..and it's a doozie! Check out that big sensor!

Sony Full Frame Interchangeable Lens Camcorder | NEX-VG900 | Sony USA (http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&searchType=search&storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&productId=8198552921666489355)

http://store.sony.com/wcsstore/SonyStyleStorefrontAssetStore/img/static_images/Overview_NEXVG900_mod1.jpg

Love it!
Question - doesn't the FS100/700 already have a Super 35mm sensor?

I thought this was $3,300 - $3,800

Sony announces NEX-VG30 and full-frame NEX-VG900 Handycams, we go hands-on -- Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/12/sony-nex-vg30-vg900-hands-on/)

NEX-VG900 from Sony: Official Video Release - YouTube

NEX-VG900 from Sony: Official Video Release

Question - doesn't the FS100/700 already have a Super 35mm sensor?

They have Super 35 sensors, not the same as 35mm.

Sony's Super 35 is 23.6 x 13.3 mm
Sony's FF '35mm' is 35.8 x 23.9mm

Super 35 cameras originally used the same 35mm film, only run vertically instead of sideways as with still cameras.

No ND filters… Is it so complicate to integrate?

Don't get to excited bofys. From specs I have seen on the Sony page this camera, like the Vg 20. does not ha ve adjustable scene profiles. I hope I am wrong and they forgot to mention it, but you just can,t tell from Sony specs because they mirepresented what the Vg 20 had on board last year. Sony, tell me you rare goingto give us basic contrast, sharpness and saturation adjustment capabilities.

Playmobile Color effects for professional Video great idea....

XLR unit looks interesting. What lenses can work with powered zoom?

Though this is interesting form factor aside - I think the A99 is the better option because you get steadyshot with A-mount lenses that are far superior to anything available in E-mount. I'm sure you can modify picture profiles on the A99 as well.

Using an E-mount lens with the NEX-VG900 will also force the camcorder to use a cropped portion of the full-frame sensor. But Sony does throw in a free A-mount lens converter so you can get full sensor coverage with an attached A-mount lens.

One advantage of the e-mount is the ease of mounting legacy 35mm glass. You should get full sensor coverage using something like a Nikkor 24mm.

XLR unit looks interesting. What lenses can work with powered zoom?

Only one at this point - the adapted 18-200 kit lens.

The A99 will have full manual control. The VG 900 looks to be a VG20 with a FF sensor and rocker arm, meaning Chris is right - probably no control over sharpening, gamma, or contrast.

Interesting, but I think having the VG20/FS100 as a mainline A camera means an easier workflow. Having the A99 as a B cam for beauty CUs/tight spaces certainly is appealing, esp as now I can use all my NEX glass.

The NEX mount is def an advantage over other cameras. Sony sure is squeezing every ounce of life it can out of 8 bit/1080 technology... before everything switches over to 10 bit/2 K next year at NAB.

The A99 has all the picture controls, from its spec sheet:

Creative Style : Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn leaves, Black & White, Sepia (Contrast (-3 to +3 steps), Saturation (-3 to +3 steps), Sharpness (-3 to +3 steps))

The only thing listed on the VG30/900 specs along with cinematone:

Digital Picture Effects/Picture Effects : Movie and Still:Posterization,Pop color,Retro Photo, Partial Color, High constrast Monochrome, Toy Camera; Still Only:Soft Focus,Miniature

Still seems like Sony is dumbing down features since its not a "pro" camcorder, despite its price tag. Disappointing.

I'm seriously thinking about placing an order for the A99 to compliment or even replace my FS100 as Leica R and Zeiss C/Y lenses adapt to the A-mount fine. Hopefully someone will put the new VG's through the paces so we can get the skinny soon.

Why do they not have 30p?

Here is a field test of the A99 with 3 minutes on the VG900 at the end.

Worth a view :-) Sony A99 Field Test with NEX-VG900 Field Test - YouTube

Using an E-mount lens with the NEX-VG900 will also force the camcorder to use a cropped portion of the full-frame sensor. But Sony does throw in a free A-mount lens converter so you can get full sensor coverage with an attached A-mount lens.
And what is the base price for A mount lenses that are useful?

Still seems like Sony is dumbing down features since its not a "pro" camcorder, despite its price tag. Disappointing.

This is my gut reaction too. I feel like I want to like this camera, but it is too much handycam & would be a much more appealing camera if it was closer to a HVR-Z1U (HDR-FX1) as opposed to a HVR-A1U. But I guess that is what the FS100 is supposed to be.

I'm feeling impatient as I want one NOW!!!
FF with older Minolta legacy glass- count me in!!!!!

Was all set to buy the GH3 but FF is where it's at.

Though this is interesting form factor aside - I think the A99 is the better option because you get steadyshot with A-mount lenses that are far superior to anything available in E-mount. I'm sure you can modify picture profiles on the A99 as well.

The A99 is a showstopper for me since I want to use my myriad of FF Pentax K-mount lenses. The VG900 will work with low cost E-mount to Pentax, Nikon, Leica etc lens mount adapters.

Why do they not have 30p?

I am very curious about their 60i possibly being 30PsF.

The A99 is a showstopper for me since I want to use my myriad of FF Pentax K-mount lenses. The VG900 will work with low cost E-mount to Pentax, Nikon, Leica etc lens mount adapters.

E-mount is among the most versatile as far as adapted lenses go, pretty much everything can be adapted.

Leitax sells adapters for Nikkor, ZF, C/Y and Leica R to the A mount - and they enable SteadyShot. I'm in the C/Y and Leica R camp so that suits me fine. I'm personally going for SS and control over the image - pending full tests.

... I'm personally going for SS and control over the image - pending full tests.


Pardon my ignorance Chris, but my personal decoder couldn't figure out the meaning of 'SS'.
Would you elaborate please?

He was referring to Steady Shot, I think.

Is anyone planning on buying this on the 27th when it's available?

Is anyone planning on buying this on the 27th when it's available?

I would sure like to rent one first.

No reason for it, in my mind. If I want full frame shallow depth of field, I have the Canon 5D. While it has less resolution, for closeup shots (which is mostly what full frame should be used for) resolution is sufficient for most needs. Certainly, at the quoted pricing, the FS100 for a few hundred more is a much better buy, albeit it has only APC/super 35mm frame size. We all need to remember that in terms of film look, full frame is way beyond the shallowness of depth of field that 35mm cinemas cameras provided. APC/super35mm cameras are much closer to that. So the shallowness provided by a FF camera is more of an extreme than a standard.

On the other side, full frame does help with the low light shooter, both in terms of a larger chip size and the usability of faster normal lenses like 50mm F 1.4, which are common.

I have seen raw files from the A99 shooting video and I have seen "produced" video from that VG900. Heavy amounts of moire and interpolation exist in both.

I guess we will need to see this thing on some resolution charts to measure how bad it really is. I certainly already have a bad feeling about it. (I hope I'm wrong)

I mean, think about it, the thing takes a video image made of 24 million pixels and then throws away 22 million? That's ALLOT of image "gaps" to fill in somehow. Not counting de-Bayer, the thing only keeps 1 out of every 12 pixels? On detailed patterns, you will have pixels hitting and missing everywhere. lol,...allot more "missing" than "hitting" according to the math.

I dunno :-(

He was referring to Steady Shot, I think.

Yes steadyshot. I'd like to rent a VG900 too since it seem like its going to be available much sooner than the A99 - which I have pre-ordered ... for now.

Is anyone planning on buying this on the 27th when it's available?
Adorama and B&H say that on their websites but I just think that is when you could pre-order it and on Amazon it says "Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available". BTW I pre-ordered the VG900 from Samy's Camera in LA on Sep 18.

Here is a video shot at Photokina at the Sony stand and the VG900 demo starts at 30:00.

CameraDiner LIVE Show 2 at Photokina Sony Alpha A99, RX-1, VG900, NEX-6, Playmemories, Xperia - YouTube

Has anyone had chance at a demo or show to go through the menu on the VG900?
I would really like to know if it enables all or any of the on lens Steady Shot settings on the NEX lenses in APS-C crop mode, of course there is not any IS for Full frame alpha lenses on the chip and all the publicity is geared towards full frame, infact I have not even seen a pic with a NEX lens attached to the VX900 yet.

Just noticed that you cant enable the active mode on the 18-200mm VG20 kit lens on the NEX7, only standard or off.

Thanks

Here is a photo of the VG900 withFF Zeiss 50mm Cine lens with NEX E mount :

"This video compares the APS-C & 1/2.88' sensor vs the 35mm Full Frame Image Sensor found on the new Sony NEX-VG900 35mm Full Frame Camcorder."
Video Footage Comparisson of the Sony NEX-VG900 - YouTube

Same Sensor VG 900 A77

Eye North: Sony A99 - Gimme Moire! (http://www.eyenorth.com/2012/09/sony-a99-gimme-moire.html)

Lowlight test Sony a99, Nikon D600, Canon 6D, GH3

Eye North: Sony a99, Nikon D600, Canon 6D, GH3 (http://www.eyenorth.com/2012/09/sony-a99-nikon-d600-canon-6d-gh3.html)

Here is a short film " Home on the Road " shot with the VG900 and Carl Zeiss Vario Sonner 24-70mm F2.8 :
?home on the road?SONY NEX-VG900 (???SALON11????) - YouTube

VG900 Instruction/Operation manuals now available for download.

Sony : Support for NEX-VG900E | NEX-VG900E technical support (http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/nex-vg900e)

Model Shoot at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel with the Sony NEX-VG900 on Vimeo

SONY VG-900 & ZEISS 15mm F2.8 ZF.2 85mm F1.4 ZF Taiwan on Vimeo

SONY VG-900

ZEISS 15mm F2.8 ZF.2

ZEISS 85mm F1.4 ZF

Had an extended hands on with the camera and some nice Alpha optics including some Zeiss models. My observations i random order:

• The sensor is not the same as the A99 sensor, as the autofocus sensor elements are different.
• The AE3-adaptor for Alpha mount does not use a semireflective mirror, and is basically an upgraded AE1
• E-mount lenses will work - but not with out some vignetting - Beta firmware though, so this may change on the final camera.
• E-mount lenses with power zoom will have active zoom and stepless aperture
• Alpha mount lenses will only change aperture in full F-stops on the camera.
• If APS-C lenses are used the camera will do an autocrop. APS-C crop can also be done manually, for lenses that the camera can not auto detect. Then you will get the 1,6 x cropfactor,
• The XLR-adaptor can not be mounted on the camera, as there is not enough space between the two flash-shoes on the camera to mount the adaptor. You have to use a bracket of some kind.
• The camera is very light. Meaning that larger optics will make the camera very front heavy.
• The HDMI is *not* supposed to be clean. The A99 HDMI is clean – intentionally
• The sound meters does not change format to a more traditional format, when the XLR-adaptor is connected on the camera, meaning that correct sound level is hard to judge.
• Excellent picture quality - and possibility for extreme shallow DOF

Had an extended hands on with the camera and some nice Alpha optics including some Zeiss models. My observations i random order:

• The sensor is not the same as the A99 sensor, as the autofocus sensor elements are different


Do you know what the differences are in the sensor?

No only that the embedded auto focus sensors are either missing or not active on the vg900. I believe that the cam has only one type of auto focus not a hybrid like the A99.

The VG900 does not have 1/3 stop light loss like the A99 with SLT mirror in the light path.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8194434390_32c4f1073a_b.jpg

Sony NEX-VG900 Sample Movie on Vimeo
Sony NEX-VG900 Making Movie on Vimeo