New Sony NEX-EA50EH Announcement

[Robert Moran]

The 50 is cleaner both in video and stills. I just shot some carolers with it and the output is really good. I'm betting there are update firmware and chip set keyed to the sensor, which is the same one as in the 20. The rig is very substantial. People say it's really light but...that's not really the case. With the kit lens, it definitely has heft. The built in handle and shoulder mount are terrific. It's serious hardware without doubt and...the reaction of people seeing this is pretty amazing. Very sleek and somewhat "dangerous" looking in a Bauhaus sort of way.

[Robert Moran]

I use ancient nikkors and with the digital zoom, the lenses hold focus. HTH.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

I certainly don't think you will regret it at all...I'm following your lead and placing an order for one after the silly season (everything is crazy 2 days from Christmas!!) It also seems like Don Bloom will go ahead so I think you can be very confident and look forward to the new gear. It's even harder for me!!! I have been with Panasonic for over 20 years so for me to jump ship after all those years must mean that the 50 is worth changing teams for.

It will be great to also find out what faster lens works well at receptions and at low light Churches.

Let us know when your camera arrives and tell us your initial impressions

Chris

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Robert Moran

I use ancient nikkors and with the digital zoom, the lenses hold focus. HTH.

Beside my Samyangs (also called rokinons) I do have a pair of nikon nikkors here, I only need to find out what type of adapter I need to buy, I don't need the metabones one as all my lenses don't communicate to the camera body anyway but it's interesting that the digital zoom gives zoom capability to prime lenzes. I guess any cheap adapter you find on ebay from Chinese origin will do, no?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

It will be great to also find out what faster lens works well at receptions and at low light Churches.

Well, basically any fast lens as the principle is the same as with a dslr, only your dof becomes very narrow in that case making it much more difficult to maintain focus. I"ll be very interested to see how the iso values compare to my dslr, meaning if 1600 iso on both camera's have the same sensitivity. With my 550d 1600 iso is about as far as I go and 3200 iso if I have no other choice but on the nex ea50 I read that up to 5000 Iso is usable. That would give you the opportunity to stop down the iris a bit in darker areas so you get a larger dof.

[Ron Evans]

The more I look at the spec the more I think the EA50 is like a larger single sensor NX5. Has most of the same features, missing a few and has a few more !!. It misses out the smooth gain switching ( which I use all the time on the NX5U ) has much the same assignable buttons, batteries FMU128 but lacks the dual SD slots. Big gains for me are Spot focus and histogram. If the low light performance with stock lens can match the little 1/3" Sony like my CX700 its a winner. Will try a demo after Christmas. The CX700 ramps to f3.4 full zoom at 21db of gain so it depends how close f6.3 at 30db is on the EA50 !!! The NX5U also ramps to 3.4 on full zoom but is almost not usable without a lot of noise reduction afterwards beyond 12db.

Ron Evans

[Noa Put]

but lacks the dual SD slots

I read that the Sony supports the new mirroring memory stick (MS-PX64/32/16) which allows dual recording onto one card, have not seen prizes yet.

[Don Bloom]

Yeah 1 slot is a bummer but keep in mind that the FMU128 unit (at least according to what I read earlier when it first came out) can record up to 11 hours so using that as primary and cards which do 2hrs50mins (32gig) as backup could be expensive initally but cost effective and pay for itself in less than a year.
HOWEVER, this camera IMO should have had dual slots and the issue would be a non-issue.
Oh well, as we have all said before, there is no such thing as a perfect camera. :-(

[Noa Put]

Yeah 1 slot is a bummer

It doesn't need a dual slot as it supports the new mirroring memory stick which gives you a backup while recording, with a 64gb (32gb mirror) card you should be able to cover almost any event that lasts over several hours continuously.

[Dmitri Zigany]

I cannot really understand how the FMU128 could be worth it. It costs 10x as much as a 64gb SD card and also more than an Atamos Ninja 2. And with the ninja you get the benefit of better picture as well.
It's really priced way beyond it's value.

[Noa Put]

In videoland a lot of stuff is overprized, that's often the prize you have to pay for professional accesoires. At least the nex ea50 comes at a normal prize.

[Don Bloom]

Originally Posted by Dmitri Zigany

I cannot really understand how the FMU128 could be worth it. It costs 10x as much as a 64gb SD card and also more than an Atamos Ninja 2. And with the ninja you get the benefit of better picture as well.
It's really priced way beyond it's value.

Well after just checking B&H prices the Ninja 2 is $995.00 (usd) and the FMU is $640 (USD) and records 11 hours of AVCHD where as the Ninja records to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD. So there seems to be quite a price difference plus if one is doing multiple cameras then the cost goes up big time.
I like the Ninja but frankly for the kind of work I personally do, it's not worth the money and honestly neither is the FMU. Probably just get some 64gig mirroring cards.

Also keep in mind something is only overpriced if it doesn't do the job you want it to. This is true of everything we buy.

[Dmitri Zigany]

Ah, then it's a bit difference. Here in Sweden the difference is much less for some reason.
And, also it's hard not to compare the price to that of other SSD disks and SD cards.

I've never had an SD card fail. Ok, I was drunk and accidentally erased one once. ;)

Sony include a 16gb dual Memory Stick with the EA50. I cannot find a way to set it to dual or use the full 16gb as a single card which you are supposed to be able to. It says 43 minutes available so I suppose that means it acts as a 8gb dual.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Dmitri Zigany

I cannot really understand how the FMU128 could be worth it. It costs 10x as much as a 64gb SD card and also more than an Atamos Ninja 2. And with the ninja you get the benefit of better picture as well.
It's really priced way beyond it's value.

Well I got my FMU128 when I bought my NX5U several years ago and at that time there was a 50% discount when you bought the FMU128 with the NX5U ( was about $400 ) so was worth it then and I use all the time now. At the moment in NA, FMU128 is about $650 and the Ninja 2 about $1200 with a hard disc. I agree Ninja 2 is a better deal but still almost twice the cost of the FMU128. The other thing that I have noted is that the FMU128 will transfer to the PC twice as fast as a class 10 SD card and not quite as fast as the hard drive Sony cams like the XR500.

Ron Evans

[Noa Put]

In Belgium the Ninja and the sony fmu are the same price (both almost 1000 euro and for the Ninja that's excl harddisc), if your into video, Europe is not always a fun place to live in.