So I'm dipping my toe into the 4K world with a Sony AX100 - I'm filming at the weekend at a venue where I'll be filming from the back so will have 2 locked off cameras at the front - one of which will be my AX100. There's a lot of natural light so I'll be using auto exposure, I've already established it overexposes a little in auto, like most sony cams, so I'll be setting AE comp and minus half a stop. Also it seems to remember zoom and manual focus settings after being turned off so that's ok just to turn and and start recording, assuming the B&G don't move from where they should be.

I can then drop my 4K clip on my 1080 timeline to crop and zoom - nice :)

Any tips on this camera or 4K in general for a newbie?

The camera is pretty failsafe, you only need to watch your focus if you use the spotfocus feature by touching the screen, I have noticed more then once it doesn't always focus accurately and now I double check by zooming in onto the screen and use peaking. If the focus is off by just a bit it will notice.

The problem I have with that, as is most often the case, is once the camera is running, if the B&G move a little I can't get to the camera to check it's still in focus - quite often with the CX730 cams auto is good enough as it will nearly always lock on to the contrast of the bride's dress which is ok for a small sensor but with this larger sensor that won't do (I have these cams set to wide)

The extra DOF of the 1" sensor of the AX100 compared to an APS-C or FF means it's more forgiving when focusing.

Hi Pete,
I'm not a Sony man, but I believe the ax100 has wifi and smartphone control, so you may well be able to adjust focus with the wifi app.

On my pair of Panny FZ 1000s I use the app to adjust zoom from the second opposite angle cam and can also use touch screen focus control on the app to focus on any part of the frame. I just use a smart phone or pad mounted on my main tripod. I would have thought there would be a similar thing for the Sony.

Roger

The extra DOF of the 1" sensor of the AX100 compared to an APS-C or FF means it's more forgiving when focusing.

That's not my experience, if the focus is off it's off and it will be painfully visible, especially in 4k, the autofocus is good enough to save you from problems like this when you shoot wider but as soon as you start to zoom in you need to check, I also had the camera missing focus with that spotfocus when the lens was wide, the camera had issues getting the focus because of a mixture of light.

Hi Pete,
I'm not a Sony man, but I believe the ax100 has wifi and smartphone control, so you may well be able to adjust focus with the wifi app.

On my pair of Panny FZ 1000s I use the app to adjust zoom from the second opposite angle cam and can also use touch screen focus control on the app to focus on any part of the frame. I just use a smart phone or pad mounted on my main tripod. I would have thought there would be a similar thing for the Sony.

Roger

Nice - I'll try that this afternoon :) UPDATE - sadly not - can only start/stop/zoom

The camera comes with a remote but again, no focus control. It can be a problem with locked off cams as in the past I've locked focus on where the couple are going to stand, only to find the registrar decided to move around the other side of the table, making the B&G step back a few feet - result = registrar nice and sharp but the couple were soft - all I could have done was squeeze past the couple to re-adjust my camera and then squeeze past them again, and I wasn't going to do that (maybe I would these days)

You still need to take notice of what Noa says though as if you want to crop in to the image you need to make sure the focus is correct at that zoom. Just touching in a wide angle the camera will choose the best depth of field at that zoom position not necessarily for a crop later.

Ron Evans

As an aside how important is it to have a U3 class SD card for 4K? I'v just been filming with a 600X SDXC U1 card without any problems

Pete

As an aside how important is it to have a U3 class SD card for 4K? I'v just been filming with a 600X SDXC U1 card without any problems

Pete

It's a risk. How long did you record for? I find slower cards stop recording when the camera starts a new file every 4gb with high bitrate. It's random and depends on what's being recorded. Even my U3 cards can halt recording if I don't do a full format rather than in camera one once a month. You can use U1 but it's tempting fate and could well let you down when you least want it.

Just ordered a couple of U3 cards!

Peter, make sure you're using proper brand-name batteries or AC because if the camera loses power during a recording, that entire recording becomes corrupt and is extremely difficult to recover. I make it a habit to hit start/stop on the cam whenever it's convinient (for example intermissions).

It's a risk. How long did you record for? I find slower cards stop recording when the camera starts a new file every 4gb with high bitrate. It's random and depends on what's being recorded. Even my U3 cards can halt recording if I don't do a full format rather than in camera one once a month. You can use U1 but it's tempting fate and could well let you down when you least want it.

You format in a computer rather than in the camera? and Nate yes, I have branded batteries from my CX730 cams

You format in a computer rather than in the camera? and Nate yes, I have branded batteries from my CX730 cams

I format in my camera for all shoots but once a month now I use some software to do a complete format. Takes about 20 mins for a 64bg card and clears the card. I'm not too knowledgeable on the techno jargon as to whats involved but with camera format you can still recover the files but with the sd formatter software on the computer its removed for good. Just clears the cobwebs and any fragments on the card.

To shoot the higher bitrates, the camera should bark (actually just give you and on screen warning) at you if you don't have a U3 card.... I think the latest firmware iterations might allow you to use a smaller SDHC card, but still needs to be U3. Somehow I think you can shoot the 50Mbps or whatever the "low" bitrate is on a U1 card.

Daft thing I've done - shoot indoors with the ND filter on setting 3! I was in a rush, and didn't realise why I needed to up the gain so much - figured it was just being poor in low light and underestimating the AX100.

If you're shooting 4K, don't shoot over +12db. As Noa says, always check focus. I shoot wide too, and always place my subjects in the middle of the peaking. I use yellow peaking and make sure I nail it in the middle. I'll sometimes choose to add a little more gain to have a little more depth of field too.

Brilliant camera!

To shoot the higher bitrates, the camera should bark (actually just give you and on screen warning) at you if you don't have a U3 card.... I think the latest firmware iterations might allow you to use a smaller SDHC card, but still needs to be U3. Somehow I think you can shoot the 50Mbps or whatever the "low" bitrate is on a U1 card.

For HD it will take an SDXC card but if UHD is selected mine will not work and asks for a u3 card. Formating in the camera is the suggested approach that I always follow. If you format in the PC the camera will format in camera anyway !!! It creates directories on the card for all the formats it is able to shoot before starting any. If they are not there ( a PC formatted card or new card) it will format and create them. At least that is my understanding.

Ron Evans

I'll sometimes choose to add a little more gain to have a little more depth of field too.
I was scratching my head as to how increasing gain would increase DoF then realised that you actually meant that you would stop down to a smaller aperture to increase DoF then have to increase gain to ensure exposure was OK.

Daft thing I've done - shoot indoors with the ND filter on setting 3! I was in a rush, and didn't realise why I needed to up the gain so much - figured it was just being poor in low light and underestimating the AX100.

If you're shooting 4K, don't shoot over +12db. As Noa says, always check focus. I shoot wide too, and always place my subjects in the middle of the peaking. I use yellow peaking and make sure I nail it in the middle. I'll sometimes choose to add a little more gain to have a little more depth of field too.

Brilliant camera!

Lol I did that at my last wedding - it was a 3pm start with a church and then another venue - in my rush I forgot to remove my ND filter before filming inside at the reception venue - Thank god for the A7s - it's a little noisy but not too bad - phew!

Regarding 12db - I think this is a similar sensor to my Sony EA50 and that would go to 21db before the noise got too bad - is it worse for 4K? I'll have a play today

I was scratching my head as to how increasing gain would increase DoF then realised that you actually meant that you would stop down to a smaller aperture to increase DoF then have to increase gain to ensure exposure was OK.

Haha probably rushing my sentences and confusing people! It would be great if increased noise increased DoF - that would solve all our night time problems!

Lol I did that at my last wedding - it was a 3pm start with a church and then another venue - in my rush I forgot to remove my ND filter before filming inside at the reception venue - Thank god for the A7s - it's a little noisy but not too bad - phew!

Regarding 12db - I think this is a similar sensor to my Sony EA50 and that would go to 21db before the noise got too bad - is it worse for 4K? I'll have a play today

Haha I'm fairly certain that Noa did a test. When he stops by, he may still have the frames. If not, I've seen one on YouTube possibly. Can't remember as it was that long ago since I did my research on it. I basically bought it because of Noa's findings of its reliability though, as well as the ability to do 4K.

I think noise is worse and I wouldn't shoot at 21db. The highest I shot was at 30db with the mistake I made, and it looked pretty shoddy. I had to run a de-noiser on the whole thing and it took a long time.

Good work on doing the same trick! Haha I'll never do it again!!! I hope not anyway...

I don't have that test anymore but can say that the ax100 is pretty noisy at high gains, it's the only camera I have where I need to apply neat video to from time to time during ceremonies at darker venues.

The AX100 has a 1" sensor whereas the EA50 has a Super35 APS-C sensor which is double the area. As a rule of thumb the larger the sensor & the larger the individual pixels then the better the low light perforrmance.

I’m in the same boat as the OP. The camera will be manned, but will be on a tripod during the ceremony, then handheld afterwards.

Rather than using Auto with AE Comp set at a half stop underexposed, I’m planning to turn on yellow peaking and using the Spot Meter Exposure/Focus.

Since we’ll be filming at 24fps, we’ll lock down the shutter at 1/48th, put the ISO on auto, and adjust the Aperture as desired while trying to keep the gain under 12db if possible.

Poke holes in those ideas.