GEAR
SONY FX30
take power and feed its signal to the camera without a need for cables. It also has a built-in cooling fan to stop overheating and a zoom rocker switch around the shutter release to control power zoom lenses. All brilliant features for video. But the shutter release button doesn’t start recording when in video mode, and despite lots of different button customisation options, we initially couldn’t find it. It is there, but hidden away deep in the menus. If that’s not turned on, you have to either hit the Rec button on the top-plate or the Function 6 button on the front, illuminating the front and rear red tally lamps to let you and the subject know you’re rolling. These can be customised and turned off, as well. It’s fair to say that the menus are typical Sony. That means they’re improving, but still deeply confusing – even for experienced users. However, there are now quick menus offering access to the most- used settings. While we are nitpicking, the list of real niggles we have isn’t very big. This is simply a fantastic
PUNCHING UP The sub full-frame sensor still puts in a heavyweight performance
Video can be recorded in 10-bit 4:2:2 All-Intra for the best quality and there’s also a choice of XAVC HS in 4K at H.265, XAVC S 4K in H.264 and XAVC S-I 4K H.264. Or it can output 16-bit Raw to an external recorder via its full-size HDMI socket. However, as it’s recorded in 12-bit, 16-bit is a slight misnomer. Internally, the FX30 records to a pair of CFexpress Type A card slots that also accept SD cards. Only the fastest frame rates and data-intensive codecs with proxy recording actually need the faster CFexpress cards, though. This is good news, as they’re pricey compared to SD, even if you’re buying high-spec V90 types. Sony says this camera is all about letting serious filmmakers make creative movies, so the colour choices include the S-Cinetone profile from the rest of its Cinema Line. This gives a cinematic-style look straight out of the camera. There’s support for importing up to 16 user LUTs and new Log modes for the widest dynamic range – plus HLG for easy HDR recording and
camera, with such great filmmaking spec it can hold its own against far more pricey opposition. Stunning sensor Starting with the sensor, this model houses an APS-C, back-side illuminated CMOS that records 4K video oversampled from 6K, for even better quality. It has Sony’s Bionz XR processor, dual-base ISO of 800/2500 sensitivity in Log, or 100/320 in S-Cinetone. The ISO ranges from 100-32,000, expandable to 50-102,400 with 14 stops of dynamic range. This camera is capable of recording files in similar codecs and frame rates to both the Sony A7S III and A1 mirrorless. Although the FX30 might not have the same processing power of these flagship models, because the Super 35 sensor is smaller to read out from, it can still keep up in many ways. It can record 4K video at up to 120p, there’s no crop at under 30fps, a small 1.04x crop for 4K/60p and a larger 1.6x crop for 4K/120p. In HD, it can record 240fps with a 1.6x crop.
SPEC-TACULAR The Sony FX30 has tons of video features such as timecode, and lots of codec choices
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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