SONY FX9 TEST
footage and we were impressed. But there’s nothing like having a final production version of the camera for an extended test with final firmware before passing real judgment on this important – some might even say milestone – new camera. And after doing just that, and directly comparing it to our well-loved FS7 camera, as well as A7R III and A9 mirrorless cams we regularly use, we now know the ins and outs of the FX9 pretty well. And in many ways, it surpasses our already high expectations. If you were worried about all this new tech in a new camera body, then don’t. Sony has got it very right with the FX9: a worthy successor to the industry- standard FS7 and one which should be a professional workhorse for many years to come. Is it the perfect camera? Of course not – nothing ever is. No camera lives in a vacuum and the FX9 came out at the same time as Canon unveiled its full- frame Canon EOS C500 Mark II with a spec that’s startlingly similar. The more expensive Canon offers 5.9K recording while the Sony has a 6K sensor, but records in 4K as it downsizes the footage by oversampling. If you have a glut of Super 35 lenses, you can still use them and get 4K. Sony claims its tests show 4K is the ideal size for its 6K sensor, because downsampling the signal to 4K gives the best sensitivity, noise and dynamic range of more than 15 stops. And it means some of the pixels can be used for the advanced on-sensor phase-detection autofocus. What many people don’t realise is that on a typical 4K sensor, when the signal is de-Bayered, it actually gives resolution roughly equivalent to 3K – even though the file size is 4K. The FX9 resolution and size is true 4K, and it produces far cleaner and more detailed files than, for example, 4K out of the FS7. Not all 4K is created equal. Where the Canon does ace the Sony is that it has Canon Raw Light internal recording, while the Sony doesn’t record Raw internally at all. To get Raw from the Sony, it’s in the full-size 16-bit flavour and you need the £2760/$2500 Sony XDCA-F9
ABOVE Twin XQD memory cards are fast enough for the data-rich internal codecs, and are affordable
extension pack. This pack adds bulk but also has a V-Lock battery slot, DWX digital audio for broadcast use, Ethernet and improved streaming connectivity. Unless you own an AtomosNeon, thencurrentmonitor/ recorders can’t handle 16-bit Raw anyway. It’s highly likely more will come on the market soon. Unlike the FS7, which needed an extension pack to add time code and genlock, the Sony FX9 nowhas these on the camera body, making it far more useful for TV and multicamera productions right out of the box. One of the benefits of the FX9 extension pack is the V-Lock battery connection, as the camera eats through power at roughly twice the rate of the older FS7. More computing power from a bigger sensor needs more juice. Sony has also unveiled a range of newBP-U fit batteries, but the older-style BP-U cells still work. We got around 90 minutes of recording with a BP-U60. A larger sensor simply takesmore power to run and the FX9 uses an all- new, 6006x4949 24.5-megapixel 6K HDR sensor, which records internally in 16:9-ratio 4K, 4:2:2 10- bit in XAVC-I at 600Mbps. There’s also Long GOP XAVC-L in 8-bit 4:2:0 at 150Mbps for a smaller file size, and MPEG 8-bit 4:2:2. However, at launch the camera can only record 4K internally at 30p full-frame or 60p with a Super 35 crop. And 120fps slowmotion is in either 2K full-frame or with a
SPECIFICATIONS Price: £12,039/ $10,998 Sensor size: 35mmExmor R CMOS, 20.5 megapixels Formats: 4096x2160 C4K to come via firmware upgrade, 3840x2160 4K, 2048x1080 2K, 1920x1080 FHD, 1280x720 HD Codecs: XAVC-I 10-bit 4:2:2 600Mbps, XAVC-L, 8-bit 4:2:0 150Mbps, MPEG 8-bit 4:2:2, 16-bit Raw via XDCA-FX9 and external recorder Frame rates: 59.94/50/ 29/.97/ 25/ 23.98fps for UHD/HD, 120fps HD/ 180fps and 4K/ 120 Raw to external recorder to come via firmware upgrade ISO: Dual Base ISO 800/4000 Gamma curves: S-Cinetone, Std, HLG, S-Log3 Dynamic range: 15+ stops Controls: Peaking, waveform, zebras Lensmount: Sony E locking Shutter speed: 1sec – 1/8000sec Stabilisation: Electronic Image Stabilisation Filters: Variable ND 1/4 – 1/128 Screen: 8.8cm/3.5in LCD, 2.76mdots Audio: 2x XLR inputs Output: BNC 12G-SDI, BNC 3G-SDI, HDMI-A Storage: 2x XQD slots, 1x SD data slot Dimensions (wxhxd):
146x142.5x29mm/ 5.75x5.61x9.02in Weight: 2kg/4.4lb
“The FX9 resolution and size is true 4K, and it produces far cleaner andmore detailed files”
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SUMMER 2020 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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