Will they actually see a difference from shooting at 1920x1080 XAVC-S that could be at 60P for smoother motion ? Does the FDR-AX100 actually do frame interpolation for the HDMI output to 1920x1080. Would be interesting to know as Sony certainly has the technology.

Ron Evans

Based on what I've seen Ron, no. When I hook my AX100 to my 1080p plasma without frame interpolation engaged on the display, rapid motion lacks the smoothness of a 60p recording. However the smoothness is there when I engage the display's interpolation.

So logically it would seem that if the AX100 was doing the interpolation in-camera, it would not be necessary to do it at the display.

Just got my AX100 this afternoon. Im sceptical of 4k at only 60Mbp/s. Time to torture test the motion handling and low light resolution in the shodows. Lets see if can hold up without blocking and mudding up the blacks.

CT

Cliff, please tell me you're not going to be wildly waving the camera looking for RS and motion artifacts. Please. :)

BTW, I find the low light of the AX100 very close to that of the RX10.

@Ken - I pulled up some of my RX10 video alongside the "Hello Kitty" video... I see what you mean... hmmm, RX10/100M2 still look pretty good, not much to quibble with, but 4K changes the expectation, even on "HD" screens! I think they will still intercut OK, with a little creativity, but now more than ever I'm wishing Sony had enabled 4K in the RX10...

Dave, it's kind of painful to see our beloved equipment outdated so quickly. I'm hoping I can at least get a few weeks out of the AX100! :)

But you're right, I see no reason you won't be able to intercut RX10 & AX100 footage with a little bit of attention to detail (pun intended). ;)

IThis one is dirty. I mean, what was Sony thinking? They show you clean 1080 right up until you start the recording and then suddenly pull it back??? Maybe it's a joke programmed by a rouge firmware engineer that Sony will repair on a future firmware release. Maybe Sony managers and testers missed this? Could this be just a simple "bug" or unintended "glitch" or one line of mistaken code?

CT

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.

Cliff, please tell me you're not going to be wildly waving the camera looking for RS and motion artifacts. Please. :)

BTW, I find the low light of the AX100 very close to that of the RX10.

Nah,..no wild waving. I'll put it on a tripod, get in front of the shot and move around fairly quickly. Like a singer or guitar player in a rock band or maybe as much as a dancer would on stage.

I shoot allot of indoor stage stuff with allot of dark backgrounds. I'm curious to see how the compression affects the shadows. Stressed out compression can block up quickly in the blacks and darker details first.

So far, I'm surprised it holds up as good as it does.

As far as Jell-O rolling shutter, 24p shows up allot more than 30p. (still testing)

I dont care about crazy camera waving. I'm more interested in real world shooting on a tripod and steady slow panning handheld.

This HDMI cripple/ shut off stunt has me fuming!

CT

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

Buba, here's the very first clip I shot out of the box, in a rush. You can download the native clip if you're a Vimeo member. The gentleman in the video is Robert Zahn of Value Electronics where I bought the AX100. A super guy BTW or shares our enthusiasm for video.

Robert was standing under the store's skylight as the sun was moving in and out of clouds. So the contrast was as severe as it gets. No manual settings were engaged.

C0001 on Vimeo

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?

If I remember there is a low light mode which drops the shutter-speed to 1/30th. Did you get a complete manual with yours?

If I remember there is a low light mode which drops the shutter-speed to 1/30th. Did you get a complete manual with yours?

Yeah it's the low lux setting which drops to 1/30th shutter when there isn't enough light. I'm just curious why I wouldn't always use that in 4k mode given that it records 30fps in 4k mode anyways, and given that 1/30th shutter results in a cleaner image with less noise due to less artificial gain being applied compared to the default 1/60th shutter in full auto. It won't compare with a real 60fps mode for smoothness, but with the shutter basically being open all the time (compared to half the time at 1/60th setting) means it should also result in smoother motion no?

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.

Are you there Chris?

As this camera is now released, isn't it time for it to get it's own forum?

This thread is getting a bit ponderous and it's hard to follow everyone's different discussions!!

Cheers,

Vaughan

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

2014-03-25 Random Shots with AX100 - YouTube

Aquarium with Sony AX100 - YouTube

FDR-AX100 macro fly in 4K - YouTube

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.

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.

[FDR-AX100 macro fly in 4K - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlscFlazgk)

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

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

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.

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, 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.

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.


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.

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!

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.

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?

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.

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! :)

@Mark -
I'm "guessing" that the WiFi image is much lower rez than HDMI? Can anyone confirm the resolution on phone or tablet? I'm with Ken that the horsepower is probably not there to encode/write AND generate a signal to HDMI, but who knows!? I'm sure the Sony engineers had a "good" reason, but from this side of the looking glass, it's hard to know these things, we can only guess....



@Cliff -

re: the LANC... can you confirm the configuration you're using - I'm presuming the VMC-AVM1 adapter and RM-AV2 with the "D" A/V plug? I've got that combo and am trying to sort out using it with the RX series... it "should" work, but for some odd reason doesn't (see above!). The VPR1/VPR10 remotes use the MULTI, have the same chip that is in the AV2, which basically does the same thing in both units - allows remote control of zoom, on/off, shutter, record (the VPR "handle" I have adds a couple things). Glad to hear that it "should" work with the AX100 at least, as the camera is on the "acquire soon" list.

The instructions with the AVM1 show it for "Handycam", but strangely not for the Cybershots, even though the interface is definitely THERE on the MULTI interface to allow remote control!

So far I've got pinouts, and have the two controllers apart for "examination", just haven't figured out the "key" to unlock the function - Sony uses "trigger" resistors, and somehow the VPR's do something a little different from the AV2 LANC controls... I suspect it's just a resistor on one of the other pins....

It would help to know for sure that the AVM1/AV2 combo does work on the AX100, I'm presuming that the VPR's also work...

Sony comes up with these "new improved" interfaces, and it's "fun" to try to figure out how to make them do what you expect!! The MULTI seems to replace the A/V, which replaced the LANC and A/V.

I just got an email from B&H that said the AX100 is now in stock.
Who pre-ordered one?

I would suggest that anyone ordering this from B&H do it soon, since it will probably go to 'back ordered' before too long.

This has not proven to be an easy camera to get and I just lucked out getting it from Value Electronics.

@Mark -
I'm "guessing" that the WiFi image is much lower rez than HDMI? Can anyone confirm the resolution on phone or tablet? I'm with Ken that the horsepower is probably not there to encode/write AND generate a signal to HDMI, but who knows!? I'm sure the Sony engineers had a "good" reason, but from this side of the looking glass, it's hard to know these things, we can only guess....



@Cliff -

re: the LANC... can you confirm the configuration you're using - I'm presuming the VMC-AVM1 adapter and RM-AV2 with the "D" A/V plug? I've got that combo and am trying to sort out using it with the RX series... it "should" work, but for some odd reason doesn't (see above!). The VPR1/VPR10 remotes use the MULTI, have the same chip that is in the AV2, which basically does the same thing in both units - allows remote control of zoom, on/off, shutter, record (the VPR "handle" I have adds a couple things). Glad to hear that it "should" work with the AX100 at least, as the camera is on the "acquire soon" list.

The instructions with the AVM1 show it for "Handycam", but strangely not for the Cybershots, even though the interface is definitely THERE on the MULTI interface to allow remote control!

So far I've got pinouts, and have the two controllers apart for "examination", just haven't figured out the "key" to unlock the function - Sony uses "trigger" resistors, and somehow the VPR's do something a little different from the AV2 LANC controls... I suspect it's just a resistor on one of the other pins....

It would help to know for sure that the AVM1/AV2 combo does work on the AX100, I'm presuming that the VPR's also work...

Sony comes up with these "new improved" interfaces, and it's "fun" to try to figure out how to make them do what you expect!! The MULTI seems to replace the A/V, which replaced the LANC and A/V.



Yup, I got the Sony multi interface to the older AV "round" adapter. I have another LANC to Sony AV "round" adapter to convert that.

I originally got this for my RX10 and that didnt work. I just tried it in my AX100 and it worked perfectly.

CT

You can download the original XAVC-S video.

Nice job.

The Vimeo site only shows an "HD 1920x1080" file -- no 3840x2160 file which makes sense since I don't think Vimeo supports UHD. But, your info says you shot 4K. Did you upload FHD or UHD? In any case, the only download isn't UHD it's FHD.

MOREOVER, it is not the original file uploaded file. It is the Vimeo 4.5Mbps compressed FHD file. (I'm not sure why anyone is using Vimeo now that they are shooting UHD.)

On YouTube there is a UHD version that can be played, but Downloading isn't possible.

It would be nice to be able to download the UHD version.

Were you mostly shooting in Tele because there was a lot of very tiny jitter?

My first AX100 4K Video post....


My First Sony FDR AX100 4K Video Water and Snow - YouTube

Yup, I got the Sony multi interface to the older AV "round" adapter. I have another LANC to Sony AV "round" adapter to convert that.

I originally got this for my RX10 and that didnt work. I just tried it in my AX100 and it worked perfectly.

CT

OK, just to double check, it's the AVM1 Multi to A/V... then an A/V to 2.5mm... then the LANC w/2.5mm? Reason for asking is that the original "adapters" from 2.5mm to A/V have an added trigger resistor in the mix, and I'm trying to figure out what additional trigger mechanism is being used by the VPR remotes so that the signal get through to the RX's - I'm pretty sure the VPR tripods work with the AX100... and they work with the RX's (and other Cybershots with MULTI)... the mystery is why the AVM1 adapter isn't working between the AV2 (native A/V plug on the old LANC Sony used to make) and the RX's....

I'll post if I figure this one out, since I've got several AV2's, as I'm sure most of us do, and would like to use 'em - they are small and handy, unlike the VPR's!

Yeah it's the low lux setting which drops to 1/30th shutter when there isn't enough light. I'm just curious why I wouldn't always use that in 4k mode given that it records 30fps in 4k mode anyways,....

The reason is that the AX100 needs to be treated and used as a motion picture camera. That's true even at 30p. So shutter speeds of 1/50th or 1/60th and almost NEVER EVER higher. That means constant use of an ND filter to keep the aperture from going higher than f/8 or f/11.

Apply all the cinema rules on shutter-speed (180 rule), keeping the aperture as constant as possible shot to shot (likely f/5.6), use shallow DOF to cover RS and motion judder, pan with a moving subject, don't shoot subjects moving the through the frame at any more than a walking speed, pan at the correct rate for the amount of zoom, and avoid zooms while shooting. And, of course, lock exposure and focus for every shot. In low-light add illumination not gain. Lastly, keep medium focal lengths to avoid CA.

It does look like a tripod will be needed for most shots -- which is a pain.

Nice job.

The Vimeo site only shows an "HD 1920x1080" file -- no 3840x2160 file which makes sense since I don't think Vimeo supports UHD. But, your info says you shot 4K. Did you upload FHD or UHD? In any case, the only download isn't UHD.

On YouTube there is a UHD version, but Downloading isn't enabled.

It would be nice to be able to download the UHD version.

Were you mostly shooting in Tele because there was a lot of very tiny jitter?

Thanks. You have to log in to Vimeo to access the original, non re-compressed UHD file that I uploaded, and you can download it if you log in (289 people have downloaded it). If you are not a Vimeo member, joining is free.

Many shots in tele, and only Standard OIS was used. To achieve best stability, you need to use Active mode for tele. The jury is still out on whether there is a visible reduction in video quality in that mode.

as a Vimeo member ..... you will see this:

http://666kb.com/i/cmz6rrd34eaonf5nq.jpg

Hans

Nice job.

The Vimeo site only shows an "HD 1920x1080" file -- no 3840x2160 file which makes sense since I don't think Vimeo supports UHD. But, your info says you shot 4K. Did you upload FHD or UHD? In any case, the only download isn't UHD.

On YouTube there is a UHD version, but Downloading isn't enabled.

It would be nice to be able to download the UHD version.


Steve, you need to be a Vimeo member to access Mark's 4K version. It is there.

Oops, see this was posted already.

Does data code work for the 4K files? It is something that does not yet work on my AX1 so would be interested to find out if it worked on the AX100.

Ron Evans

"Data code" meaning meaning shot settings display?

If that is what you mean than yes, the AX100 will display "gain", "shutter speed" and "iris" values on playback as well as recording. (something the Handycam CX760 and NXCAM NX30 dont do)

After a full day now with this camera and lot's of nerdy "pixel peeping", I'm starting to respect this low bitrate codec allot more than I originally did.

Despite it's very low numbers, it still seems to hold up remarkably well in the shadows. I cant say that it's as tough as the FS100's CODEC. The FS100 can survive pretty high amounts of grading and gamma curving, bending and stretching. If you push the AX100 beyond "light" grading, artifacts can start popping out of the woodwork. I do think it's "reasonable" though.

There seems to be an odd "grain" to the shadows in detailed patterns....even at 0db. There can also be some very very light "flecks" on some edges. This is all very slight and something you really need to look hard to see.

But this is really nothing when you consider that its only 60Mbp/s recorded onto common SD cards. It seems that Sony really did a great job with that AX100 encoder circuit. I never thought this was possible at 60Mbp/s.

I'm now starting to get a little bit "attached" to my AX100. So far so good. The only "ugly" cripple is that HDMI shut off trick. The thing records 4k,...sends a scaled image to monitor, sends a scaled image over WiFi but refuses to rout that same (already processed) video to the HDMI when the record button is pressed. I'm sorry Sony,...this trick is a real dirty one.

That crippling stunt aside,....I'm starting to love this camera!

Oh,..on rolling shutter:

30p with 1/60 and faster shutter = No "real" Jell-O to speak of.
30p with 1/30 shutter = Only "slight" amounts of Jell-O but easily manageable.
24p with 1/24 shutter = Potentially heavy Jell-O but can be managed if very careful.

I strongly suspect that Sony put allot of extra design hours into the camera. It certainly "feels" like it. It doesn't feel like the usual "crippled" Handycam at all. (HDMI shut off stunt aside)

I think we could all agree that for $2,000, Sony is giving us allot of camera.

Now,....If Sony would release firmware that would unlock the HDMI and add RX10 style, simple "contrast" and "saturation" +/- tweaks....Sony would then have a "perfect" camera to fight the GH4.


Just my $.02

CT

That is good to know but I should tell you both my CX700 and NX30U show full data code on playback by pressing data code button on the remote. Exposure control, white balance, gain, shutter speed, iris as well as date, time and GPS location. I assume you were referring to showing info during recording.

The data code button is on the AX1 but currently does nothing for playback but does show all info during recording just like the NX5U I have too !!! The promised update this summer is supposed to make these work as well as include AVCHD 2.0. We shall see !!!

Ron Evans

Yup,...during recording. I was always pissed that the CX760 didn't show "gain" during shooting. They gave it to you on playback but not when it was most important...during shooting. (I can imagine those engineers laughing with each other at the design meetings for those cameras) Who thought of that cripple? That was really an "outside the box" stunt.

I would LOVE to see a side by side, AX1 and AX100 low light shootout. What a great A/B test that would be!

Hmmm,...what will Sony add to this possible AX100 "pro" NXCAM model?

CT

Thanks. You have to log in to Vimeo to access the original,

I'm a member, but didn't notice I wasn't logged in.

Uploading original XAVC was brilliant!

The flowing water to my memory looked much better on Vimeo than it did at 4k on youtube. Did you notice that?

Folks shooing 4k on the Red feel that this is the best way to shoot FHD because the supersampling increases quality so much. David Taylor at Cineform confirms that 4k 420 can "become" 2k 422. No details yet.

David Taylor at Cineform confirms that 4k 420 can "become" 2k 422. No details yet.

I think the fact that by scaling to 2K the 4K 4:2:0 will have 4 times more colour information than a 2K 4:2:0 recording. There is of course 4 times more luminance too to scale to the 2K image and in my scaling from my AX1 it does produce a noticeably better image than shooting 2k. This shows up in face details of people who are small in the image. The noise too gets smaller so more acceptable. This is the same sort of response I got scaling HDV to SD years ago.

Using the Neat filter and then scaling produces a beautifully clean image. Downside is I think I need to upgrade to a supercomputer to do all this for anything more than a few seconds!!!


Ron Evans

I would LOVE to see a side by side, AX1 and AX100 low light shootout. What a great A/B test that would be!

Hmmm,...what will Sony add to this possible AX100 "pro" NXCAM model?

CT

I too would like to see that test. Did you compare to your NX30U that at least would give a guide. I know that in the theatre last week the AX1 and the CX700 were at the same settings for the dark scenes but with some light the CX700 was still about a stop faster than the AX1. NX30U should be about the same. The NX5U is more sensitive but noisier.

Ron Evans

Has anyone seen this video of the AX100's rolling shutter? Wow, it looks bad. It's only one video, and we have no idea what the settings were, but what do you think? Can any owners do some test shots to check on the skew?

Sony AX100 4K video camera – how much rolling shutter is too much? | EOSHD.com (http://www.eoshd.com/content/12307/sony-ax100-4k-video-camera-much-rolling-shutter-much)

SONY 4Kãƒ�ンディカãƒ* FDR-AX100 試ã�—撮りã�—ã�¦ã�¿ã�Ÿ1 - YouTube


This video may have already been posted, but I'm not scouring 47 pages to look for it.

Yes it was really bad, but good luck finding any other video that looked that bad. I guess if you have a rapidly moving train a few feet from your camera, or pan so quickly you'll nauseate your audience with or without RS, then for that person it may be an issue. That's why these guys that shake their cameras violently to detect RS, always amuse me. Who shoots like that??

So, since virtually every other video doesn't show this problem, certainly not to this extent, it's not a big issue IMO.

Has anyone seen this video of the AX100's rolling shutter? Wow, it looks bad. It's only one video, and we have no idea what the settings were, but what do you think? Can any owners do some test shots to check on the skew?

Sony AX100 4K video camera – how much rolling shutter is too much? | EOSHD.com (http://www.eoshd.com/content/12307/sony-ax100-4k-video-camera-much-rolling-shutter-much)

SONY 4Kãƒ�ンディカãƒ* FDR-AX100 試ã�—撮りã�—ã�¦ã�¿ã�Ÿ1 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDYxQ_kBrDA)


This video may have already been posted, but I'm not scouring 47 pages to look for it.

I saw that video too and I was very concerned by it at the time. Now that I own an AX100? Rolling shutter is nothing for me to worry about any longer. Im a serious pixel peeping nerd...the stuff I have shot myself is perfectly fine. Whew! No more fear of that.

Now...24p at 1/24 shutter?....you need to be careful with that. Its the only combination that will really roll on you. All other higher speeds are fine. 30p at 1/30 shutter is not bad and any faster shutter will not be an issue at all.

What do you use to increase the colours of a 4k video like film? Many people use Neatvideo but I don't like to use it. Some suggestions?

What do you use to increase the colours of a 4k video like film? Many people use Neatvideo but I don't like to use it. Some suggestions?

There is a Cinematone setting in the camera to do just that (more vivid colors, different gamma, more red for a film look). Here is a video comparing that mode to the regular one in a low-light setting. More comparisons are needed:

Sony FDR AX100 4K Test Video: Cinematone Comparison in Low Light on Vimeo

...Now,....If Sony would release firmware that would unlock the HDMI and add RX10 style, simple "contrast" and "saturation" +/- tweaks....Sony would then have a "perfect" camera to fight the GH4....

Speaking of the GH4, does Sony turn off the overlay displays after 10 seconds on the AX100 like the GH3 and maybe the GH4?

Seriously, adjusting the color is needed when matching up to other cameras. Are there no controls on the color? If not, it sounds like the VG cameras all over again.

Seriously, adjusting the color is needed when matching up to other cameras. Are there no controls on the color? If not, it sounds like the VG cameras all over again.

This is a consumer camcorder. Surely you would adjust to match other cameras in editing. I think if you want the fine paint controls then the FDR-AX1 or PXW-Z100 are the choices though I do not bother and match in editing for fine controls anyway clip to clip. In my use in the theatre with LED lighting ( which can vary color temperature ) the match can change based on set changes and where the camera is pointing rendering camera setup useless. I now set all my cameras to preset indoor when in the theatre and change in editing as needed. That way I can match colour balance and saturation with fine control and monitors.

Ron Evans