Are you happy with the Sony FX 1?

Hal Landen
Video Biography Business Kit
Produce High-End Biographies For Up To $15,000 Each

Hi Hal,

So far yes. The low light differences in comparison to my PD170 I can live with. truth is that by the time the PD needs a light to minimize gain grain is about the time that the FX1 needs a light too, due to the incredibly clean gain. 9 or 12db of gain is pretty close to the same brightness as 15 or 18db on the FX but the FX is still really clean looking although the color goes a little dull. Not really bad enough to be a big deal to me for receptions though. For me not having the flip out LCD block the iris control when I am shooting from my chest or waist was worth the switch. I also love the new LCD and it's placement. It's size and clarity make focusing so much easier. I love the mechanical stops on the zoom ring. I love the ergonomics of the camera over the VXs and PDs. No more front heavy wrist fatigue. I believe that the colors it records appear to be more true life than the VX and PD. So far I am very happy. At this point my biggest complaints have more to do with software upgrades I have to buy to edit what this camera outputs. I am on a mac.

I also got the Petrol HDV wing bag with wheels that is, I believe, the best bag for lugging a single camera that I've ever seen. It can also fit a 17" apple laptop as well in the other side.

Cheers,
Scott

Yep.

Been doing all of my video projects in '05-'06 with one.
Biggest plus for me is being able to apply slow-motion to the HDV and have it still look super clean--no jaggies.
I look at DV footage now like I look at VHS
-Dave Graton
MemoryTracks Films

I've got two of them and I'm satisfied. The low light is moot, since I use a light when it gets dark. These camera's are not cats, they can't see in the dark! I like the weight of it, the "pro" look and feel, and the HDV ability. It's like any technology, next year sometime, it will be obsolete anyway.







"600 yards out, I can still see you!"

I loved my vx2000 in low light but I can live with the FX1. I use fixed lights and bounce them off the walls or the ceilings now to get even lighting.

I'm very pleased with my FX-1. I don't think it's quite the revolution that my VX-1000 was when I picked that up about 10 years ago, but it's a great camera.

Better formats than HDV will become available (check out http://www.red.com and many others), but I believe that this camera will last as a good workhorse for some time.

I'm using mine with Cineform software (adobe premiere) for realtime HDV editing.
I'm also experimenting with a 35mm lens adapter for narrow dof

Here's a rough version of my current project which I'm about to finish up:

(about 60mb - can stream or download)
www.danielrudd.com/media/final-proof-starr.wmv


shot entirely with the FX-1 (not with the lens adapter)
Daniel Rudd
Composer - Stock20.com
Digital Storyteller - Sony HDV - Adobe Premeire Pro - After Effects - Cineform Aspect HD

<a href="http://stock20.com/">royalty free production music</a>

My brother bought an FX1 for me to try out and I liked it so much I bought a second one, plus I just added an HC1 as a "B" cam. (Or would that be a "C" cam?) I'm a little concerned about low-light issues but get by in most situations and use an on-camera light when needed anyway, so that's no change from my Canon GL1/GL2. As others have noted the FX1 has a clean, fine-grained image which can tolerate a healthy amount of gain: I usually let mine go all the way to 18 dB or lock it at 12 dB to be on the safe side. I've also been experimenting with using brightness curves instead of straight light/dark adjustments to boost the appearance of FX1 footage in post, which helps noticeably with both very bright and very dark footage.

As far as other alternatives are concerned, the FX1 remains an unmatched value almost 18 months after it started shipping. Nothing else even comes close to being able to record such clear images on a $3000 camera using widely available media costing just $3-5 per hour of recording time. HDV isn't perfect, but it's such a brilliantly practical use of technology that it will probably take a full five years before something better can match it for the price. And if something better does come along sooner, I'll line up to buy that too and have two FX1s to use as "B" cams. Without question the FX1 should go into the history books as the camera which made decent HD videography affordable for almost anyone, with the understanding that it's no match for cameras costing 10-20 times as much. (Yeah, JVC came first but they botched the camera features.)

Once again here's one of my favorite early HDV clips: http://www.videomem.com/hdv/yosemite_720p.wmv

    Totally agree with you there. It is a really remarkable camera for such a low price. The low light issue is a concern especially coming off the low light miracle of the VX2000/2100 PD 150/170s so that was an adjustment. Of course coming from a Canon SD to this camera would probably have the opposite effect so it's all relative. My biggest adjustment has been in stabilizing the cam for run and gun shooting. With the VX 2000 series of camcorders I put it on a monopod and that was good enough. With the FX 1 being front heavy I found using a monopod was a little unwieldy. I would say seriously look into a shoulder support like the Spider Brace or other similar solutions. It really makes a difference in keeping the shot steady and helps balance off the weight. I would also invest in a lens controller for the Spider Brace. You can access the manual controls without one but I imagine it would be alot easier having those functions right on the handle. I do hope in the next gen of these cams that we get a gain wheel and not those three switches plus recording while in expanded focus but these are small gripes on what is essentially a solid cam for a great value.

Chris Watson
Watson Videography

I love mine and with all this CMOS image distortion, I hesitate to let the FX1 go because for anything fast or with a lot of motion, it's rock solid. I have a vDSLR and every tine I see the image jello (especially on stabilized shots) I get sea sick.

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Anthony Burokas is a 20+ year broadcast TV producer based in Dallas TX.
He produces event, corporate, special interest, and broadcast TV.
His web site is IEBA.com <> Follow @IEBAcom on Twitter