SONY FX9 SURVIVAL GUIDE: Real world shoot review & best practices.
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- Sony has once again made a very powerful camera - but with great power comes great responsibility. After three personal shoots with the camera, Dale's discovered how to set up this camera for best results. We'll also be showing you how it compares to the FS7 if you're curious about upgrading. It's half review, half best practices guide. Dive in!
Topics discussed:
1. Usability (feature walk through & best settings)
2. Image Quality (best settings)
3. Low Light (best settings)
4. Auto Focus (best settings)
5. Stabilization
6. Final Thoughts
Sony FX9 at Vistek: www.vistek.ca/...
Thank you to:
Boulderz Climbing Centre
www.boulderzcl...
Massardo Model Mgmt
www.massardomo...
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#FX9 #review #setup
really enjoyed a more real world take on the FX9. I totally agree that the FS7 ii doesn't become a bad camera overnight and like you the new colour science does it for me on the FX9, especially from projects that require a fast turnaround and to be-able to use s cinetone is a no brainer....great piece !
Thanks for the great comment Richard!
Thank you so much for this great and very clear tutorial. Am looking into FX6, FX9 and FS7 to upgrade my chances in work. Mucho Gracias.
Thanks Edwin!
Very nice video this, and thank you for covering the cons aswell. There is so much crap here on UA-cam in terms of inexperienced users raving on about the selling features. But this was well presented, on point and enjoyable to watch.
Thank you very much Andreas!
never saw anyone raving about anything
Newer Sony users getting screwed by the Cine EI MLUT issue is a common occurrence, especially when they don't truly understand the difference between the Custom S-Log and Cine EI settings. It can be confusing to see your image looking brighter and more exposed when adjusting your ISO higher with a viewfinder MLUT activated, when in fact, the ISO is "locked in" during Cine EI mode giving a false impression of exposure. This often leads to underexposed and noisy footage.
The unfortunate thing is, pulling focus when monitoring without an MLUT in a viewfinder or on an external monitor can be difficult, so what's the solution?
Always use your waveform when shooting in EI mode to avoid underexposing!!!. Great review. Thanks for the helpful content ;)
Thanks for the great comment Duane. Yes - the waveform is so critical here!!
I really enjoy the imagery of this camera. But it definitely has been THE MOST complicated camera I’ve ever owned.
Excellent review and comparison. Now I know exactly the performance difference.
I so appreciate the FX9 content !
Love this video !
Thank you lightchild!
that green though - i always feel as if you’ve got to fight the green no matter the look you want...
Why is there no flange back adjustment on the FX9?
Thanks
Excellent, thank you
Excellent video. Super clear and concise with the information. Have Subbed 👍
Thank you Alex! Really appreciate the support! 🙏🏼
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU MAKING A HONEST VIDEO ON FX9 DRAWBACKS, WEAKNESS, WHERE IT LACKS. REASONS NOT TO BUY FX9. + THINGS TO ADD UP TO FX9 TO MAKE IT A COMPLETE "FILMMAKING" CAMERA, FOR EX... BEST RIG, MAT BOX, ND/PL, EXT REC, BEST V-MOUNT, MICS, EXT MONITOR, ETC.
we'd like to see you tone it down, buddy
Nice job on the creative piece!
Thank you Griffin!
Vistek | Your Visual Imaging Experts what was the distortions glass you referred to? It definitely gave it a unique look
I just collect various glass in my travels - prisms, chochky glass, stained glass, broken filters. Whatever I can find.
Would you buy the FX6 today over the FX6?
Which lenses did you use for that opening trailer? Nice work
Hi Stewart. I think I just used Sony still lenses mostly.
Thanks dude! That was great!
Hey! Thanks for the review! Mark Bone did one for the stabilization and he said that it worked even with his adapted Sigma lens, not just the Sony ones. 🤷🏻♂️
Very interesting. I was explicitly told otherwise - BUT that's fantastic news. I definitely COULD NOT get it to work with any other adapted lens, and I tested a bunch.
Great review! Do you have the sample shots from around 7mins of the model that you would be willing to share? I would love to buy this camera but would like to test grading first
Thanks Nathan. I wish I could - but I've since dumped the footage off my drive. I would be willing to bet that whoever you are interested in buying the camera from; they would be more than happy to let you test drive the camera and shoot some footage that you could take with you to push & pull around. I know that we make all efforts at Vistek to allow our clients to test these products out if they feel the need. - D
looks like a winner,yet now I need Sony to send me one...yes thank you..
2m46s
Can you please tell me, what i needed to do, to have the DISPLAY of the S-Cinetone on the right? Can't find anywhere, It drive me crazy lol
Hi Marc, can you be more specific? I’m not sure I understand what you’re referring to.
Awesome!
Thank you Martin!
Please be ware of that if you try to stabilize footage in Catalys Brows ( wich is the only place you can do it ) the footage gets several 8 bit problem , like severe banding and spots and other artifacts. A lot of people tried to get SONY responsible, but they dont care to give an answare
I recently was on the fence between the FX9 and RED Dragon-X. Even though I use Sony Alphas for stills, and therefore have a pile of nice E mount glass, I opted for the RED. If the FX9 was able to shoot high frame rate RAW, or even full frame 4K60 I would've bought the Sony in a second. It's an impressive piece of kit, but feels like a beta unit. I mean, future firmware update?....what does that even mean...a month, a year?
ON 11.10 OF THE VIDEO, u said setting the camera to cine ei- base iso 4000/1600EI will help reduce the noise a little bit. The point is in cine-ei if u change the EI it will not effect the final footage but the monitor output. so how come it will reduce the noise?
Hi Rahul, it’s because setting your base to 4000 and then EI to 1600 causes you to over expose the image by 1.5 stops. When you compensate by pulling the footage in post, you are crushing down the noise that typically exists in the mid to shadow tones.
@@vistek thank you
great review. Do you always use sony lens ? I dont have full frame lens, I have the fujinon MK Cine lens. Can I still use these shooting 1080p and not 4k as clients dont require 4k
Hi Olaraay, the FX9 has a Super 35 mode so you can continue to use the MK lenses.
@@vistek and what if we were to use 1 full frame lens in super 35 mode ( most of our lens are not full frame and we dont have time to switch between super 35 mode and full frame mode, will full frame lens look bad on super 35mm mode ?
I just realised why you didn't have the camera have the camera at Low based ISO which gives more noise, If it was in High base iso it would be cleaner.
Which part of the video are you referring to, BMF?
The footage in the spot is incredibly noisy. Did you add noise as an artistic feature? Everyone else on UA-cam is talking about how clean the image is from the FX but your footage is really noisy. Can you explain this please.
Hi Deaniweenie. Thanks for the comment. No, that's organic noise from the camera. It doesn't mean that the camera isn't amazing at high ISOs. But I think the spot shows how easily it is to screw this up (which was what I did). I'm relying on the fact that most viewers don't really understand the concept of noise, or are watching on small screens - so it's primarily an issue for us pixel peepers. Regardless, I got the camera just hours ahead of the shoot. Set up the hot buttons as I needed, familiarized myself with it, but did no testing. I just didn't have the time. I watched lots of videos on the camera, including Alister Chapman's 3 hour long presentation. I knew that the camera was powerfully clean in the higher base. So I just cranked it up. However, as I mentioned in the video - the MLUT can mislead you and make you under-expose your images. Because even though it looks good in the monitor, it's actually recording a lot darker in CINE EI. On top of that, there were times I thought I was recording in 4K, when I was in 2K (the reason involves moving quickly and missing some things). So that means the noise and sharpness also goes down. All told I underexposed, or had the incorrect resolution selected, and often both. This means I literally did all the wrong things at once. I think this makes it a great example to discuss best practices. Most review videos will show you how great it looks when everything goes right. But often most things don't go right - especially when you're working with a camera that's never been (personally) tested and you're moving fast with a small crew. Additionally I didn't apply any NR in post because I wasn't happy with how much it softened the image (with my limited resources). My hope was that with the tests I did in my home and the model, we could see exactly what went wrong during that job and how to operators can prevent that. It's worth noting that I did two jobs with the camera after the first one and I didn't screw up and the images look amazing. I just can't show those because the projects haven't been released by the client yet. Hopefully that answers your question(s)!
@@vistek that's super helpful to understand! I was looking at it thinking "huh...everything I've seen suggests that this camera is pretty good in low light." Based on your tests in the video I'd probably opt to shoot S-Cinetone in low light environments where the absolute best dynamic range isn't a priority as much as a cleaner image (odds are in low light there won't even be the maximum dynamic range available to capture even in S-Log).
You got it spot on, FSF. In low light, there often isn't a ton of range anyways. That said, I shot a commercial with the FX9 in S-Cinetone just before lockdown and it looks incredible - and there is zero grading. Client was super stoked. Image looks amazing and it was shot using face tracking the whole time. Super happy with what the camera was able to do.
This is wonderful, thank you for digging into the usability, cause damn that is the biggest reason why I found the camera frustrating. Sidenote - is the vo panned right, am I crazy or is the mix a little off in the upload?
Thanks Aaron. And yeah, I had two audio sources - one lower than the other in case of unexpected peaks. In the rush to get the video out I failed to balance them. Mostly noticeable if you're wearing headphones. Good catch. ;)
@@vistek All good, I figured as much. Hey if you need a hand editing let me know :p. Personally I make sure to interpret my camera footage to force mono tracks on all tracks, so even if I get a doubling up, they are still forced centred at the start of the edit. That way you are never having to fill left/right, or remember to pan a track, you just need to turn tracks on and off as needed. Unless I know someone is recording via a stereo or on board stereo mic, that adjustment saves me a lot during fast turn arounds. But seriously, how much were you annoyed by switching scan modes just to get higher framerates, essentially making the S&Q button pointless.
Thanks Aaron. Yeah the scan modes are most certainly a bit cumbersome. I actually boned the footage in first hour of my shoot because we were rushing and I ended up in the wrong imager mode. It angered me at first, but to be honest - after shooting with this camera a bunch I eventually got used to it. Do I think it can be done better? Yeah no question. But one eventually adapts to Sony's logic behind it.
@@vistek Yah I'm with you. I just don't understand the reasoning. The Venice menu is a dream, clearly copied Arri, and inspired in part by the older F55's etc. So there is really little excuse than they just don't know how to handle an interface for solo ops. They'll get there someday.
I shot one film on the Venice and I would firmly agree with you, there is obviously some reasoning behind that. One is simply cost - to build in that infrastructure requires a big and expensive re-design and architecture (that's just my guess, I have no proof). The other being that they don't want to make the camera so good it eats into their Venice sales (another guess, but I think that's logical). It would however, be nice to see it get a little closer to the Venice in usability. That camera is a dream (albeit a costly one).
Where can we find the comparison ??
The comparison between the FS7 and FX9 is throughout the whole video. Every instance where we compare the two cameras are clearly marked with lower thirds.
I have some questions that if you could help me with would be very much appreciated. I Have an fx9 and tried using the slog3 for the first time the other day. I record out to a atomos shogun 7. One issue is you can't change the gain using slog unless you bake it into the footage. My final result was ok but wished for more. Can you give me some tips on how to use slog and how to deal with lighting so its not to dark or to bright? I tried overexposing and using my scopes on my atomos. Please help.
Hi Jeremy. Thanks for your comment. Because I'm not entirely certain what your experiencing, all I can really recommend is to expose your Slog3 middle grey to the white paper value of 41% or the white point to 61% depending on what resources you have (a grey card, or a white wall etc). Once you establish this recommended exposure, you can then begin to over-expose by about a stop, but you do have to pay careful attention that none of your highlights are clipping. Also, treat your ISO as though it is film. As in; you can not change this. So the only way you can change your exposure is with your aperture, shutter angle, or external light power. If you need more light, go to the HI base ISO. Hope that helps!
I have done all that but there are times where even on high base iso I need the iso to be a little higher so what your saying and what I think is the camera doesn’t allow to take the iso or gain up past base if you are recording to a monitor
In Cine EI mode you can not change the gain in any way. Externally or internally. It’s important to think of Cine EI mode as “film stock.” You can certainly under or over expose it, like you can with any film stock, but you can’t change the stock. When you toggle through the gain settings on you camera in Cine EI you will notice that nothing happens. However if you turn on your monitor LUT (MLUT) you will see the screen become lighter or darker. This is just the LUT compensating but you are not actually changing your sensor gain. A bit of a hack is to shoot in Custom Mode and select SLOG3 as your picture profile/gamma. This will allow you to change the camera’s gain. However the results will be generally the same as if you underexposed a base ISO. What’s important to comprehend about Cine EI is that it puts the focus on your lighting and lens choices and doesn’t use Gain/ISO as a get out of jail free card. If you want a cleaner image, I would suggest two things. 1. Shoot in Custom Mode with S-Cinetone. This is a hyper gamma curve that provides a very good deal of latitude so long as you protect your highlights. 2. Alternatively, you could look at selling the FX9 and buy an FX6 which has a 2nd base ISO if 12,800 in Cine EI mode. That will buy you an extra stop and a half over the FX9, but there are going to be some trade offs, not to mention the loss of investment when selling one camera for another. Obviously something I hesitate to recommend. The FX9 is a hugely powerful and capable camera. Among the best I’ve ever used. I would encourage you to spend a bit more time testing and working with the camera in a variety of modes to get a handle on what it can and can’t do. Best of luck!
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. So what is your preferred mode scinetone or slog
Hi. I con not decide canonc500II, URSA mini g2, or the fx9 :) I will shoot film, mostly, but mostly alone .I I think I can get away with som eautofocus, in some situations. I read in another revirre that you can lock the auto focus to one face, right ? In a blocking sceen with 3-4 actors, I can then hold it locked to the one, is that true ?so its now jumpin over. Aslo, I have the 16-35, and the 28-135 lense already, but will buy a Prime lense as extra anyway. So you mean, like U say, if I get a Xeen Pirme lense the gyro stabilisation does not record/ work ? How "gradeabli" are the Log footage actually?as you probalby understand I want to grade quite heavily in post, and probably never use S. cinetone at all .
Hi ORSM. Yes, you can register faces and shuttle between multiple faces in a scene. It works great - but keep in mind that in narrative cinema work often the actors are travelling in the scene in various directions, often never looking directly towards the camera. The AF requires the camera to see most of the face. So in these cases, pulling manually is still the only solution. As long as everyone is looking at the camera, then the multiple face feature is excellent. Regarding the stabilization - yes, only Sony lenses allow for this. You will not get this feature from any other lens. Regarding gradability - very similar to Slog3 on the FS7. However, the dynamic range and colours have been improved - which likely makes it a bit easier than prior. I would encourage you to try using S-CineTone. Don't be afraid of it. It has lots of dynamic range, and perhaps it would also encourage you to spend more time considering your scene lighting. Log isn't a blanket fix for every situation. Cheers! -D
@@vistek thanks a lot sir( sorry for misspelling, too quick):)Are you sure you dont mix the gyro, and the autofocus? I mean the incam stabilisation is recorded, indempended of the lense, so why would it not work ?theres no way , of sourse I am scaling down ot about 7 stops latitude, in S cineontes, for film making :)
@@vistek I have to clarify that you probably mean. E.mount lenses :) hers from the Sonys-PDF manual : " This feature is also compatible with any E-mount lens and allows for far faster processing
than conventional NLE stabilisation workflows**. " that means that I can use the stabilsation with f.eks a Xeen lense :)
Hi ORSM, Sadly no - it has to be a native Sony lens. This is done somewhat purposefully so you have to use Sony glass. It's just their proprietary encoding. The mount means nothing, especially if it's a dummy mount (like on a cine lens). The camera has no idea what's on the other side of that mount. But if you put on a Sony lens, it knows through the AF & Metadata contacts that you're using a certified Sony lens. Then they reward you with stabilization. But you are correct in that it is all just gyro metadata. Which means, yes, they could open it up to 3rd party lenses. They just chose not to, and of course it's their right to. It's also worth mentioning that I know a couple DPs who own more than on FX9 and they are now exclusively using Sony G-Master lenses because of the quality of the optics. So there is more than one reason to go with Sony glass.
@@vistek OMG ! I just bought the Xeen lense, in fact I was close to order 2, but at least the 24mm . So , when they sya its comatible, the actually lie ! I will ask directly on SONY support. I just also asked at B&H, they "could not guaratee" it worked. ..........I mean, this is jsut NOT good ! what prime lense can I buy from SONY? like I said I hav the 16-35G. lense wide, andt he 28-135 . bu t I think I need a good Prime like zeiss superspeed, or something .
Seems like a lot of noises....
How are all you yanks affording this then? There must be more money in video in the Wild West..