Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Any 3840x2160 XAVC-S clips on line to download and check my Vegas playback capabilities?

Thanks

Piotr

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Here is a shot of some Canada Geese https://mega.co.nz/#!1ZFmXCrS!N65xUj...k1ydSX4-iSbQhI

Ron Evans

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Thanks Ron,

The details is incredible - even on my 1080p 50" plasma, when watching from some 1 m distance.

The playback in Vegas Pro 12 though... Well, according to waht has been said, time for a graphics card monster (and some better support from Sony).

Piotr

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

The detail is there for sure and of course means focus is even more critical because the difference is very obvious if not in focus and then in focus !!! As with the NX5U the auto focus will get the scene in focus but will just drift or hunt a little so left in auto focus is not a good idea as the changes are too obvious. I use the same technique as for the NX5U stay in manual and use auto to get in range and then expanded focus and peaking to get closer. With only 2x expanded like the NX5U I do not think it is enough magnification for 4K. The LCD is also a little too small for visual focusing and I think I may get a larger monitor !!! I did a tracking crop 1920x1080 of the geese in Vegas that worked just great which is what I wanted the FDR-AX1 to be able to do rather than edit in 4K.

On my PC ( i7 3770, 16G RAM, GTX560 Win7 64 about 5T on 5 discs ) I cannot get Vegas 12 to play at source frame rate. Edius Pro7 will play at frame rate with buffer hovering on empty !! I will need a faster PC !! My main editor is Edius so GPU will not help as it does not use the GPU for normal editing just need more cores/speed.

Ron Evans

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Alister hope this isn’t to dumb a question or the inappropriate forum thread to post the question in but are you aware of any potential to playback 4K video content directly through the Sony Ultra 4K TV’s USB slot? I was in the Sony Style store the other day and asked the salesmen if I could directly view my own 4K content shot on Sony FS700 (it has the 4K upgrade firmware installed) or the FDR-AX1 directly on the Sony XBR-65X850A 4K TV? He said yes I could all I needed to do is put the content in a certain format and then select it on the Sony TV’s USB menu.

Since it’s pretty easy but pricey to get a 512GB USB 3.0 thumb drive (DataTraveler® HyperX® Predator 3.0 USB Flash drive)
Kingston Digital Ships Its Fastest, World?s Largest-Capacity USB 3.0 Flash Drive | Kingston Technology
I was thinking I could get about 56 minutes (150Mbps) of 4K content on the USB so I could display things like a pilot 4K lifestyle TV show (30 minute) to potential clients (advertisers).

I looked on page 206 of the Sony Brava i-Manual
https://docs.sony.com/release/XBR-X900A_imanual_EN.pdf

That describes all the supported Video Codecs supported through the USB connection on their 4K Ultra TV but didn’t see any mention of a 4K codec. It sure would be cool if Sony could add some 4K Video Codec support viewable through the USB connector. While they’re at it they should make it a USB 3.0 compatible connector.

The only way I could see to play personal 4K content directly on any of the Sony 4K TV’s was by uploading the data directly on to the Sony 4K Ultra HD Media Player FMP-X1 through its USB port and then watching the content using the Sony Media Player through the 4K HDMI 2.0 connector. However I wonder what format I would need to generate from Adobe PP CS6 to get my 4K content recognized by one of the supported Sony 4K video codecs so it would play correctly from the FMP-X1.

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

I have tried many times to play back content from a thumb drive on most of the different Sony 4K bravias and failed. I don't believe 4K playback from USB is supported at this time.

I have come across some Chinese Android based media players (Measy B4K, approx $80 USD) that claim to play back 4K H264 clips over HDMI 1.4. This is technically possible, but only 8 bit and only up to 30fps. I have one on order but it has not arrived yet. I also have one of the latest top of the line 15" MacBook Pro retina laptops and this can also play back 4K over HDMI at up to 30fps. (have to set the display frequency to 24 or 30Hz).

I think the FMP-X1 supports H264 at up to 300Mb/s. I've supplied 4K H264 clips to Sony for use on the X1 at around 260Mb/s before now.

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

According to the published data in the BRAVIA i-Manual ( the XBR-65X900A/55X900A version) their section on supported video codecs agrees with you 100%. They don’t mention any 4K video codec support currently. However we can always hope they will add it!

The part you said about supplying Sony with 4K H264 clips for playback on their X1 is interesting. I wonder if they had to manipulate the clip in anyway or if it just loaded up on the X1 and played just the way you sent it to them?

That's really interesting information about the X1 potentially being able to support 4K H264 at up to 300Mb/s. I should try and load a 4K H264 clip on to the X1 media server at the Sony Style store via its USB interface. Once it's on the X1 hard drive then it would be interesting to see if it can be seen on the X1's directory!

Sony FDR-AX1 4K - Zebra set-up
 

As a first time Sony Cam user and a stills photographer rather then videographer, could someone help me with the zebra function of the AX-1? I am only used to one setting with my previous Canon XH-A1 and this has the option for two at once:
Zebra1 at 50 to 107%
Zebra1 Aperture Level at 1 to 20%
Zebra2 Level at 52 to 109% (that probably makes three) ??

What do these mean, different levels within the scene I guess? Zebra Aperture Level?

Many thanks:)
Robert

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

I think most would set Zebra 1 for faces in the 75% range and the aperture control is the tolerance on the value. Zebra 2 may be 100% knowing that the FDR-AX1 will record super white at 109 so if you are only just getting 100% there is still some detail that can be restored in post. With both set you can see face exposure and highlights. That is how I have mine set Zebra 1 75, Zebra 2 90 with aperture at 5%. The Zebra 1 appear at 70 and disappear at 80. Zebra 2 appear at 90 and stay above that. I only have one zebra on the NX5U and have it set at 80 %. That is my understanding anyway !!

Ron Evans

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Just got this camera as a cheap b-cam for our RED EPIC and 1DC, when we need to grab quick interviews on location. We do a lot of action sports. Due to unusual rainy weather here in Norway mid winter we haven't tried it out properly just yet. I knew it would be bad in low light (and we have other cameras for those situations) and we will use it mostly outdoors so we should be ok.
A bit disappointed about the no hard stops on the focus, but can live with that for the price. Otherwise it seems well spec'd for a consumer camera.

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Used our camera for 2 weeks on a shoot in Kamchatka, Russia and my only gripe with the camera so far is the useless manual focus ring. It's back to the days of my XL-H1. It's a close to useless as anything can be. I never use autofocus on cameras, but the AX1 really forced me to do just that

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

As I mentioned in my previous post. I use manual focus but use the push focus auto feature to get in range and then check with the expanded focus with the focus ring. It's not very good I agree. I leave peaking on all the time now just to get a check for if I am totally out of focus !!! I think a bigger monitor and larger than 2x expended is needed for 4K.

Ron Evans

Re: New! Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam!
 

Does anyone know if you can buy a wide angle lens adapter for the Sony FDR-AX1 4K camera? I currently have a Canon XF300 with a wide angle lens converter (WA-H82). I'm tempted to buy the Sony 4K camera but would need to be able to have a wider angle when shooting.