Comments

logiquem wrote on 11/5/2010, 11:41 AM
Very, very estheticaly seductive product!

From what I have seen in the local Photo show, the focus was rather slow (like with other nex cameras) and the image was surprisingly noisy in low light.

Given that you don't have XLR and motorised focus, I see no real world advantages over a Pana GH2 (other than sound monitoring).

Bastien
Bill Ravens wrote on 11/5/2010, 12:19 PM
I can share my experiences with this camera, having had one since its release. Disclaimer: these are my experiences and opinions. I'm sure others will take issue, however, I can't speak to your experiences.

The camera build quality is consistent with a Sony Handicam. Unfortunately, the tripod socket is very weak, so, if you try to attach it to a tripod, it will flex in the mount, especially if you try to use a follow focus. The zoom ring is quite stiff when the camera is new, but "loosens" slightly after use. After disassembly of the baseplate, I was able to epoxy the tripod socket in place so that it is barely useable, now. All in all, I'm surprised that a $2000 camera has a tripod socket design this weak.

The color rendition, on this, camera, is stunningly gorgeous. The picture quality is very nice, especially with the DOF bokeh.

In the area of picture resolution, I've run the camera with a Nanoflash connected to the HDMI output. I see the same aliasing artifacts on the native AVCHD as on the nanoflash mxf files. This tells me that, while the AVCHD compression codec is being applied after the HDMI output, the image sensor is performing some downscaling of the "raw" image before passing the signal on to the HDMI port. Since the native imager is about 2G, it has to be downscaled to 1920x1080 before recording. Sony accomplishes this task by line skipping out of the image sensor. The net result is a fairly unpleasant line twitter on horizontal edges in the image.

Another real disadvantage is that the camera controls are "hidden" behind the LCD monitor, which is quite inconvenient if your'e outside, using the EVF, and you need to make a camera adjustment. The MENU system is somewhat tedious to use, not nearly as convenient as the alpha camera series.

Bottom line, for me, this is a pretty nice little camera to carry around for "snapshots". It takes beautiful images if you're willing to fiddle with the idiosyncracies of the design. I have a slew of Canon HD 35mm lenses and they work very well via an adapter I got on Ebay. Manual zoom is like the days of old, and setting aperture priority works well with 3rd party lenses.
A. Grandt wrote on 11/5/2010, 4:31 PM
I wonder how the "prosumer" version of this camera will be. Imho Sony can not have this good a sensor (artefacts aside), exchangeable lenses and DOF in a high-end consumer level camera, and leave the prosumer range with their current 1/3" sensors.
CClub wrote on 11/5/2010, 8:33 PM
I've been researching info on the VG10 over the past week, and it seems to have great footage on Vimeo, etc. It's too bad that they're not including 24p on the VG10 just as an option for those interested, as I'd love to purchase the upcoming prosumer version (due in "early 2011") and have the VG10 work hand-in-hand for a 24p workflow. I'm considering purchasing them both to work together regardless for the amazing 30p/DoF, but I don't understand if they don't eventually add the 24p as a firmware update to the VG10. I definitely understand the significant number of those who abhor 24p, but it'd still be nice as an option for the 24p crowd.
A. Grandt wrote on 11/6/2010, 4:38 AM
Do you have any info on the upcoming prosumer version? Or is it limited to the 1H2011 time frame for now?
Rory Cooper wrote on 11/7/2010, 6:00 AM
I bought one two weeks ago and used it on a stage shoot with low lighting and was very happy with it.
I liked the quick action between automatic focus and manual focus and the gain, wb setting was one click. On some stage shoots, they do 3 runs of the same sequence, where you can go and be selective of the shots that you want to do. But on this shoot, it was rehearsals and there were stage hands all around so I had to avoid them and get the shots that I wanted. I used the audio from the shoot and was very happy with the quality. What took a while to get used to was the focus and the zoom, as I normally use a zoom controller. With this, I had to do everything manually between the zooming and the focus. The lens must have some stabilizing system in in as the hand held shots were quite smooth. It is a lot easier on the timeline to edit compared to the Canon AVCHD stuff. I did some vox pops on Friday evening and I will edit them on Monday and will check what the audio is like. Otherwise I am planning some food and bird shots close ups. I took it with the standard lens and did not get the wide angle lens and the fish eye lens as these were not really necessary. For R 21000, the camera was worth it.
THe dof range I got from the lens was between about 30 m (for e.g. something 30 metres away and focusing on it and to pulling a focus up to 500 cms from the screen. THe action is really soft and smooth on the lens.
I can post some stuff for you to have a look at. When I upload stuff, I drop the res as it takes too long to upload.
Normally I would set up a rig with a follow focus but with this camera you just shoot as it is and change your lenses without the rig and the follow focus. It is a lot easier.

http://www.eventfilmmaker.com/entry.php/10-Moments-In-Chiaroscuro-The-Sony-NEX-VG10-A-Wedding-Filmmaker-s-Perspective?blogtextid=94

Rory