Well, that was quick. Right after yesterday's surprising
announcement, Sony flew its yet-to-be-released NEX-VG10 camcorder into London just in time for today's showcase event. Naturally, we had to get our hands on this shiny baby, and boy we were impressed. In case you missed the news, this snazzy device is the world's first consumer HandyCam with interchangeable lens, meaning you can share E-mount lenses with your young
NEX DSLRs, or take advantage of the abundant A-mount lenses with the help of an adapter (which will cost you extra, mind you). Likewise, there are also hot and cold shoe mounts on the mic shaft to cater your current camera accessories. Read on for our thoughts on the rest of the camcorder -- we've put together a little sample clip for you at the end as well.
There isn't much to complain about with this $2,000 (and, sadly, possibly £2,000 for the Brits) piece of kit in terms of appearance and ergonomics. We like being able to hold it by either the seemingly solid body (using the strap) or the mic shaft, and both ways provided comfortable grip without much fatigue due to the light weight (even with the bundled lens). We were also able to quickly master the jog-dial control next to the 3-inch screen, but for this price, we expected a touchscreen interface as well to make life easier. As for the bundled F3.5-6.3 18-200mm lens, we found that zooming required a bit more effort than we liked, so thankfully there's auto focus mode -- just like any ordinary camcorder -- to save us from further wrist work with the focus ring. We must also point out that unlike the
Olympus PEN, this Sony camcorder didn't pick up any mechanical noise from its lens auto focussing; otherwise, this kit totally wouldn't deserve such price tag.
Of course, what we really care about is the picture and sound quality. All is revealed in our sample reel below (remember to enable HD playback mode), but in brief: stunningly accurate colors, sharp 1080/60i picture, and impressive audio sensitivity (notice how the mic was able to pick up conversations from afar; you can also enable just the front mics to minimise background noise). You may notice some shakiness while we were adjusting the lens -- we'll blame it on our lack of practice from the little hands-on time we had. Regardless, the NEX-VG10 certainly lived up to our expectation, and we look forward to hear what the filming hobbyists think of this prosumer-level camcorder when it comes out in September.
Update: commenter aim120 dropped us a link to Sony's own sample clip. Enjoy!
posted July 15th 2010 8:34PM
That's a sweet camera. Would love to have one these bad boys. Like the slim kinda rounded design. Very crystal clear even though I don't have my PC hook up to HDMI to see it's full vision.
I'm not sure what to look for in the sample video that demonstrates this camcorder's strengths against other consumer camcorders. The video looked sort of flat just like a regular consumer camera would produce.
I didn't see much separation of the subject from the background with a shallow depth of field. I would have thought it would have been easy to have that effect in that indoor room with relatively low light, which would have made the camera use the largest aperture possible.
@LloydChiro Telling from the general z-space focusing, the lens was quite closed.
Some things that show "quality":
-pretty good color separation; especially with regard to warm/cool relations
-high-dynamic range in mid~low lighting, which can be seen in shots where the spotlights/windows aren't too blown out, yet there is still solid form and color rendering in the darker parts
There are some beautiful shots in the video, but they can more easily be realized by pausing and admiring individual frames. ...Cuz the cameraman is just flying around everywhere and not really letting the camera do its thing.
@peepeeland
Thanks. I don't have the experienced eyes to appreciate the color separation and the dynamic range. I guess I would have to see a side by side comparison to appreciate it better.
I'm looking forward to seeing what this camera can do.
WOW the low light indoor performance is excellent, based on the sample clip. $2000 is hella deal.
Even though it has the main feature I wanted (interchangeable lens) it's far too crippled for what I do. So with that I'll keep my HXR-NX5. Oh if AVC codec was so horrible and crappy bitrate it wouldnt be an official codec for blurays. But if you still feel like you absolutly need a higher mbs/s count, the find a used Sony Ex1 it runs 35mbs/s.
I was so excited when the press release of this camcorder came out but now that i've seen this terrible sample video, i am no longer interested.
I stopped reading at 60i. Bummer.
@lakersin2025
same here. I can't believe they don't offer anything else.
There's a lot to love and a lot to scratch your head about this camcorder. But I think the key here is that Sony is touting this as a consumer camcorder. Put me in the column waiting for a prosumer version with multiple framerates, higher bitrate, scopes, XLR, heck, maybe they'll even throw in a zoom rocker on the camera body to let you use the included 11x optical zoom lens.
sadly, I don't think any amount of pixels, frame rate, interlace/progressive, codec type, interchangeable/fixed lens, sensor size, etc. can solve a bad camera operator. if i was a Sony exec i would try to get this clip removed from the internet.
Preordered, and counting down the days. User Group with ongoing coverage, video samples and discussion is here:
http://www.nexvg10.info
At first glance it looked interesting. Then I read the specs. Meh. My Canon 7D is smaller, cheaper. Can shoot awesome pictures and supports more video modes than this guy including 1080p 30 and 24. Has manual controls for every freaking thing.
Who is the target market for this camera?
@portlander The 7D Even has no Autofocus !!! .. the only one camera with changable Lenses and AF is the Panasonic Lumix GH1 ... shame on Canon!
@portlander I think this Sony is made for the consumer who wants to change lenses but is kinda intimidated by cameras like the 7d/5d. It's great that we're seeing cameras like this so fast. Now I'm excited to see what Canon comes out with next.
If you think that the 7D was done with a bit more purpose (speaking video) then the 5D the next camera is going to be amazing.
If you are budget indie film maker, buy a DSLR like 550D.
But if you also do some few hundreds event/documentary shooting job in front of a client - this one probably for you boz:
A. Client disapprove DSLR as camcorder even thought they are overkill for those type work --- yes, it is about the "look" and "size" of the camcorder
B. battery life/control/focusing/zooming/ergonomic issue > DSLR
@qbgabe12 Word to the wise,....typically,....they rent equipment.It's even cheaper.The one thing you Spielberg types with DSLRs forget,...control.W/O dollies,steadycams and focus and zoom levers,...it looks like Blair Witch.....
If it's worth shooting,..it's worth doing right.
Inland Empire proves that even crappy DV could be engaging if you can hold it still for most of the time.
Alot of that extra stuff,individually costs more than even a 7D or 5D.
Which is why they rent.....so what's an extra few bucks to get a RED on loan....or something else.
Just sayin'
@CpuYoda
this is true :)
I usually rent Z1 for the type of shooting job i mention (or pd-150/170), it cost me 40-60$ usd per rent. It's just from my experience 1k~ consumer cam already has the quality satisfy those need, client felt insecure from the look of it.
I didn't see anything in that footage that made this camera look or feel any different from your average flat and boring camcorder... Let's see more of the qualities you get when shooting on a DSLR please.
Gez,....everything,..even my D90 does 24 fps progressive.
Whatta waste......thought surely it would.
Who needs a video camera that shoots shallow DOF shots in video frame rates?
D3100 even does it.
http://nikonrumors.com/2010/07/15/meet-the-new-nikon-d3100.aspx
"# 10 MP CMOS sensor
# HD video: 1080p/24 and 720p 30/24
# AVCHD video codec
# In camera video editing capabilities"
Well the video quality is quite good here is a test sample direct from sony. http://vimeo.com/13344064
To bad the DSLR have more rolling shutter and moire
Just me but isn't there a noticable rolling shutter syndrome on that video?! Not to mention some strange gitches here and there?
OMG what a bad Image Stabilisation... i think my EOS 500D Makes better vids.. and the Sound.. i espectet more... i think the cheaper way would be a 550D with external Microfon...
But.. they dosnt have Autofocus with Video....
The next best choice would be the Panasonic Lumix GH1 !... and... he is cheaper! :)
Get ready for the flood of cameras like this by fall. Canon, its your move.
Consider me sold at the fact that it's 2,000 dollars. Been looking for a nice camera for a long term (5 year) video project, and I think this should hold up just fine. :)
I'll be needing some of that sharp 100GB discs to go with this camcorder for storage :P
What I want to know is if the depth of field in the Sony clip is the actual camera's depth of field, of was it done using editing.
I've heard that's a problem with cameras using video instead of film.
UPDATE:
Here are all the collected video samples, Web references/links and user discussions: http://www.nexvg10.info
Most of the content there is mirrored for "following" on:
Facebook (click the "Like" button) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sony-NEX-VG10-User-Group/114515275263906
Twitter (click the "Follow" button) - http://twitter.com/nexvg10