Sony FDR-AX100

[Ron Evans]

Using 1/30 will blur any motion in the frame. I have tried that on my FDR-AX1 at 30P. 60Mbps and 1/60 gives a much nicer image and a clean image for the interpolating displays to create the extra frames for smoother motion. If it is a still shot with no motion at all then it will work but even leaves blowing in the wind make the image soft and look out of focus.

I too am considering changing my NX30U for a FDR-AX100 but will wait and see if there is anything that has 60P first.

Ron Evans

[Clive McLaughlin]

2014-03-25 Random Shots with AX100 - YouTube

Aquarium with Sony AX100 - YouTube

FDR-AX100 macro fly in 4K - YouTube

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Buba Kastorski

Lucky owners of AX100, congratulations!
can anyone please post couple native files, low compression, day\low light?
thx!

I posted this above - it is native from the camera, but has high- and low-light scenes, with movement:

Sony FDR AX100 4K Video: Indoors and Outdoors on Vimeo

You can download the original XAVC-S video.

[Ken Ross]

Originally Posted by Peter Siamidis

Hey guys I just got mine and have been playing with it. I notice that in full auto mode the shutter defaults to 1/60th, but since it records at 30fps in 4k mode wouldn't it be better to manually set that to 1/30th shutter speed when recording 4k? I know that violates the 180 degree shutter rule, but keeping the shutter open a bit longer seems to help it a good amount in low light situations. So for example I'm filming down a hallway and the camera says 18db of gain with 1/60th shutter, but when I switch to 1/30th shutter the gain drops to 12db since it has more time to soak in light. In theory that should help reduce the 30fps judder a bit as well. What do you guys think? Or is this a pure preference thing as some maybe think 1/30th shutter would smear the image too much during movement?

Pete, the default to 1/60th in auto mode will be seen primarily indoors. You will rarely see 1/60th in brighter outdoor light. If left on automatic, shutter speeds in the area of 1/500th won't be unusual.

The problem with keeping the shutter locked at 1/30th or even a 1/60th, can be that depending upon how bright the light is and what level of ND filter you're using, you can be shooting at very small apertures. Of course this applies to outdoor shooting.

BTW, one thing you might consider is to limit the amount of gain that the AX100 applies. Within the menu system, you can find this option. Limiting the gain might result in a somewhat darker image, but that image will have less noise and may more accurately reflect the brightness level your eyes actually see. Leaving the gain on full auto often results in the camera applying more gain than is necessary.

[Ken Ross]

Originally Posted by Clive McLaughlin

[FDR-AX100 macro fly in 4K - YouTube

Clive, after seeing this, I'm afraid to go to sleep tonight! ;)

[Paul Rickford]

Ken, while we still await delivery in the UK (April 14th now) I would value your opinion on the AX100's image stabilization and Lens quality, colour depth against the RX10, I can see the improvement in resolution but wondered how the rest matched up.

Thank you
Paul

[Joey Atilano]

Originally Posted by Ken Ross

Clive, after seeing this, I'm afraid to go to sleep tonight! ;)

When I shot that yesterday that little fly was about 3mms long. I used a little bit of digi zoom. In 4k mode I could really see the segmented eyes but in 1080p mode even with more magnification the eye details were not showing up as good.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Peter Siamidis

Oh yeah I'm also actually surprised at the size of the camera, it's actually quite large! I'm used to my NX30 which is tiny in comparison. So far I like it enough that my NX30 will be hitting ebay tomorrow.

Some comparisons in low light to the NX30U would be useful Peter. I find the AX1 is about a stop or two slower than the NX30U or my NX5U, depending on conditions. A side by side comparison in the theatre of the CX700 and AX1 for a dark scene showed the AX1 at 21db ( I set the limit) and the CX700 at 12db. Both were at f 2.2 . My wife was using the NX30 for closeups so do not have a direct comparison with that. The CX700 and NX30U are very similar though.

Ron Evans

[Ken Ross]

Originally Posted by Paul Rickford

Ken, while we still await delivery in the UK (April 14th now) I would value your opinion on the AX100's image stabilization and Lens quality, colour depth against the RX10, I can see the improvement in resolution but wondered how the rest matched up.

Thank you
Paul

Paul, the standard image stabilization is significantly better than it is on the RX10. It's not quite as good as it is was on one or two camcorders I've used in the past, but still very good.

Upping the ante to active image stabilization does improve things a bit, but what I don't like about it is it automatically engages 'clear zoom'. Although clear zoom is pretty good, I like to stick to optical zoom in any camera I use. Unfortunately I see no way to engage active IS and disengage clear zoom. That's probably because the two are married in terms of how they both work and interact.

Lens quality seems excellent. I don't notice any obvious lens abnormalities. I haven't seen any purple fringing on tree limbs against the sky or other tell tale lens issues. Corner to corner sharpness seems excellent. I'm very happy with the lens Sony is using.

Color is somewhat different, IMO, than many past Sonys. Many Sony users are accustomed to the 'in-your-face' color that Sonys often have. Such is not the case with the AX100. The saturation appears a bit more tame than in the past and a bit less saturated than the RX10, but yet very natural. I suspect that more experienced users might actually like this. For those wishing for a bit more saturation outdoors, there are two easy approaches to this. You can try 'cinematone' that seems to be implemented a bit better than in past Sonys. It will give you a somewhat more saturated, contrastier and somewhat redder image. This may be well suited to landscape shooting, but I'm not sure how it will fare with flesh tones. The weather here hasn't been conducive to trying it.

The other approach is simply to shoot without enhancements and, if you wish, raise color levels in post. The AX100 footage is very well-suited to doing this if that's what you choose. You can easily get the old Sony look if that's what you're after.

I've also noticed the tendency to oversaturate with indoor lighting, that's so typical of most video camera's AWB, is not present in the AX100. I find colors to be very natural with just the right amount of saturation.

[Peter Siamidis]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

Using 1/30 will blur any motion in the frame. I have tried that on my FDR-AX1 at 30P. 60Mbps and 1/60 gives a much nicer image and a clean image for the interpolating displays to create the extra frames for smoother motion. If it is a still shot with no motion at all then it will work but even leaves blowing in the wind make the image soft and look out of focus.

I too am considering changing my NX30U for a FDR-AX100 but will wait and see if there is anything that has 60P first.

Ron Evans

Ah ok I was wondering if it would smear things too much but I haven't used it enough yet to be sure about that. Thanks for that info. Yeah the NX30 is a tough act to follow, I thought it was an unusually good all around camera and it's tough to replace! I do miss 60fps but looks like the AX100 will work for me for now until a 60fps model comes along.

Originally Posted by Ken Ross

Color is somewhat different, IMO, than many past Sonys. Many Sony users are accustomed to the 'in-your-face' color that Sonys often have. Such is not the case with the AX100. The saturation appears a bit more tame than in the past and a bit less saturated than the RX10, but yet very natural.

Cool I'm not the only one that noticed that! Colors do seem less punchy than my NX30, but I also think it's giving a more natural look. Almost seems like the white balance is a touch better as well, although maybe that's a result of them not mucking around with the colors as much.

[Paul Rickford]

Quote :
Color is somewhat different, IMO, than many past Sonys. Many Sony users are accustomed to the 'in-your-face' color that Sonys often have. Such is not the case with the AX100. The saturation appears a bit more tame than in the past and a bit less saturated than the RX10, but yet very natural.levels in post.


Thanks Ken, over the last few years we seem to have had the similar taste in camcorders, chasing the best quality available, so i'm sure it will suite me fine and may finally knock me off the eternal upgrade path for a while!

[Cliff Totten]

Have had my AX100 for 1 day now.

Generally speaking it's looking pretty good here are some quick observations:

CODEC - 60Mbp/s is low alright. However, it does seem to hold up fairly well! I'm not complaining about 30p because it's my favorite frame rate anyway. I do notice an occasional "harsh" motion look at times. I cant put my finger on it. Sometimes I see it and other times it's perfectly fine. (maybe it's my eyes?)

I do notice a very light "grainly" look in the blacks, even at 0DB. It's a very very light "speckle" in the shadows. I don't know if this is from the CODEC or if it's pre-CODEC and read from the sensor that way. (maybe during de-Bayer?) It's very, very light and I'm still testing it. (my opinion is neutral on this right now)

LANC - Yes, it does have LANC! I'm using the Sony Multi Interface adapter and adapting it to and on LANC controller. Works great! (Good job Sony!!)

AUDIO QUALITY- When switching to manual and lowering a bit, preamps are pretty clean. I tested with a RODE shotgun and Sony sterero Multi-show mic. Sony allowed it to have clean preamps. (good job Sony)

AUDIO DELAY - Yes, it's true. Sony put the old Handycam headphone delay on the AX100. So, as will many Sony Handycams, the headphones are about 35 milliseconds BEHIND the live audio. (bad job Sony)

ZEBRAS - Sony gave us Zebras with 5 IRE increments!..not the typical locked 70 and 100 values. (Good job Sony!!)

COLORS - The AX100 colors seem to be a bit too saturated for my taste. I like that look too, but only "after" the CODEC,...not "before" the compression. It might be fairly easy to clip a color channel doing this. Contrast is strong too...not the best combination for post grading. Sony gave the RX10 simple "saturation" and "contrast" reduction controls. I wish they moved that simple thing over to the AX100. Yes,..this is TOTATLY subjective and might not mean anything to other people's workflow.

HDMI shut off trick when you hit the record button? I don't EVEN want to think about that one. (watch the "pro" version not have that cripple..lol)

Only big question left for me is the CODEC. Still testing that.

[Mark Fry]

Originally Posted by Ken Ross

Nah, I don't think so Cliff. I think there is only so much processing power that's available at this stage and at this size and price. The AX100 is probably flexing all its muscle to get that 4K information on to the media and there simply isn't enough left over to simultaneously output clean 4K or 1080p. I bet if they did it would cause glitches in the actual recording. I'll take a clean recording and use the wifi workaround in the interim if I needed that simultaneous monitoring.

I just don't think this is any kind of conspiracy or bug.

If it's got the processor grunt to send the image via WiFi, why can't it send the same image through a simple socket instead? Surely it's more work to encode and transmit a WiFi signal than HDMI or similar?

[Ken Ross]

Mark, not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me given the compressed nature of wifi signals, if it wasn't easier doing this via wifi than the video being directed out via HDMI during recording. Am I sure of that? Not by a long shot, but it's just my intuition.

[Ken Ross]

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

COLORS - The AX100 colors seem to be a bit too saturated for my taste. I like that look too, but only "after" the CODEC,...not "before" the compression. It might be fairly easy to clip a color channel doing this. Contrast is strong too...not the best combination for post grading. Sony gave the RX10 simple "saturation" and "contrast" reduction controls. I wish they moved that simple thing over to the AX100. Yes,..this is TOTATLY subjective and might not mean anything to other people's workflow.

Interesting observation and I'm curious to see how people weigh in on this. I've had many Sony cams over the years, and this one seems the most 'tame' of all I've owned. So I'm a bit surprised to see you say this, but as you say, it is subjective.

I do agree it would have been nice for Sony to give more control over saturation & contrast. But with that said, I'm certainly not complaining about the overall package. No matter what the camera, there's always something to complain about! :)