Tag Archives: E Mount

Sony FX9 Slow Motion is Good But Not Great!

Sony FX9 Slow Motion

The new Sony PXW-FX9 XDCAM 6K Full-Frame Camera is what Sony fans have been waiting ever since the APS-C cameras Super 35 cameras like the FS5 and FS7 made the rounds. It is all that those cameras offered but now on a state of the art Full Frame sensor with Dual ISO capable of 800 and 4000 depending on the needed use. By being extremely sensitive the camera needs ND filtration and it doesn’t disappoint on that feature either by including a ramping – smooth increments ND filter from 1/4 to 1/128 which adjusts on Auto Mode depending on the scene without ruining the shot. An industry first.

On the Slow Motion front, the camera is consistent with Sony pedigree with now offering 120fps Full HD and with a promised firmware update 180fps Full HD and also 16-bit raw 4K/2K footage up to 120 fps to an external recorder.  This is close but not quite what the FS5 is capable of in FHD which includes 240fps. The FS7 has in contrast 240fps @ 2K RAW Ext Rec & 180fps 1920*1080 Internal. Much closer to what the FX9 is capable of doing. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony a7 III Great Value In High Quality 120fps FHD!

Sony a7 III

There is no question the Sony a7 III just announced by Sony is making a splash in the midrange to professional camera markets. We have a $1,998.00 USD Full Frame camera that can shoot 10fps at the full 24MP sensor resolution with probably the best AF tracking system ever shipped on a camera aside from the slightly better Sony a9.  The low light performance of the new a7 III is quite frankly impressive with nearly as clean video to the king of low light the a7s II up until ISO 12,800.

It also has the same high-quality 120fps Full HD mode in both full frame downsampling and APS-C crop modes with continuous reliable AF tracking that performs as good as the a9 system because when it comes to spec comparisons they seem identical.  You will be better off with this camera if you are looking for 120fps full HD than any we have seen before as quality, low noise, focus tracking and dynamic range all come together to create a superb package. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony a6500 New Slow Motion Samples!

Sony a6500 New Slow Motion Samples

We have now a fairly good amount of slow motion samples for the Sony a6500 compact APS-C Camera to share with you.  It is clear that the quality this camera can provide is above the norm but we still do see some aliasing in diagonal fine lines which is to be expected by a sensor that is skipping some of the lines to achieve 1080p 120fps.

While the 4k UHD in this camera is derived from an oversampling of 6k; the 1080p 120fps is being extracted from a 24.2MP sensor using a 13MP effective crop factor 1.9x;  is throwing away some line information to get there. Also the camera caps frame rate output over HDMI at 60fps so there is no way to record super slow motion to an external recorder at 120fps. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony FS7 Mark II Slow Motion Stays at 180fps!

Sony FS7 Mark II

In what could be condensed into a mild refresh at best; the newly released Sony FS7 Mark II Super 35mm 4k Camera does little to entice owners of the Sony FS7 to upgrade. It seems to be a way to replace the camera and entice new buyers without actually offering anything really revolutionary.

To be fair there are a few improvements like the E Mount now has a PL like locking mechanism for easier lens detachment without twisting. This is ideal for lenses with filters and matte box attached. Also the integrated electronic Variable ND brings it in line with other cameras that offer this compelling option to avoid ND filters altogether while setting the camera for 1/180º shutter. Added also is BT.2020 color space for UHD recording at 10 and 12 bits, 10 assignable buttons vs 6 in the Mark 1 and a few new LEDs and ergonomic fixes from user feedback on the Mark 1. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Sony a6500 Slow Motion and Overheating!

Sony a6500 Slow Motion

The Sony a6500 came as a big surprise to a6300 owners in that their camera was loosing value overnight in the secondary market to a near identical close with a touch screen and IBIS stabilization.  However the camera has still not reached the hands of many pre order customers but we were able to find a few insights on the 120fps full HD slow motion mode.

The quality should be very similar to the a6300 since the sensor is identical but with slight improvements in the dynamic range and color pipeline should yield a slight increase in per pixel definition. The compression should be very close with the XAVC-S codec at 21Mbps at 24p and or 50Mbps at 60p with easily selectable formats. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Manfrotto Befree Live New King Of Portable Video Heads!

Manfrotto Befree Live

The new Manfrotto Befree Live Tripod Fluid-head may be the most ultra-portable and quality video ready fluid head out there.  Before this new model was introduced the Manfrotto 128RC and 128LP heads dominated this space. However the new model has smoother movement along with locking features that bring the line to more modern designs.  There is a big need for compact video heads which can be used with smaller slow motion capable cameras like DSLRs, Sony RX100, Sony RX10, Micro 4/3rds and Action cams.

With the miniaturization of camera gear the days of the old and heavy but dependable fluid head are nearing an end. When the tripod can be carried alongside a small camera bag in a very portable fashion; the amount of usable footage will increase due to the amount of shots set up with it due to simplicity and little fuzz. → Continue Reading Full Post ←