FS700 vs FS100 vs EA50

[Jens Korsgaard]

I think, when you upgrade it with the 7Q, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better camera for reasonable money in their NAB lineup. Might find something similar, but as you said, I reckon it'll be rather expensive. Obviously, its all guesswork right now, but I do believe you made a good choise! I think you can always "wait" for the new generation, or you can just pick something up now and be content with that. At least thats what I told myself when I ordered my camera.

[Dmitri Zigany]

Yes, I believe so to. Of all cameras available now (and those I've seen announced) the FS700 fits my needs the most (within my financial limits). And if my predictions hold true, a successor won't arrive until next fall at the earliest. So I think I'll be happy with it. And hope I can afford the Q7 within half a year. Although, at the moment, that's probably optimistic ;)

I will be posting things as soon as I have them, of course!

[Gabe Strong]

This is the game we all play. Unless you are made of money you can't afford every upgrade.
So you wait until you find a camera that has what you need and looks as if it will last some time
and then jump in. Here is a story that may make you feel better. When the 'nice' crop of DV
cameras came out, I bought a PD150. Soon after, for various reasons I lost my job at a TV station
and out of desperation, I started my video business. As the years went by, competitors bought
the DVX100 (what you have no 24p?), the Sony Z1 (what you have no HDV?) DSLRs (what
you have no shallow depth of field?) the AF100 (what you have no shallow depth of field
plus built in ND filters?). Then I bought a FS700. I get to say to my competitors, 'what no
super slow motion, 4k RAW ability?' Problem is not many competitors left. Too much money
spent chasing the latest and greatest...hard to stay in business when you spend your money
as fast as you make it. Yeah, something better will come out. I'm not too worried. I was
shooting freaking SD until very recently. Maybe in three years, you will get to say to everyone
that jumped on the early 4k cameras:
'What no built in 8k 16bit codec? Don't you know 4k is worthless, you need to be future proofing
your work by shooting 8k!'

[Steven Digges]

+1 for Gabe

I like to get a new camera just like everyone else. Less than some. I enjoy what I do, but it IS how I earn my living. Since the early DV days I have always owned cameras in the so-called pro-summer range. Because they meet the needs for most of my clients. When a project calls for a broadcast level camera, I rent. It is good business for me.

At this time, 4K is still manufacturer driven. "Sony is pushing it hard", of course they are, Sony makes cameras, monitors and everything else you need for it. Right now, the hype is about cameras, but what about EVERYTHING else you need down stream from the camera? How long is it going to take before the infrastructure is in place so the true benefits of 4K can be commonly realized? It's going to take a while guys.

At this site (my favorite), it is easy to get caught up in the hype because we ARE camera guys. If you do any reading about 4K from other players in the video industry, like content delivery providers, the hype is not so positive. And there is still a lot of speculation about "will it be the next great thing or not?". Here at DVINFO the prevailing assumption is that: of course it will be. On the consumer level, providers are struggling with how they are going to educate the public on this : great new thing. Analog to digital and SD to HD was easy for Joe public to understand what was in it for him. HD to 4K, "whats that and who cares? I like my HD TV".

4k is in it's infancy. IMHO, there is a long way to go. Dmitri made a very good decision and will use his FS700 for a long time.

Steve

[Dmitri Zigany]

Today I received my FS700R!
The 18-200 power zoom from my EA50 seems to be working just fine with it (no surprise).
Can't wait to shoot something with it!