Newbie looking for FS100 advice / Insights

[Gabe Strong]

I HIGHLY recommend the Xume system. It makes using ND so much easier. Just snap the filters on
and off lenses. The magnets are almost strong enough to pick up the lens by the filter without them
coming off. Nice system for the FS100 or any DSLR where you need ND filters.

[Bill Pryor]

That's pretty slick. You'd think somebody would have thought of that a long time ago..

[Al Yeung]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

I have the FS700 and I use the kit lens for maybe 60% of everything I shoot with the camera.

The lens is very good for normal quick setup stuff. The zoom is smooth but the lens is not parfocal so you have to zoom with care to let the autofocus keep up.

I've not used the servo version. I can't comment on that one.

The SEL18200 is not exactly parfocal because it does momentarily lose focus as you zoom in and out, but in my experience (and I've used about 6 copies of it by now) in about half a second focus returns. Say if you're focused at 50 meters and you zoom in or out, after half a second focus is back at 50 meters. Most of the time it's barely noticeable. In fact for a long time I thought the lens was just straight-up parfocal.

So it's kind of an electronically-assisted parfocal lens. In my experience it works very well in reactive shooting. And the "active" stabilization is among the best I've ever seen in an interchangeable lens.

[Al Yeung]

Originally Posted by Gabe Strong

I HIGHLY recommend the Xume system. It makes using ND so much easier. Just snap the filters on
and off lenses. The magnets are almost strong enough to pick up the lens by the filter without them
coming off. Nice system for the FS100 or any DSLR where you need ND filters.

Second vote for the Xume system.

And generally I think the FS100 represents the best compromise between price, performance, portability, etc. right now. The OP has made a great choice.

I upgraded twice to the FS700, but I found it too bulky. Also it's twice as expensive as the FS100, and I don't need the super slow motion.

The C100 is nice but still significant more expensive than the FS100. ($6000 with the 24-105mm lens right now. A great deal and I'd say a close second, but it lacks the FS100's flexibility in terms of lensing.)

A little-mentioned plus for the E-mount, I think, are the cheap, light, and optically excellent E-mount prime lenses. 24, 35, 50, f/1.8, the latter two stabilized and relatively cheap.

If I didn't like the E-mount lense' electronic focus and aperture control, I could also use the Metabones Speed Booster with my old Contax Zeiss lenses, whose aperture rings I greatly enjoy.

**And shortening the loupe is absolutely necessary.** A easy and reversible process.

[Joe Holt]

Al,

Thanks for the insight on the kit lens. I'm pulling the trigger on the FS100 purchase with the kit lens tonight. I'm really excited to be getting back into shooting after spending nearly 10 years in management. I would never had guessed I would be able to shoot with 35mm primes with a video camera without using a spinning ground glass adapter. It's a brave new world. All of you experienced FS100/700 shooters are welcome to post up your words of wisdom as I am sure I will be enduring a steep learning curve. Thanks again for the help. Joe

[Ryan Douthit]

I use the FS100 to do Motorsports and find it works pretty good. I don't use the kit lens, as I opted to not get it. I do have an Alpha DT 16-50mm 2.8 that works great with the FS100 (manual only, I never use autofocus) as well as a Tamron 2.8 70-200mm in an Alpha mount. (I also have several Canon FD lenses with adapters).

Rally fast pans, for example tracking cars, will lead to some harsh artifacts. Usable, but not ideal.

Also, I don't see any reason to rig the camera for run-and-gun. It works fine (for me) handheld without a rig. I tried it with one I built for my A77 once and have never used it since.

[Ryan Douthit]

Regarding the FS line suitability for fast-moving sports: a friend of mine shoots for the World Rally Championship and they use lots of FS700s. Also, most of the action sports video world uses RED, FS100/700 and Canon 5D Mk II/III cameras these days. I've even started to see some C300s. Nobody working in the action sports world that I know is shooting with small chip cameras for their A-Cams these days. (Regarding an earlier recommendation in this thread to consider a small chip system for sports.)

[Ryan Douthit]

Also, Joe, check out the FS100 section on Vimeo for inspiration. Some really great work being done with this camera.

[Joe Holt]

Hey all! Thanks for the great info. I took possession of my new FS100 on Tuesday. I only have had a chance to shoot with it for a day but I can already tell that I made a good choice. I shot at a high school track meet and got some great slo mo of high jump, triple jump, discus and shot-put not to mention the running events. I haven't had a chance to watch the footage on anything other than the camera's monitor but from what I can see, the auto focus had absolutely no problems keeping up with the action while I ran the zoom manually. I was surprised how quickly I became proficient at doing a smooth manual zoom. I shot everything hand held using a shoulder rig I bought from Opteka. With some tweaking, I think this will be the way to go for handheld shooting. I really can't complain about the kit lens either. I shot outdoors under partially cloudy conditions. I didn't have any ND filters with me so I had to up the frame rate a bit to 120 and shoot at around F16 and up. I'm sure this helped the auto focus out a good bit. I have a $10 Minolta MD to Sone E mount adapter on its way. I can't wait to shoot with my vintage minolta lenses. I'll try to get something edited and posted but it may be a while as life has suddenly gotten busy. Thanks again, Joe

[Joe Holt]

I purchased a Fotga brand MD to E mount adapter so I could use my vintage Minolta lenses with my new FS100. I think I paid a total $10 and change for the adapter shipped to my door. I bought it off Ebay of course. I have to say this adapter is really well made and works perfectly. I only had a chance to test it with one minolta lens (58mm F1.4) and I have to say, the image looks amazing. I was a little concerned about infinity focus but it was spot on so I guess I can say I'm pretty happy. I had purchased a Fotga 15mm support camera rig from Ebay for about $67 shipped and I was blown away by the quality of the machined aluminum of that rig. That led me to take a chance on the adapter from Fotga. I know it is Chinese made but it is definitely not junk. I would have guessed it was made in Japan or Germany if I didn't know better.

[Bill Pryor]

Chinese made stuff can be of excellent quality. Depends on who's in charge of manufacturing. If they go for lowest cut rate price, they get crap; pay decent and they can turn out Japanese quality. The Metabones smart adapter is Chinese and is very high quality and solid. I also have some rig components from Coollcd.com, and their gear is Korean made. It is as good as any other components I've used.

[Joe Holt]

Hey All!

Here is my very first day shooting with the FS100 using the kit lens. I was running around the track meet with a shoulder rig and shot everything hand held. It took some getting used to using the manual zoom lens. I wanted to post this up because there was some debate earlier as to if the auto focus could keep up with sports action. Watching on a big monitor, I could pick out a few shots that were a tad soft but all of my shots were what I would consider usable. I didn't have any ND filters and it was a partly cloudy day so I had the iris fairly closed which helped out with the focus. In short, I am truly thrilled with the camera and believe that it will only get better as I get comfortable with using it. Feel free to give me any feedback that would be helpful in my future shoots.

2013 Smoky Mountain Conference Track Meet - YouTube

[Sherman Bahr]

Originally Posted by Oren Arieli

I'm not sure that the FS100 is the right tool for your particular needs (sports). It's great for corporate shoots or anything where you have time to fiddle with lenses. I'm thinking you're better off buying a smaller chip camcorder with a longer-range lens, zoom rocker, built in stabilization and fast autofocus. As a bonus, you won't be spending much more on accessories, lenses or adapters.

I agree with you on this. FS100 is more of a manual cam that needs a little more time to set up your shots. It does however offer excellent picture quality and depth of field. You might also look into a HXR-NX5 Sony.

[Phil Goetz]

Any update on using the zoom rocker on the NEX-FS100 to make the SELP18200 zoom electronically?

This is the lens in question:

18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Telephoto Lens | Sony Alpha NEX Lens| SELP18200 Review | Sony Store

Looks like folks are searching for the answer here too:

https://vimeo.com/groups/fs100/forum/topic:258311

[Phil Goetz]

I talked to a reliable source at Sony. The answer is no.