The TRUTH About the Sony FX30 After a Year

in my 8 years of doing photo and video I have to say the Sony fx30 is definitely my favorite purchase this is the one you review I'm going to share my user experience and tell you the great things about this camera as well as the things that were not so great who I think should really get it and if it really was worth it in the end I already have a technical review of this camera which you can catch after this one if that's more your Vibe but anyway prior to owning the Sony fx30 I actually used to own the Sony A7 7 S3 I even had several lenses to go with it the whole setup and it was awesome but as a hobbyist I felt myself getting more worried about carrying around such an expensive setup like it was just so pricey that I babied it and often found myself leaving it at home for safekeeping not even just from like other people but just from my clumsiness as someone who doesn't do photo video work as my main job I can't easily justify replacing this camera if something bad happens to it when I saw the fx30 I saw a more robust camera for half the cost plus it was a video Center camera that still allowed me to take photos like a hybrid camera Since switching to it I haven't looked back I've used this camera for mostly YouTube videos thumbnails Instagram photos for church seminars and the occasional photo or video freelance work the first pro of the Sony fx30 was workflow as a full-time nurse I have much limited time to work on this YouTube channel after my shifts and using a higher-end camera with fancy post-production workflow wasn't always favorable so when the Sony fx30 was released I saw a tool that would help me cut off a few minutes to a few hours of work for my YouTube channel and ultimately get me closer to my dream of being a full-time content creator unlike the Sony A7 S3 with the Sony fx30 I didn't have to spend too much time color correcting and Grading in post when I was shooting in slog 3 I could simply make a lot import it into my fx30 and burn it into my footage if you produce a video every other week sure what's a couple more seconds couple more Mouse clicks to grade your footage but if you're producing a long form video every week plus short form content then all that accumulated time is better off scripting or even thinking about the next video the second Pro is sensor size now before all you fullframe Shooters come after me just listen okay listen listen you had your fx3 we don't have fx3 money here but we do have options with the fx30 when I first started off in photo and video I hated the noise coming out of my images from my apsc cameras when shooting in church so I ended up investing in full-frame cameras and lenses over the years and stayed away from apsc because of the things like overheating and lack of Premium video features but now that Sony has fixed these issues with with the fx30 by giving it a dual based ISO a fan and dual SD card slots apsc is actually worth a second look as an apsc shooter it's much more affordable to get lenses and have many to choose from whether you adapt lenses or not you don't have to feel pressured to buy full frame and to buy all the expensive fullframe lenses that my parents shake their heads about judgmental much I mean like check out Sigma they make fast lenses at F1 .4 and they have like a whole kit and even their zoom lens the 18 to 50 mm f2.8 vro and Sony also have similar lenses as well if low light is a big concern for you I mean sure I miss potential bokeh clean low light footage for indoor situations especially at church but other than that I've been challenged to learn more about lighting exposing correctly and using the right lenses for the right scenario since upgrading long ago so the lenses that I've been using mostly for this past year have been the Sony 16 to 55 mm f2.8 for most things especially in low light when it comes to travel the Sony 18 to 105 mm F4 which is pretty sweet with its wide range of focal lengths with its power Zoom which comes in clutch with the camera's Zoom rocker the sensor size in this case is going to be a plus because of the lenses that give you excellent images for Less cost for less weight yet giving you a variety of them to choose from having a sweet life means having pretty sweet options I mean fullframe lenses are nice and all but sometimes they hurt your back in the long run getting the shot is not worth hurting your body carrying heavy gear but even if your body doesn't agree with your mechanics your hands will love you because of the ergonomics of this camera without a doubt no matter what camera you pick up you'll end up customizing it it especially for hybrid cameras that need video Centric custom buttons but the fx30 just has all the video Centric buttons you need everything from white balance to the clear image Zoom from zebras to focus speaking it's funny because I usually have to customize several buttons for video Centric features on a hybrid camera for the fx30 though I basically customize the focus magnification button for back button focusing that was it other than that other buttons like the big red record button I don't really use instead I use the shutter button a lot for its place when it comes to YouTube videos I pretty much set this up on a tripod have aong XLR cable for my audio for an overhead shotgun microphone and it's a relief to be able to see myself with the flip screen knowing that I recording with all the tally lights visible to me plus the autofocus on this camera makes filming yourself so much easier traditional Cinema cameras are operated manually with you and even a crew behind behind the camera but if majority of your content is shot solo with you in front of the camera you can't ignore good autofocus that tracks your face and eyes like the Sony fx30 when I record seminars at church speakers will always be moving forward back left right so for the most part with this camera I just worry about concentrating on panning the fluid head because the autofocus is handled using this camera just makes sense but there's still things about this cinema camera that don't make sense so stick to the end cuz it's a coming the next thing is rigging options with a/4 in 20 threads around the camera you can mount on a cage and build up a bigger rig if needed or just keep it minimal with few rig attachments I've been running the F cem cage for the fx30 it allows me to mount my camera horizontally and vertically for ARCA Swiss plates and clamps but if you don't want to mount a cage I used to mount an ARCA swis plate on the right hand side side of the camera for my vertical videos it's just going to be a little weird when you go ahead and feel your right hand grip with the plate sticking out another reason why I like using the Falcon cage is because of its F22 system it's like a natal rail system we can go ahead and attach things to the cage without having to screw things off or having to twist anything it just at a press of a button quick release in and quick release out of all the things that I love about this camera it's the reliability Plus its best features the Sony fx30 never overheats no matter how long I record because it's got fans when it comes to actually shooting my work I have simultaneous recording going on so I feel confident and safe that my photos and footage are all backed up this is especially important for client work because who wants to explain to the client that any of our cards were corrupted H for the first time in a long time although this camera has its limitations I don't actually feel like Sony was holding back given this camera's price point if you want to work your way up to getting higher end Cinema cameras from Sony you get to experience things on this camera like cinei eii for better noise performance work with tools like Focus breathing compensation for better image quality time code for more professional environments custom lots for preview and for burning into your footage DCI 4K for more resolution and even anamorphic D squeeze to have an anamorphic preview without having to bring along an external monitor plus you get all the high frame rates like 4K 120 and even up to 240 frames per second in 1080 may not be the best resolutions but you got them then to save all this footage you can use UHS 2 SD cards in both card slots even CF Express type A I use v90 SD cards but I record on the lowest settings so I really could get away with 128 GB V6 60 cards definitely v30 cards again this is apsc you don't even have these features on many of Sony's fullframe cameras in the past years alone just wow but anyway what's the downsides if you're someone who has never shot with a cinema camera before you'd be like these features are great but if you are then this cinema camera is probably a little underwhelming thank you Sony for the Z batteries and your latest hybrid cameras when it comes to the Sony fx30 the battery life is only really good up to an hour or so of 4K recording and then if you want to go longer and are not recording in 4k then you're going to be recording in 1080P with a softer look so if you want to keep your setup as minimal as possible you may have to incorporate a battery bank with a long wire that comes out of your pocket or hangs off of your tripod at least that's how I I do it otherwise you'll be tempted to rig up your camera with a vmount battery but before you start thinking that you're going to rig up your fx30 I'm warning you do not update at least not to version 3.0 because Sony doesn't let you see the battery life of thirdparty batteries and unfortunately that includes dummy batteries so unless you're conscientious to consistently check your vmount battery life you're probably better off using it as a glorified battery Bank alongside a USBC cable to Quick Charge your fx30 I personally like having a rig even if it's not always practical for the simple things I shoot anybody else like rigging up their stuff next con is no built-in ND filters although the fx30 and fx3 have not inherited the internal ND filters from the fx6 or even the older fs5 or fs7 I've tried the fs5 Mark 1 for a little bit and one of the highlights of that camera was the internal ND if there was an FX Camera similar to the fx30 with built-in ND filters I would definitely invest in that even if Sony had to make the body look more like the Canon C70 just to fit it but for now we just have inbody image stabilization which is totally fine as well I often use active stabilization in camera and continue to add a warp stabilization and post at the moment it's different resolve but something that doesn't require Hardware change is shutter angle you just don't have it in this camera other Cinema cameras use shutter angles where you finally get to see the 180° rule in action instead of seeing shutter speed fractions every time I switch between frame rates I have to adjust my shutter dial to make sure I'm twice the frame rate but with shutter angle the camera automatically does it for you this is just a great feature to have for the running gun shooters at weddings and other events but even if this cinema camera isn't like other Cinema cameras the one thing I don't like it as a hybrid camera is the lack of mechanical shutter and no continuous shooting unlike the Sony fx3 there's no mechanical shutter which as a hybrid shooter means that sometimes I'm going to get banding in my indoor photos unless I bring my shutter speed down to something like 125th of a second if you don't mind little motion blur then that's fine it's just sometimes slowing down your shutter also means potentially getting less of a sharper photo fortunately the camera does have Ibis but still as someone who often covers events for my church I still like to not have to worry about banding however another photography related problem is no continuous shooting only single shot yeah my work around for this pretty much involves back button focusing and spamming that shutter button for the most part I'm taking photos at church shooting portraits and then product shots 11 frames per second burst shooting isn't necessary for me but would be nice to have so who is the Sony fx30 really for this camera is great for series hobbyists as well as professionals it's for the hybrid shooter who is more focused on video but still likes to take excellent photos and with 26 megapixels you can still crop and post without much loss in quality naturally this is also an excellent camera for pro video shooters for wedding ceremonies seminars anything else that you don't have a second chance to shoot it has reliability for video work with his dual SD cards internal fan and ergonomics yet if you're not paid for those kinds of shoots if you're a serious hobbyist or even aspiring content creator who wants a reliable camera to shoot long podcasts interviews or even simple long- winded talking head videos this camera will do just that if you're looking for a video focused camera to have handle all your video needs for a good price this camera is it Sony has given us a lot of photo cameras that do video but this time we finally have a video camera that does photo so has the fx30 been worth it this past year oh yeah this camera has been more than what I'd hoped for it to be I thought I was just getting another hybrid camera that doesn't overheat but it's given me a pro experience shooting video than most of the other cameras I've ever shot with even more than the Sony A7 S3 the Sony fx30 is one of the best value cameras you can still get this year and for the years to come I don't regret selling my A7 S3 for this camera at all nor aspire to get an fx3 when I have 99% of what I need right here the Sony fx30 has reminded me again that gr video doesn't rely on the size of a sensor alone but rather with the skills and resourcefulness of the filmmaker who knows maybe one day I'll be adding an FX Camera in the future

Channel: Mike B Salazar

Views: 28,405

Keywords: fx30, sony fx30, review, truth, sony alpha, one year, long term review, mike b salazar, mike salazar

Id: gmUPMsqfi0E

Length: 15min 9sec (909 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 30 2023