Sony FX30 Dynamic Range and Low Light Exceed Expectations Professional Budget Camera Recommended

Professional Budget Camera Recommended Sony FX30 Dynamic Range and Low Light Exceed Expectations

If you have the following two requirements, consider reading this article:

1. Shooting distant objects

2. Possibly taking some photos (but there is no mechanical shutter)

If neither applies to you, it is more practical to invest directly in the FX3.

In this article, we will focus on:

Sony FX30 in S-Log3 & S-Cinetone: Dual Native ISO Dynamic Range and Low Light Performance

Sony FX30 超便宜攝影機推薦

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Dynamic Range

The FX30’s dynamic range is quite impressive. The difference between the two native ISOs isn’t significant (the FX30 has dual native ISO!). It handles overexposure by 3-4 stops and underexposure by 2-3 stops, which confirms why it is recommended to overexpose when shooting in S-Log3.

FX30 過度曝光3檔光 Slog3

FX30 過度曝光3檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3

FX30 過度曝光4檔光 Slog3

高光炸掉 FX30 過度曝光4檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3

高光炸掉 FX30 過度曝光4檔光 後製復原曝光 Zoom in Slog3

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in Slog3

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 Slog3

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in Slog3

FX30 過度曝光3檔光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 過度曝光3檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 過度曝光4檔光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 過度曝光4檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 過度曝光4檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 後製復原曝光 Slog3 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 S-Log3 vs. S-Cinetone

Testing S-Cinetone's dynamic range showed it wasn’t great. There is little room for adjustment in post-production; what you see is what you get, similar to applying a beautiful color filter from Sony!

So, choose S-Log3 if you want to adjust colors in post-production. If you prefer to edit and upload directly without touching the colors, choose S-Cinetone. Even for minor adjustments, I would recommend shooting in S-Log3.

FX30 過度曝光1檔光 S-cinetone 原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 後製復原曝光 S-cinetone 原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in S-cinetone 原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足4檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in S-cinetone 原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足2檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in S-cinetone 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足3檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in S-cinetone 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 曝光不足4檔光 後製復原曝光 zoom in S-cinetone 第二檔原生ISO

FX30 Low Light Performance

Despite having an APS-C (Super 35) size sensor, which stereotypically isn’t great in low light, the results surprised me. In S-Log3, noise is more preserved, and with post-production noise reduction, ISO 8000 is acceptable. Being more conservative, you can keep it below ISO 6400.

In S-Cinetone, because of the built-in noise reduction (which cannot be turned off!!), even at high ISOs, the image is clean. However, the higher the ISO, the more details are smoothed out. If you value image detail, I would also recommend keeping it below ISO 6400.

FX30 低光表現 iso 4000

FX30 低光表現 iso 8000

FX30 低光表現 iso 8000 zoom in

FX30 低光表現 iso 6400

FX30 低光表現 iso 12800

FX30 低光表現 iso 12800 zoom in

FX30 低光表現 iso 25600 zoom in

FX30 低光表現 iso 6400 zoom in

Native ISO Comparison

The dynamic range doesn’t change much between the two native ISOs of the FX30. The second native ISO has about 1/2 stop less dynamic range. Choose based on your needs, but note that the noise color in the shadows is different. I recommend using the same native ISO in the same shooting environment to avoid driving yourself crazy during color grading!

FX30 原生ISO 暗部比較 zoom in

FX30 原生ISO 高光比較 zoom in

Additional Special Features

I'll let you check out the rest yourself! The video is below:

Watch the video here