![]() Since the design question is “what would make the best stablemate for the existing A7s III”, not “what’s the best 12 MP hybrid if there’s only one”, the FX3 really doesn’t need much stills capability at all. With that 12 MP sensor, stills capability is already minimal – there are any number of sub-$1000 cameras I would prefer to these $4000 cameras for stills, except in extremely low light (some of them made by Sony). Something like this (even omit the mechanical shutter?) is pushing as far towards a pure movie camera as anything that can be credibly called a hybrid – but the other specs of the A7s III/FX3 twins already are. The better tally lamps and mount points from the FX3 are valuable in a movie camera. The camera wouldn’t have to be much greater in diameter than the E-mount itself, since the electronics and batteries could live behind the sensor instead of off to the sides. Instead of a fixed finder (A7s III) or no finder at all like the FX3, what about an articulated version of the A7s III finder? Make a small, light shoulder rest that can be screwed on when that makes sense… If I were designing an even more video-oriented twin to the A7s III, I would have started either with a barrel-shaped body and a fore-and-aft grip (classic camcorder shape), or with something with a bottom handle (Bolex), or possibly something convertible between the two, either by a detachable bottom handle or a rotatable grip. The overriding question is why Sony introduced two versions of the same camera for similar prices? If they were going to introduce two of them, why not go with a full video-oriented body on one of the two? These are both spectacular movie cameras in still camera bodies – the FX3 has some more concessions to being a movie camera (ventilation, multiple mount points for accessories), but it’s still shaped like a still camera. ![]() For a single-shooter video production, whether for weddings, nature, news, sports or whatever else, you can’t really do better than the A7s III/FX3 twins. It is a wonderful 4K movie camera, with about the best image available short of a much clunkier, much more expensive true cinema camera. They introduced it a few months ago as the A7s III, which I have looked at and written a bit about with more to come. The odd thing about the FX3 is that this is the second time we’ve seen this camera from Sony. Fujifilm ALSO released a second camera that may be of less interest to LuLa readers directly – but it might just be the perfect body for a beginner you know with a serious interest in photography, and it’s priced right for what it is! Apart from these cameras and a few lenses (the most interesting may be the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 DG DN Contemporary- yes, you lose 4mm of wide-angle, but it’s an f2.8 standard zoom in the size and weight of an f4 optic), it has been a rather quiet CP+ season this year Sony has also introduced another camera worth some comment, but that will probably not be seeing much more (digital) ink here – the cinema-focused FX3. ![]() ![]() Both flagships, Sony’s Alpha 1 and Fujifilm’s GFX 100S, are expensive cameras that few of us will buy (although each has a market niche among LuLa readers) – but they show us something about where the market is going. Sony and Fujifilm released important new camera bodies the week of January 25, 2021. Sony’s Alpha A1 – 50 MP stills and 8K video…
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