Sony NEX-FS100 News

Sony NEX-FS100 review | Sharif Sakr | Engadget
Engadget has an indepth review of the NEX-FS100. The camera may be a step above Engadget's usual "gadget" category, but this is a reasonably thorough review, touching most of the major issues. I'm not sure I agree with all of the explanations and interpretations, the prices are a bit off (the body sells for $4,999, not $5,900) and the kit lens is f/3.5-6.3 (not just f/3.5) but that's quibbling. [Note: the author is English and may be using UK prices.]

There's an interesting note about using the camera in low-light and not believing that it will perform as well as it did:
There wasn't a great deal of noise visible on the small LCD, but all our instincts shouted at us that this 18db footage would be speckled worse than a speckled hen when we got home and saw it on a large monitor. So we switched back to 12db and did our best to hunt out decent shots at that level of gain, which turned out to be mission impossible. Eventually, we gave up altogether and went for a beer. Terrible mistake: we should have allowed the camera to shoot at whatever gain it wanted, and then done our best to re-work the lighting in the studio to make it more flattering.


FD/FL lens test | Jim Kallemeyn | Vimeo
Jim just got an FD/FL lens adapter for his NEX-FS100 and posted a quick handheld video shot wide open at 60fps. Now that's shallow depth-of-field.
The two lenses are a Canon FL 50mm f1.4 and a Kiron FD 105mm 2.8 macro. The Canon is not a high quality lens but the low light capability with the super35mm sensor is awesome. The FD lens adapter is made by Dot Line Corp.


Signal output RGB or 422? | CineAlta Blog
Following up on yesterday's blog about the NEX-FS100's RGB 4:4:4 output, Peter Crithary at the Sony CineAlta Blog has a post about how the FS100 determines what signal to output:
The HDMI 1.4 port used on the FS100 outputs uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 or 8-bit RGB signals. Auto negotiation (EDID) takes place when an external recorder and FS100 are initially connected via HDMI and cable. During the EDID exchange, the FS100 and external recorder negotiate the highest quality signal common to the FS100 and recorder. From then on, the FS100 will output the negotiated signal. There is no menu in the camera to force a particular mode.
There's also a note about how 24p is wrapped in the 60i signal:
Early on, Sony approached all major recorder manufactures to implement time-code and pull-down removal. Some recorders already record native 24p from the FS100's HDMI. I will follow-up with a list of compatible recorders.


Why did I give up my Canon 7D for the Sony FS100? | Sam Morgan Moore
| DSLR News Shooter
Sam has been blogging about getting the NEX-FS100 at his own blog, and has now written about it for DSLR News Shooter. He provides a mixed review of the kit lens:
I also have the Sony 18-200mm NEX kit lens. I seriously recommend buying this thing. The auto focus is pretty cool and so is the image stabilisation, not to mention the zoom range and the price: about the same as a regular 18mm prime lens for the camera. The lowlight performance of the camera makes up for the F6.3, the base ISO of the FS100 is said to be 800ASA. It’s a great ‘grab a shot’ lens, but the less-than-responsive fly by wire focus and aperture adjustment, make it inappropriate for my finer cinematography moments – those are when I pull out one of my little Nikkor primes.
as well as a pros and cons list at the end.



16x9 FS100 PL adapter | Michael Sutton | ProPic
I didn't know this adapter existed until Mike posted a picture of the 16x9 PL mount adapter for E-mount attached to an NEX-FS100 (see link). The mount retails for about $540.

Below is a product shot of the mount.
B & H: 16x9 Inc. Cine Lens Mount (PL to Sony E Mount) [$539.95]


Car Mount Test | Brian Leisring | Vimeo
A short low-light test shot using the NEX-FS100 at 12,600 ISO (+27 db)





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