FX6: The Sony ILME-FX6V Owners Club

What's it like speedwise?

Verification in the other programs I used to use made it unworkable because it slowed down transfers so much on productions. In the end was better to transfer back at home.

I did some tests to see. Difference between the finder and Hedge with verification. Machine is a trashcan Mac with thunderbolt 2

Transfer of 85GB Prores 422 single clip:
Traditional hard drive to bus powered 1TB SSD (283MB/s write speed) using Hedge: 10:27
Traditional hard drive to bus powered 1TB SSD (283MB/s write speed) using Finder: 9:02

When I tested from my internal SSD to the same portable SSD I got some pretty inconsistent times which I didn't expect or understand

Transfer of 117GB Prores 422 single clip:

Internal SSD 382MB/s write and 500MB/s Read to same portable SSD as above:

Hedge: 16:44, 12:41, 17:19
Finder: 16:52, 17:57, 11:28

The portable SSD was emptied for every test

I'm not sure how helpful this is to be honest.
I'm sure the inconsistency lies with my setup rather than Hedge
I was using the computer whilst doing these tests but not accessing these hard drives.

I have found that having become used to the verification my hairs stand up on end if I don't use Hedge! So I enjoy the peace of mind that Hedge brings. Exactly the same with ChronoSync. Peace of mind!
Patrick.
 
Meant to say I have JMOne's 3d Printed mic bits here in bulk that he so very kindly sent me. They screw in and fit lovely - the Rycote bits are backordered but waiting on them. Really does seem a lovely and elegant solution and balance between packing/building speed and small footprint for packing away.

I have a few so anyone in the UK interested in them let me know. Or wait until I have the mic mount to take pics and show you.
 
Broughtonfilm and I have been working on an adapter for the Kamerar QV-1 Loop. It's far from my finest work, but here is a rough draft of a 3D printable Kamerar QV-1 Loupe adapter for the FX6. I've just run out of time before going on holidays for a week but I'll be taking this one with me to test out. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4814289

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If there are other 3D print ideas for the FX6, let me know. Happy to look what we can do to expand the functionality / usability of the FX6.
 
In pretty big news for anyone wanting to use 12-bit from the camera in a conventional workflow. FCPX (with zero fanfare) have finally introduced batch processing Prores Raw clips.

- Import your raw clips into your FCPX event
- Select them all
- In the inspection pane, set "Color Space Overide" to "Rec709", "Camera LUT" to "None", and "RAW to Log Conversion" to "Slog3/Sgamut3.cine
- Go to: File > Share (however many) clips
- Save them as Prores4444 (Prores Raw seems to be too compressed for Prores4444 XQ to offer any IQ improvements)

The resulting SLOG3 Prores4444 files are now totally comparable to the internal XAVC clips (unlike Compressor was ever able to achieve. Also FCPX's UI is VASTLY more intuitive and easy to use than Compressor.
 
Which does beg a question...

The answer's still the same. A noticeable quality improvement in the 12-bit files. No risk of banding, considerably more shadow detail, and greater latitude for secondary colour correction.

If you're not doing any significant grading though, XAVC is totally fine. Never "great", but always fine.

One interesting downside to the raw capture that I discovered today though - moire, I had some noticeable moire in a tightly-woven pillow this afternoon, and it's pretty much invisible on the XAVC files.
 
I've been away from Sony raw for a while after vowing to never touch it again, but have they sorted out the allocation of data for the toe of the image these days? The artefacts in shadows used to drive me mad on FS7 raw and I argued with them for ages about their linear raw implementation.

If not far better just to record 10-bit Pro Res directly without the raw and transcoding step.

Edit: A quick look suggest raw is now 16-bit which would solve the issues. Ummmm might revisit.
 
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I've been away from Sony raw for a while after vowing to never touch it again, but have they sorted out the allocation of data for the toe of the image these days? The artefacts in shadows used to drive me mad on FS7 raw and I argued with them for ages about their linear raw implementation.

If not far better just to record 10-bit Pro Res directly without the raw and transcoding step.

Edit: A quick look suggest raw is now 16-bit which would solve the issues. Ummmm might revisit.

The FS7 (if I'm remembering right) did 12-bit linear raw (which is pretty awful, without enough bits for the toe). The FX6 outputs 16-bit linear raw (which, by comparison, has enough bit depth to be fine), which is great. The Ninja V encodes that as 12-bit logarithmic raw (like Arriraw), so you don't have those same issues of an image spread too thin.
 
Isn't it down to Apple who are irked someone left them to go work for BM.

EDIT: No it's BM trying to screw over Atomos after personnel changes from one to the other. Pathetic.
 
Broughtonfilm and I have been working on an adapter for the Kamerar QV-1 Loop. It's far from my finest work, but here is a rough draft of a 3D printable Kamerar QV-1 Loupe adapter for the FX6. I've just run out of time before going on holidays for a week but I'll be taking this one with me to test out. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4814289

It looks great Nathan! Looking forward to printing this one and then possibly making an updated version together!
 
I thought I'd share some pics of the 3D printed adapter for the Hoodman H32MB viewfinder on my FX6. This is the one that users jmone and broughtonfilm (Nathan and Mat) posted about earlier in this thread.

I have precisely zero experience with 3D printing, so I just guessed as to what material to go with. The material jmone suggested wasn't an option, so I went with Ultimaker Nylon, which seems to be working just fine.

Overall this is a very workable solution. The Hoodman loupe is pretty decent optically, and I think it's good enough to adequately convey the detail and resolution of the FX6 LCD—i.e., any problems you have focusing are likely to be inherent to the LCD, rather than a limiting factor of the loupe. There is some barrel distortion going on but it's not distracting (to my eye).

While the entire setup is light enough to be supported by the stock mounting arrangement it does feel a bit heavy for it (at least in the materials I used). Moving forward I'll likely try to see what options there are for a stronger mount, although for basic tripod work it's fine for the moment.

Total cost was under $100, which is an absolute bargain.

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I've bitten the bullet and ordered a bag.

Gone for the Manfrotto Pro Light Cinematic Backpack Expand - which has a pocket that opens up so you should be able to have the camera assembled with top handle on in there. Looks like more room than the PortaBrace one and it is on sale and in stock at WEX in the UK.

Arriving tomorrow so will report back.



@JMONE My Rycote mic mounts finally turned up so I was able to test your 3d printed thumbscrew mic mount part you so kindly sent me. All works and mounts with ease. Only issue is I guess with the Rycote part itself and that with a Rode NTG2, which is a fairly typical shotgun length and weight it gets a bit bouncy and on occasion the mount bottomed out. Probably only a problem doing handheld stuff in the wind and all would be solved with a shorter, lighter mic.

If you ever do a V3 I'd suggest making the space between the 2 mounts longer which would probably alleviate the issue as well. Thanks again.
 
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