I stopped at my local retailer in Providence, RI, USA. They are part of a nine location chain of stores. As of yesterday, June 3, they had one (1) preorder in their entire system for the FX2. I don’t know how the camera is being received in other places, but I would call that a disaster for the northeastern United States. I’m an FX6 and FX3 owner who has been waiting to see what Sony plan to do as a replacement for the FX9. After the disaster called FX2, I’m not so sure I trust Sony to keep pace with the changing marketplace. Time will tell of course, and I don’t have to make any decisions in the next few months, but if I don’t see a competitive FX camera by the end of the year, I will start making plans for a change.
UPDATE: Now a Swiss retailer sent me this (SAR note: Did hide the store name as Manuel didn’t tell me if I can make it public):
I’am Manuel and working in Switzerland for a Renthouse & Reseller for Cameragear. I can confirm so far, we have zero (0)! preorders for the FX2 so far… So your statement looks about right to me so far.
This prompted me to contact my contacts in stores, who confirmed that the number of pre-orders for the FX2 is extremely disappointing. Through my affiliate links in the US and the EU, I have received only 6 pre-orders in total. Considering that, statistically speaking, 1-2 of these pre-orders will be canceled, the result is rather disappointing.
I hope this is a lesson for Sony: in a world where the competition never sleeps, you can’t afford to fall behind for long. We need cameras with significant updates and a little enthusiasm!
Kolarivision carefully took apart the Sony FX30 to see what it looks like inside. At the end they state this:
Generally, Sony mirrorless cameras aren’t difficult to take a part, due to their straightforward setup. This applies more even to their compact-body style cameras, such as the Sony A7CR (even despite being a full frame camera), which we have previously tore down.
Expansion of White Balance memory positions from 3 to 8
Inclusion of VF Gamma Display Assist while using S-Log3 for monitoring
[Monitor FHD] is newly added as a factory preset for SDI output for both X-OCN and XAVC
Improved the on-screen display which places camera status information outside of the image in [Monitor FHD] in both HDMI and SDI output
Addition of breathing compensation and image stabilization metadata in X-OCN
Time Code and Clip Name metadata are now overlaid to [Monitor FHD]
Support for 23.98PsF for SDI output
Image quality is improved in S-Log3 external output in Base Look
709tone is newly added as a preset Base Look
Improved image quality when applying user 3D LUTs
Compatible with commands for PL lenses supporting Cooke/i Technology
Focus & Zoom: Can be controlled on the BURANO, from M&C app or via external devices
Iris: Can be controlled from Remote Control Panel only
24V option is added to PL mount voltage setting (PL-Mt Voltage)
Autofocus improvement when recording with 29.97P, 25P, 24P, and 23.98P
Proxy recording is now available with system frequency of 24P
Factory-reset frequency is changed from 59.94P to 23.98P
In addition to Reset/Reset without Network, [Reset to Factory Defaults] menu is now available to initialize all settings e.g. password, User 3D LUTs in memory
・Variable ND control is now possible from Remote Control Panel (RCP)
“Imager Temperature” is added to the status screen (Information screen)
“Format Media” can be executed from the status screen (Media screen)
Camera ID and Reel # can be set in the status screen (Project screen)
Tally control is now possible from external devices connected via wired-LAN
Still hot: For a limited time you get the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 lens for $999 only at Amazon (Click here). This is the lowest price ever on this excellent lens! Also the Tamron 18-300mm APS-C lens sells for $599 only at Amazon (Click here).
