Sony FDR-AX100

[Noa Put]

I already feel so comfortable with the camera I"m using it for the ceremony tomorrow as a-camera, it's practically identical to my cx730, there are some minor differences I need to get used to like the way how I set my iris, iso and shutter. The rolling shutter however is very bad, it won't be much of an issue in my case as I always do slow camera movements so I won't notice anything but once when you zoom in completely and then pan a bit too quick the skew is off the scale, it's that bad, I won't be shooting any soccergames with this camera, that's for sure. :)

90 minutes out of the battery is about the same as the smallest batteries for my cx730, but it's good to know my original sony batteries for my cx camera's do work as well, will save me quite some money.

[Noa Put]

Low light performance is also comparable with my cx730, 24db of gain on my cx730 looks the same as 33db of gain on the ax100, the noise is more "blotchy" on the cx730 while the noise on the ax100 has a finer grain structure when I downscale 4k to 1080p but the cx730 does look a bit cleaner when viewed from a normal distance on a tv. Nevertheless impressive for a 4K handicam, this camera won't have any issues whatsoever in dark churches or even venues.

[Ken Ross]

Good to hear it's working out for you Noa. :)

[Noa Put]

Not so sure yet if it will work out for me but will find out soon enough :)

[Anthony Lelli]

Originally Posted by Ken Ross

Anthony, I'm really a zero on YouTube. Whatever I do post, I post on Vimeo and thus I have very little experience with a good YouTube workflow. I favor Vimeo for its easy download of native 4K files.

thanks anyway,
vimeo standard doesn't even handle 60p and 1080 (brings it to 720 30p) with a 500MB limit per week. I have to spend $200 to get 1080 60p and still a limited upload. Youtube goes up to 4K and it's free and it's unlimited.
Posting a 35GB file on vimeo appears to be complicated, technically.
no?

[Dave Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Ok, I know this it doesn't have anything to do with this topic but it was a reason for some heated discussion a short while back and a reason for this thread to go off topic, about all of that noise has been removed by admin and I was glad because of one person to keep on insisting I would show my current camera's I talked about as he didn't believe I had so many.

Now I am not responding to the image I"m posting below and refuse to start a new pointless discussion and I"m encouraging others to do the same but I don't like to be called a liar and with this I finally want to clear this matter up once and for all and to show my camera's don't exist in my mind only.

The photo does include a picture of a ax100 so it's still on topic :D, I honestly wish Sony and Panasonic would make expensive camera only so I just could afford to buy one :D but I"m selling a few now so I look like a sane person again.

If admin feels this message has no place here and needs to be removed, I"m fine with that as well. The photo was taken with a cellphone so not great quality but I promise, its' not photoshopped :)

Aw, that barely qualifies as a bit of "GAS", let alone a "case" - I know of a couple of us here that have far worse Gear Aquisition Syndrome <wink>. I'm trying to "recover" a bit myself, so far too go...


The main thing I'd suggest (and Ken confirms this approach) is to set your shutter to keep it in a lower range (1/30 for low light, 1/60-125 for "normal" light conditions, and use the wheel for exposure/AE compensation, ND as needed. RS is bad in 4K, the physics of reading that bigger sensor with more pixels is what it is. It did seem to me to improve with lower shutter speed (probably motion blur helping cover the skew...).

Since you've already got familiarity with Sonys, it shouldn't be too difficult to use it as your primary. I found that the camera in "auto" caused some issues on the first "experimental" outing due to high shutter speeds... the next time out with shutter in manual, I got far more good footage than I typically seem to get! Using the VF to add stability, it does seem to have better IS than the RX10, though I still love that cam for stills (the AX stills are nothing to carp about).

Even though it is a "tad" big, you'll quickly come to love it - I can now multicam with AX100/RX10/RX100M2 with very similar image quality, and a small bag for the lot. Yep, there are quite a few cams I "could" sell now! I see those three as a "system" that really covers most of what one would ever "need" in a camera, so even though some things will hang around for sentimental reasons, those are my "go to kit".

[Peter Siamidis]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I already feel so comfortable with the camera I"m using it for the ceremony tomorrow as a-camera, it's practically identical to my cx730

Yeah reviews often complain about using Sony cameras but then that's because they are used to Canon, Nikon, etc gear. If you are used to Sony gear like you and I am then this camera is a breeze to pick up and work with. Took me all of two days of experimenting and testing it before I was comfortable using it for business. One thing I'd recommend and maybe you already do this is to disable UI sounds on the camera so that you can use touch focus without it making that 'boop' sound when you touch the screen. The AF occasionally gets confused if you get into a low light situation (like 15db+) so it's good to have touch focus handy during run&gun type filming.

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

Aw, that barely qualifies as a bit of "GAS", let alone a "case" - I know of a couple of us here that have far worse Gear Aquisition Syndrome <wink>. I'm trying to "recover" a bit myself, so far too go...

I've tried my best to avoid this and instantly sell anything that I don't need anymore. I can't tell you how much money that has saved me, as the value of this gear plummets fast! The last camera I sold just a few months ago was the Sony VG900, and it's already worth ~$550 less now on ebay. Sell your gear if you don't need it guys, you can do it!

[Noa Put]

Just got back from a wedding and it was a walk in the park shooting with the ax100, it took me a bit to wrap my head around operating the shutter, iso and iris, I couldn't directly find how to change and/or lock them separately and how to assign iris and iso simultaneously to the front wheel. About halfway the day I was using the camera as if I had it for weeks. It also took some time getting used to setting a appropriate nd each time, I do know when to use a ND but I was missing the routine to do it each time. In any case, this is a impressive camera, there are some "issues" I had with it and that can be up to a wrong setting or just the way the camera has been designed but I actually enjoyed using it that much I filled the 64gb card completely. The footage is loading onto my pc right now, I hope it all turned out well :)

[John McCully]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I hope it all turned out well :)

And so does the happy couple, no doubt, although right now their thoughts are probably elsewhere :-)

I await your verdict with bated breath, and your thoughts about how the AX100 compares to the RX10...

[Noa Put]

I started a thread here John about the camera (http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-...ml#post1855809)

First off all, it all turned out much better then expected so I"m very happy with the results this camera gives me, to answer your question about the "verdict" between the ax100 and rx10. Half September I"m off on vacation to warm sunny beaches and beautiful sunsets and yes, I"m taking a camera with me and it won't be the ax100 but the rx10.

Why? Both are excellent camera's but the rx10 is lighter and more compact and I like the overall image it produces better, it has that dslr kind of look the ax100 can't reproduce and it has a creamier bokeh once you start zooming in. The ax100 has a clean looking, super detailed image but it lacks "character" if you know what I mean. It's great for my work as a general workhorse and I"m glad I got it but for my holiday purpose the rx10 will suite me better. The rx10 is also a very sharp 1080p camera and almost as easy as a videocamera to operate + it takes awesome pictures in raw.

[John McCully]

Many thanks Noa, extremely helpful. I do understand your thinking and why you won't be dumping your RX10. In as much as I'm always on holiday I might just stick with the RX10, for now. The extra reach the AX100 offers along with the slightly better image stabilization are features that interest me but as you point out the RX10 delivers when it comes to image quality both moving and stills.

Great report at 'Open DV'. Very much appreciated. Thanks again.

[Vicent Frases]

Hello, this is my first post on this forum that I still long.
I feel if something is not understood by my English translated by google.
The issue:
Little over a month I have the fdr-AX100 ago.
Very happy, making me to it.
I have two days trying to solve a problem with the audio, it takes me crazy.

FDR-X100 + external microphone mini jack audio cable + mobile phone Youtube: NO audio is heard.

FDR-X100 + internal audio camera + mobile phone Youtube: YES Audio listening

The audio on the camera is set to two channels. Mp4 files. Y. Meters
On the computer if all audio with external microphone heard from youtube.
Neither Iphone, android or windows phone or play the audio with external microphone from youtube.
I've done all kinds of tests. With original files from the camera, worked with EDIUS files, etc, etc, etc.. Uploading them to youtube.
And the final conclusion is that the recorded audio with external microphone NOT repdroduce on youtube + mobile phones.
And the audio recorded with the internal microphone of the camera When playing on youtube + mobile phones.

This is an example:

YouTube (Short URL)

Can anyone try it?
A greeting. Thank you

[Vicent Frases]

Well I think I found the problem and my solution.
The problem is the mini jack cable-canon, I've tried three different cables and get the same problem. The cables are well constructed and that worked well with a Panasonic TM900.
The solution is to record the audio with Sennheiser ew 100 G3 wireless. It works perfectly. The audio can be heard properly on mobile youyube.

There will be some way to get this to sony official? or youtube...

[Alister Chapman]

Does the microphone you are using need phantom power? The AX100 does not provide phantom power, the mic needs to be self powered.

[Anthony Lelli]

Originally Posted by Vicent Frases

Well I think I found the problem and my solution.
The problem is the mini jack cable-canon, I've tried three different cables and get the same problem. The cables are well constructed and that worked well with a Panasonic TM900.
The solution is to record the audio with Sennheiser ew 100 G3 wireless. It works perfectly. The audio can be heard properly on mobile youyube.

This is the test with the wireless.
C0002 - YouTube

There will be some way to get this to sony official? or youtube...

I had the same problem (but it was expected) with my audiotechnica 875r that doesn't work on AX100 even with a balanced/unbalanced 3.5mm cable. The 875r needs 48v phantom power to work.
for now I use a shure sm58 : it works fine with a simple xlr to 3.5mm cable (straight, no impedance adjustment).
what kind of microphone you're using? is it XLR? Again a shure SM58 works on the AX100 . it's not a shotgun and I need to get really close to the source, but it works (pretty well too).