Sony FDR-AX700

Advantages: - Fair 4K / 25p - Weak rolling shutter effect even in 4K. - Shoots 1080p up to 100 fps (continuous) - Very good sensitivity: the camera has a huge (no kidding) inch matrix. The low-light performance is excellent. - There are high bitrates (up to 100 Mbit), thanks to a good codec, the noise squeezes perfectly and it's much easier to "crush" it in the editor than in my Canon G40, which has 50 Mbit - the ceiling (and even then - without the possibility of recording on two cards at the same time bitrate). - The color reproduction is amazing! Combined with a bunch of presets including Cine and S-log, you can bring the dynamic range to very high values. Yes, it shoots 8 bits, but nobody canceled the interpolation up to 10 in the editor: the results are gorgeous (not least thanks to the good hardware h.264 codec). - Very tenacious battery. I even changed my mind to buy a spare one right away, one is enough for the whole reportage in a couple of hours of filming with periodic review of the result. “The optics are amazing. - The stabilization is just great, especially in the "active" mode. The stabilization of my Canon G40 wasn't lying around, nor were any other fixed-lens <2000 $ Canon Canon I have in my hands. - If necessary, writes to two cards at once at ANY bitrate, and not only on average (yes, Canon, you won't believe it, and so you can!) - A clever "smart" digital zoom can be quite used when you need a little more zoom in on the subject. Even in 4K. - It seems to me that the entries from this Sonya are scrolled "more lively" in the editor. Apparently, the G40 uses a longer GOP when compressing in AVC, which makes it "harder" for the editor to calculate frames between key frames. This is a pleasant surprise.

Disadvantages: - When shooting at 250 f / s and higher, the SSM mode is activated, which has the main problem - even an unlimited buffer and a completely illogical approach to activating and preparing for shooting in slo-mo (you need to be in 1080p mode, then use the menu to preset the desired frequency frames and remove / set the "High framerate" flag depending on what you plan to shoot - layer-mo or something time-lapse). The main problem is the lack of anti-aliasing and interlaced data reading from the sensor! The recordings are full of moiré and "ladders", not to mention the fact that they are filmed almost in SD quality, after which they are stretched to 1080p. In short, the benefits of such a regime are near-zero. And fig with him, 100 fps at 1080p is more than enough in most cases, given that there is no aliasing. - Heavy. The grip is not the most comfortable. Menu control only with a joystick ... I would have a heart-to-heart talk with the engineer who came up with this. After half an hour of filming and poking around in the menu, a hand and a thumb fall off. - The protective cover is removable and lousy. - When shooting at 1080p, the camera does an honest downscale from the entire 4K matrix, but the resulting picture, in my opinion, is "softer" than we would like. This is not solved by the settings. If you shoot the same scene in 4K and reduce the frame size to 1080p in the editor, the result is much sharper. In short, it is desirable to shoot in 4K. - The battery is charged for at least 4 hours. - The hood is strange. The Canon G40 has a tall and long visor that blocks out side light. Here is some kind of joke with a height of one and a half centimeters instead of a hood. - Menu ... I like the G40 menu 10 times more: it is logical and has two levels: first, quick important shooting settings, then you can go to the detailed menu of the device. - It is inconvenient to fix the exposure: one button can only set the deviation manually. The machine will still continue to adjust to the lighting. To fix the entire exposure, you need to sequentially remove the machine from the diaphragm and gain. In the G40, this is done with a single button - so much more convenient.

Comment: Not a single normal response to such a cool device on the Market. Sony, are you asleep, where is your marketing department? In general, the device is wonderful. The fact that there are more disadvantages than advantages is a normal situation, since we are talking about a working tool to which there will always be complaints. A good camera, I can recommend it as a reportage and I will not regret even a five.

Advantages: In good conditions and precisely the ability to shoot gives an extremely clear photographic picture. It is mobile due to its dimensions, very convenient, unlike cameras, to which, in my opinion, you still need to get used to. Tenacious focus on the face in good lighting, does not prowl unlike some others. A camcorder will be very useful for a beginner in filming because of the presence of useful functions. I am very pleased with the purchase! Thank you SONY

Disadvantages: Relying on my high expectations, of course, disappointment in the stabilization along the Z axis (height), makes noise in the dark, lowering the zoom rocker the picture still increases a little by itself and sometimes there is a "breathing" effect. In general, it is necessary to adapt here. 4K at only 25 frames per second is not enough. With sharp flashes of light, focus is lost like fireworks - it is better to switch to manual focus. You can not pay attention to slowmo, made for show, cut down. Perhaps this is the only drawback.

Comment: In the price range, the best thing I would like to buy. Yes, it seems to me that cameras will really surpass this video camera in terms of shooting quality, a certain "cinematic" quality in the price category, and the clarity of the picture at twilight is really noticeable better, cleaner. But the camcorder is the classic of a true videographer. This is not a play on words. It is the video camera that is more convenient to operate, for a beginner it is really enough with an abundance of many skills in training oneself. Monolithic, nothing serious will fall off or unscrew. Just a cutie to the touch) The presence of basic functions and buns that are in full-fledged professional video cameras. She fulfills her price. It is also simply unique for reportage and any archived video.I didn’t regret it! Let me remind you that the picture is really photographic for such a price! I am satisfied as a consumer!

Advantages: Excellent camera, very clear and colorful picture.

Disadvantages: FHD does not take pictures from the entire matrix, but with a crop, because of this it is very inconvenient to shoot in small rooms. The sound is C grade, stabilization too, although I don't need both, since I use external devices.

Comment: I am surprised at the comments of people who praise shooting in auto mode ... Firstly, the quality of shooting in auto mode is no different from the quality of shooting with some kind of action camcorder or a good smartphone ... It's very strange to buy such a device and shoot in auto mode ... love S-log, turn on PP10 mode, set HLG gamma and BT.2020 color mode, adjust saturation to your liking and shoot video in HDR. I am sure after that you will hardly want to shoot in auto mode The detail is just crazy, while there are no overexposures or undershoots, just click on the ND filter in time. The captured picture is painted in the premiere just with a bang, it all depends on your imagination ... Also, strange claims on the number of frames when shooting in 4K ... The camera can produce up to 30 FPS in 4K with a maximum bitrate of 100 Mbit / sec. Personally, I always shoot at 25 FPS, so you can somehow save the already not too wide bitrate to transmit a high-quality picture. I tried to switch to 30 FPS, I didn’t like it, I went back to 25. In general, with the correct settings in 4K and at 25 FPS, the camera gives out a bombastic picture ... It's a pity that YouTube does not allow you to transfer all the beauty of the picture to the masses ...

Advantages: The camera allows you to receive high quality video even in automatic mode. Easy parameter management. The ability to automatically generate Proxy files.

Disadvantages: HDR is not accepted by many third-party TVs

Comment: Since November last year I have been using this camera, and only in its maximum quality mode - XAVC S 4K 30p 100 Mbps. My PC (ten years old) "creaks" but can handle the above mode. True, the players on my PC normally reproduce only a bit rate of no more than 60 Mbps. I usually make videos small (10-12 minutes), because rendering is very long, and home video plots after editing are rarely longer. In this regard, the most attractive positive quality of a video camera for me is the automatic generation of Proxy files. I saved a lot of time on this (the process of their own formation took several hours) and thereby delayed the purchase of a powerful PC. I will not talk about the advantages of the camera. its technical characteristics speak for themselves, and the reviews of the owners confirm this. I consider it a waste of time to compare it with similar cameras from other companies and to prove its superiority. ALL of them in the hands of amateur enthusiasts can give excellent results. Note that a 256 Gb card in the maximum quality shooting mode with simultaneous recording of proxy files fits 5 hours of video. In everyday life, this is more than enough! But for shooting on vacation away from home, I bought two good capacious microSDXC memory cards. In order not to degrade the quality of Zeiss optics, I also bought a decent protective filter. As an additional one, the Ratmax battery for Sony NP-FV70 with 2.500 mAh will not be superfluous. Regarding the shortcomings of the camera, I note that they, of course, are, but you can put up with them. So, some of the submenu items cannot be returned to the previous step and can only be exited by pressing the menu button. Some items in the Russian menu are displayed in English. Of course, these are trifles, but Sony is in no hurry to eliminate them, and during the entire period of the camera's sales, not a single new firmware has appeared. In my opinion, such a solid company could fix them in two years ...

Advantages: Good indoor photography. Long working time. More than three hours from the native battery. Ability to write on two cards (cards must be the same). Small weight and dimensions. Excellent shooting on the machine. There are many manual settings.

Disadvantages: I believe that they are not.

Comment: A great camera for the amateur. I always dreamed of this.

Advantages: Inch matrix. 4K shoots great. Nice colors, very good detail. Focuses quickly. It can be configured so that AE shift is performed on the fly during shooting. It is very important.

Disadvantages: Unexpected for me was the terrible quality in Full HD mode. Whatever settings you twist, it's still solid soap. It’s even surprising for such a camera with an inch matrix. I just want to say: "This cannot be." It seems that manufacturers artificially underestimate the resolution in this mode. Those. any amateur camera, even with a small matrix, will shoot you in Full HD much better

Comment: The camera is only good for 4K footage. But 4k is not always required, if you need shooting and ful Hd too, then absolutely not. Better to buy some kind of "Canon xa". But if you aim at shooting mostly 4k, then yes, definitely worth it. There is probably nothing more interesting in this price range. Again, it must be borne in mind that there is only 25r.

Advantages: Ergonomics, image quality, the ability to save and load image profiles. Autofocus, 4K.

Disadvantages: I haven't found it yet :)

Comment: I bought a replacement Sony CX-900, so I will compare with it. More comfortable grip, bigger right shoulder and better balance. Standard shoe, now you don't need to buy an adapter to put the light on. The screen is slightly larger and its resolution is higher. Autofocus is great! The controls are somewhat different, but you get used to it quickly.

Advantages: Great camera. Shoots significantly better than FDR-AX100

Disadvantages: not found

Comment: testing