New Sony NEX-EA50EH Announcement

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

http://www.softweigh.com/ea50manual.pdf

Chris

[Don Bloom]

Hey Chris, thanks for the manual. I think it'll might be some good reading with a glass of brandy and a big cigar! lol

Actually, I have the DVTec ENG rig, had it for years used it on a few different full sized cams and have pretty much figured out a way to use it on the 50. Mounting the receiver is no longer a concern, I see the sliding shoulder pad had at least and what appears to be 2 threaded holes in the top. I know one is 1/4-20, the other is either the same or a 3/8. In any case I have already drawn out a design for a bracket for my receiver. On this camera it seems to be very important for some extra weight on the back of the camera as even the Zacuto rig I have seen for it shows a relatively heavy weight mounted on the sliding pad. I still have a couple of questions but more and more it appears that the Sony NEX-EA50 will be joining me as I foray deeper into this black hole that we all so love! ;-)

Again thanks for the manual!

[Ron Evans]

My NX5U also shows moire too. Did a dance show last week and the girls were wearing tops with horizontal stripes alternating black and white. In high definition all was well when downconverted showed moire. Clearly just the scaling on the interlaced ot progressive display caused this effect. The XR500, CX700 and SR11 all showed this effect. Just this one dance.

Ron Evans

[Noa Put]

Thx for the link to the manual Chris, if I only had the camera on my lap now test the functions that would be a nice way to start the holidays. :)

[Stephen Gradin]

Does anyone have a good e-mount adapter solution for using other lenses with the EA50 or FS100? I have done some research and here is what I found and none if it sounds ideal:

1. Metabones adapter for Canon: can adjust aperture and do IS, no AF in movie mode, kind of pricey.
2. Sony LA-EA1 for A-mount: can adjust aperture (not smoothly, jumps to wide open then back down from what I hear), no AF, no IS, not expensive.
3. Sony LA-EA2 for A-mount: can smoothly adjust aperture and can do AF, no IS, traps some light going to sensor (so it can do AF), extends outward at bottom so camera for quick release on tripod would need some special mounting, not cheap.
4. Novoflex adapter for NIkon: can adjust aperture, no AF, no IS, pricey for what little it seems to do (although I know the least about this one).

Any other better e-mount adapters out there? I do not have a collection of lenses so I am not locked into getting any particular lens brand or adapter, just want the right combination. The main issue for me is being able to adjust aperture smoothly while filming since many lenses now do not have aperture ring. I looked at the e-mount lenses that are available but most of them are not fast. I want to eventually collect fast lenses to use with the EA-50 or the FS100 (still deciding between these 2 cams, but leaning towards EA-50).

[Noa Put]

Another way to smoothly adjusting the exposure is by using a variable nd filter, I have all cheap fast samyang primes that have a iris ring, they don't adjust smoothly but it's fast to set a desired f-stop (depending on what shallow dof you want) and then I can use the vari nd filter to handle my exposure.

[Alister Chapman]

You can always get the Samyang/Rokinono Cine primes which have silky smooth manual iris control. They come in 14mm T3, 24mm T1.5, 35mm T1.5 and 85mm T1.5 focal lengths and are excellent value for the money. You can use them with a cheap non electronic adapter.

Canon lenses step in 1/8th stop increments which is very noticeable if you change aperture mid shot. Sony E-Mount lenses step in much smaller increments, so iris changes are hard to spot.

[Stephen Gradin]

Yes, I was looking at the Rokinon and Samyang lenses, looks like they are the same lenses when you compare them and both great bang for the buck. Any advantage of one brand over the other? What if I want to use the Sigma 30mm or 20mm? I am thinking then that I would have to get at least the Sony LA-EA1 to get aperture adjustment. (I do not want to spend $400.00 to get Metabones adapter just to get this capability). So, I guess it might be smarter to go with A-mount vs. Canon adapter to go to e-mount on EA50. Of course this would mean not being able to use Canon lenses unless I buy older, used lenses with aperture ring and then use cheap adapter.

[Ed Betz]

They are the same lenses, sold under different names.

The only advantage for the Metabones adapter for me, was that I already had all sorts of Canon glass, everything from an 11-16 up to a 300 2.8. Plus, with the Metabones the image stabilization seems to work, and that is a big help for the handheld stuff.

I wish the auto focus would work with video, but it does not.

I own the Samyang 14 2.8 and it is a very sharp lens.

[Ron Evans]

Ed, could you comment on the digital 2:1 zoom and its usefulness in using a long fast lens that I may use in the theatre for closeups?

Ron Evans

[Ed Betz]

I've used the digital zoom on many occasions. Sony claims that the zoom is lossless, and I've not been able to tell the difference.

I've used the zoom with my 70-200 2.8 and 85 1.8.

I've not tried it with the 300, but I'm sure it would work fine. It surely looks lossless to me. I posted a sample of the digital zoom, if you missed it its at

Sony NEX EA50 TEST on Vimeo

Hard to tell when it's digital zoomed
Ed

[Ron Evans]

Thanks Ed. I had missed that.

Ron Evans

[Joris Rens]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I think I will bite the bullet and order the nex 50 as soon as I get a few answers from creativevideo.uk in regard to warranty and also what to do if the camera malfunctions as the camera comes with full PrimeSupport, they are a uk based company and I live in Belgium so need to be sure I"m covered if something happens to the camera, it's nice to save money on a purchase this way (they are about 5 to 10% cheaper the BE stores) but not if there are a lot of issues getting the camera repaired.

Noa, I have no idea if this shop (Sony NEX-EA50EH) is any good, but when you check Their price in euro, it's very sharp. I'm interested in buying the ea50 too, and looking for a good price as well. Nevertheless, service is an important value as well.
Btw. Also living in Belgium.

Joris

[Noa Put]

Ha, from Halen :) That's a half hour drive from my place, I found a Dutch supplier that's cheaper then the uk one, not much but still about 200 euro cheaper then the cheapest I could find in Belgium. (3378 euro in NL vs 3569 euro in BE)
The Dutch supplier is about 2,5 hours drive so in case of a issue with the camera and if urgent I could drive over to hand deliver it. It's not the first time I buy a camera in the Netherlands.

Not sure if it's allowed to directly link to suppliers that are not dvinfo sponsors but your link does show a very sharp price, only it's a Swiss store which is about 7 hours drive from my place so post delivery is the only option.

It's easy to have a store nearby that can give you a replacement camera so often spending a few hundred euro"s more can be a good investment, only I have enough back up camera's to finish any job I do so I can wait if necessary.

Maybe if we both buy at the same time the store will give a additional discount :D

What will you be using the camera for?

[Lee Berger]

Just received mine yesterday. I have to say that I am pleased with how good this camera looks, even at +18! It has a solid feel and is balanced with the supplied lens. Considering the price, and my client base, this is an excellent purchase. I also purchased the 50mm, f1.8 lens. One note, FCP 7 does not like the 60p media. I probably won't shoot it because I don't like the look. If I do ClipWrap and Premiere have no problem with it. I installed the supplied Clip Browser software and I still need to figure out all of the features.