has anyone here gotten a chance to compare the lowlight of the ex1 versus the fx1000/z5u? I need better lowlight than what I get coming from my fx1000/sgblade combo.

The fx1000 by itself has great lowlight, but when combined with the sgblade it loses a lot due to lens ramping from having to zoom into the ground glass, as well as light loss from the adapter itself.

So I'm either going to get a 7D for lowlight shooting or replace the FX with EX1 if the EX1 has considerably better lowlight than the fx1000... any thoughts?

So I'm either going to get a 7D for lowlight shooting or replace the FX with EX1 if the EX1 has considerably better lowlight than the fx1000... any thoughts?

My thoughts are that the EX1 will indeed be noticeably better in low light simply because it has chips of twice the surface area of the FX1000's chips. But the EX1 pales when up against the 7D, and if as you say you want a camera 'for low light shooting' then the relatively huge chip in the Canon gives it a big advantage.

But note this huge advantage is only in the low light and limited dof sphere. In all other respects I'd wager the EX1 is a far more complete and capable movie-making tool.

tom.

^
does the ex1 lens stop down as you zoom in? if so how much do you think?
The sensors of the ex1 are indeed larger, but the fx1000 isn't actually pushing as much pixels on the 1/3 chips, it's using some sort of pixel shift technology..

I do believe it does, but it only loses half a stop (from f/1.6 to f/1.9 - like the Z7). Others here will correct me if I'm wrong. The Z5 loses a good 2 stops, but then again it has a 20x zoom.

thanks, 1.6-1.9 isn't bad at all..

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Picture from http://www.camcorder-test.com

EX1 12 LUX:
http://produktdbimages5.slashcam.de/camcorder-testergebnisse_testbilder_testbild_12_lux_42.jpg

FX1000 12 Lux:
http://produktdbimages1.slashcam.de/camcorder-testergebnisse_testbilder_testbild_12_lux_86.jpg

1.200 Lux EX3/JVC HM400:
http://www.fxsupport.de/test/ex1aufl2.jpg EX3 better? ;-)

has anyone here gotten a chance to compare the lowlight of the ex1 versus the fx1000/z5u? I need better lowlight than what I get coming from my fx1000/sgblade combo.

The fx1000 by itself has great lowlight, but when combined with the sgblade it loses a lot due to lens ramping from having to zoom into the ground glass, as well as light loss from the adapter itself.

So I'm either going to get a 7D for lowlight shooting or replace the FX with EX1 if the EX1 has considerably better lowlight than the fx1000... any thoughts?

7D only have has better low light if you have F1.4 to F1.8 lens, anything above that FX1000 or EX1 will be better in low light at wide angle.

Picture from HD Camcorder Test und Vergleich von Sony PMW-EX3 (PMWEX3),Sony PMW-EX1 (PMW-EX1E/ PMWEX1) und Canon XH G1s beste Werte hervorgehoben (http://www.camcorder-test.com)

EX1 12 LUX:
http://produktdbimages5.slashcam.de/camcorder-testergebnisse_testbilder_testbild_12_lux_42.jpg

FX1000 12 Lux:
http://produktdbimages1.slashcam.de/camcorder-testergebnisse_testbilder_testbild_12_lux_86.jpg

1.200 Lux EX3/JVC HM400:
http://www.fxsupport.de/test/ex1aufl2.jpg EX3 better? ;-)

cool, less grain on the ex1.. do they specify what settings the cameras were on?

7D only have has better low light if you have F1.4 to F1.8 lens, anything above that FX1000 or EX1 will be better in low light at wide angle.
Interesting, is this from experience?

Yes, even though 7D is has bigger sensor, but if you have slow lens like the kit lens f3.5 5.6, fx1000 is better, but put an F1.4 on it and it will kill the FX1000, but most F1.4 are fix and so there are also dissadvange.