SONY FX9 | USER REVI EW
Sony continues its full-frame professional video camera line with the new PXW-FX9, a replacement for the bestselling FS7 MKII and not the more cinematic F55 SONY PXW FX9 CAMERA PRICE £9300/$10998
WORDS & PICTURES ASH CONNAUGHTON
he team at Vocas kindly sent me a Sony FX9 camera along with the shoulder kit and PL
mount to take a look at. Sadly, I didn’t have the camera for that long, so couldn’t go too in-depth, The FX9 looks and feels very similar to its predecessor; its form factor and body design are very similar, and it shares the same top handle and monitor set-up. Although the new monitor is a sharper 720p panel, it is sadly not touchscreen and I feel touch functionality would have been a nice addition. The FX9 also has a very similar but slightly redesigned handgrip, albeit with a new connector. It’s nice to see that, like the FS7, the FX9 still uses XQD cards, which is great for those who already own the FS7, meaning you don’t need to purchase new media should you choose to upgrade. There are, however, some key differences between the two cameras. The first is price. The FS7 MKII is available brand new, body only for around £6775 excluding VAT, whereas the FX9 body only comes in at £9300 excluding VAT, giving a price difference of around £2500. So, is it worth it? First, let’s delve
into the technical details. One huge difference is that the FX9 has a newly developed full-frame 17x9, 6K sensor, measuring in at 35.7x18.8mm. This new sensor has 15+ stops of dynamic range, which is an improvement over the FS7’s quoted 14 stops. The FX9 also has fantastic new colour science, similar to that which can be found on the flagship Venice camera. There’s also the S-Cinetone colour profile, which promises better skin tones and a more ‘cinematic’ look. During my short testing period with the camera I didn’t test S-Cinetone. Rather, I shot exclusively in S-Log S-Gamut3.Cine, as I wanted to compare the look of S-Log to my experience with it on the FS7, and even in S-Log3 there is a noticeable improvement in colour. One major advantage the FX9 has over the FS7 is that the new sensor has a dual native ISO of
800 and 4000. The camera doesn’t automatically change over after a certain ISO to its higher base setting – unfortunately, users must instead set their native ISO in the menu, choosing between the 800 and 4000 options. The latter provides more usable stops below middle grey, giving shooters the edge in low-light conditions. The highest ISO this new sensor is capable of is 12,800. The FX9 also has a redesigned built-in ND filter to cover its full- frame sensor. The ND has three customisable presets that can be
IMAGES DOP Ash Connaughton loving the Sony FX9 and the Vocas FX9 shoulder kit
“THE FX9 HAS A NEWLY DEVELOPED FULL-FRAME 6K SENSOR”
APR I L 2020 | DEF I N I T ION 51
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