Today,we are picking up a sunny day
to introduce a camera which is suitable for big light ratio shooting
If you shoot video and have enough budget
plan to get a A7S3 which is out of stock everywhere
Here is a FX6 in stock. Would you like to consider it
The former is $5700
The latter is $9500
What can you get
for the extra $4000
Welcome to Colorbee Photography
I'm Brian from Melbourne
The new released FX6 let us
step into Sony's professional product line
Although both of them
are capable of video shooting
But Sony's professional videography department
and Mirror-less camera department
are totally different
Even their websites run independently
This shows Sony's loneliness
and pride in the broadcast
and TV industry
FX6 is a hand-held video recorder under professional product line
It is also the bottom entry-level of full frame in Cine camera Line
FX9 is superior to it
Super35 video cameras
Like FS series
Are equivalent to it
According to official statement, the major selling points of the FX6 are
supporting hybrid high-speed, realtime eye focus function
When shooting 4K 120FPS video
15 grades of dynamic range
Sounds familiar right?
Yes
This is A7S3 loaded with S-Cinetone color science
in the body of professional video recorder
Yet it is a professional machine after all
Which is very serious in some professional performance
We can do this all day
If we dive into the details of performance
listing the parameters is a quite boring thing
we won't do it
You can review videos of tech-geeks on the internet
which are very informative
Instead we would like to talk about this machine
We spent two weeks
to realized that every cent is worth the money
No money is wasted
In fact
For the A few extra functions
we won't use them for the rest of our lives
There are also functions
we can't let go after using them
We just let you feel the difference between
the entry-level pro-machine and advanced video camera
from point of view of two ordinary photograhpers
This time, let's focus on the key points
The most addictive point is
integrated electronically adjustable ND filter
It can change filter density From ND 1/4 to ND 1/128
through changing voltage on the filter
which is a very wide range
AKA -2 stop exposure to -7 stop exposure
It is the function that photographers will never let go
after using it
There are several benefits for this function
First, it can the control the exposure seamlessly
This is the biggest feature of electronically ND filter
Under auto ND mode
the camera can adjust exposure seamlessly
When the light changes
photographer can maintain the same aperture setting
the same shutter speed,
remain the same DOF as well
Camera can maintain exposure amount
only through changing the ND filter automatically
For shooting environment shifts from indoor to outdoor
you can just carry it and leave
without any concern
No need to change settings like aperture, shutter speed, ISO
which is totally unimaginable in the past
Secondly is time saving
cost saving
Let photographers have more choice
when using the lens
The traditional front ND group has to be assembled in front of lens
The operation is super complex
it needs manual adjustment every time because the ambient light is changing all the time
Furthermore
you need different filters for each different lens size
It can be a huge burden on your budget
The common filter sizes are:82 77 72 67 62 58
about six sizes in total
Let's say
One filter costs about $200-$300
It is more than $1000 in total
Don't tell me that there are cheaper ND filter
like dozens of dollars
Don't need to mention the cheap one
even the first-class variable ND filter
inevitably has slight color deviation
and glare when shooting backlight images
In fact electronically ND
doesn't have any of
these influence on image quality
The built-in high quality ND filter
allows the camera to use a 3rd party lens
without any restrictions
Some special designs
such as fish eye lens, ultra wide lens or special calibers
which can't be installed in front of the lens will be benefit from this
Also there are some old manual lens
Although capable with aperture feature
They can only adjust the aperture among limited fixed position
Electronical ND filter can fix these problems automatically
The built-in electronical ND filter
entirely changes the concept and design of camera
Because ND filter
is placed at the position of shutter
So FX6 puts a piece of protective glass
in the traditional position of sensor bayonet
This is not CMOS
So don't be nervous
With this protective glass
I am no longer worry about
That the dust on CMOS would contaminate the picture
If there is dust
and fingerprints
you can wipe it out simply
with lens paper
Because the glass is not one the focal plane
therefore the tiny dust won't contaminate your picture
you don't need to wipe it carefully
This design is completely
suitable for high intensity studio environment
The photographer will no longer have to deal with dust carefully
In fact,I think the built-in eletronical ND filter
is basically to
serve this huge CMOS
Which is different from the dual 'native ISO' on Sony A7S3
FX6 claims to have two basic ISO
which are reference ISO 800
for daylight environment
and ISO 12800 with enhanced sensitivity
for low light and dark light environment
As long as the photographer chooses the reference ISO
he/she can just increase gain based on the choice
instead of memorizing
which ISO fits different shooting mode
when using S3
If you are using the reference ISO
and want to increase gain
you can just toggle the physical paddle to increase it
Which is also one of the iconicest designs
of Sony professional cameras
which is super intuitive
Theoretically, when the gain is closer to the native iso
the image is more crystal
full-frame sensor with low pixel density is basically a night vision device
You can even shoot starry videography by this camera with out any other attachment
by using TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95 lens
You can easily recreate the big Orion nebula in Southern Hemisphere
can you see it?
My first impression of FX6
is not image quality
because the image quality of FX6
have already been seen on a7s3
what makes me feel more impressed is
how Sony cares about the professional shooter
especially on usability
There are only two important things that videographers most have to deal with during the shoot
one is to control the exposure
another is the auto-focus
the electrical variable-ND can help a lot with exposure
for the auto-focus what I would say a bit more is
if you have experience for shooting a live-show
the object is constantly moving
It is really necessary for the cameraman to conveniently change from auto to manual focus
usually the change between manual and auto-focus
Happens either on lens body
or in the camera menu
Switch the focus mode one by one
FX6 offers a way better solution
which is a button in front of the camera body
this button is a super convenient design
Called “PUSH AUTO” button
if you press the button in auto-focus mode
the lens will be changed and fixed to manual-focus
if you press the button in manual-focus mode
the lens will be changed and fixed in auto-focus mode
so whenever in which mode
once when I need to switch the focus mode
subconsciously
I would just simply press this “PUSH AUTO” button
this is really handy
This feature gives me a new life
to the lenses without MF/AF switch on the lens body
such as Zeiss Batis series
Another feature which is also convenient is “WB SET”
this is a white balance setting
one-button to correct the white balance
when the lighting condition changes
the shooter can place a gray card in front of the camera
and press "WB SET”
Suddenly, white balance is corrected
as we said before,
buying a camera is not only appreciating its advantage
Instead, you should carefully consider whether you can accept its disadvantages
The most serious drawback of this camera is
there is no 3.5 mic jack on the camera body
the only audio input interface
is XLR placed on the top handle
but once you take off the top handle
And put the camera on the stabilizer
you will lost the only audio input
This makes people feel depressed
but
I got my own solution
use TASCAM DR-10L as an external audio recorder
and do a bit more work in post-production
In order to sync the audio
Actually, put the top handle on the camera
is really enjoyable
it can give you
six tracks of audio input
with -90DB as an standard
Which can power any microphone you have
Not considering the image performance
the most defective argument for the camera comes from the menu interface
even the camera body is full of buttons
You can obviously feel that the the position of this product is not that clear
If you would treat it like an ENG
which is electronic news-gathering camera
the size is quite small and operation is convenient
however,
the customizable button is not enough on the grip
I still need to use buttons on the camera body or touching screen for adjust the settings
the lens mounting mechanism
is intangible
when overhasty,
it is more easy to mount lens improperly
When compared to the LOCKIN MODE, which is way safer than it
By the way
the original sun-hood is too easy miss around
We lost ours as soon as we Finnish the unboxing
till now I even don’t know how it looks like
if you want to use FX6 as an EFP camera
the camera is too tiny
and there is no backlight one its buttons
So shooting a meeting or concert which in low light situation
You have to operate the camera based on your memory and instinct
which is pretty challenging
The menu button is annoying
single click is the quick menu
holding for 2 sec is the main menu
for the impatients like me
I have to sacrifice a button
as the main menu button
for such a little and narrow camera
honestly
it's quite comfortable to use
the grip feels really comfortable
with a shoulder strip
I can hold it for a whole day
although it has some defects
FX6 still shows to user
this is a professional video camera
it boots up in one second
when using a standard battery
the time remaining
Can be calculated based on the power consumption of different formats
time remaining shows exactly how much power is left
Power consumption is well controlled
even in recording 4k 120/100p
it can stand for 3 hrs
moreover
the image quality is pretty much same as a7s3
it has a higher reliability
such as under hot weather
after shooting without rests, it does not heat up
the cooling fan it's unnoticeable
the design of heat sink is quite nice
It is hiding in the shadow of grip
Presents pretty well Industrial texture
also
the gray camera body is hard to seem grimy
dusts and small scratches
can be easily cleaned
So, what kind of shooter would this camera would fit for?
In my opinion, a camera can be used in variety of scenes
It can shoot a movie
a meeting
or a documentary
you might say it’s wasting its ability when using as a streaming camera
probably that's not true
compare with a7s3
When used for streaming
a7s3 can only preview a flat S-log 3 image
FX6 can import customized Luts in the camera
and directly give you the image with Lut corrected
also you can apply Lut to existed media files in the camera
This feature can give you the dynamic range of S-log 3
at the same time enjoy the beauty of Lut
i would ask who else can make it
In my experience
a broadcast camera can have years longer life-time than a normal camera
if you have some work needs to be done in a hurry
Instead of waiting for an a7s3 to arrive in stock
getting an FX6 is a better option
when a7s3 arrives
probably you have already earned back the FX6
alright
today, based on our user experience
talked about FX6
these are some of our experience
if you got any question
comment it below
thank you for watching
see you in the next episode.