EA 50 a dark horse?

[Randy Johnson]

Is it possible that the EA 50 is a dark horse? Its been out for a couple years now. When it came out I thought this camera would be the first of many shoulder mount DSLRs or a least a new version with some of the things the EA50 lacks. I dont even see any new lens support anymore. do you think what we have will be all we ever have?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

What do you want that it doesn't have. I find it very hard to fault it and using manual lenses is no big deal. Sony lenses are at crazy prices anyway so I would much rather have awesome third party lenses and use them in manual ..never had a wedding issue in manual even with the Sigma 18-35 F1.8

Coming from my HMC Panasonics I found the Sony had so much more feature wise anyway!! The Panny's like the 150's had terrible EVF's ..so tiny so moving to a loupe on the LCD was absolute magic for me.

Make a list of what you think is missing and why you need it and maybe someone from Sony will take a hint?

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

If Sony release an EA-60 with built-in ND filters, I'll be throwing my money at them.

Other than that, I don't think the camera could be improved much. Maybe a better sensor?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

Did you sort out your adapter BTW?? What would be really good would be to be able to choose 3 models..The Sony Lens mount as it stands, a Nikon lens mount with full communication (Randy would like that!) and a Canon mount ...no adapters at all just buy the EA-50N or EA-50C depending on what your still lenses are!

If they put in a better sensor then it would clash with the FS100 so that won't happen! I would like to find a zoom that stays at F1.8 and has a slightly longer range than the Sigma 18-35 but for my budget that wouldn't happen. I am tending to not use the stock lens at all now at wedding receptions but just the 18-35 and seldom need a light too!! I need to find something like an 18-70 mm zoom now that is at least a constant F2.8 for Church and inside shoots.

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Jody

Did you sort out your adapter BTW??

Well, the error messages that pop up in Auto Iris mode still occur, so I can only really use it in manual mode during shoots. I tend to rely on the auto iris quite a bit for sports event and other fast-paced shoots, so I'm having to change my shooting style. It's a bit of extra mucking around, so I'm regretting paying as much as I did for the adapter when I could have got a "dumb" adapter for half the price.

Aside from that, I'm loving the Sigma 18-35 f1.8... fantastic lens! Although as you said, a bit more zoom would be nice at f1.8!

[Randy Johnson]

Well for one is a ND filter, The guy from Sony at a interview before the camera was released even said that a ND filter would come in s future release, That was 2 years ago. I know you have great luck with manual but I need Auto Focus with this HD camera in particular. Mainly because the viewfinder doesnt have a sharpness mode like the HMC150 had. The main thing that disturbs me is I just dont see any new NEX lenses coming out for the EA50 the 18-105 at f4 was a a good step in the right direction but thats pretty much the last lens that has been released for it that I know of.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

You have to be kidding surely? The HMC 150 has a terrible EVF and it's so tiny (I think 0.5") that I really can't see it being used for focus. You don't need the EA-50 screen to focus anyway ..trust the peaking ..it's more accurate than your eyes!! Just set it on yellow and medium level and your focus worries are over!

With AF at weddings the stock lens doesn't focus very well and I have often had to scrap footage especially during guest interviews. I use the Sigma and preset the lens to 2.5' and 9 times out of 10 I'm in focus ...my peaking is on all the time. I have a soccer match to shoot on Sunday and that will be on AF with the stock lens but in bright sun there is no issues!!

Hmmm ND filters ...I don't use them cos I don't have to! Ok in bright sun I cannot achieve a shallow DOF but I really don't want to shoot romantic footage in bright sunshine anyway!!! There is no issue with image degradation like the 150 ...On the Sony you can shoot at F16 and 1/600th shutter and the picture is still good!!! If you need ND's for depth of field or motion freeze issues then a variable ND is much better than internal switchable ND's anyway ... I liked the auto ND's in my HMC80's but the ones on the AC130's used to put a flash on the footage when you switched them in!!

Chris

[Randy Johnson]

the HMC 150 has a EVF detail button under the viewfinder that makes it very sharp and easy to focus. I admit I cannot focus well without it. I will try yellow on the focus assist mine is set to red I guess I do need to add that all the after market lenses I have used are "used" So maybe I need to try a "new" one. I think its good to talk like this from time to time because there are things I may have missed BUT it does seem like theres not a lot of Sony NEX lenses coming out.

[Anthony Lelli]

the ea50 was intentionally limited from the very start (for marketing purposes, which means money). For example: do we really believe that at Sony's don't know how to build a servo zoom that doesn't jerk? Of course they know. The other problem is the poor low light: again other models seem to do much better so again do we believe that at Sony's don't know how to process a sensor? Of course they know. (they MAKE the sensor by the way). So let's take it for what it is: a good camera for the price and sony's marketing placement. the thing is that we must measure if the intentional limitations are good enough for what we do.

[Michael Spanheimer]

Originally Posted by Anthony Lelli

the ea50 was intentionally limited from the very start (for marketing purposes, which means money). For example: do we really believe that at Sony's don't know how to build a servo zoom that doesn't jerk? Of course they know. The other problem is the poor low light: again other models seem to do much better so again do we believe that at Sony's don't know how to process a sensor? Of course they know. (they MAKE the sensor by the way). So let's take it for what it is: a good camera for the price and sony's marketing placement. the thing is that we must measure if the intentional limitations are good enough for what we do.

This sounds very reasonable. (Thats problaby also the reason why it has no SDI output - No need for FBas IMHO...)
Honestly, my only concern on the EA50 is simply the lowlight factor. I shoot a lot of concerts and need something like the stock lens (incl. live zooming). Often I have to use gains above 15db.
If the SELP18105 wouldnt just have f4 I would take it at once. I Still didnt find an affordable alternative.

[Mark Ahrens]

My biggest gripe is the lame exposure control. The gain/iso settings locked through the menu at 3 positions is ridiculous in a $3,000 camera.
Other than that, (and the lens) i really like it.

[Randy Johnson]

I guess I would have liked to see a few things in future versions. 1. ND filter 2. Since the camera isnt great in low light id like to ability to control all the levels of gain through a wheel 3. A second card slot. I would have like to see a couple lenses from Sony for it like a 28-75 @ 2.8 and a 80-200 @ 2.8 but I havent seen a new lens for the NEX in a long time if I am right and it is a one of a kind camera we may actually see even the current lenses discontinued in the next year or so.

[Chris Harding]

I don't have an issue with the ISO ... The fact that you can use manual everything selectively and leave gain/iso on auto BUT limit it to 21db seems fine .. I have been running gain at 24db but the image is a bit noisy on the stock lens. If you controlled ISO manually all you would do is rotate the wheel until you got enough light without any noise which is really the same thing as letting the camera do it for you as long as you limit the gain.

At least be thankful you have a camera you can change lenses..these were my first with interchangeable lenses so I was like a kid with a new toy. Fixed lenses are convenient but there are huge advantages to using other lenses.

After having Panasonic AC-130's before my EA-50's I don't mind manual operation..the Panny forced me to get used to it as their AF was worse than useless ...people that use the 130 or 160 always use it in full manual anyway. I think having a built-in SS drive is nicer than a dual slot .... even adding the FMU to the price it's still a good value for money camera.

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

I don't have an issue with the gain either. I limit it to 18dB and set it to auto. On the odd occasion where I need to select the gain, the 3-position switch does the job.

As for a 2nd SD card slot - this is something I would really like to have. I don't trust SD cards (or any kind of flash memory). I understand that Sony left out the 2nd SD card slot to try and sell their FMU, but it's way too expensive ($1200+ NZD). A 128GB SSD (same sort of memory as the FMU) is around $100. Why is Sony's version so much more expensive? Someone's making a decent profit.

[Chris Harding]

Hey Jody

Call it security ...it's probably safer than a 2nd card slots as you COULD have two bum cards??

GMP is New Zealand have the FMU for NZ$704.00

Sony HXR-FMU128 Flash Memory Unit

I really only need it for wedding ceremonies and speeches that cannot be repeated so only need one for now! I just need to get thru the quiet months here then I might just get one for peace of mind more than anything else. You could also use an Atmos recorder BUT then you have to remember to push record on it too! As long as the camera is set up for dual recording the FMU kicks in automatically!!

I find that in a pinch I can get away with 24db on the camera but I rather stay with 21db gain max ....I have yet to see any noticeable noise at 21db ....so do you use 18db max for any reason???

Chris