14x10 Hours for a Sony EA50.....today

[Eugen Brinzoiu]

Good evening
Is it worth it today?
Good price,locally,low hours.
Thanks

[Noa Put]

Depends for what you will be using it for?

[Eugen Brinzoiu]

Thanks Noa
For events,weddings and private parties.
I have a Sony CX 900 and a Sony A5100 but I need something more "impressive".....you know what I mean.
I'm at the begging of the road and my 2 cameras don't impress much,even if I'm happy with the results.
Thanks again Noa.....I'm so excited when you answer questions here.
Experienced and knowledgeable...

[Chris Harding]

Hi Eugen

So you want a camera that will impress your clients? In the old days that used to work but now days people don't really care, Maybe a corporate client might expect a 15lb camera on your shoulder but seriously don't buy a camera that makes you look like a TV studio cameraman ..rather impress clients with your work!!

I have honestly never had a wedding booking where the bride has asked about cameras. I did have two EA-50's and they are nice shoulder mount cameras but you will struggle in low light unless you forget the stock lens and go manual with really fast lenses like the sigma 18-35 F1.8 especially at wedding receptions. If you are out to impress rather get a big rig that sits on your shoulder if you feel that is what you want ...A Sony A7S will out perform the EA-50 big time and you could make it "look impressive" with a rig, matte box and mics but personally I wouldn't bother!! Just remember if you are doing long hand held segments the EA-50 is very front heavy especially with a big lens up front ..it will kill your back ... I used an ENG support rod rig and waist belt to try and lift the front end weight. Then again it's up to you!!

[Noa Put]

If size is important then the ea50 has no competitors in it's picerange but I honestly would think twice before getting the camera, I used it for a year and while I liked the camera there are some things to consider which I found to be a dealbreaker.

It's image is pretty soft and that might be a issue if you want to match it with your other camera's, the camera turns very fine detail into mush, I think it might be ok if you would use this camera together with a canon 5dII or 3 as they are known for being softer, something which you could use to your advantage when shooting brides who have skin imperfections, a 4K camera can be very unforgiving in that area. You have a sony a5100 and I have used footage from that camera a few years back (not my camera but someone helping out on a shoot had it with him) and I can already tell you the a5100 will look much more detailed.

The camera also has moire and aliasing issues which become pretty noticeable when you shoot wide and when there is lots of fine detail.
Changing the iso is only possible using a switch on the side where you can assign 3 iso values to so forget about scrolling quick through the iso range, like you can with any dslr, to compensate for exposure changes.

Like Chris pointed out, the camera is front heavy, it is a light camera but place a heavy lens on it and you can't shoot long without any form of support.
I found low light to be ok, the stock lens was a joy to use but not suited for low light shooting, for that I used fully manual samyang primes.

If I where you I would stay in the Sony camp if you already invested in lenses for your a5100 and maybe look for a second hand a7s and then add a rig like Chris suggested to make it bigger but honestly, you will only be making it harder to shoot weddings. I use my panasonic gx85 with a 42,5mm f1.7 lens a lot, that camera/lens combination is tiny, makes me look like a tourist while I shoot but I stopped caring about what other people think considering the results I am able to get out of it + very important I blend into the crowd when I use this camera and can operate almost unnoticed, try to do that with the nex-ea50, that camera is a attention magnet. My gx85 camera also resolves a lot more detail and performs better in low light then the nex-ea50, add the sensor stabilization and shooting handheld with fast primes suddenly becomes a reality.

[Chris Harding]

Some really good advice from Noa
Also remember that even things like image processing is vastly improved on newer technology cameras so yes you will find the image a bit soft. I used mine for over 2 years and never had an unhappy bride but all my lenses were manual and a lot faster than the stock F3.5 lens. The image isn't bad by any means and brides will be happy with the result in good lighting but the stock lens suffers badly when they dim the lights at a reception and I found I almost always had to use a video light once indoors

I have always been a Panasonic person and only switched to Sony when Panasonic had issues with their AC series cameras ... you actually get used to the softish image until you start mixing it with other footage. It really would make sense to stick with Sony though (I don't like the "Sony" look..but that's just me)

If you want a shoulder mount camera then the EA-50 will please you but also remember than with non e-mount lenses you also lose a bunch of features,

Final word: It would be a better buy if it's the EA-50M ...the M has a better sensor and comes with a shorter zoom as the stock lens ,,, that's if you decide to go the EA-50 route. Read a few posts here on the differences between the two models.

[Randy Johnson]

Its funny I just sold some cameras on ebay. I sold 2 AG-HMC 150s and I put a EA50 up I thought I was posting a deal on the EA 50 it had a 18-200 lens and the SSD drive. worth about $300 new I priced it at 1500 to start no bids:) The AG-HMC 150s went right away:) I good with it I love my EA 50s I could use the money but ill keep with it!

[Eugen Brinzoiu]

Thank you very much.
This is the best group ever.
Love you guys.