New Camcorder: Sony NEX-EA50

Completely out of left field, Sony announced a new large-sensor camera; the NEX-EA50. It's a little hard to completely figure this one out and how it will compare to their existing cameras (the NEX-VG20, NEX-FS100 and NEX-FS700.) While it looks like a big upgrade from the NEX-VG20 in that it has XLR inputs and a shoulder-mount design, it doesn't have the ND filters of the FS700, and there's speculation that the image quality will be closer to the VG20 than the FS100/700.

Sony has also come up with a power zoom version of their 18-200 lens. Not the fastest lens around, but for shoulder shooting (and with no ND) maybe you won't be shooting wide-open anyway!

Until the reviews hit, we have to guess; this probably won't effect sales of the FS700 much at all, but even if the image quality isn't quite as good as the FS100, this camera may spell the end of that one.

UPDATE: B & H has it listed at $4,000 with expected delivery of October 15th. That's $999 cheaper than the NEX-FS100 (body only) and the NEX-EA50 price includes the lens. And while it might not be an awesome lens, with the zoom control, it seems like a great combination with this camera. Again, we have to wait and see if the image out of the NEX-EA50 equals the FS100 and also what kind of picture style options it has before writing the FS100 off completely...



THE SONY NEX-EA50EH – A SURPRISING NEW ENG STYLE LARGE SENSOR CAMCORDER | Dan Chung | DSLR News Shooter
A shoulder mounted design is something I have wanted to see in an large sensor camcorder for a long time (I know that Ikegami were first but that camera wasn’t exactly cheap). The design means that to work in a run and gun style you don’t need to invest in extra support rigs to get out and shooting.

The two XLR sockets are a huge plus for camera at this price point – adding XLR audio to a DSLR has always been one of the biggest troubles for many shooters.


The NEW Sony NEX-EA50 (£2,740) | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior
The Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor produces high quality, creative images with low noise and high sensitivity in low light conditions. It also enables 1080 progressive and interlace recording with 60/50Hz selection (50p/25p/50i or 60p/30p/24p/60i)*.


Sony announces the new NEX-EA50! And a new Power Zoom too!!!! | Sony Rumors
The other very interetsing news is that for the first time Sony released an E-mount 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Power Zoom!!! It has continuous variable iris and Optical Steady Shot image stabilisation with Active Mode, which should give a more stable shot. lens is electronically controlled via either the zoom rocker lever on the camcorder grip or the top handle, offering either a constant zoom speed or smooth, slow zoom.


SONY NEX-EA50 - COLD HARD FACTS & RUMOR MILL | Cold Hard Facts & Rumor Mill\
Concerns, Rumors, Peanut Gallery:
- If it’s same/similar sensor to NEX5n, it’s probably going to lack the low light capability of the FS100 or 700.
- If it encodes/scales similar to NEX5n, it’s going have less moire and aliasing than 5D2 and 7D, but probably more than FS100/700.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t...
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some...
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera ...
Read more