FX6: The Sony ILME-FX6V Owners Club

Is that 120p or 120/24 S&Q?

My a7siii will prevent me from using certain classes of card for certain shooting modes, even if the card is fast enough to handle it. Even if it lets me use the same card for a higher bitrate in a different mode. So, I don't think it's only about whether or not the card can handle it but also if Sony will permit it
 
The good thing is (unlike the A7SIII) the the FX6 will just give you a warning but let you proceed. I've tested a few different brand cards, and the V90's are the way to go. Works with every possible recording combo. The V60's I tried "mostly" work but I've had failures in write speeds on occasions. I see no reason to shell out $$$$ for the CFExpress Type A cards. I also have a CFExpress Type A to NVME adapter that also works and lets you plug in whatever size NVME card stick you want (but the door stays open). I thought I'd need it for longer recordings but a Pair of 256GB V90 cards more than does the job.
 
Keep in mind that the FX6 Max data rate is a bit over 500Mbits/sec (say 65Mbytes/sec) but it is sustained. V60 rated cards must have a minimum sequential write speed of 60Mbytes/sec, and V90 90MBytes/sec. Faster cards are also better for offloading footage at the end of the day.

This guy rates SD Cards : https://havecamerawilltravel.com/pho...test-sd-cards/

I've settled on the 256GB Kingston Canvas React Plus V90 UHS-II SD Cards (both full size and microSD). Can't believe you can get a MicroSD version but it is my main card and it has not missed a beat (I'm running it in a AngleBird UHS-II Micro --> Full SD Card adapter in the FX6 as the MicroSD adapter than come with the Kingston is oddly only a UHS-I SD Adapter!!!! - though the include USB adapter is UHS-II.... go figure). They can be hard to find but are very price competitive.
 
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I thought the max data rate is 1.2Gbps for 4K 120fps All-I S&Q? But that might be the only mode you actually need CFExpress cards for? I use all Lexars with my A7SIII. 4 128GB V60s that I use most of the time. And 2 64GB V90s if someone really wants All-I.

I've never had an SD card lose my data, and I've used some questionable brands. But I had a premium Sandisk compact flash card die on me once. Data loss, of course, is totally different from having a card that's too slow to keep up
 
Thanks for the tips, guys. With my a7siii I've only ever shot 23.98 and 120fps and haven't tried the S & Q mode. My Sony V60 cards have been fine for that. I've also only shot in HS 265 and haven't had any need yet for all-I... Is there any noticeable quality difference between the ALL-I and LONG GOP codecs on the fx6?
 
ahalpert said:
I thought the max data rate is 1.2Gbps for 4K 120fps All-I S&Q? But that might be the only mode you actually need CFExpress cards for? I
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I don't want to be blamed if someone else follows my lead and has a recording failure, but I can tell you that I've been shooting 4K XAVC-I @ 120 fps since last summer on this card: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...7ra000axm02fa9

I just finished shooting literally hundreds of S&Q wildlife clips ranging from 20 seconds up to several minutes in duration in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons without any trouble at all. I have one 80GB CFExpress card sitting in my A-slot (just in case), but I can count the number of times I've used it on one hand. The 256 V60 TOUGH card does 90% of my recording, and then I have a couple of 64GB V90 TOUGH cards when that one fills ups, which rarely happens for me.
 
scorsesefan said:
... Is there any noticeable quality difference between the ALL-I and LONG GOP codecs on the fx6?
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I can't speak to the FX6 specifically, but AFAIK the difference in all-i and long-gop is not visual quality but computer processing speed. I only voluntarily shoot all-i for very fast turnarounds
 
ahalpert said:
I can't speak to the FX6 specifically, but AFAIK the difference in all-i and long-gop is not visual quality but computer processing speed. I only voluntarily shoot all-i for very fast turnarounds
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In addtion to slower processing speed in post, Long-GOP 4K on the FX6 is always 8-bit 4:2:0, thus making it unsuitable for S-LOG or anything that will require grading, keying, etc. Long-GOP is fine for some folks, but I am just the opposite -- I never shoot Long-GOP.
 
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That's only for HD, correct. UHD LongGOP is always 8bit 4:2:0.

EDIT to add that the A7S3 has a *lot* more codec options than the FX6.
 
I don't know anything about the A7 series cameras, but 4K Long-GOP on the Sony cinema cameras is always 8-bit 4:2:0.
As you say, only HD Long-GOP is 10-bit 4:2:2.

My Sony PXW-Z750 2/3" camera can do 4K Long-GOP 10-bit 4:2:2 @ 200 Mbps, but that is the only camera in world right now that has that codec.
 
It might be because the a7siii got new codecs that are not EXACTLY the same as the prior xavc-L? I don't know if they're better or worse, but they're new. I thought it was pretty much the same. But my guess is that the original xavc-L never had a 10-bit 422 4K codec written?
 
ahalpert said:
What about the FX3? That's in the Cinema line :)
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I have no idea.
I have even less interest in the FX3 than the A7 cameras. In my opinion, the FX3 is not a cinema camera even if Sony wants to put it into that niche. Why fart around with cameras that claim to be cinema cameras, when we have actual cinema cameras already? I suppose Apple is calling the new iPhone a cinema camera too, but that doesn't make it so. :)
 
I couldn't care less what Sony or anyone else calls a cinema camera. I was just applying the standard you endorsed. I doubt that most bigtime DPs would deem the FX6 fit for their production either, although the a7sii was used to shoot a major motion picture, so anything is possible.

The fact is that the a7siii and particularly the fx3 are better fit for the purposes I use them for - single-grip gimbal shooting. There's no farting around because there are no workarounds necessary. The only thing it's missing from the FX6 is ND, but there are numerous aspects in which they're preferable to the FX6 for this application. And when I have different needs/wants, I use my FS7.

You may have no use for the a7siii or fx3, but other people do. And their codecs exist, simple as that.

And just in general, I've known so many owner/ops who had a c300/5d or fs7/a7s combo for A cam/B cam.
 
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ahalpert said:
I thought the max data rate is 1.2Gbps for 4K 120fps All-I S&Q?
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That about right. I did some S&Q at 120 and while the resultant file reports it's info in the same 500Mbps range it writes it out at twice that..... so you need a card that will support sequential writes of 150MBytes+ sec.
 
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