Sony 4K FDR-AX100 Camcorder - $2000

[Tim Tyler]

Sony has announced what appears to be a very cool little 4K camcorder with a large-ish sized sensor and a fixed Zeiss lens for just $2000.

 

The 4.2.0 8-bit compression is obviously the weak link in this product, however it's not a deal breaker. This affordable camcorder puts 4K acquisition into the hands of amateur filmmakers, and since the codec will not allow for much post correction, the cinematographer is forced to strive for a finished look in-camera.

 

• Capture 4K at 24p and 30p, 1920x1080/60p, 30p, 24p
• 1" Exmor R® CMOS sensor with direct pixel readout
• 14MP video and 20MP still image capture
• XAVC-S, AVCHD and MP4 codecs
• Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar T* lens with 12x optical zoom and optical stabilization
• 4K Recording using H.264/MPEG-4 XAVC codec 4.2.0 8-bit
• Built in ND filters
• Manual Exposure Assist : Zebra Pattern Display
• Manual gain, iris, focus, white balance and audio levels

 

http://store.sony.com/4k-camcorder-with-1-sensor-zid27-FDRAX100/B/cat-27-catid-All-Handycam-Camcorders

[Freya Black]

I wrote an article about this:

 

http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/1380-4k-handycam-with-sony-nightshot

 

The big feature for me is Sony Nightshot which has become quite scarce on cameras recently, which is ironic as it seemed to vanish about the same time it became fashionable.

 

Will be interesting to see what 4K infrared looks like!

 

Freya

[Adrian Sierkowski]

4K night shot would be really interesting.

[David Mullen ASC]

I'd rather have a good 2K or 3K camera that was 10-bit or 12-bit 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 with log gamma and reasonable compression rather than another highly compressed 8-bit 4:2:0 camera with Rec.709 gamma, more resolution isn't going to help get you better dynamic range.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I can see this fitting into certain situations-- most of them as a way to create content on the cheap for the new UHD tvs they're pushing on us. And probably going to wind up going out where you normally use a prosumer camera as such-- reality tv, documentary, ect.

 

You should have a look at the rumored new 4K Lumix camera from Panasonic. May well be 10bit- though still compressed.

[Freya Black]

As I say in my article, I can imagine it getting used for filming foxes and badgers at night. ;)

 

Also I can see it being used in Paranormal Activity 9.

 

I think it might also get used in other cheap TV type applications as you suggest Adrian.

 

I think it's good that it doesn't have log or raw etc etc, as it should make it look a bit different to all the cinema video kicking about. It's already the case that cheap TV dramas don't look much different nowadays to big movies shot on the Alexa. They all look Alexa-y and while it does mean the cheap TV dramas look nicer it also means the cinema stuff doesn't seem all that special. Some of the soaps in the UK are already shot on the Alexa. It is fast becoming Alexa with everything. If reality tv and such things have a different look then that might be a good thing. Perhaps some people will even come to see 8bit stuff as being more real and gritty. lol!

 

Freya

[Adrian Sierkowski]

When i was asked about (on a fb group) what I think of the thing, I see it going into a lot of documentary shooting-- especially in restrictive countries or where size is of tantamount inmportance and you simply can't as well deal with uncompressed let alone RAW footage data overheads. Or as a cheap crash camera (similar to what i recall reading about them doing on Captain America, which was hiding 5Ds in pelican cases taped to the front of trucks-- if memory serves.) Like the upcoming 4K panasonic vDSLR underwater photography could also benefit from something like this-- small, high resolution-- with long run durations, and one would suspect battery life. Another option would be drone, but honestly I think that's better served with smaller cameras though again, the price of the thing makes it likely to, in a professional setting, be used almost as a disposable camera for dangerous or precarious situations where you'd not want to risk something more expensive.

Like any tool, once it's out there in the wild people will find things to use it with which the designers probably never really envisioned. Hell, maybe this will bring back ground-glass lens adapters.

[Tim Tyler]

4:2:0 Is not the end of the world.

 

It was good enough for all the HDV ever shot, PAL DV, PAL DVCAM, AVCHD (FS100/700, AF100) and all DVD's. Lots of people also managed with the equally limiting 4:1:1 shooting DV for years.

 

FYI: The list price of the DVX100 was $4000 when it was released.

[Michael LaVoie]

This camera leads me to believe that it's likely that Sony might have a 4K version of the FS100 coming to NAB this year. Something that will make F5 and F55 purchasers angry. That's Sony's M.O. After all, the FS700 was out within a year of the FS100 release. So it stands to reason they'd undercut the market on the F5/55 with a cheaper alternative really quickly.

Hopefully it'll be like the FS700 but with internal 4K and slow mo and a codec that's not too heavily compressed. And for the love of christ internal ND's or selectable ISO that starts below 500.

[Will Barber]

I doubt they'd make the jump from an FS100 with AVCHD to a similar 4K without it. The FS700 with the update fills that need. the FS100 occupies a good place right now, and minus the lens mount it's a pretty decent HD camera. The AVCHD is my main gripe with it, since alternate lenses are pretty easily available.

[Chris King]

I plan to purchase the Sony FDR-AX100 4K camcorder that was just announced at the CES last week. Sony has had a consumer camcorder on the market since last September (the Sony FDR-AX1) which uses the same XAVC-S codec as the not yet released Sony FDR-AX100. What I’m looking for is some tips on editing this 4K XAVC S format in Final Cut Pro (X). I am hopeful that editing XVAC S footage on the new Mac Pro will be possible without the large file sizes produced by transcoding. Searched widely and further, I got some tech support from some guys but not from Apple.

 

http://jacknjchn.tumblr.com/post/74570124679/xavc-s-converter-mac-convert-sony-fdr-ax100-mp4-to

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Why do they call it "4K" when its maximum video-resolution is only 3840×2160?

[Brian Drysdale]

Basically because that''s the resolution of 4k TV screens. Perhaps more marketing than reality, the 4k is for cinema use, which has a 1.85 aspect ratio..