# Industry News: Sony officially announces the alpha FX3 cinema camera



## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 23, 2021)

> Sony is set to unveil the Sony FX3 cinema alpha series full-frame mirrorless camera. This new body carries over some of the features and hardware from the Sony A7S III.
> FX3 Product Highlights:
> 
> Compact and lightweight body design with high operability for hand-held shooting, gimbal and drone-mounted work
> ...



Continue reading...


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## Joel C (Feb 23, 2021)

Honestly looks like a fun camera, at that price though. I know I am not willing to switch for the same price as a c70 that has less features.


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## Rocksthaman (Feb 23, 2021)

Joel C said:


> Honestly looks like a fun camera, at that price though. I know I am not willing to switch for the same price as a c70 that has less features.


I don’t know what is in the kool aid over here on CR

First, These two cameras are not the same Price, fx3 will be no more than 4000 usd .

And I just used an A7siii this weekend(The evf froze up and blacked out multiple times, ugh), but the fx3 does not have less features than the C70. There are Different features but there are ALOT of things you can do with the fx3/A7siii that you can’t with the C70 and vice versa.

This is a very good camera for the money and I hope Canon follows suit. Canon R6c or R1c would make me pretty jolly.


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## padam (Feb 23, 2021)

I am sure the Canon C50 will be announced not too long afterwards. Fundamentally different cameras, but targeting similar price points.


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## Dearl4 (Feb 23, 2021)

Rocksthaman said:


> I don’t know what is in the kool aid over here on CR
> 
> First, These two cameras are not the same Price, fx3 will be no more than 4000 usd .
> 
> ...



Agreed, this and the C70 are very different and shouldn't be compared so directly. With that being said, I still find this camera interesting but would prefer the C70 based on how I work.


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## Dearl4 (Feb 23, 2021)

Is it me, or does Sony always seem to be the first to play their cards?
Then Canon sighs, and shows theirs.


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## Joel C (Feb 23, 2021)

Rocksthaman said:


> I don’t know what is in the kool aid over here on CR
> 
> First, These two cameras are not the same Price, fx3 will be no more than 4000 usd .
> 
> ...


The rumored price is 4700 euro. That's 5,500 usd. So, tell me, what's the price of a c70?


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## Dearl4 (Feb 23, 2021)

Joel C said:


> The rumored price is 4700 euro. That's 5,500 usd. So, tell me, what's the price of a c70?


On B&H the listed price for the FX3 is $3,900.


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## Joel C (Feb 23, 2021)

Dearl4 said:


> On B&H the listed price for the FX3 is $3,900.


I see the price point has now been updated.


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## Maps (Feb 23, 2021)

I think the gap between the A7S2 and the S3 looms large here. The S3 should have come out a couple years ago, probably with specs that were more in line with ~2018, and then the whole “twinning” thing wouldn’t be such an issue.


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## DBounce (Feb 23, 2021)

Can’t figure out why someone would buy this over the A7S3? 
• XLRs can be added to the A7S3 and include a microphone.
• Battery grip can be added to the A7S3 
• A7S3 includes the EVF


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## Rocksthaman (Feb 23, 2021)

Can’t figure out why someone would buy this over the A7S3?


DBounce said:


> • XLRs can be added to the A7S3 and include a microphone.
> • Battery grip can be added to the A7S3
> • A7S3 includes the EVF


This. I guess I would say the same thing.

Sony’s reasoning does check out though. They wanted to provide an option to their customers that didn’t have the confidence or money to enter into the fx line. I like this thought because in the process, they didn’t take any features out. The camera did what the hardware would allow it. 

This is my thing. I look at my R6 and go boy I wish it had the same juice as a A7siii in video.
Spoiler, If you frame your shot, the A7siii is a great stills camera. There is a price difference but even over heating aside the software COULD have the same features.

I just used an A7siii and shooting 10bit 1080 was something I didn’t know I wanted the option of.


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## MaxDiesel (Feb 23, 2021)

Joel C said:


> Honestly looks like a fun camera, at that price though. I know I am not willing to switch for the same price as a c70 that has less features.


Its only 3898 USD — https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1624226-REG/sony_ilme_fx3_fx3_cinema_camera.html

Cant wait to see the C50, it must be a direct competitor.


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 23, 2021)

Dearl4 said:


> On B&H the listed price for the FX3 is $3,900.


They are very different cameras but C200B is only $100 more


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 23, 2021)

DBounce said:


> Can’t figure out why someone would buy this over the A7S3?
> • XLRs can be added to the A7S3 and include a microphone.
> • Battery grip can be added to the A7S3
> • A7S3 includes the EVF


I would take active cooling over an EVF any day.
Sony conservatively rates A7S III to run 4K 60 FPS for 1 hour.
They rate FX3 to run 4K 60 FPS for 13 hours.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 23, 2021)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> Continue reading...


Everything the c70 should have been. Canon should have made a videocentric R5. I might get a few for wedding videos and events. The c70 autofocus is terrible( seriously canon fix that shit asap) and a bit heavy or weird on a gimbal.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 23, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> I would take active cooling over an EVF any day.
> Sony conservatively rates A7S III to run 4K 60 FPS for 1 hour.
> They rate FX3 to run 4K 60 FPS for 13 hours.


whats the a7s iii battery life with one battery in 4k60?


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 23, 2021)

RayValdez360 said:


> Everything the c70 should have been. Canon should have made a videocentric R5. I might get a few for wedding videos and events. The c70 autofocus is terrible( seriously canon fix that shit asap) and a bit heavy or weird on a gimbal.


I like the C70 the way it is but if Canon were to release R5 and R6 active cooling then it would be game over for everyone else.
Panasonic showed that was the way to go with the S1H.


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 23, 2021)

RayValdez360 said:


> whats the a7s iii battery life with one battery in 4k60?


It can also be plugged in.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 23, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> I like the C70 the way it is but if Canon were to release R5 and R6 active cooling then it would be game over for everyone else.
> Panasonic showed that was the way to go with the S1H.


Canon finally makes a smaller cinema camera and the AF is broken. It's crazy. I hope they make somereal f2.0 zooms for s35. the speedbooster thing is cool but the af on my 18-35 is very crappy and the range is small the image is very nice though.


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 23, 2021)

RayValdez360 said:


> Canon finally makes a smaller cinema camera and the AF is broken.


The AF is not broken.
It just requires a lot of light.
People are comparing it to R5, R6, A7S III, FX3, and FX6.
Those cameras use eye detect instead of just face detect.
Eyes require far less light to detect.
If Canon is going to make the camera look like a DSLR then they should add eye detect if they can because that is what many people expect when they see it.


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## rqiang (Feb 23, 2021)

How can you call a Cinema Camera without built in ND filter? Why do I need it? I would rather go for Canon C70.


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## VivaLasVegas (Feb 23, 2021)

First was the A7S3, was noticeably less sharp than R5 in 4K. Then Sony release the A1, again noticeably less sharp in 8K and 4K, vs the R5. Now this, a repackage A7S3 sensor, what is Sony doing, it’ll be noticeably less sharp again vs the R5, duh. Just goes to show, how deadly the R5 was to Sony family tree, one camera practically ruined the entire family(including cine line)....3 strikes and you’re out!


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## SHAMwow (Feb 23, 2021)

Dearl4 said:


> Is it me, or does Sony always seem to be the first to play their cards?
> Then Canon sighs, and shows theirs.


To be fair Canon holding their cards for 4-5 years isn't really that much to brag about. Yeah its been great the past year, but lets not have a short memory.


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## telemaque (Feb 23, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> I like the C70 the way it is but if Canon were to release R5 and R6 active cooling then it would be game over for everyone else.
> Panasonic showed that was the way to go with the S1H.


Panasonic needs to fix their bloody focus system...
S5 obviously proved to be better than predecessors but still ridiculous front of Sony or Canon.


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## telemaque (Feb 23, 2021)

VivaLasVegas said:


> First was the A7S3, was noticeably less sharp than R5 in 4K. Then Sony release the A1, again noticeably less sharp in 8K and 4K, vs the R5. Now this, a repackage A7S3 sensor, what is Sony doing, it’ll be noticeably less sharp again vs the R5, duh. Just goes to show, how deadly the R5 was to Sony family tree, one camera practically ruined the entire family(including cine line)....3 strikes and you’re out!


Sales of cameras will show who is moving ahead and who is going down.
A year ago, Sony was below Canon but with the biggest growth in sales.
I am a fan of Canon, so let's not misunderstand my message, but Sony is a serious competitor.

Nikon has almost already lost the race against Sony and I never considered Nikon to be a bad brand.
Who 5 years ago would have thought Nikon would be put in danger (in sales) by Sony?
I would have not thought this.

The verdict will be given by the final sales figures.


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## peters (Feb 24, 2021)

DBounce said:


> Can’t figure out why someone would buy this over the A7S3?
> • XLRs can be added to the A7S3 and include a microphone.
> • Battery grip can be added to the A7S3
> • A7S3 includes the EVF


Hm true, but some differences stick out:
- smaller, (and lighter?)
- mounting options directly on the camera (so you dont need a cage which makes it again even smaller then the a7s3 with a cage)
- active cooling, probably allowing for way longer and more reliable runtimes
- button layout looks bit more video centered
- sensor is maybe optimized for video (?). At least its 16:9 and not 3:2 afaik

I guess that this camera is a bit more "logical" than the A7s3. Its realy video centered, while the a7s3 got the form factor of a photo camera - but I dont think that many people interested in photo are buying the a7s3. I guess that the a7s3 is 95% used by video guys. 12mp is simply not enough for most types of work today. So a body which is optimized for video around this sensor can make sense =)


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## peters (Feb 24, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> I like the C70 the way it is but if Canon were to release R5 and R6 active cooling then it would be game over for everyone else.
> Panasonic showed that was the way to go with the S1H.


I totaly agree on the R5. Also add full-size hdmi, a bigger viewfinder and 4k raw (8k raw is crazy heavy on the filesize) <3


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 24, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> The AF is not broken.
> It just requires a lot of light.
> People are comparing it to R5, R6, A7S III, FX3, and FX6.
> Those cameras use eye detect instead of just face detect.
> ...


my c100 has better AF. It might not be as advanced or whatever but the AF in the middle stuck to whatever was in front of it. The C70 keeps changing it's mind. I started using manual focus again. Even my EOS R had way better AF. Barely had issues with the default AF style.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 24, 2021)

peters said:


> I totaly agree on the R5. Also add full-size hdmi, a bigger viewfinder and 4k raw (8k raw is crazy heavy on the filesize) <3


i dont understand what would be so hard about giving it the c70 treatment. Also was does it have clog 1 when it isnt even made for 10 bit then they give you a ten bit only codec for log. The c70 doesnt even have c log 1 so it just makes it a little harder to match the current line up as easy as it could be. make it make sense.


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## Lucas Tingley (Feb 24, 2021)

finally Sony has a fully articulating touchscreen. Although this confuses me why they would put this on a super expensive camera, when the screen, if dropped wrong, could break, and render the camera useless. putting this on the a7iv would make more sense, and would make a lot of people happier


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## goldenhusky (Feb 24, 2021)

VivaLasVegas said:


> First was the A7S3, was noticeably less sharp than R5 in 4K. Then Sony release the A1, again noticeably less sharp in 8K and 4K, vs the R5. Now this, a repackage A7S3 sensor, what is Sony doing, it’ll be noticeably less sharp again vs the R5, duh. Just goes to show, how deadly the R5 was to Sony family tree, one camera practically ruined the entire family(including cine line)....3 strikes and you’re out!



Thanks for your great Canon fan boy insight


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## TravelerNick (Feb 24, 2021)

If Canon released this camera anybody want to claim there wouldn't have been a long line of people complaining about it being crippled?


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## Nigel95 (Feb 24, 2021)

RayValdez360 said:


> my c100 has better AF. It might not be as advanced or whatever but the AF in the middle stuck to whatever was in front of it. The C70 keeps changing it's mind. I started using manual focus again. Even my EOS R had way better AF. Barely had issues with the default AF style.


That sounds bad I am interested in the rumored C50 but this would be a dealbreaker. If AF doesn't work well I might aswell get a BMPCC. Did you use with Sigma 18-35mm?


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## DBounce (Feb 24, 2021)

VivaLasVegas said:


> First was the A7S3, was noticeably less sharp than R5 in 4K. Then Sony release the A1, again noticeably less sharp in 8K and 4K, vs the R5. Now this, a repackage A7S3 sensor, what is Sony doing, it’ll be noticeably less sharp again vs the R5, duh. Just goes to show, how deadly the R5 was to Sony family tree, one camera practically ruined the entire family(including cine line)....3 strikes and you’re out!


In every comparison that I’ve seen, the A1’s 8.2K oversampled 8K image is noticeably sharper than the R5. The 4K is pixel binned on the A1, but still sharp. I’m no fan of the A1... because at $6500, frankly, there are more interesting options. But got to keep it real.


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## woodman411 (Feb 24, 2021)

VivaLasVegas said:


> First was the A7S3, was noticeably less sharp than R5 in 4K. Then Sony release the A1, again noticeably less sharp in 8K and 4K, vs the R5. Now this, a repackage A7S3 sensor, what is Sony doing, it’ll be noticeably less sharp again vs the R5, duh. Just goes to show, how deadly the R5 was to Sony family tree, one camera practically ruined the entire family(including cine line)....3 strikes and you’re out!



Similar thought, I would say the R5 completely invalidates the Sony A9 line: similar AF, burst, buffer, and price, but almost double the resolution and better video (the R6 almost does the same to Canon's own 1DX3 unless you need the build quality). It also put effective pressure on other Sony lines that now offer only targeted benefits, while sacrificing areas that the R5 excels at. For example, the A7R4, do you need 60MP versus 45MP (sacrificing superior video and burst)? For the A7S3, do you need longer 4K recording times than what the R5 already offers (sacrificing 45MP versus 12MP)? And for the FX3, do you need the active cooling (even worse 10MP)? It has become narrowly targeted because the R5 does so many things well without sacrificing what you would lose if you went with an A7R4, or A7S3, or FX3. Of course, you could go with the A1, basically a faster R5, but at a whopping 50% more cost, making the R5 look like a bargain.


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## Rocksthaman (Feb 24, 2021)

woodman411 said:


> Similar thought, I would say the R5 completely invalidates the Sony A9 line: similar AF, burst, buffer, and price, but almost double the resolution and better video (the R6 almost does the same to Canon's own 1DX3 unless you need the build quality). It also put effective pressure on other Sony lines that now offer only targeted benefits, while sacrificing areas that the R5 excels at. For example, the A7R4, do you need 60MP versus 45MP (sacrificing superior video and burst)? For the A7S3, do you need longer 4K recording times than what the R5 already offers (sacrificing 45MP versus 12MP)? And for the FX3, do you need the active cooling (even worse 10MP)? It has become narrowly targeted because the R5 does so many things well without sacrificing what you would lose if you went with an A7R4, or A7S3, or FX3. Of course, you could go with the A1, basically a faster R5, but at a whopping 50% more cost, making the R5 look like a bargain.


And that’s where the difference is photography, It’s more of a wash but for video the list is long where the A1 has options that the R5 doesn’t have.... And I hug my R5 before bed each night.

Canon has already said they don’t expect R5 users to need high end video options and A1 with xlr adapter is a very compelling option.


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## VOTOXY (Feb 24, 2021)

I would love to see that in a R body


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## Rocksthaman (Feb 24, 2021)

VOTOXY said:


> I would love to see that in a R body


This is the common theme for many like myself.

The question is if Canon will be willing or if they can survive if they give us a tool that doesn’t have major compromises in “pro” video and also takes stills.

The tech is there.... but the same sensor performance in the c300 is being charged at 11,000 usd. And that is super 35.... Would Canon be willing to give us that in Full frame without a “Cripple” (I use that term loosely).

I really hope for a 1RC, with an XLR option, no record limits or overheating(within reason). Canon Sony A1..... problem is Sony want us in their ecosystem, DSLR/mirrorless to cinema cameras is Canons ecosystem .


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## Tremotino (Feb 24, 2021)

This is now the third post about the SONY FX3?!
If I may want to read sony alpha rumors I visit sonyalpharumors.com not canonrumors.com 
I'm quite confused.


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## Bert63 (Feb 25, 2021)

Dearl4 said:


> Agreed, this and the C70 are very different and shouldn't be compared so directly. With that being said, I still find this camera interesting but would prefer the C70 based on how I work.




Yet everywhere I look the A1 is being compared to the R5. And mostly losing.


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## Bert63 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tremotino said:


> This is now the third post about the SONY FX3?!
> If I may want to read sony alpha rumors I visit sonyalpharumors.com not canonrumors.com
> I'm quite confused.


 Nothing stopping you from scrolling right past.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tremotino said:


> This is now the third post about the SONY FX3?!
> If I may want to read sony alpha rumors I visit sonyalpharumors.com not canonrumors.com
> I'm quite confused.


Boo hoo...


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## EOS 4 Life (Feb 25, 2021)

I predict the A7 IV will have a 12 MP sensor and shoot 4K video up to 120 FPS.
There will also be six more Sony cameras with those exact specs.


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## RayValdez360 (Feb 25, 2021)

EOS 4 Life said:


> I predict the A7 IV will have a 12 MP sensor and shoot 4K video up to 120 FPS.
> There will also be six more Sony cameras with those exact specs.


year right. i can see it being like 30 or 40 something mp.


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