ot: FS100, new toy for me :)

paul_w wrote on 1/19/2012, 5:36 PM

Just wanted to share the happiness i am having with my new gift to myself, Sony FS-100 :) It arrived yesterday.

At last i can start using all my old Nikon glass via a new MTF Nikon->E mount adaptor. yay.

So far good points:
lots, extreamily good in low light, like mind blowingly good and low noise.
Compact.
battery life is probably a whole day's worth on one good battery.
Gazzilions of lenses and mounts to choose from - thats my main reason for purchase.
Real pro balanced XLR mic inputs, not DSLR mini jacks.
Audio metering.
full HDMI HD output, i read its 4:4:4 but not sure about that.
under and over cranking 1 fps to 50, soon to be 60 with a firmware update ( i have the PAL version).
Slow motion, ok its reduced resolution but its 4 x slower. Use at 50fps (or 60) and get full HD resolution at 2 x slower, yes, HD at half speed. Nice.
ohhh, loads of goodies.

Then the bad points:

No built in ND filters, not major, will use a matt box anyway.

Where is the variable GAIN control??? it does not have one, you get 3 settings low, medium and high - these can be preset but you need to go into the menu. DOH!

And the biggy, the images from this camera go yellow if you over expose or hit a highlight in the scene :(( YELLOW!! not white. Not impressed with that. And quite honestly may have even have been a deal breaker had i known about it before hand. That will take some getting used to. Someone tell me how to fix that please.

All in all though, this is brilliant camera so far. And if exposed correctly and with somemore experience, i think this is going to be a lot of fun. Its going on a tripod, and mainly for cinematic use like short films.

there: I wanted to share my initial thoughts. My new toy!

My antidote for bugs and moanings ive been having recently.

Paul.

Comments

amendegw wrote on 1/26/2012, 6:09 PM

Paul,

I must have missed this. 'cuz I almost always respond to these posts with - "let's see some footage."

I'd love to see some video - and get your initial impressions. One thing I'm particularly interested in is that oddball viewfinder.

...Jerry

paul_w wrote on 1/26/2012, 6:23 PM

Jerry! I hope you dont think i was aiming my comment at you in any way :) was just kidding about really saying i had no posts... hehe.. But thanks for replying! yay.

Ah, got to say - i love this cam... Not much footage yet though. Did a ton of tests just in the room here and so far only one test outside in the local park with the swans.
One of my dislikes was the yellowish colours when you get near to full exposure, like the sun. Well after some testing, glad to say this can be pretty much fixed using the correct picture profiles. I found the AbelCine 5DMK2 Technicolor profile works for me, its a wide dynamic range profile and grades wonderfully in post. And no yellow!
So that was a real result. Basically, the standard or "OFF" profile as they call it is terrible!

Will post some footage as soon as i am happy with the results and will edit something for Vimeo and post it here.

Paul.

amendegw wrote on 1/26/2012, 6:58 PM

"...so far only one test outside in the local park with the swans."One of the tests I'm hoping to do this weekend is "swans" - we can compare footage!

...Jerry

PeterDuke wrote on 1/26/2012, 9:46 PM

Come to Oz if you want some black swans!

Rory Cooper wrote on 1/27/2012, 1:28 AM

Good idea the black swans. That will help with that yellow over exposure thing. lol.

Paul glad you got that yellow thing sorted.

Enjoy and would love to see some clips.

NickHope wrote on 1/27/2012, 2:42 AM

What are you grading with Paul?

paul_w wrote on 1/27/2012, 4:21 AM

Black swans indeed! My very first impressions with the yellow issue was maybe i have to carry a tin of black paint around with me while shooting... :0)
Luckily, a bit of tweeking got it sorted.
Jerry, the view finder is a funny looking thing but works quite well. And its fully removable with clips. You can also tip it up and over without removing if you want to view the screen. Im using a sparate monitor at the side on the tripod so i actually dont use the viewfinder much. Well not yet, but should be good in the sun though.
Nick, using MagicBullet Looks and GenArts Sapphire for grading. And good old Vegas colour correction for other things. Bit of a combo really. But i really am not that good at colour correction and grading! Trying to learn how colour effects the mood of the scene and helps tell the story, i kinda get it but my brain is not wired that way... Any tips anyone?

Right - i will be getting some footage on line, decided to do that.

Paul.

paul_w wrote on 1/29/2012, 9:15 AM

Finally got something uploaded.
If you like swans and birds, I hope you like this.

http://vimeo.com/35833154Swan Lake[/link]

Paul.

megabit wrote on 1/29/2012, 9:20 AM

Paul, the link doesn't work for me!

Piotr

Oops, it's working now :)

paul_w wrote on 1/29/2012, 9:23 AM

sorry, trying to embed the video, but changed the link for now.

Paul.

amendegw wrote on 1/29/2012, 9:39 AM

"This ones for Jerry on the Sony forum :) "Ha! I love it! Really nice footage, despite the fact it was a rather gray day. I wish I could have got that close to "my swans".

I didn't see that you needed much (if any) stabilization. How much of that was tripod vs Handheld, and how much zoom were you using?

Also, I like the SloMo. Did you do that with a Velocity envelope, Twixtor, AviSynth?

I think you must be very happy with the FS100.
...Jerry

PS: I'm hoping to put some additional footage with more ducks & stuff over on by "Big Honkin'" thread - but it's taking a while.

paul_w wrote on 1/29/2012, 9:47 AM

Thanks Jerry, glad someone likes it! So this is the new rule now, new cameras must be demonstrated.. ha, good rule.
Its all tripod this time, i decided to leave out the hand held stuff which i did the other day, this new footage is fresh this morning. Learning that trying to pan and tilt while on telephoto is 'not easy'... Its not perfect but at least i got something.
All the slomo is in camera, over cranked to 50 fps (25p playback) and also the camera has a super slowmo mode, bursts of 3 seconds play as 12 second clips. So no twixtor and TL stretching.
Yeah, get some more footage up from your honkin' AC130, love it.

Paul.

JasonATL wrote on 1/30/2012, 7:14 AM

I'm tryiing to find the "Jealous" button (you know, similar to the "Like" button) for your thread and Jerry's. Enjoyed the swans video. Congrats on the new camera.

Thanks for reporting on this camera. It looks like it offers many of the great advantages of DSLR, without the disadvantages.I need to save my pennies.

paul_w wrote on 1/30/2012, 7:38 AM

Jason, you got me slightly embarrassed now :)) Sorry.

But thanks for your kind comments. If its helps at all, i had to work damned hard to get this. It was a decision between a car upgrade or new camera... cam won!

I put this out there really for anyone wanting to see ungraded raw footage from the camera in case anyone was thinking of getting one. When i was looking at these early on, i could not find any ungraded. Hope this helps.

Yes, i have now ditched DSLRs except for slider shots and ninja cams. Ive had way to many issues trying to make a 7D into a main rig. Mainly audio related issues with ground loops and monitoring. Sorted out in the end but the extra mess of isolators and cables just put me off.
I would say to anyone (lucky enough) who is in a position to move away from DSLRs for video is, do it. Ok for quick and dirty B cams, because they are so small without a rig, what a headache as a main rig. Too many bit and bobs to get it working. Shoulder rigs, follow focus, external sound recorder, EVF, monitor.. add it all up - you get a FS100! and its pretty small.

EDIT: i would add though that its probably not the right camera for everyone. Its a removable lens camera for a start. So if you want fast auto focus, I.S. and lots of zooming, you would need to also invest in a good lens to do that. The kit Sony lens (which i dont have) does not sound very good judging by reports.

Paul.

megabit wrote on 1/30/2012, 9:23 AM

" The kit Sony lens (which i dont have) does not sound very good judging by reports."

Paul, I hate to rain on your parade (I really feel happy for you having the new toy) - but you have made a big mistake passing the kit lens.

It may look silly (especially with those 2 tubes extending when you zoom), it's not very fast (and even worse, ramping like hell from F3.5 to F6.3) - but it's really a very good zoom lens! If you still have a chance, I'd replace the camera with the "K" (for kit) model - seriously!

Piotr

paul_w wrote on 1/30/2012, 9:47 AM

Its ok, for the extra £500 for the K package i was quite happy to put that money into another lens which suits my purposes better.
Its a heavy lens by all accounts, the af is very slow. And its like f3.5 at best. Not for me Piotr, i want fast lenses (primes), manual focus (dont need af) and light weight if possible. If i need zooms, i have another camera for that job.
We're all different with our camera needs, its ok to get the kit lens!, just not for me. But thanks anyway.

Paul.

Rory Cooper wrote on 1/30/2012, 10:00 AM

I do have the kit lens and it’s ok. I would not rave about it at all. For me personally they made a lens that tried to cover too many situations and got a mediocre lens.

You cannot pan and zoom with that lens. To pan you have to lock that lens back no zoom and then pan. It’s very slow and hard. When I first got it I hated it but got used to it.
A mate of mine sent his back same day. That lens is not for everyone.

paul_w wrote on 1/30/2012, 10:14 AM

If i can just add, there are EF to E mount adaptors being built as we speak. Birger are prototyping theirs although its taking ages to produce. There is also a new MetaBones adaptor which could be even better. Its out of stock due to high demand. These sounds promising and will allow the FS100 to use all our Canon EF L series Zooms and what have you. Then it really gets serious for AF and zoom users. And all electronically operated by the camera body or LANC controller. We shall wait and see :)

Paul.

megabit wrote on 1/30/2012, 10:17 AM

Paul,

Of course, I use primes as well with my FS100. But when it comes to run&gun, there simply is no zoom lens at the price point of the SEL18200 that would give you AF (not slow at all), AE and OIS (very efficient)...

Piotr

paul_w wrote on 1/30/2012, 10:27 AM

And there lays the difference, you use it for run and gun, i do not. Horses for courses as they sometimes say. :) But if its working for you, thats great. Not trying to tell anyone to buy or not to buy this lens. Maybe the reports on various forums are wrong, i have never actually tried one of these so who am i to say.

Paul.

farss wrote on 1/30/2012, 2:42 PM

Paul I agree with you, that kit lens that Sony supply with the FS100 and a couple of other cameras is an abomination.
It ramps nearly 3 stops, from f3.5 to f6.3

I've been thinking to use the FS100 for low light stage shoots so yesterday I did a seat of my pants shoot out between an EX1 and a FS100 at the long end of the lens. Much to my surprise the EX1 won and I'm pretty confident in saying a lot of that is due to the optics.
I thought it was a "reasonable" shoot out as the two cameras are around the same price now. I'm certain the FS100 would be a very different camera with a cine grade zoom lens on it but then I'd have a combo worth around $70K up against a $6K one.

The Birger mount I'd forget about, I thnk they were taking orders over a year ago and then stopped. We spent the money on a PL adaptor for the FS100. Might pay to investigate the Sony A series lenses, there's some very good and fast optics available from Sony / Zeiss at an affordable price.

Bob.

paul_w wrote on 1/30/2012, 3:26 PM

Really?, the EX1 won over the FS100 in low light? wow. That is a surprise. But as you say, it could be down to quality of glass. Dont know what you used on the 100 (the kit lens?) but im using all Nikons here with the MTF mount. Also a Samyang 35mm f1.4 prime - i absolutely love it (from ebay) and its not a fortune. Bob, this camera is almost like a night vision camera.. seriously good in low light. Better than a 5D in my opinion! With the right optics of course.
Wish i had the resources (read - money) to go the PL route. Very nice. Out of my range really, but i have also been thinking about Sony A range lenses, they do some great optics. Must check more...
Birger mount, no breath holding here, seems to be taking forever doesnt it.
Really looking forward to testing the MetaBones EF mount. Depends on build quality etc..

Paul.

larry-peter wrote on 1/30/2012, 5:18 PM

Beautiful footage. I'm envious of your S35 sensor. I love the footage I get from the Af100 with Nikon primes, but it's not a low-light camera at all. Much less than I expected from a 4/3. Hopefully, someone will have a reasonably priced servo zoom for these larger formats soon. In some ways I have liked not having that zoom button. You certainly have to think like a cinematographer again. Keep posting footage,

farss wrote on 1/31/2012, 1:24 AM

"Dont know what you used on the 100 (the kit lens?)"

Yes Paul, the kit lens.
Both cameras with the lens at maximum focal length. The kit lens on the FS100 is then at F6.3 and the EX1 at f1.9 which is very big difference in the amount of light reaching the sensor(s).

I could compensate by dialing in a lot of gain (18dB + ) on the FS100 but it still didn't look all as good as the EX1. I'm certain with better glass the FS100 will do much better.

I also had some spare time to get closer to the PMW 350 today, again only with the kit lens. Very yummie camera but with those 2/3" sensors and the lens wide open at max focal length the DOF is down to around 1mm. Not really the ideal camera either for low light stage shooting, not that I can afford the camera anyway....

Bob.