Sony FX2 & RX1R III: One Surprised Me, One Didn’t

Okay, so this is the Exchange NW1, a new creative space. So, yeah, I'm vlogging with the FX3 today. And you know what? Although at the end of the year I said it was pretty meh. Uh FX3 is the same tech as the A7S III essentially. — Why is it so bad? — Just get an A7S III and don't shoot in the heat and don't twist your viewfinder up like that. I actually really like it. — wrong, weren't you? — I'm right. I have to say. I made that all too easy judgment right after handling one. And since then, I have. And I liked it, which can only mean one expensive thing. So, I am putting my money where my mouth is and we're here. — There are a number of things to love about the FX3 and some things that are really blown out proportion. The thing with the FX3 is that there've been a lot of people saying, "Oh, you know, it's the A7S III, uh rolling shutter's not very good. " Does it really matter that much? Unless you want to do this, in which case buy a different camera. — If you want to do rolling shutter tests. — The readout speed of an A7S III and thus the same rolling shutter performance doesn't look impressive on paper. And also when you compare it to something with newer tech and it doing crazy whip pans, but sometimes you've just got to evaluate whether that is actually a problem in your own real-life usage of it. Having the best tech features is great to have, but doesn't mean much if you don't really need it. — It doesn't have to be all, but it is a real professional camera body, right? It has time code. — Yeah. — Are you in the camp that says open gates and everything? — I think if you need an open gate properly, you've probably got a cinema camera. Um or okay, if you're doing a lot of Instagram content, maybe I'd want it. If I was just wanting an out-and-out filmmaker's camera, it probably isn't it. All right, there's better choices. — But if you just want a hybrid camera to do you know what we're doing now, it's great. It's not going to make much difference to what your final film's going to look like relative to all the other things that go into your film if you're a filmmaker. And to be honest, if you're a real serious filmmaker, you've probably got other options to that like Blackmagic and Arri and Red and all the other stuff, right? So, and most people realistically are doing what we're doing, which is waving a camera around like this, creating some happy vloggy stuff. That's perfect. Camera perfection is not defined by how good the specs are compared to other cameras, but rather much of it has to do with suitability to the user. How conducive is the camera to making great content? After all, great content doesn't come out of the camera naturally. Now, I guess the thing with me is that I can be a bit more relaxed about my requirements of a camera because I'm not a one camera kind of person. I'm a more cameras than underpants kind of person, but I had two Sony cameras, the A72 and the FX30. I like that FX30 had the tools for taking video, the interface, the workhorse body, and then I like the A72 because it had enough of what I needed for taking photos, and I enjoyed the form factor. So, why have I sold those two cameras and replaced it with the FX2? Well, the FX2 takes a stone and metaphorically fatally maimed two birds in one go. You know, it's got the megapixels for stills. If you want to use the FX3 for stills, yeah, you for one it doesn't have a viewfinder, and it doesn't really have the megapixels. FX30 has crop and it doesn't have the viewfinder. I think it's great. I think it's just really cool. It's a hybrid camera that leans more towards video, but functions pretty damn good when it leans towards stills, too. It's got a mechanical shutter, which is nice, but when it comes to niceties, nothing tops that tilty EVF, which is really, really nice. It's bloody brilliant, in fact, for stills, but also for video. Of course, it comes in handy when taking low-angle stuff, so you don't need to get too low down, but offers up a waist or rather chest-level shooting that makes you look a little bit less dodgy. It's a softer look, less aggressive, and I could be making that all up, but if it makes you, the user, feel more comfortable taking photos that way, that's a good thing, right? It's so much of a good thing. Now, I wish more photo leaning cameras had this kind of EVF because at the end of the day, it's still a video camera first. — For photos, I prefer shooting the Z6 than that camera. I like the top display on the Z6 3, right? I think the color's better on the Panasonic's, personally, but that's pretty close. And it's got higher megapixel count. And the video is just a lot friendlier, I think. So, you know, competing cameras to that — Honestly, I don't want that many. — Yeah, if you think about a camera that can really do great photos and great video. — It's just that it costs quite a bit more money than the A7C II. — Yeah, it's the cost. The issue is the cost. It's not There's no other issue other than cost. — Bring it a little bit closer. I'm sure it is a better body than the A7C II. It's got a better viewfinder, cool kind of tilty viewfinder, which is It's good having it. I would be totally happy if I could just take one camera on the trip. Just taking that for stills and video. — If I go on holiday, it's that. If we're going purely on specs, there's probably better cameras. — Mm, yes, if you want like raw and all that stuff and the ultimate handheld

stabilization, although this will probably look okay as far as I can tell. S1C II, right? — Obviously, there's a bunch of Sonys that are more expensive. — Yeah. — If you were thinking or could save some money, what would you go for then? — To be honest, Z5 II. — And that's perhaps the big problem with Sony right now is that when you look at their camera bodies and you compare them to say something from Nikon, the Nikon seem to offer up a lot more for the money. — But you're not just buying a camera, you're buying into a system. — And one of the reasons why Sony is so popular is because there's a bit more variety for third-party lenses. So, Sony's selling these cameras knowing that potentially those customers aren't going to buy any Sony lenses or accessories. They're hardly going to load the margins on the camera body to the same level of a brand that would prefer you to buy their own lenses. — But having said that, I can't speak for stateside, but the FX3 has been reduced in price in UK, which is why I bought one. All I'm saying is don't feel bad if you bought an FX 2. Don't listen to everybody online moaning about it. That's all there is to it. You don't need to look at the specs. In fact, don't look at the specs cuz then you start thinking it's a camera and it really isn't. It's a fantastic. And if it works for you, that's all that matters. But having said that, it's still not one of the most exciting of camera launches of the past year. It's just that we've come to expect bold, exciting releases from Sony and the FX 2 is neither bold nor exciting, which leads me to another Sony that I want to talk about, but first Squarespace, the sponsor of this video. If you're creative and you want to set up a website to show your portfolio or even maybe try a little blog, give Squarespace a try. You can try it for free for 14 days and during the trial, you'll get a feel of how easy it is to set up a website. You can start by choosing one of the many templates and then once that's done, the interface just makes it incredibly easy for anyone to start piecing together their website. No messing around with plugins or complicated stuff. And then there's the integrated e-commerce stuff if you decide you want to add a merch store later. So, give it a try. 14 days free trial and 10% off your first order with the code Kai. And now, the other Sony. You work here now? — No. — Invest. — Hello, Patrick. — Hey. Hi. See this one? — This is not This is the latest one. — Is it? — Yes, the Mark III. — I What? — It Seriously. — How much is that going for? — Yeah, that's a good question. — Pouncing on it. — So, the Sony RX1R III is for sale. — It is. It's really good. good. — Just got to figure out a price for Dan. Why would you get the Sony if you've got the Q3? — Well, yeah, it's a bit smaller. — Yeah, well, that's it, isn't it? — The Leica is a bit bigger. Ugh, don't really want to talk about Leica right now because my Leica M has recently been deemed unfixable. Luckily, I do have a camera that does work. Can't go wrong with a Sony, right? Well, in terms of switching on and taking photos, in a time where everything in the world is too expensive, there's a lot to go wrong with an expensive new Sony. Although some people have actually bought it and then decided in a short time that it's not for them, because there's been quite a few cropping up on the used market. But what's wrong with it? — See that? That That's annoying, cuz I kind of want to do that. And I can't actually do that, right? — Missing the tilt. And if you know, if cameras had never had it, I wouldn't miss it, but because a lot of them now have it, you kind of want it. You get used to having it, and then you go, well, where is it? And it's not there. — I guess that if they put a tilt on this, it'd be so much so close to the A7C II in size that it wouldn't be worth it. — But this costs more money. I think you have every right when you pay this money to have a camera with better specs, right? — And the fact that its predecessor did have one and now it doesn't is partly to blame for all the furore. After all, adding a tilt-y screen seems like the way forwards, like it did with the Q3. And even though it is nice to have it, I feel like it makes the Q3 supremely uncomfortable to hold when it wasn't before the Q2. I'm all for tilt screens unless it ruins the ergonomics and feel the body. — Again, it's size though, isn't it? You can't have like a big A7 five finder on this, cuz it has to be that — That's true. — I don't know, I seem to have nostalgic vibes for it. Well, I've got the original. — Yeah. — I really like it, but it's not — Classic. — It's not fast enough. Not in today's — There's still aren't too many fixed lens full frame compact cameras around. I think that the screen and the finder, they're not really backward steps or forward steps as such, just sideways. But in some areas, it feels like it hasn't really gone anywhere. — I mean, I still think the RX1R is a great camera, great size, but they just haven't really advanced it in like, what is it, 10 years? — Well, I mean, it's fine, but even Leica has advanced in 10 years. I think — is a bit on the — So 10 years ago like had the Q. And now they've got the Q3. Phase detection. I mean the lens is not the fastest focusing of lenses. It's not that slow. But at least it's got Sony's latest generation of focusing. So it does have the AI processing unit for reliable focusing of humans and

animals and their faces, heads, and eyes. Better tracking, better subject detection over the RX1R II, but still the same lens, same auto focusing motor. Sometimes it just lags a little behind and it doesn't quite hit the mark. And that's a shame because when it is in focus, you get some really fine detailed 61 megapixel files. That is nuts. That's pretty amazing. So now you like it. Yeah, I like it. I could get used to it. Go on, you want to swap then? I like this. This is a great camera. I think it's got a lot of abuse when it first came out. Again, it's mostly because of the price. I think any new Sony release the last couple years is just about price. Like, oh, it's too expensive. And I guess it is. But if you compare the Q3 to this in terms of how much is increasing price since this last camera was introduced, the RX1R II. And that was when like released the Q. I think it was the same year. Of course, the Q has advanced quite a bit. It's got phase detection now. Uh lots more megapixels. But in terms of percentage, what is increasing price over the years is less than the Leica. I even that T3 looks cheap compared to this. I mean, look at it. — Can I Can you see how much these are? — It's crazy. — I If it was 3 grand, I'd totally think about it. — It's like five, and so it's not happening. — Over the last 10 years, everything has gotten a lot more expensive, but our expectations of what we get for our money has stayed pretty much the same. But the thing is, nobody bats an eyelid with Leica, because they're a luxury brand, and that's what luxury brands do, price hikes. So, I feel a little bit sorry for the RX1R III in that sense, and perhaps more so, because I like this line of cameras from Sony, and perhaps I like it even more than the Leica Q. — It's a nice site. I mean, if money no object, I mean, if I was — Well, for 5K, yeah. — super loaded like you, um I would have one, but I'm not, so I can't. — It's a super load. This guy, I just brought him back his lenses. He didn't even know he had these. — I had forgotten, to be honest. — Yeah. There's nothing expensive in there, guy. — Well, let me throw it on the floor, then. — Yeah, no. — I wish you would. If you do that, I'll do — That's not mine. — Yeah, you throw that on the floor, I'll — Hands off my tits. — So, are you what? — But I don't think the big problem is the price, the price change over the last 10 years, but rather, I feel like this Sony isn't a Sony enough as they were 10 years ago. — Thing right, Sony, if you're listening, — if you had a lower res sensor, I think it would have sold better, right? If it had a 33 megapixel sensor, and the price was less, people would still true, get it, but because it's so expensive, it's not like a buy it on a whim kind of thing, is it? — That's true. — You'd have to be very serious, or very rich, to buy this. — They should have two options. What's that? — Still gray. — Oh. — With nice patina. — Yeah. It's like the camera I painted pink. And I just love the way that the steel gray one wears out. Obviously forgotten about the RX1R III already. — What? — But also, like in 1960 something filters were that thin. Why are they not all that thin now? — But they were probably also made of toxic materials. — Well, yeah. That's probably true. — Hang on. Why does it say "Danchung" on it? Just one. No, but it's like crossover. You become an influencer. — No. — This video is brought to you by Nanlite. You can retroactively sponsor this video. — No. — Oh my god. — You can do all your vlogs. — The new influencer thing. — Or we could get an arm that's got two arms. It's got like two arms out the side and like — Everybody's got two arms. — No, but two like — The Voigtländer is one of those cameras actually big enough for somebody to make a third party digital back there. That's what I'm waiting for. Or even just like an iPhone focusing back. Come on, Apple. You know you want to. A bit on the back there. Or probably about here cuz you have to focus on that, wouldn't it? Something like that. It wouldn't be that bad. — I'm afraid I can't do that for you. — She said — It's less