Yes, I do have a ax100 also, excellent camera, my cx730"s also match very well with that camera except for detail.

Also, if you plan on buying a camera and if it has 4K, don't let people talk you out of it, you can always shoot 1080p with and use 4K when you are ready for it or when you want to give it a try, 4k has many benefits of which cropping into the frame without visual loss of detail is my favorite and the fact you can pull usable frames with sufficient resolution for photo's.

You are actually insulting about any weddingvideographer out there with this statement, not everyone makes cctv like recordings of a ceremony and speeches only like you do and I don't mean that in a bad way, but it's just about the most basic and simple form of recording a event with multiple unmanned camera's. There is nothing wrong in delivering those long recordings only if your client is happy with that but there is a big difference in only supplying a few hours continuous recording of longer events or delivering a 20 minute film where you piece together all parts of a day and try to capture the emotion and mix it into a compelling piece which a couple will watch over and over again with their family and friends over the next years to come, I just don't see them do the same with a one hour ceremony or one hour speeches, that's only a memory for the couple and a reason to use the remote control to fast forward with family and friends.
To be fair Peter is in a different business from most others on this forum. He is a good photographer who is offering "cctv like recordings of a ceremony and speeches only" for free. It's a great USP when competing against other photographers & prevents the couple hiring a videographer to get in the way.

If you quote me it might be good to include Peter's comment as well which led to my reaction because now it looks like it was my only intention to denigrate his way of working. My "cctv" comment was not ment in a negative way, even I use that approach partially during ceremonies, just pointing several camera's to a fixed position and let them roll unmanned.

It was actually Peter who was very clear about how he felt about almost all weddingvidegraphers out there who try to create weddingfilms that have a more creative approach, everyone has a different approach to making wedding video but it's good to be a bit more open minded about it instead of starting to insult people just because you see it in another way.

I mean if I would say that in general there is a lot of over-engineering going on in wedding photo production and that viewed from a distance it often looks like an indulgence by closet hobbyists and has little to do with emotional content. Would you agree with that, knowing you are a photographer also?

But anyways, I"m not going to react to this anymore but if you want to discuss good starter camera's I"d be happy to give my opinion if that can help Phil.

The AX100 has thrown a spanner in the works, I had not considered that and I rather like it

My only observation is the AF appears slowish, I would be interested in any user experiences on how they find the AX100

As previously discussed ease of use with the ability to go manual as the wife progresses.

The autofocus on the ax100 is OKish :) Marc who is also active on this forum posted a video about it:
Sony FDR AX100 4K Video: Auto Focus Test Outdoors on Vimeo

I use the touch focus a lot on the ax100, just touch the screen to wherever you want the camera to focus on and that works quite good. I haven't used any other focus aids on this camera, only shoot in autofocus and use touch focus if I want to be sure it doesn't start to drift on it's own.

And another one for the focustracking which I haven't used yet:

Sony FDR AX100 4K Video: Focus Tracking and Auto-focus Test on Vimeo

If you quote me it might be good to include Peter's comment as well which led to my reaction because now it looks like it was my only intention to denigrate his way of working. My "cctv" comment was not ment in a negative way, even I use that approach partially during ceremonies, just pointing several camera's to a fixed position and let them roll unmanned.You misunderstand. I meant no insult to you Noa. In fact as I recall I first described Peter's videos as like CCTV some time ago & he disliked my description then. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-event-video-members-only/518827-some-thoughts-longform-stills-video.html#post1812484 As I commented on that thread:

It's obviously better than Wobblecam from Uncle Bob but it's dispiriting that couples should find this sort of stuff acceptable for their wedding video. Why do we bother trying to make a video that is even mildly creative & entertaining if the couple are happy with a video that is just cutting between 3-4 locked off wide shots?

I don't think that there is any comparison between what Peter offers for free & anyone else on the forum who has video as main their offering. I think that Roger & Chris on occasion do some photography while doing video as a single operator but it's still video that is their main offering. In fact you might as well compare one of Peter's beautiful photographic wedding albums with an selection of screenshots from a video. It's just not the same business proposition. It's a great USP & freezes out all those creative wedding videographers who would get in the way.

BTW wedding videographers shouldn't be too upset by Peter's put-downs as if you read his posts you will realise that he doesn't think much of most other wedding photographers either:-)

To be fair Peter is in a different business from most others on this forum. He is a good photographer who is offering "cctv like recordings of a ceremony and speeches only" for free.

I was also involved in the debate with Peter. I'd like to say that I am actually a great admirer of Peter's work; he balances Photo and Video very well and I'd say a good inspiration for other Photographers adding Video to their service. Obviously doing both carries certain limitations and I'd say this shows up more in his video work, which I personally don't have a problem with.
Where perhaps there is conflict is when Peter makes these rather strong comments that imply that any Video work or style that differs from his own, is a case of the Videographer putting creativity over the needs of their clients, when I'd say it's more the work of someone giving video 100% rather than just 50.

Forums tend to invite debate and reaction, but I do worry that whilst some here will take Peter's comments with a pinch of salt; others more new to video could take it more seriously. Such as his remark that the shutter rule is for hobbyists only. Advice I certainly would not have benefited from when starting out.

Returning to the original thread. Thanks for the links to the Sony AX100 Noa, I'm looking to buy a couple this year, so I've already downloaded the original 4K file to play with. Obviously the camera lacks XLR inputs, but unless you're working with wireless mics, I'd think it's a good option for Phil as it is for me.

Thanks for the links to the Sony AX100 Noa

The 2 videos I posted are not the only ones Mark posted, he has around 20 ax100 videos on his vimeo channel where you can download the 4K master as well to have a better idea about the IQ.

Thanks for the links to the Sony AX100 Noa, I'm looking to buy a couple this year, so I've already downloaded the original 4K file to play with. Obviously the camera lacks XLR inputs, but unless you're working with wireless mics, I'd think it's a good option for Phil as it is for me.
You don't need XLR inputs if you are using wireless mics. The advantage of XLR balanced inputs is when using long leads & minimising interference but if the wireless receiver is on the camera then the question is moot. Actually I just Googled on some images f the AX100 & can't see a cold shoe so I am not certain how you would mount a wireless receiver in any case.

You don't need XLR inputs if you are using wireless mics. The advantage of XLR balanced inputs is when using long leads & minimising interference but if the wireless receiver is on the camera then the question is moot. Actually I just Googled on some images f the AX100 & can't see a cold shoe so I am not certain how you would mount a wireless receiver in any case.

Fair do's. I suppose I should have said proper audio inputs with separate volume controls. I maybe wrong, but when there are XLR / large jack inputs on cameras, you usually get a lovely selection of audio controls to quickly adjust those inputs, including those of any wireless mics. I can plug my Seinheisser G3 into my GH4, but alas whilst I can monitor audio levels during recording, I can't adjust them live. Does the AX100 have that facility, to adjust the audio levels on inputs during recording? It's not an issue for me as the AX100 are to be secondary locked off cameras, but I suppose if Phil did invest in any wirless mic, it would be an issue for him and where the AC-90 excels.

I agree with Steve that adjusting audio on cameras with no XLRs is often much more difficult. I have a Canon G20 and I only use it for reference audio because there are no dials to adjust volume. On my C100s I have XLRs with manual dials that make it much more convenient.

If I were buying a camera and I knew I needed to monitor audio I would definitely spend the extra money to get one with XLR inputs. However, I'm sure there are people that have had success adjusting audio with cameras that have a 3.5mm jack but I'm not one of them :)

The AX100 seems to have Sony's proprietary hot shoe that only fits sony accessories - same as CX730/PJXXX Cameras. The official Sony adapters to standard cold shoe are very expensive, you can get copies from ebay but the quality is variable to say thre least.

On the sony site I see that the Multi-Interface Shoe Adapter is only 25 dollar, haven't looked at the ax100 accessory list before but I see some interesting stuff, but at expensive prices :)

Like that Bluetooth Microphone (transmitter) or that Remote Control Tripod.

Sony ECM W1M Bluetooth Wireless Microphone System - YouTube

Let me clarify the "shoe'" question....

Older Sony cams used a proprietary shoe referred to as "AiS" or advanced interface shoe - it was an odd size, but you could pick up Chinese adapters quite cheaply to turn it into a cold shoe. The AIS shoe has 10 contacts allowing one to buy SONY accessories that interface to it, including a couple different mics and a bluetooth wireless mic (again proprietary). The contacts are mirrored in the A/V jack interface, more or less.

Cue forward to the current generation Sony cameras... in 2013-2014 Sony abandoned the old proprietary Minolta shoe on the Alpha SLT cameras, and at the same time abandoned the AiShoe, replacing both with a new MiShoe (Multi interface shoe), which shares general dimensions with a traditional shoe (with a notable exception on the AX100, where the shoe is "keyed"). Again, the 10 contacts as above are present for SONY accessories, mirrored in the "MULTI" port, which is actually a micro USB with a second row of 10 contacts which are accessed by special SONY accessory cables.

All that said, unless you are a bit of a hacker, accessing the functionality on the ports with anything other than SONY accessories is hit or miss, and there are notable differences between the Sony MULTI port between Sony divisions (Cybershot/Alpha/Handycam). I have that W1M, and it does have a mic input on the transmitter, seems to sort of work with a couple of the lavs I have, but not others... it's in the kit "just in case", but I've grown fond of small digital recorders...



And after all that, I remember I was going to post my simple and cheap "DIY" shoe adapters for the AX100, and was never able to upload photos... I have a single, and a triple, less than $20 to buy the parts, and about 15 minutes with a small moto-tool, they work great to add a cold shoe/shoes for lights/mic/whatever...

Sadly, I STILL cannot upload files successfully... so I can't show off my spiffy cold shoe adapter/mounts! I know Chris tried to fix it... but still broken, I guess. I'll try from a different computer if anyone is really that interested!

And Phil, sorry to toss a wrench in the gears <wink> (US for spanner in the works!), but I'll admit to rather liking the overall "package" and balance that the AX100 represents. It replaced several other cameras for me, and honestly I enjoy shooting with it a LOT, with the 4K quality being a huge bonus once I worked the kinks out of shutter speed!

I may pick up an AX33 somewhere along the way for what it does (Magic Eyeball IS!), but it would be a complementary cam... and an RX Cybershot with 4K would be my preferred choice, should one ever become available, or should firmware ever appear to upgrade the ones I've already GOT!

There are certain cameras that just seem to get most everything "right", and the AX100 and RX10 are two that hit that sweet spot - neither is "perfect", but the quibbles are generally so small that once you start using them, you are too "busy" enjoying shooting again that you forget the minor "bumps". I do still spit nails at Sony for not implementing 4K in the RX10 and RX100, as they would better round out the "kit" with the AX100, but the 1080/60p XAVCS is quite nice...

Thanks for all the feedback, one area that initially concerns is AF

Will the AX100 when in auto focus follow a Bride and groom when walking up the aisle.

Thanks Phil

I went for an AX100 in the end, thanks to all the input from everyone, should be here tomorrow.

also bagged an EM5 ll to play with

Thanks for all the feedback, one area that initially concerns is AF

Will the AX100 when in auto focus follow a Bride and groom when walking up the aisle.

Thanks Phil

The dof of a ax100 will be a lot deeper then a 5dIII so focus should not be so much of a issue, you also will notice very soon it will be impossible to match up the em5II and the ax100 if you plan on using them together for videon the resolution difference will be very obvious.

The dof of a ax100 will be a lot deeper then a 5dIII so focus should not be so much of a issue, you also will notice very soon it will be impossible to match up the em5II and the ax100 if you plan on using them together for videon the resolution difference will be very obvious.

Thanks Noa, the EM5 will my carry everywhere camera won't be used for video except a bit of fun stuff, I'll be getting a second Camcorder at some point to compliment the AX100

Possibly will be an AXP33, or maybe an RX10 people seem to like those unless there are any other suggestions for matching with the Ax100

Stick with the same brand unless colour editing is your thing. Plus any additional camera you look to buy, just try and find some original footage via Vimeo; or even Youtube if the former doesn't reveal anything. Download the files and work with them in the edit suite. I'm doing much the same with AX100 footage that I've downloaded, and which I'm testing against my GH4.