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What camera and how does Sony Cyber shot DSC RX10M3 rate for video
Hi, I’m a sony vegas user and been on that Cow forum loads but not been on this one before, so please excuse me if this is a daft or boring novice question! I’m now well set up with hardward and software and, with that quality increase, need to think more about the source product more, the video camera. For years I used 1080p 50fps panasonic camcorders but I have recently bought the Sony DSC RX10M3 for photography but I’ve seen good (but maybe novice) reviews about the 4K video element of it (the camera can also do very high fps at lower res). How does this camera rate in anyone’s view for video making, I’m thinking quality of video and compression etc. It films in 4K with XAVC S and also AVCHD & 1080P MP4. I’ve no idea if XAVCS if a reasonable format to work with video making of something maybe overly compressed for that? I read up on it but not knowledgable enough on the subject to know how it compares. Making video is becoming a pretty serious hobby for me but it’s mostly claymation and at home green screening for music videos, but I’d like to expand it a bit more and have a more pro quality and control to my videoing. I also need a camera that works well in poor/low light conditions. What’s a good intermediate video camera to consider please?
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6 Replies
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The RX10-series are actually great, if you don’t need the interchangeable lenses. I have used an RX10-II as a C-cam to an FS7 and A7III, and it holds up pretty well. It is not amazing in low light, but has fully manual settings, and you can add the Sony K1M or K2M to it, which gets you XLR audio.
The XAVC-S codec is pretty good as 8-bit codecs go; you’re not going to get a better codec in an A7 (which uses the same codec), so stick with what you’ve got, learn to wring everything out of it that you can, and when someone wants to hire you, use the money towards a higher-end camera. And in fact, you’ll see more production value if you invest in things like lights and audio gear–if your video sounds good, and is well-lit, that can make up for a LOT of other deficiencies.
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Hey Blaise, thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for that info, it’s really good to get that sort of specific reply. I didn’t want to waste hours filming my latest video with it if there were going to be issues I’d regret later, wishing I’d got another camera earlier, but thanks to your advice I’m confident to give it a go with the RX10. I have lots of good lighting already but I know what you’re saying re low light as the first test run I did for using video with the RX10 …was a fading sunset!! D’oh! lol I wanted one in a video and tbh the footage didn’t come out too well, which made me want to ask on here, esp as I’ve seen a few YT videos on XAVC-s and it looks good. Thank you!
..and if I can be cheeky and ask another question, as you seem well versed on the camera, what would you recommend as an external monitor screen. My previous panasonics had little flip around monitor screens, which was so useful but the RX10 is fixed at the back, which isn’t useful doing my green screening.
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PS just checked out your profile. Wow, those video / adverts are fantastic, very professional!
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Nothing cheeky about a followup question! The best monitor is something you already have available–but if you don’t have anything, I hear great things about SmallHD. I tend to be in situations where I can’t carry extra weight or a complicated rig, so I don’t use any third-party monitors.
XAVC-S is plenty for what most people are doing, especially if it’s hobby work. Be careful with your exposure (because it doesn’t have a ton of room for color grading) and you’ll be fine. Sunsets are tough because they have a lot of variation in brightness level (foreground dark, background direct sunlight), and close color gradients which can lead to banding or clipping. Shooting in a log color space (like SLog2) can help, as long as you’re not cranking up the ISO.
Make sure your greenscreen is evenly lit and that there is good separation between you and the greenscreen–doing those things will really help you pull a clean key.
Thanks for the kind words on my work–I do try to find interesting ways to do things, and the outdoor industry is pretty friendly towards new concepts, so I’m fortunate compared to a lot of corporate video folks!
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Again thank you. I was pretty aware of the green screen comments, done a fair bit of it last few years (learned from all my mistakes!) and you were exactly right about the banding in the sunset sky (the tones in the blue sky especially), which is what made me think the video function on the camera was very good/too compressed but I just want to say you have opened up a whole new videoing world for me with that reply …Slog2. I’d never heard of it before. Has taken me ages tonight to work out if a) my camera had it and b) how to action it but got there in the end (fn button and change PP setting). I wondered what all the grading stuff was about on sony vegas tutorials, now it all makes sense. I’m really excited now that I’m aware I have a decent (enough for me at least atm) camera to video with and will get a big increase in quality by using the settings properly, all down to you. You have been so helpful, can’t thank you enough!
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Yep, shooting in Slog variants definitely opens up some possibilities! Here’s a link to Sony’s technical LUTs for Slog2 and 3: https://pro.sony/en_GB/support-resources/software/mpengb00000997
You can use the Slog LUTs as a starting point for getting footage back into a more usable color space after shooting that way to preserve dynamic range. It’ll take some practice to learn how to shoot well with that color, and a little experimentation in the color correction process, but the end results can be really great!
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