AX100 Firmware 3.0 is out today!!

[Mark Watson]

Yes, cards that worked before the v3 update will still work in 60Mbps mode.

For 100Mbps mode, I've been using a SanDisk Extreme PRO 95 MB/s 64GB SDXC I U3 card.

Mark

[Peter Siamidis]

Just did my first shoot today with the new firmware, but on my end I didn't notice any difference with auto focus. It still sometimes gets confused and hunts alas, but I guess that's the nature of the beast with auto focus.

[Derrick Mau]

Hi gang,

But what about the video quality?
Can you see a difference now that you are shooting at 100 bits?

[Derrick Mau]

Just ordered a new UH-3 San Disk. While waiting, I tried setting the REC mode to 100Mbps using my current UH-1 disk and it worked!
But, a window appeared saying: Cannot record still images when set to 4k 100Mbps

This is the current UH-1 disk I'm using:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Did a few sample test shots in 60Mbps and 100Mbps and played back the footage direct from my camera to my new SamSung Ultra 4k TV.

Image quality to my eyes was slightly sharper, but you'd have to look really good.
If you're uploading to YouTube, I doubt that you'll be able to see it once they compress it.
I'll try this later.

[Derrick Mau]

Just shot some video in 60bit and in 100bit to compare.
Here's is a link to the video:

Sony FDR-AX100 Update Version Bitrate Test - YouTube

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Derrick Mau

Hi gang,

But what about the video quality?
Can you see a difference now that you are shooting at 100 bits?

Derrick - theory aside, I can share with you my experience when after having used my EX1 for some time (1080p 4:2:0 @ 35 Mbps), I saw the 100 Mbps (and higher) 4:2:2 recordings of the same scenes (simultaneous recording) from my nanoFlash. The nanoFlash gave me 4:2:2 color resolution which was clearly visible (much nicer) on a large plasma screen; the XAVC-S codec of the AX100 is only 4:2:0 even at 100 Mbps but the bitrate difference *alone* is worth every penny! (I'm using my EX1->nanoFlash analogy as I don't yet have the AX100, or any 4k camera for that matter).

Just think about it this way: divide v2 60 Mbps by 4 (as 4k is four times the resolution of HD) - you get just 15 Mbps. With v3, at 100 Mbps, it's as if you recorded HD at 25 Mbps. Now think: 15 Mbps is a bare minimum for 4:2:0 1080p, while 25 Mbps is already what we're putting on Blu Ray disks - this tells a lot about the difference in PQ you're concerned about...

[Noa Put]

The major difference between 60 and 100mbs you will start to see on high detailed moving shots, there will be less macroblocking but I"m sure if you let 100 people look at a 60 vs 100mbs recording with the ax100 no-one will notice the difference.

[Peter Siamidis]

Originally Posted by Derrick Mau

But what about the video quality?
Can you see a difference now that you are shooting at 100 bits?

I mostly see a difference during editing when the camera pans, you can see the 60mbps codec breakdown more during that. But when watching footage normally on a tv I find it personally tough to spot the difference between 60mbps and 100mbps in the typical indoor scenarios I film, although I'm sure there's a torture test example out there like filming water with many trees on a windy day, etc, that would demonstrate more of a difference.

[Mark Watson]

Here's a test I did of the 60/100Mbps modes.

FDR-AX100 Test - 60Mbps vs 100Mbps on Vimeo

I can't tell the difference with static scenes. I am on travel and couldn't bring a proper video fluid head, so I didn't do any panning shots, nor any scenes with branches, etc., just some props provided by the hotel. I did expect some differences to come out after doing some video effects to the footage in Vegas Pro, but I didn't see any differences there either.

Be sure to click on the HD icon for higher quality video. Shot in 4K, rendered to HD.

Mark

[Wacharapong Chiowanich]

I suspect if any difference there is it would be minute to the point further re-encoding or re-compression e.g. YouTube posting or down scaling would likely make it unnoticeable. For instance, in the YouTube video posted by Derrick Mau above, I saw no difference. However, since the scenes are mostly static there might be something we could tell if some fast subject or camera movement had been included.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

In the scenario where people only use 4k picture to pan&scan for the right 1920x1080 fragment to use in their 1080p projects, I'm more than positive you will see a difference - especially with grass, tree foliage and alike.

[Filippo Mulinacci]

Originally Posted by Mark Watson

Here's a test I did of the 60/100Mbps modes.

FDR-AX100 Test - 60Mbps vs 100Mbps on Vimeo

I can't tell the difference with static scenes. I am on travel and couldn't bring a proper video fluid head, so I didn't do any panning shots, nor any scenes with branches, etc., just some props provided by the hotel. I did expect some differences to come out after doing some video effects to the footage in Vegas Pro, but I didn't see any differences there either.

Be sure to click on the HD icon for higher quality video. Shot in 4K, rendered to HD.

Mark

Thanks Mark. Unfortunately the rendering to 1080p, together with the use of "mostly static" footage makes very difficult to spot any difference between 60Mbit and 100Mbit. May I suggest you shoot more "normal" footage and to uploade the 4K "RAW data " to Vimeo?

[Noa Put]

What I do want to know is if the higher bitrate has any effect on the noise this camera produces, something I plan on testing today since I have the camera.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

What I do want to know is if the higher bitrate has any effect on the noise this camera produces, something I plan on testing today since I have the camera.

As far as noise is concerned, be prepared for actual increase of its "definition" in higher bitrate; more compression=good denoising filter...

[Mark Watson]

Originally Posted by Filippo Mulinacci

Thanks Mark. Unfortunately the rendering to 1080p, together with the use of "mostly static" footage makes very difficult to spot any difference between 60Mbit and 100Mbit. May I suggest you shoot more "normal" footage and to uploade the 4K "RAW data " to Vimeo?

I can do that once I get back from my trip. Will try to have it posted by next weekend. Scenes with motion, some panning/slider shots, shots with lots of detail.

Mark