GEAR REVIEW. SONY FX30
SONY’S SUPER 35 SAVIOUR
The affordable FX30 is the latest hybrid cinema cam – and marks a return for the evergreen APS-C crop sensor
WORDS AND IMAGES. Adam Duckworth
J ust when it seemed like Sony was abandoning Super 35 sensors for serious filmmaking, it went and introduced a new Cinema Line camera: the FX30. It’s based on the full-frame FX3 – which itself uses the sensor and main technology of the A7S III mirrorless. The FX30 and FX3 have almost identical bodies, except instead of using an existing sensor, this latest camera has an all-new, 26-megapixel APS-C CMOS. It’s also aggressively priced – around half the price of the FX3. At £2100/$1800 for just the body or £2500/$2200 with the XLR-
of a conventional Sony mirrorless. Even when you turn the camera on and hit the mode button, there are five different stills modes to choose from – but only one video mode. Frankly, this is a bit silly in a camera that’s primarily a filming tool. To set video modes, you have to select video, then dig into menus to choose between all-manual, shutter priority and the like. There’s also an S&Q mode for fast and slow shutter speeds – and, of course, you need to get elbow deep in menus to choose the actual speeds. It’s not a major issue, but myriad stills modes over video do leave you scratching your head when everything else about the camera is aimed at filming. For example, there are dedicated buttons for white-balance, ISO, zebra, focus peaking and shutter speed. And the body has five quarter-inch sockets for accessories. Plus, the multi- interface powers audio equipment and feeds its signal to the camera with no cables. It also has a built-in cooling fan to stop overheating and a zoom rocker switch around the “Myriad stills modes over video leave you scratching your head when everything else about the camera is aimed at filming”
compatible top handle, it’s a clear warning to the newest collection of crop-sensor cameras like the Fujifilm X-H2S or Panasonic GH6. The FX30 is first and foremost made to shoot 20.1-megapixel video in a 17:9 crop of the sensor, with a full-fat, 26-megapixel 3:2 stills capability bolted on, allowing you to shoot some thumbnails for your YouTube videos. For stills, there’s no AF tracking or continuous burst shooting, no electronic viewfinder or compatibility with external flash, no uncompressed Raw files and no AF illuminator. But there are page after page of menu items to let you set all the stills parameters
POCKET ROCKET The FX30 has great filmmaking spec in a tiny body – great for location shoots
56. DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
Powered by FlippingBook