Hey guys - Curious what your all thoughts are comparing these two cameras. My initial thoughts would be that the 1” sensor on the Sony’s would allow much better depth of field when needed, as well as the ability to have less noise and cleaner images in lower lights. Not to mention better dynamic range over the canon. With that being said, I feel like the canons have always been “sneaky” good with that 1/2” sensor, so I’m curious to hear your guys thoughts. I think the ability to do 4K with the Sony’s as well as the higher frame rate options makes it a no brainer, but I’m only filming in 1080 for the most part until I can get 4K 60 at some point. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've filmed with the PXW-X70 w. 4K upgrade for 3 years and now with the HXR-NX80 for about 8 months. I've messed around with my brother in laws XA40 some. The Canon produces a good image. I absolutely hate the menu and how you access it. I don't want to touch my screen unless I have to and the Canon's menu is very much touch driven. Plus I just don't feel like there are nearly the same number of options to setup and customize the Canon. People like to complain about the Sony menu system, but to me it makes perfect sense and the ability to have 6 custom buttons is great. The image is awesome and the new auto focus is much improved from the X70, and blows the Canon out of the water. The high frame rate is great. 120fps is awesome quality, once you go above that the quality drops off but is still usable at 240 if you have a lot of light. The 480 and 960 wouldn't be usable for video production but it still has it's uses and is pretty fun to mess with. I love the way it buffers video in those modes so that you can actually press the record button after the action and it will record the previous number of seconds. That's an awesome feature. I love that they added a traditional LANC port to control the camera instead of using their multiport. There are things I don't like about the NX80. I wish the Manual Focus/Auto focus switch was in a different location and more pronounced. I wish the LANC port offered all the functions that you get on the canon. I can turn the camera on/off, start/stop recording, Zoom and adjust focus, but I can't control the Iris through the LANC. I also wish the focus wasn't fly by wire, it can be difficult to get your focus and the more you zoom out, the farther you have to throw the focus ring. Outside of those issues, I think it's a fantastic camera with a great form factor. I'm bias though, I'm a Sony guy through and through. I've owned a lot of their equipment and feel like dollar for dollar I get more features and options than you do with other Companies.
I am going to go with what Skywalker said. I was a Canon guy for many years. I ran Canon DSLRs and various Canon video cameras, including the XA20 for many of those. The Canon lineup is good. It is solid and proven. BUT ... the current Sony offerings just trump the Canon lineup in most every way when it comes to performance. Personally, I'm a Sony mirrorless guy, but I've played with a few of their video cameras. I've also heard the menu complaints that Skywalker references, and I don't see it. I personally like the Sony menu system. It makes sense to me and is easy to navigate. Another argument that you will hear is that Canon has better color science than Sony. This is true if you are looking for true to life colors straight out of the camera. But in a world where most of us color grade in post for a certain "look", the Sony's allow you to shoot in some very flat color profiles with huge dynamic range that allows you to get very creative in post. And for those times that you want true to life colors out of the camera directly, I'd argue that unless you set the Canon footage next to the Sony footage, the vast majority will never see anything to complain about. I'd go with the larger sensor, the 4K, and the different recording options. For a long time I bucked the 4K trend too. Then I shot in 4K and watched the image direct off of the card on a 4K monitor and was blown away. I edit in 1080 and I will take a 4K image scaled down to 1080 timeline over a 1080 image in a 1080 timeline any day. Not to mention how creative you can get using post processing zooms or panning by using the larger 4K scale in a 1080 scaled timeline. There is just so much more you can do with the images. The downside is obvious ... file size and editing machine horsepower requirements. But even if you don't have the horsepower and storage is an issue, you can always just record into 1080 and have that 4K ability when you are ready. Right now, I'd look at Sony gear.
I don't think I'd ever run a camera that wasn't 4k again. There are too many scenarios when self filming when you can't frame everything right, zoom right, etc........and the ability to clean that up during editing with 4k can really help you come up with a much better final product. Just my thoughts but not a chance I'd go back to 1080 after having 4k now for a couple seasons.
I bought the canon xa11. However I’m not an expert at filming. I simply put it on auto and let the camera control everything. Plus I like being able to record at night. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
And, it sounds very likely that Sony will be launching 8K with their next A7 models. Not that we need 8k, or even close, but 1080 puts you two generations behind technology wise.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the XA11, it's a very nice camera. Just a suggestion, run it in Manual mode. Set your shutter speed to twice your frame rate. Example, if you film in 24fps, shutter speed should be 48 or 50. Shooting in 30fps, then set it to 60. 60fps, set it to 120. Then let the camera run in auto iris and gain. You can run Auto focus, but you will have mixed results, depending on where and how you are filming. And if getting your footage in focus isn't a big issue, then use auto focus. There is a better way though. If you film in manual focus, zoom in to the furthest point you expect to be filming, then find your sharp focus at that point, then zoom back out wide. As long as you don't fully zoom in to something closer than that spot, your image will all be in focus. That's a very basic way to get fairly professional looking footage, even if you are a novice.
Thanks for the info but setting it to auto is too easy. I’m just filming memories of hunting with my son. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
