Sony FDR-AX100 4K camera first thoughts.

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Solved by

Mar 19, 2014 20:02

Well it has been a few hours since I ripped the FDR-AX100 out of the box.

A few weeks ago I had purchased 2 batteries and wall charger, Vivitar brand on eBay, 4.9 AH and they work fine, including hours and minutes left indicator. The wall charger will charge the itsy bitsy Sony battery just fine. All for under $50.00.

The camera is heavy when compared with the Pana X900M and the 100 video, even on a 1920x1080 screen, has much improved visual resolution and dynamic range, after all the 900 has only 1/4" sensors, albeit 3 of them.

This in spite of the excellent video the 900 is capable of producing, after all it was the camera of the year a few years ago.

The 100 EVF is not bright enough for my taste and there is no apparent way to change that. Perhaps there will be a better manual in the future that will tell me how. The manual included is the same as the one posted on the AVS forum a few days ago. That forum also has terrific 4K video samples taken with the AX100.

The biggest problem is the 30P frame rate, I was used to shooting and burning in 60P only. Fortunately I rarely zoom or pan in my videos so that should not be a big problem. The 30P is a small price to pay to keep the bit rate at manageable levels and

not having to buy a new computer. So far we have daylight here, the AX100 with its 1" sensor does very well under low light levels.

A new TV will have to be bought, at present the specs of the Vizio 4K look promising.

The PC monitor will stay the same, unfortunately Power Director 12 reportedly does not scale well on a 4K monitor. BTW Ken I do not think that the PD12 trial version includes 4K.

So it looks like the Sony AX100 is a keeper and my biggest gripe is it's weight. Have to get some bar bells and practice.

Will keep throwing in my 5 cents worth as I learn more.

Regards

Eugene

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1510309/sony-4k-handycam-fdr-ax100-thread/570#post_24504977

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 19. 2014 20:12

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Mar 19, 2014 21:47

Congratulations Eugene!

A choice I almost made myself

Keep us posted.

Cheers - Tony


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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 19. 2014 21:47

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jmone

Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Nov 26, 2010 00:05 Messages: 706 Offline

Mar 19, 2014 22:25

you are going to have to change your signature! No more 60p for you (if you want 4k). PD 64 Bit-Win10 64 Bit-32GB RAM-80TB HDD
Sony FX6 - 500Mbps 4k/50p AVC-I HLG
Canon XF400 - 150Mbps 4k/50p AVC
GoPro Hero6 Black
Pana HS700-28Mbps 1080/50p AVC (High@L4.2)
Canon HV20-HDV 25Mbps 16:9 1440x1080/25p MPEG

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 20, 2014 01:03

Thanks for the reminder, just did it.

Editing with PD12 is fine, just takes about 3 times longer to render, including generating the proxy files. Have not tried to optimize yet.
Camera bitrate is 60Mb, PD allows a max of 50, not an issue.

There is one item on the camera I do not like, slow focus follow thru when zooming or panning.

Gene 73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

RobAC

Contributor Joined: Mar 09, 2013 18:20 Messages: 406 Offline

Mar 20, 2014 07:02

Sweet !

I was seriously looking at this recently. Looks great with the lens hood on:

Now add one of the following and go for a run:

In the next few weeks my friend and I are heading into the Sony store to check out the newer camcorders.

Rob


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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 20. 2014 07:11

PD 14 Ultimate Suite / Win10 Pro x64
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Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 20, 2014 10:57

That is a really nice piece of art Tony! Would it be ok to use?

Gene

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 20. 2014 10:59

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 20, 2014 19:01

The camera is working just fine in the 4K mode, the horizontal resolution peters out at app. 1800 lines per picture height. At Best Buy the camera played into a
Sony 4K TV set via HDMI connection but that set was unable to play the SDXC video files via USB adapter. The video just looks so good, a pleasure to watch.

This cannot be said in the AX100 2K mode. The std HD resolution peters out near 800 lines PPH and there are lots of artifacts on the test pattern. My nearly 2 year old
Panasonic HC-X900M is quite superior in the STD HD mode.

While I bought the AX100 for exclusive 4K use, owners might be well advised to forgo the 2K mode.

PB from my computer is by VLC player it is the only one that I have that will handle the 60Mb data stream. Media player can handle 4K material downloaded from Youtube since the max bit rate
is around 30Mb.

I think that the camera has a tendency to increase the gain too much for low light shots. The noise is of a fine nature, reducing the gain by 6DB will result in nearly noise free shots.

So it looks like a keeper if proper consideration is given to the 30 frame rate.

Eugene

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 20. 2014 19:03

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

jmone

Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Nov 26, 2010 00:05 Messages: 706 Offline

Mar 21, 2014 05:58

FYI - 4K is fine on J River Media Center. Glad you like it even if you are a SELL OUT on 50/60p!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 21. 2014 05:59

PD 64 Bit-Win10 64 Bit-32GB RAM-80TB HDD
Sony FX6 - 500Mbps 4k/50p AVC-I HLG
Canon XF400 - 150Mbps 4k/50p AVC
GoPro Hero6 Black
Pana HS700-28Mbps 1080/50p AVC (High@L4.2)
Canon HV20-HDV 25Mbps 16:9 1440x1080/25p MPEG