Sony FX5

[MrSMW]

Let the chat commence…

 

[pat]

nostalgic for the ergonomics of camcorders ;-)

[ND64]

It's the best compact cine camera in the market, for NOW. But I'm not sure it can hold that position for long. Maybe they know this and keeping some features unavailable today to be unlocked at 2027. Firmware update these days are more a marketing policy (our product still competes) than an engineering challenge. I mean 4k240 is not some issue in the code you want to resolve. Its a switch. 

[Benjamin Hilton]

This is a beast of a camera for sure, but man, almost $5K??? I mean, I get it, it's almost a cinema camera, but no internal ND, SDI etc....

I guess I'm just grateful you can pick up a used A7SIII for around 2K and get basically the same image at the end of the pipeline. Or even an old F5 at $1k for that matter... It's funny because I'm at the stage in my career where I can kind of choose to shoot with whatever cameras we want within reason. More often than not though, I end up going with older cameras because we get basically the same image at end of the pipeline, and they are like 10x cheaper. The budget saved can be invested into cooler on camera stuff. Spoiled for choice I guess

[Trankilstef]

I've been away from the camera world and stuff for quite some time, I have dabbled a bit with AI and making a good living out of it directing hybrid and 100% AI commercials but I want to own a small cinema camera again, for some projects I have in mind. This may be one of the strongest contenders and it comes right when I enter the market again to find which one I may be interested in.

[MrSMW]

I dip in from time to time what is happening in e Mount land because I am envious of the lens line up.

L Mount is decent, but it’s got holes for me that I want filling and I am always doing a slight workaround, but with e Mount, it’s easy.

Easy albeit, at a higher price point.

The FX5 from what I can see is an ‘FX3.2’ isn’t it? At twice the price you can score a brand new, UK stock, FX3a, the one with the better rear LCD.

What has the FX5 got that would tempt me over that?

Nothing that I can see and I could pick up an FX3a AND a pair of FX30’s for the same price as a single shiny new FX5.

Not that it’s all about the money, but also is.

I need 3 video units and a single photo (assuming zoom for the latter) so chuck an A7RV (that I used to own) into the pot regarding the latter. Also used.

But that has nothing to do with the FX5.

Not really sure if it’s a 5k camera…

[mtol]

I'm thinking of getting one in part because of how the FX3 has held its value and how long this may be an 'industry standard' for, whereas other cameras from that era now sell for a third of the MSRP.

There are some minor annoyances - like the inability to use the EVF and XLR handle simultaneously (c'mon), and like the 32 bit audio requiring the handle. 

But there are also some standout features... Shooting raw footage that is similarly sized to H.265 seems amazing. 5k is a sweet spot for resolution and the image quality of the FX3 never really impressed me. The form factor is a proven work horse and ergonomics are worth a premium.

But compared to the competition, it looks a little less sweet. For slightly more money there's the Pyxis 12k... An S1ii is really similarly featured for way less money, though its unclear if Panasonic will ever produce a S1Hii that resolves some of the S1ii issues. The Nikon zR, file sizes aside, is a way more compelling camera for its price. What Sony has working for it is adoption by industry, many accessories, lens options. 

It's a tough call.