Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Chris, yes but for a bizarre combination of factors that lens is good for a night coverage of sports , shot from the press box and from a distance for example, keeping the zoom at 2/3 of the extent : the AF is slow and therefore does exactly what a dedicated lens would do: moves slowly and keeps the scene under control. Of course if I zoom in for a close up then the AF goes to get a coffee and doesn't come back until I zoom out again.
LOL

but then again shooting sports (soccer in particular) can be a challenge for any cameraman and for many different reasons. If you look at the splendid coverage of the world cup in Brazil you can see how they struggle with a limited dynamic range (half field under the sun and the other half dark), exaggerated by the high res that for THAT doesn't help at all. I see the guys with the flycams on the side using ND filters in and out when they have to move fast from bright to dark. Imagine that... ND in and out on the fly all the time trying to keep a running subject in the frame.. amazing :)

In other words (and this is my "idea" about any camera) we have the gear and we make it work. But when I see intentional idiotic limitations then I make it work but also get a little upset.

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Quite right Anthony

It's all to do with money! Sony are in business to make lots of it so of course they will "down grade" the EA-50 features to keep the market where they want it. Giving the EA-50 a Super 35 sensor alone would threaten sales of the FS100 and even 700 range and Sony wouldn't allow that to happen.

I think their attitude is simply a marketing one ...if you want a better EA-50 then buy a FS100 ..want better than that then you need a FS700. They are just catering for different markets and it goes on with most manufacturers they just don't let models get too close otherwise sales will suffer. The one big advantage we have with these cameras is that we can change lenses ..it's up to us what lens we want to use.

Just for interest, the big sports cameras used at soccer games ..AFAIK those are all manual focus (they use a twist grip on the handles ..one for zoom and one for focus) I tried one out at our local broadcaster on a tour once and they are awesome to use ..sorta like driving a motor cycle so if one did a large number of sport fixtures wouldn't investment in a really classy tripod complete with dual twist grips be the way to go?? The broadcast rig I "played" with I think cost $100,000 and that's without the camera and lens!!! but I'm sure one could get/make up a handlebar frame and have servo controls that would work on a standard camera with LANC??

Chris

Chris

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Chris
you mean the one with the seat? with a 25lbs lens (alone)? That used to be Canon territory but in Brazil Sony is a big sponsor, so they use Sony instead. Awesome coverage, in another planet compared to the flycams on the sideline. Due to the lens of course. The control from the handles are for everything, including the "seat" , I mean the body up and down LOL via RS232 (serial) Even the lanc protocol for consumer uses simple serial commands. then it's all marketing. Paasonic gives iris while sony (consumer lanc) doesn't, but gives zxoom speed and panasonic doesn't. LOL all marketing, . I shoot from the above, in a nice room with food and everything. One thing I want to say about that job from the sidelines: it's dangerous first of all (they have protections military style but still... the ball is kinda heavy when it lands on your head. Second the operators are in the "50" segment of age, so no drinks because they have to stay for 2 hrs steady, live to the world to see and can't use the bathroom (big thing when you are over 50). The only way is not to drink before the assignment. there is no other way. I say this because nobody cares about the people producing that beautiful work: they watch TV and give it for granted. But there are serious professionals behind the cameras!

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Hi Anthony

Funnily enough I did a soccer shoot yesterday.. the whole game with just a mad dash to the toilet at half time and of course I used the stock lens as the power zoom is great as I had to concentrate on just one player for evaluation purposes so I missed a lot of the action sadly. It's tough being glued to the camera for one 45 minute stretch and you dare not relax as you might miss a shot!!

The zoom and AF works very well but then again this was during the day and nice and bright so it should work well. I have actually sold one stock lens and now just have one stock for sports stuff and for use on my stedicam and all the rest I share with my two Nikons which makes sense. Even if I run out of zoom for framing at weddings I still have digital zoom ..it's a tiny bit softer at 2X zoom but you can sharpen in post and no-one will even know ...I only use it very rarely ...when they sign the register I like to do a slow zoom down to the page and often use a tiny bit of digital zoom as there is no need to focus if I did it on manual.

For me a manual lens in dark venues works better but for sport shoots, yes, I would still stick to the stock lens!!

Chris

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Chris,
great. congrats for the soccer coverage. Yes it takes a lot of continued concentration for each of the 45 minute periods. I shoot 4 games a week during soccer season, producing the full game and highlights overnight. It's a lot of work , not counting the stress of the game itself. If you are going to do more soccer then let me know, I'll share few tricks that literally can save the day :)

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Thanks Antony

At this stage I'm only doing 4 games in total and I have done two already. What it is, is a video of just one player who is attempting to gain a scholarship to the States so I have to film her performance alone and not the match itself. It's all medium shots so the panel can observe what she does and they also want to see who she passes the ball to. It's a little boring as she is a defender so at the back and often doesn't do a lot if the opposition perform poorly. You never know?? The club might ask me to do games for their own coaching staff so any tips would be good.

Chris

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

i filmed this week at school. it was the ending of the 6th grade. the stage was very dark
I used the stocklens and the tripod was on a dolly. So I could move from left to right and was very close (in front of) the stage.

On the side I used my little panasonic HC-X920 limited @ 6db.

It's mentioned before but I think that even the slow stocklens is equal to a fast 3cmos 1/3inch camcorder in low light. (like a Z5/NX5/...)

the HC-X920 is like the ag-ac90 in low light I think (same chips)
And you can change to a faster lens for low light. A fast prime must be always better in low light then any 3cmos 1/3inch camcorder. not?

You have shouldermount. So for the price a good camcorder I think.
For close ups at stage I miss a 20x zoom from a NX5/NX3.

A F2.8 200mm zoom is very expensive and vey builky!
Maybe better to use a prime 150mm and use 2x digital zoom for that?

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Hi Tom

If you look for a Tamron lens they have a nice range at F2.8 without getting price crazy!! Do you really need as much as 200mm for what you are doing? Maybe use the EA-50 for the wide shot and then creep up a bit closer with the 920 for some closeups. For weddings I have a 17-50 constant F2.8 and then a 28-75 also constant F2.8 and it makes a massive difference in low light! Yes you can use zoom on the camera without any practical light loss but try to stay at 1.5zoom it's a lot less softer than 2X zoom ...remember to sharpen those clips in post a bit to they match the non zoomed shots. You can normally find a Tamron 28-75 for under $250

Chris

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

Hi Tom

Just remember a pro camera with 1/3rd chips has a HUGE DOF so they can easily pop on a fixed zoom that is F1.6 when wide open and still have plenty of the subject in focus. If you check most fixed lens 3 chip cameras you will find the widest aperture quite impressive to make up for the small sensors. My HMC82's also had an F1.6 lens and 12X zoom. At concerts and indoor events where you shoot from the back and high up, often a camcorder will outperform the EA-50 quite drastically in low light so they might just be a better tool for the job. I know Noa uses little Sony CX730's when he needs low light coverage and swears by them. At a concert all you really need is the whole stage in focus so DOF becomes a non essential. If you double the focal length with digital zoom you will get a much softer image ..maybe get a nice fast prime that will be right for the stage to be in frame but venues will change from one to the other and you could be 20 metres away in one venue then 50 metres in the next so you really do need a fast zoom. A better plan would be to get a fast zoom and then put a Metabones speed booster on it so you gain a stop ??

Chris

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

I use my Canon XA10 for stage totals. But the image doesnt really fit to the EA50.
So i was considering maybe using a NEX Photocam with wide lens for that.
Not so sure about it.

Re: EA 50 a dark horse?
 

I find that the 11x zoom from the nex-ea50 is not enough to shoot stage events. You need 20xzoom or more.
the hxr-nx3 looks great with 20x zoom but is not a handycam. The cam will fit great with the new-ea50.