NEX-FS100 useful links and reviews (Nigel Cooper doesn’t like the camera)
Our readers sent me a lot of useful links to NEX-FS100 info and reviews. I’d like to share them with you:
00aieouoo sent us the link to the video you see on top of the page. It has been shot with the following lenses:
- A Sony Alpha 50mm f1.4 with E-mount adaptor. See specs and price of the lens at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
- An E mount 16mm f2.8. See specs and price of the lens at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
- The Stock lens 18-200 f3.5-5.6. See specs and price of the lens at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Paul sent us that link: http://www.nxcamhd.info (a newly created vimeo group).
Rod sent us the link to the first test: Nigel Cooper is not amused with the Sony NEX-FS100E review! That is what he says: “All-in-all, the FS100 feels like a very rushed camcorder. The ergonomics are terrible, the fixtures and fittings are pretty much the same, the switches, dials and knobs are too small and they feel horribly plasticky with a vague feel i.e. you don’t really know if you have actually pressed a button; you need LCD menu feedback to confirm. The hand-grip on the side wobbles, even when tightened up, so to does the top handle/mic holder, which feels like it is hanging on by its fingernails. Everything about this camcorder is just so awfully wrong.”
Lando sent us the info about the Super 35mm sensor at Wikipedia.
Thanks guys for your very precious help!
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Comment from John: I had seen Nigel's review and tried to i...
Comment from Mark: Hi Nigel,
I wasn't particularly quest...
Comment from Nigel: Mark, respectfully, Dennis Lennie who ru...- Comment from Mark: For a different take on the FS100 have a...
sholky
2 years ago |C/P from the review:
Sony are brining out some more lenses for this camera during the course of 2011, these will include a Zeiss 24mm F2, 30mm F3.5 Macro, 40mm F2 and a 55-210.
Did Nigel reveal more than he was supposed to?
admin
2 years ago |No, mainly because I was told by one source that the 24mm lens is f/1.7. I hope the source isn’t wrong
Mistral75
2 years ago |Sony themselves announced the portrait lens will be 50mm, not 40mm, and the telezoom will be 55-200, not 55-210.
My confidence in the max. apertures forecast by Nigel Cooper is therefore quite low.
EE
2 years ago |That was a harsh review.
Mistral75
2 years ago |With a lot of bias and even factual errors in favour of Panasonic. For instance Nigel Cooper writes:
“The AF101 has a micro 4/3rd image sensor, while the Sony has a Super 35mm sensor that is 10% larger. This 10% only gives you marginally more control over depth-of-field, but nothing really noticeable.”
I am sorry but the imaging area of the Panasonic µ4/3 sensor is 13mm x 17.3mm (21.6mm diagonal). The one of the Sony Exmor™ Super 35mm sensor is 13.3mm x 23.6mm (27.1mm diagonal).
27.1 ÷ 21.6 = 1.25 so the Sony sensor is 25% larger than the Panasonic one, not 10%.
And this is only one example.
Milos Janata
2 years ago |I noticed that. Maybe even more based on your numbers, the surface would be 225mm2 vs 313mm2.
gigino
2 years ago |Many of the “built, touch and feel” issues may be due to the fact that the camcorder is a pre production model.
Normally Sony does not have issues like that even in 300$ DSLR.
As for the guy needing a pin point to press the white balance button…. I do not know about that. looking at the photos the button is as large as it could be.
also he said that the viewfinder/loupe, cannot be in vertical position, because of the handle also that is not true, since the handel can be moved forward leaving enough room to tilt the eye piece up.
Anyway I do not understand how Sony can always shoot in the foot, giving cameras to be tested too early and first by these kind of moaners. The a900 had to go through the same process and its succes was severely undermined by the “high iso in camera jpeg” morons.
Anyway the young guy who shot the music clip, despite having not time to acclimatize with the camera before the shoot, had mostly words of praise.
Anyway, these cameras does not really need ergonomics in the typical mening of the word as with DSLR, since hey are mostly suited for motion picture, where it will be rigged with any sort of thing.
Bottom line what really matters is the image quality and by the look of the music clip and the promo video which was shot by a good DOP using the right tools, there is not doubt the quality is there and it is a few steps forward from DSLR.
Mistral75
2 years ago |You are right: the difference in sensor area is +40% in favour of Sony Exmor™ Super 35mm. But the guy was taking about depth of field, which is proportional to the sensor diagonal, hence my 25%.
Milos Janata
2 years ago |Thanks for making it clear Mistral.
There is one more interesting thing.
This is a very rough estimate:
PANA 12 400 000pixels on 225mm2 area = cca 55100 pixels/mm2
SONY 3 370 000 pixels on 313mm2 area = cca 10700 pixels/mm2
5D 21 000 000 pixels on 864mm2 area = cca 24000 pixels/mm2
So Sony should be far superior in low light!
(pana is maybe 18 mpx total, not sure)
Too much time searching right values(effective/total pixels etc)..for me. Admin would You make an article about it?
Thomas Kluge
2 years ago |Sony claims their Exmor™ Super35 CMOS Senso is almost twice the size of a micro 4/3rd sensor.
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-nxcamsite/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-nxcam-solutions-nexfs100ulanding.shtml
Who is wrong? And why there is so much confusion and misunderstanding in sensor size judgement?
Mistral75
2 years ago |It’s not untrue but partly marketing: Sony say their sensor is almost twice the size of a µ4/3 sensor (in 16:9).
Indeed, when you crop a 4:3 sensor to obtain a 16:9 video, you use only 9.73mm x 17.3mm of the µ4/3 sensor, the total surface of which is 13mm x 17.3mm.
9.73 x 17.3 = 168sqmm (Panasonic in 16:9 crop mode)
13.3 x 23.6 = 314sqmm (Sony in 16:9 native mode)
314 ÷ 168 = 1.86 i.e. “almost” 2
@Milos Janata (I cannot reply to your post): the superiority of the Sony sensor in low light should be increased by the fact that its base sensitivity is ISO800.
dyna
2 years ago |Nigel’s been anti-Sony for awhile. I’d rather wait on fdtimes.com and see what he has to say about it.
00aeiou00
2 years ago |that guy must live a very frustrating life with everything he touches
He spent most of the article talking about how a button feels and hardly anything about the sensor…strange
RelaxGringoIMhereLegally
2 years ago |That video was terrible. How many shots of one tear coming from that woman’s eye can one take?
Nigel
2 years ago |dyna, Nigel here. I have not been anti-Sony for a while; what makes you think that?
Just look at the review I did on the PMW-350 in issue 15 (last issue) of DVuser magazine, I practically said it was the best camcorder in the word right now at the price. My review of the NX5 was glowing, so too my review on the EX1. I’ve had a great relationship with Sony for the past 8 years.
However, the FS100 is something of a let-down “IN MY OPINION”. It is not built to the standards one would expect of a £5000 camcorder.
And I don’t bang on about feeble feeling buttons and switches. Do a word count, I mention the sensor a lot more times.
My summing up of the FS100 is that the image quality is superb (not quite as good a EX1, but then it only has one sensor so this is to be expected with the codec in mind), but a little better than the AF101.
The modular design was somewhat frustrating for me to use, some people will love it, some won’t; I fall into the latter camp.
So, what camcorder do I use? A Sony PMW-350, Sony EX1, Sony NX5, JVC 750, Panasonic AF101 and I rent DigiBeta and HDCAM when work requires it.
I wouldn’t be in any rush to use/own an FS100, but that doesn’t mean other people won’t.
OOaeiouOO, even I smiled to myself when I read your post about “everything he touches”. The buttons on the FS100 are just too small and finicky to operate, and I kid you not, you almost need a ball point pen to depress the white-balance button; it really is that small. When you finally get your hands on one, you will see what I mean.
People will go out and judge for themselves and decide what to buy. But folk do appear to be happy to spend thousands of pounds on goods that are built for the disposable market; not that the FS100 falls into this camp.
25 years ago if a photographer bought a 300mm F2.8 for his/her Nikon F3 or Canon F1 and 5 years later something broke on it, they would take it back and have a total fit. These days, photographers will happily pay thousands of pounds for a modern AF (plastic parts) 300mm F2.8 and if it breaks down or a motor goes in it after just 18 months they will say “ah well, better buy a new one”. I personally don’t get this mentality.
I am a little bit more fussy than most when it comes to sheer build quality, I want a product to feel a little bit more substantial than a Vidal Sassoon hair dryer, especially if I’m paying £5,000.
My personal opinions of course.
I’ve had lots of emails off the back of my review with people asking various questions about what the camera does and doesn’t do. A lot of people are not too bothered by my criticising it’s build quality.
There are plenty of good things about the FS100, like image quality, interchangeable PL lenses etc, but there are a few negative things too, no ND filter wheel or BNC-type professional socket for HD/SDI. I guess no camcorder will have everything.
I’m fairly straight and honest with my reviews and if you read the review on the PDW-350 and more recently PMW-350 you will see me hugely excited about superb products made by Sony. But the FS100 was frustrating to use and operate and I guess that came over just a little too much in my review; sorry if that offended anyone; no offence intended.
Please remember folks, I’m posting here simply to try and clarify myself and I’m in talks with Sony UK about my review. They want to give me a full production unit with some PL lenses to re-test as mine was pre-production. But I’ve had pre-production units off Sony three times in the past (EX1 for example) and the final units are typically the same.
I also don’t really want to get my head bitten off or to be flamed etc, just want to clarify. If anybody has any questions about the FS100 I’ll answer them.
Thanks guys,
Nigel
admin
2 years ago |Hi Nigel!
Very kind of you to comment here on SAR. Almost needless to say that I agree with your review at 99%
Thanks!
Tom
2 years ago |Well, it was stated in that “review” that the FS100 sensor was only 10% larger than the AF100 sensor. Sorry but that article was questionable to say the least, as were the sample images. A pre-production model camera will probably not be built like a final product as well, so kind of pointless to spend 80% of the review talking about that.
Nigel
2 years ago |Tom, I did make a mistake with the sensor 10% factor, I had in mind the EOS 5D MK2 when I said that. I’ve since corrected it and after doing a little math made it 30%.
Please re-read my review, I spend more time talking about the cameras technical side than I do it’s build quality. I think people have just focused on the negatives a little too much.
If the sample images where/are questionable, then that is down to the FS100 because that is what I shot them on; end of.
Mark
2 years ago |For a different take on the FS100 have a look at this blog from F-Stop http://www.fstopacademy.com/2011/03/22/vertigo-first-music-video-to-be-shot-on-new-sony-nex-fs100/
They are much more positive about it.
Nigel
2 years ago |Mark, respectfully, Dennis Lennie who runs F-stop was one of the Focus Group members who Sony asked to go into their UK offices in March 2010 a year ago. They asked him and a few others what features they would like to see on a large sensor camera, Dennis and a few others put their thoughts forward. A year later, the FS100 is the result. So Dennis and crew feel obliged to say how wonderful it is as it is pretty much his little baby and he won’t hear a bad thing said about it. In a similar way Philip Bloom would not say that his own Signature CamSlide is a pile of garbage.
I don’t have any agenda, unlike certain other people.
Also, the views in my review are my personal opinion. To clarify, the FS100 has super image quality (for the money it cost) but I feel it is flimsily built and badly put together. Dennis Lennie is used to using an EX1 so the fact that the FS100 is only slightly worse built than that won’t bother him as he is used to that plasticy feel and he uses DSLR’s so is also used to an unusable form factorl. Now Dennis is a guy with a vested interest who is being paid by Sony to give talks for them at shows and at dealer events in the UK. I too am a Sony ICE (Independent Certified Expert) member (probably not for long though) like Denis, and I’ve given talks around the world on Sony camcorders and got paid handsomely by Sony for this. Sony like to pay independent cameramen to give talks at shows and dealer events as it gives more credibility than a Sony rep standing there banging on about how great their camcorders are, but things are changing now as there is an aliment of ‘selling out’ involved; I won’t sell out though. I bete-tested the very first pre-production EX1 and wrote and produced the Sony training DVDs and informercials for the EX1 and PDW-350 many years ago; I praised them, and today the PMW-350 is my personal favourite camcorder.
But, I won’t sell out for a price and give talks for companies on products that I can’t talk honestly about, that I can’t say “Yes, I love this camera and this is why I use it”, unlike Dennis who is happy to take the cash.
If you are questioning my review, then by god you should certainly question Dennis’ a lot more.
I’m not the one making money out of it, I’m the one who can afford to be honest as an independent.
I still continue to use most Sony camcorders, just not the FS100. I’m not a Sony-basher, I’m as disappointed in the FS100 as a lot of other people, especially because I was looking forward to being the face/man behind the FS100, which is what Sony wanted, and I wanted too. Now I’ve had to lose that relationship and all that potential money I could have made because I genuinely don’t feel that I can stand there and be a sycophantic hypocrite and say how wonderful everything about the FS100 is.
Mark
2 years ago |Hi Nigel,
I wasn’t particularly questioning your review, just giving an alternative. I think the regrettable error about sensor sizes made your review seem either biased or just incorrect for people like me who don’t know you or your work, but I appreciate that was a mistake rather than a strategy!
I also take your point about Dennis and his involvement in the development of the camera, although I don’t know him or you personally (in fact beyond these reviews/previews I don’t know either of you at all) so I won’t comment on the ‘sycophantic hypocrite’ part!
Cheers,
Mark
John
12 months ago |I had seen Nigel’s review and tried to ignore it and preordered the FS100 impulsively, because I was/am so wanting to have a solution that gives me the quality image that this cam offers, but Nigel’s review (sans his miscue on % of size differences) still nags at me. I think Sony’s build quality is awful on a lot of things they make, and he is totally right: for 5K we deserve better. Thank you Nigel for having the courage to risk your name and livelihood for the many thankless of us who never seem to appreciate what you do. I am going to wait and see how many happy buyers of this camera there really are, before I take the plunge. Sony needs to get off their high horse and I wish someone (Red) were listening.