So I have a couple of NEX 50s I used them for a few years and loved them. then I got a sony a6300 and a fdr ax100 I loved them. I cant seem to find anyone to buy my EA 50s I started giving them a good look the other day an other than lack of 4K they really have everything I need the biggest draw back was lenses. now I see tameron has 28 to 75 @ 2.8 coming out, instead of buy a set of new cameras I was thinking for weddings of just getting new lenses. Do you guys think these cameras still hold up against the newer smaller cameras? Or should I just let them stay in the cases?

If you put 2 of them in the mix and if you don't mind the size of the camera, then ofcourse they can still be used for weddingvideography but as you have the ax100 and 6300 you know that the nex 50 won't mix that well with those camera's when it comes to resolution, even if you deliver in HD, so in that regard it doesn't hold up against the current high res camera's.

ok thats kinda the info I needed, I dont shoot in 4K on the 6300 or the AX 100 but I was wondering what the difference was in the image quality considering they all say "exmor sensor" I dont expect them to match but I do need them to look good.

From what I have heared shooting HD on the sony vs shooting 4K scaled down to HD in post is like night and day on the 6300 when it comes to resolution, I"m surprised you never even shot 4K :) Both camera's will look better if you shoot 4K and then just edit HD.

To be honest im one of those people that doesnt like 30p and thats all the Sonys do. I did some shooting with it as a test and it looked good ill have to do some more tests. I also have a Panasonic UX-180 I shot 4K 60 with that one even though it looked sharp it didnt look that good compared to the same situation shot in HD (after down converting to HD) personally I dont like the Panasonic its very noisy and terrible in low light, I was thinking if these lenses worked out id sell the Panasonic and buy new lenses for the EA 50s

hey Randy,

in the past I had the NEX-EA50 (bought from Noa) but sold it. I could buy a cheap sony FS100.
The sony FS100 is much better in low light and sharper image.

Personally I use fast primes or the 18-200mm stocklens. Yesterday I used the 80-200mm nikon F2.8 because I had to film a concert and there was low light on stage.

I'm a bit surprised the UX180 is not good in low light. I was thinking of buying the panasonic HC-X1 (same as the UX180 but missing some connections) for it's 20x zoom and 1 inch sensor and full 4K 60p

Normally I use my 20x zoom sony HXR-NX3 but it's not the best for low light shooting. Always thought a 1inch sensor camcorder would be better.

I agree with you that 4K 30p is useless. I need 60P (50P for me) to slow down in post.

Tom,
The best way I can explain the comparison is I have a Sony adr-ax100 and a Panasonic UXU-180
When both cameras are wide and at the same wide aperture like 2.8 the cameras look the same. BUT when it gets darker and we need to gain up I can go to 21 db with out loosing any significant image I can barley get past 9 db before seeing significant artifacts. It just doent hold up well when the rubber meets the road

Randy,

so the sony goes up to 21db and the panasonic gets artifacts from about 9db.
Both have a 1inch sensor but the sony technology seems to do much better in low light.

I'm understanding this correct?

yes, without gaining up theyre both pretty close but once you gain up the Panasonic falls apart really quick. I cant shoot much past 9 db and get what I call acceptable images. I have a wedding Saturday ill try and shoot some comparrisons.

From what I have heared shooting HD on the sony vs shooting 4K scaled down to HD in post is like night and day on the 6300 when it comes to resolution, I"m surprised you never even shot 4K :) Both camera's will look better if you shoot 4K and then just edit HD.

That is because HD is so very bad on the a6300, is worse than in the older a6000!

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder:) I love my 6300s HD image for my purposes anyway.I need to compare my 6300 to my EA 50 somehow.

Hey Randy

As you know I had 2 EA-50's as well and technically I loved them as they had all the bells and whistles that other manufacturers forgot to include. I never liked the end result ..even with my Nikon lenses or even my 18-35 F1.8 Sigma art lens ... I honestly think that the rumours that it used a still camera APSC sensor is correct so buying new lenses isn't going to help.

Just for interest where is the 180 Panasonic made? China or Japan ?? I never had much success when I had my AC-130's the build quality really sucked. Just did a School Prize Giving last night using one camera and I used my MDH2 (in the USA it's the AC-8 ) and even at 24 db in virtual darkness in our huge concert hall the images were awesome and no noise at all. That's from a $1200 camera too!!!

Maybe look elsewhere and sell your EA-50's (if it helps I split mine and sold the 18-200 lenses on their own then sold the camera bodies .. Good Luck

CHris,

the MDH2 (in the USA it's the AC-8) is using a small sensor. I think my panasonic HC-X920 uses the same sensor. If I remember correct my EA50 was better in lower light. (with the slow stocklens)

But for that small sensor it did a great job in low light.

@Randy:

Did you do a comparison on the wedding from past Saturday?

Hi Tom

That's why I cannot understand why the 180 is giving such bad low light performance! I have two Panasonic FZ1000's and use them for both standard and 4K video too and they are way better in low light than the EA-50 used to be and they have the 1" sensor too. AFAIK Panasonic actually use Sony sensors too .. I have no issues with the sensors in the FZ1000's and they are brilliant for stills too so I have no idea why Randy has such low light issues!! My FZ1000's and Randy's 180's should perform the same in low light!!!

hey Randy,

can you give us a update please?

Sorry for not replying I honestly forgot about this thread:) As far as I can tell the panasonic just doesnt handle lowlight as well as my Sonys adr-ax100 or 6300. Its not terrible, just not as good as the Sonys when the chips are down. pictures get real noisy after 15 db gain where I can go to 24 easy on the Sonys. Other than that the Panasonic is a joy to shoot with

thx for the late reply Randy. Maybe it is because the sonys can't shoot 4K 60P and the panasonic UX180 does.
When the sony shoot 4K 30P they will be better in low light. That's my guess.

The HC-X1 was still on my list to buy. Maybe I better wait for sony will bring a new camcorder.
Your answer make me doubt.

Id really like to see the new Panasonic CX350 to see if its better than the UX180 in low light

Id really like to see the new Panasonic CX350 to see if its better than the UX180 in low light

Found this video. Scroll to 8min18sec to see comparison with HC-X1. seems about equal to me.

Panasonic AG-CX 350: Testszenen und Funktionen des 1-Zoll-Camcorders - YouTube

Hey Tom

The 350 looks very much like the AC-130's I used to shoot on before the EA-50's ....The issue with the 130's was mainly very poor build quality (they came out of China and had generic lenses that were terrible and audio circuitry was awful) I certainly hope the new 350 is not from the same Chinese factory!! If it is then I personally wouldn't touch it ...the low light pics didn't look that good to me I can get pretty much the same low light images from my cheap AC8 shoulder mount cameras that cost 20% of the 350.