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February 22, 2021
Posted December 6, 2020

First Look at Sony’s FX6: Affordable, Portable, Professional

author
Cristina Clapp
Content Director
NAB Amplify

This session originally aired Thursday, December 10 at 1 p.m. ET.

FX6 Overview from Sony

Set for a December release, Sony’s FX6 is the third camera in the Sony Cinema Line, following the FX9 and VENICE cameras. The new camera falls between the company’s a7S III still/video camera and the FX9 in size, cost and functionality, though it is priced closer to the a7S III. It sports features from both.

The FX6 body design is lighter and more compact than the FX9: the body dimensions are 4.49 x 4.57 x 6.02″ (114 x 116 x 153 mm) and it weighs in around 1 lb. 15 oz. or 890 g. Even at this more portable size, Sony has packed in a lot of features and functionality.

The 4K, 10.2 effective megapixel, full-frame, back-illuminated, Exmor R CMOS sensor gives the FX6 an expanded ISO range up to 409600 and a dynamic range of 15+ stops, which matches the FX9. 

The S-Cinetone profile, which is based on images from Sony’s VENICE camera and debuted in the FX9, produces a filmic color and pleasing skin tones right out of the camera without additional color grading. For more flexibility in post, setting the gamma to S-Log3 and the color space to S-Gamut3.Cine gives the filmmaker more creative control.

While Sony does not say the FX6 has Dual Base ISO, with a native ISO 800 and a high sensitivity of ISO 12800, it builds on the low light capabilities of the FX9, which has a high end of ISO 4000.

Doug from B&H reviews the FX9.

One feature seemingly universally desired by shooters is the FX6’s variable ND filter, which reduces light from 2 to 7 stops. Switched to the auto ND, the camera can handle a wide range of lighting, like moving from indoor to outdoor or vice versa, and since the aperture is not adjusted, depth of field is not changed. Auto ND will be a go to setting for news or documentary camerapeople, which will make following subjects around that much easier.

How to adjust slow and quick (S&Q) mode up to 240fps.

Also useful for a run-and-gun shoot, is the camera’s autofocus features. 627 phase detection points — 89% of the sensor — facilitate face and eye AF, both of which are available when shooting at high frame rates.  Like the FX9, autofocus is customizable with seven transition speeds and five speeds of responsiveness and is compatible with more than 50 of Sony’s E-mount lenses.

Since the FX6 uses the E-mount, filmmakers can choose from a wide array of lenses from both the company’s still and cinema camera lines, to fit their creative and production needs.

Potato Jet (Gene Nagata) says that there are “not too many compromises.”

The FX6 includes dual card slots, a feature borrowed from a7S III. Both slots can take CFexpress Type A cards, for faster read/write speeds and higher capacity, or SDXC UHS-II/UHS-I cards.  CFexpress A cards must be used if shooting at high frame rates.

Menus are accessible via the 3.5” LCD screen (1280×720), including a quick access control menu for frequently used features.  The screen can be mounted from three points on the top handle and two on the camera’s body. The screen, top handle and smart grip are configurable to accommodate a shooter’s needs. The top handle also includes a mic holder, two XLR inputs and a digital Multi Interface Shoe, which works with many existing pro accessories.

Philip Bloom’s review of the FX6 is “the hardest camera review [he has] ever made.”.

Though there are only two physical audio control dials on the body and two XLRs via the top handle, the FX6 can record four channels of audio. In addition to the two XLRs, the Multi Interface Shoe allows the option of adding two additional XLRs or a wireless receiver.  Alternately, input can come from the handle XLRs plus two channels from the onboard stereo microphone.  All four channels of audio can be controlled via the touch screen interface.

The FX6 is aimed at the mobile filmmaker, but can also double as a studio camera with all the pro connectivity one expects from a professional level camera, including SDI output with a selectable range of 12G-SDI, 6G-SDI, 3G-SDI, which can can output a 16 bit RAW via SDI to an external recorder. Also included are an HDMI output, time code in and out for syncing and built in wi-fi for streaming or sharing clips.

This newest entry to the Sony Cinema Line will be available in December, priced at approximately U.S. $5,999.99, body only.

A kit with the FX6 body and the FE 24-105mm F4 G E-mount lens is also set to be available in December, priced at approximately U.S. $7,199.99.

Also available in December is the FE C 16-35mm T3.1 G lens, selling for approximately U.S. $5,499.99.

FE C 16–35 mm T3.1 G Cinema Lens Series full-frame wide-angle zoom.
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