FX1000/Z5 compared to the Z7

[Greg Laves]

I realized that the Z5 isn't out yet but has anyone had a chance to compare footage from the FX1000 to the Z7. On paper, they should be the same but is that the case in the real world?

[Sean Seah]

No chance for a comparison yet. The Z5 will be shipped from Japan later this month. Production machines will reach their locations in Jan 09. I think the FX1000 and Z5 will look very similar as their len r the same. The Z5 would prob manage nicer sat, etc as it will have control options.

Z7 may not look the same due to the different len but it is only my guess. I intend to pit the Z7 against the Z5 when they arrive.

[Gary Beaman]

I have had my FX1000E for a few days now. I have a rather gainy video up on vimeo and a few still photos / full resolution frame grabs on my flickr site. From what I have seen of Z7 footage I would say they look identical. The FX1000 has a very good quality lens on it IMHO.

Flickr site:
Flickr: garybeaman's Photostream

Vimeo clip:
HDR-FX1000E Low Light Test on Vimeo

I hope to upload a 25p sample video in HD to vimeo next week. The video that is up at the moment is 1080i with gain at 18db to 21db for almost all of the clip, it was getting quite dark.

[Ken Ross]

Gary, it looks pretty good. It's hard to use full screen with Vimeo due to compression artifacts, but I didn't see any real grain.

[Gary Beaman]

If you register with Vimeo (free BTW) you can download the original HDV 1440x1080i MPEG file. You can see the video in all it's grainy glory.

This was a worst case scenario, shooting in conditions that my old FX1 wouldn't have been able to. The actual light levels where about half of what it actually looks like in the video. New week (probably tuesday) I hope to get up some daytime footage shot in progressive mode. That looks excellent, very similar to EX1 video quality I have seen.

Gary

[Ken Ross]

Hey, that's great Gary. I'll register and download it. I always like to see what it looks like on my plasma.

So it sounds as if you're pretty happy. I was concerned about some calling the image 'soft'. I just wonder if it's not a function of the user not adjusting the cam properly as a result of not being familiar with the control capabilities.

[Ken Ross]

Gary, I just viewed the clip on my 60" plasma and the grain is now pretty easy to see. What settings did you use for the 1000? Are these default settings? Also, the clip looked a bit soft and I know some Sony cams I've had in the past have tended to soften the image as the available light was reduced. Have you noticed that?

I'd love to see a clip @60i in better light.

The onboard mike didn't sound too bad.

[Gary Beaman]

It was shot in auto mode with no gain limit. The gain varied from 12db to 21db (near the end of the clip it was 21db permanently. The sunset type shot was 0db and showed no grain. I have not had much time since I bought the camera to play with it but I hope to get some more stuff up in a few days. I have set the gain limit to 9db in auto mode now with a higher value assigned to the manual control if I need it. I think the softening was due to in-camera noise reduction. Trust me, this camera is capable of MUCH higher picture quality than what I put up on vimeo, that is definately the worst quality you will see from this cam. BTW I cannot record at 60i as I have a PAL camera so it records 50i or 25P.

Gary

[Ken Ross]

Thanks Gary, good info! I look forward to your other clips and I'm sure that was the worst case scenario.

[Wacharapong Chiowanich]

Gary, there has been no mentioning so far in this thread and others if the mic input on the FX1000 can be switched to line input as is the case on the FX1? This would save me and a few folks here a significant sum if having good quality audio is a requirement.

Thanks
Wacharapong

[Gary Beaman]

The mic input doesn't have an option for line level control. No options in the menu, it is just a plug in power stereo mic input. It should work fine with a beachtek adapter though.

[Robin Burrows]

The Differnces are marginal as they both use the same technology and virtualy the same firmware.The Z7 is better in low light by one shutter setting due to the shorter lens gathering more light. The Z5 has faster autofocus and much better macro capabilities.

The Z5 has a very good wide to 20x zoom lens which can get a but soft at the edges of Wide and Tele but its a good lens.

The Z7 can have back focus issues and there are not so many lenses available. Using third party lenses do not allow you to use all the camera functions such as the markers for setting a pull focus fade zoom or the like. Also the camera can not supply enough current to power all mainstream lenses so even if you get an adaptor and by a broacast lens it may not work.

I feel the Z7 lens abit clunky but reasonable.

Other than that the Z7 comes with the MRC1K and the Z5 without but its not too hard to get and the difference is still a good saving.

The Z5 is a much better run and gun camera. with lots of flexibility. The Z7 more of a proffessioanl wanna be but with HDV and not supporting all the lenses your better with a shoulder mount unless you can afford lots of lenses and th etime to try them all out.

Both good though as I have said they are tools and when you know if your going to use nails or screws you know if you need a hammer or a screwdriver!
Robin

[Gary Beaman]

A 25P sample clip is now up.

HDR-FX1000E 25P Test on Vimeo

[Michael Nistler]

Originally Posted by Gary Beaman

A 25P sample clip is now up.

HDR-FX1000E 25P Test on Vimeo

Hi Gary,

Both post really show off your new toy, although the recent post suffers occasional pixelation on Vimeo - I tried toggling it to non-HD but it still had the same problem so I assume something happened during editing/rendering (the earlier post was fine).

Thanks again,

Michael

[Gary Beaman]

Don't know what happened to the clip, I will try and download the mpg file I uploaded to see if something when wrong with the upload or if it was vimeo's encoding. Try downloading the full 1080p mpg download.

Just downloaded the 1440x1080 MPG version of my clip and it plays fine. Something went wrong at Vimeo's end with the encoding, maybe there encoder doesn't like 1080P. :)