Sony FX3 pre-amps. Not bad.
 

I was messing with my Sony FX3 to see how good the mic preamps sound and I liked it so here it is. The B camera was a Blackmagic 6k Pro and in a side to side comparison I thought the Sony had better color. I simple couldn't get the shirt to look black with the BM6K, it had a red tint.

Re: Sony FX3 pre-amps. Not bad.
 

Sounds great! I believe the FX3 has the same preamps as the A7Siii so I'm not surprised. The old hangover reputation that DSLR and mirrorless camera preamps are NG date back to the old Canon 5D Mk ii and iii days. That reputation was largely justified back then. Gerald Undone has put most of the myth to bed that Sony's current preamps are not good. They are fine for 95% of my work for sure.

The BM cameras sadly tend to suffer near IR (Infra-Red) contamination in their blacks on certain black materials and surfaces. A bit like the original Sony EX1/3 cameras did. Tiffen even went as far as to market a 77mm IR block filter for those cameras to overcome IR contamination.

Chris Young

Re: Sony FX3 pre-amps. Not bad.
 

Thanks Chris!

One of the differences between the A7iii and the FX3 is the FX3 can record 24 bit audio using the XLR attachment. The A7iii records 16 bit. I also experimented using some of my favorite preamps and running them into the XLR’S set to line input and the results were pretty decent. The only weakness is the FX3 converters but they’re certainly acceptable. A digital input would be a game changer. The camera preamps using XLR are dead quiet which is surprising for camera audio.

You’re right in regards to the IR contamination on the BM which I’ve noticed mostly when using the ND filters. In the above video I didn’t use the filters and there was still a red shift that I couldn’t get rid of in Davinci. That said, the BM is a phenomenal “glory shot’ camera in good light but in low light there’s no contest, it’s the FX3 my a mile.

Re: Sony FX3 pre-amps. Not bad.
 

Sorry, Duane.

I should have been a bit clearer here. I know Gerald's test on the preamps is on the A7iii but I'm led to believe the A7iii, A7Siii and the FX3 run the same preamps. A7Siii like your FX3 are both 24-bit. I've had little problem with camera input recordings on most of the later Sonys. For most jobs, their preamps are more than adequate for my corporate and broadcast jobs.

Chris Young

Re: Sony FX3 pre-amps. Not bad.
 

Not sure how the A7iii works but the FX3 defaults to 16 bit when the XLR shoe is removed and there's no option to select 24 bit. When the shoe is attached you can record either 16 or 24 bit.