it without the screen just falling over. As such, Zacuto built the Z-Finder mounting bracket for the FX6 to lock into the FX6's 15mm hole that's built into the monitor. By doing this, it locks the FX6's monitor into a fixed position that now can only be moved up or down by loosening a knob on the rod holder that mounts to the camera. The completely takes away from the monitor's ability to be rotated freely. It does fix the weak hinge, but it simply creates another problem.

3Z-FIND-FX6_Custom_2048x2048_crop_center.jpg

As such, if you want to have that freedom of movement back, you have to buy the Zacuto Shoulder Mounting Kit. This mounting kit is designed to give rotation back to the FX6 monitor with the Z-Finder attached by adding a rosette mount that rotates on friction. It also is designed to give an extension to the viewfinder for when wanting to get the Z-Finder out further from the camera body for shoulder mounted work.

Z-SXFK_Custom_2048x2048_crop_center.jpg

I myself bought the Shoulder Mounting Kit and what I found was that A) it's huge and clunky, and B) the rod that gives it movement from left to right actually ends up getting in the way of your shotgun mic if you want to have the monitor close to the body of the camera (which is the most natural place to me as I don't want to shoot with the monitor way out to the left of my camera). It's almost as if Zacuto didn't think this one through. It does give a free rotation back to the monitor, but it does so at the expense of getting in the way of your shotgun mic and at a huge cost in size and weight. You can see what I'm talking about in this photo which demonstrates this problem perfectly.

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Because of these problems I ran into, the only option from Zacuto that was left is to buy their Axis Mini, but again, that's another big and bulky item that you need just to solve problems that are being created from the Z-Finder. As such, I decided to send all of my Zacuto FX6 Z-Finder gear back and instead purchase from Sony Service Plus an FX9 viewfinder. The FX9 viewfinder works perfectly on the FX6 and only cost $561.62 which is a lot less than I was expecting. I also purchased from Sony Service Plus the FX9 viewfinder rod and rod clamp which cost me an additional $278.

Everything from the FX9 monitor works on the FX6. The touch screen, the buttons on the side, everything. The FX9 viewfinder is way stronger built than the FX6's viewfinder and doesn't need any kind of weird clunky brackets to hold a loupe. Because of this, I was able to order the FX9 Z-Finder from Zacuto (which is essentially the exact same as the 6) and put it on the FX9 viewfinder on my FX6 body as you'll see in the photo below. This works out really well and gives me the strength and flexibility of the FX9 viewfinder, but on the smaller and lighter FX6 body. This combo also works great on the shoulder and gets the loupe way out in front so I can have a comfortable fit when shoulder shooting.

IMG_2333.jpg

For those of you who have the FX6 Z-Finder kit already and who enjoy it, I'm stoked for you. It does work. It just added too many problems and too much bulk and weight for my taste. This for me was the much better option.
 
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That has not been my experience with the Z-Finder. I don't have time for a point by point rebuttal.
 
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On my FS7 I made it really simple by removing the extension bracket and just used the cross clamp the comes with the FS7. The times when I needed it on my shoulder or use the loupe I could in a matter of minutes switch to shoulder use and to attach the loupe was a few seconds away. It has been working perfect during the years. This was a sturdy, flexible solution costing nothing extra.

Then came the FX6 with the stupidly designed monitor mount and the more I use the camera I realize something has to be done. The monitor holder does not appear to be easy to take apart and modify but I'm sure it can be made tons better if I just could open the darn thing.
 
According to Alister Chapman, adding a rubber band to the gap in the hinge worked for him. YMMV

Also, just a plug regarding the 3D Printed Adapter / Body for the Hoodman H32MB. The whole Loupe & Body is only 120g and is much smaller than Zacuto (though I'm sure the Zacuto will be also much better quality). I have no issue with the weight on the stock FX6 Screen. I've also uploaded an updated model for the full body version - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4793634
 
Nope - two O-Rings (or similar), one top and bottom hold the H32MB adapter to existing hooks on the LCD screen. If you use the full body print then two more hold the Optics to the printed body as well. Better than the Sony mechanical clamp, and less fragile than the clips on the Hoodman (I broke one). Here is a top down pic showing the full body version with 3 of the 4 O-Rings (the 4th is on the bottom).

HM-O-Ring.jpg
 
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