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Framerate and resolution vary from project to project. It all depends on what I'm shooting, and if I'm sent a set of specifications from another company that I'm subcontracting with. I use a picture profile that I dialed in myself to get as close to Cinetone as I can, referencing color charts.

I'm pretty sure that was at 40x, 1080 with clear image zoom.

Sigma 24-70 at f2.8.

Yes I have a few low light comparison videos with this camera on this channel.

@ lol, right after I commented, I saw your other tests. Pretty good comparison in the static tests. A little bit more noise early on with the z200. To be expected though… overall have you used in a low light stage or event type scenario yet? Are you happy with its capabilities? Unfortunately non of the suppliers near me have any in stock to get a hands on.

@@toddlaitar Well, as long as you understand its strengths (zoom range, variable auto ND, lots of streaming and output options) and its weaknesses (low light, as least compared to full frame Sony FX6's and A series, and not a lot of bokeh), if it's the tool you need for the job, then it's the tool you need. I have used it on a few weddings too, and inside a dark reception hall it's not very good. Haven't used on a conference presentation yet, but that will come soon enough.

@ Good to know. I wish I could test it out. I miss this style of camera, started out back in the day with a Z1U, then broadcast cameras. I went to DSLR for the past 12 years and have hated it the entire time. Just isn’t the same, so I was excited to see the resurgence at a reasonable price. Unfortunately can’t afford the FX6. Thanks for answering my questions.

I would if I had a Z280 or if I knew someone locally with one.

is 1400 hours a lot for a used video camera?

@@TodaysWildWest I'd say it depends on how it was used. If it sat on a tripod in a church for 1400 hours, then I wouldn't have much issue buying it. If it were used on hunting and fishing TV shows and subjected to rain, snow, dirt, mud, dust storms, and thrown around ATV's, then it would have be really really cheap for me to buy it.

Thanks ! I have no idea how it was used.

When cameras are on a tripod, I turn all stabilization OFF. If stabilization is turned on, you'll see the image shift around a bit when you don't want it to because the camera is compensating for the panning and tilting you're doing. Of course that means no stabilization in post either. So what you see in this video is how good the SCG head is. Very smooth.

@@evomedia8611 ah, thought that was the case. Im just getting back into filming making after 15 years, pre image stabalising. Dug out the old Vinten tripod. Higher resolution showed up lots of micro jitters or more likely poor technique. Think you've narrowed down the problem; me or a new head! Thanks, most helpful.

@@evomedia8611 re-watching. Zero micro tremble when the camera is stationary. You can't have let go of the tripod as you then follow the action when play starts. Camera seems nice but so's the filming. I learned something.

@@TobermoryCat There shouldn't be any micro tremble at all unless the crowd is really jumping and shaking the place, which does happen from time to time. I don't think I ever let go of the pan handle as a play is developing. Once they break the huddle and start to line up I'm on it, because I don't know when the play is going to start. And with proper counter balancing I'm not fighting the head. I don't know if your head has counterbalance, but if it doesn't, that is crucial for shoots like this. Here's a great video about counterbalancing th-cam.com/video/75gbzjLohuQ/w-d-xo.html . I never look at these games as "just high school sports" I look at it like it's my job to make it as close to ESPN as possible. Partially because this is my resume for trying to get those ESPN gigs.

@@evomedia8611 you just cost me £500 for the new head. The Sony camera is ok, a modest tool due to its small sensor but good enough however I struggle with the head. No counterbalance ( didn't know it was a thing). I looked at the footage and kept seeing your camera work. I could not possibly do what you did using my current rig, a professional 20 year old vinten tripod head. Anyway, I'll stop waffling. Much appreciate the demo. Super.

I always use dB whenever possible. Why? Because no one can possibly keep track of the base ISO of every camera in every color profile. But base dB is always 0. I have a similar video with the FX6 in low base mode. These tests aren't necessarily designed to be scientific, they are designed to be practical as it pertains to real world use.

@@evomedia8611 - I come from the ENG camera world of gain too. Using gain is perfectly fine! Every +6db of gain will give you 1 stop. If you take a 400 ISO base 0db and add +6db, you get 800 ISO. +6 db more will give you 1600 ISO...etc Everbody that watches this NEEDS to know that 0db on one camera can be radically different then 0db on a different camera. Camera #1 can can have a 400 ISO 0db base. Camera #2 can literally have a 4,000 ISO 0db base! (Sony IMX272 sensor vs IMX410 sensor) This is why only comparing 0db on two different cameras is pretty worthless.

@@CLIFFLIX I think most people watching this video understand that very rarely are you going to find 2 different camera models with the same lux at the same ISO or dB level. That's why I switched the FX6 back to 0 dB while I cranked up the Z200, to see how they compare to one another, to see where about the Z200 can match the FX6's gain, and to see how far one can push the Z200 until noise becomes too much. +18 is about where it matches the FX6 High Base gain mode, and that's about where I'd say noise becomes too noticeable for a proper shoot.

This is a substantial upgrade from the Canon XA series. If you're doing real projects getting paid real money, then you should look at upgrading from the XA.

I'm unaware of any second base gain setting in this camera. It'd be great if it had one! That's probably the only thing missing from my wish list. I have a CX350 as well, and it's a good camera, but the Z200 is better in almost every way.

SCG T8 Head on Small Rig carbon fiber tripod.

Yeah the color profiles are set a bit differently in these menus than in the Alpha series. PP11 on FX3 is set to Cinetone by default, so that's what I usually go with when I'm going for a straight-out-of-camera look with minimal correction in the edit. In the Z200 you can choose color profiles a couple different ways; If you tap the Menu button it brings up a quick menu, just like in the FX6. The first page of that gives you the option for "Scene File" and that's where you can switch profiles. Some broadcast companies specify ITU709 profile because that's what they've been working with for years so their color shaders are used to working with that. You can also hold down the menu button for a couple seconds and it will bring up the full menu, which is similar to the menus in the FS7 and FS5, and the FX6 full menue. In the full menu you scroll down to Paint/Look, then Scene File, then hit Cinetone. If you're trying to match to a different profile in the FX3, well then you're going to have to bust out a color chart, a switcher, and run them side by side onto the same calibrated monitor and adjust the color matrix to match whichever one you're making the control color to match the other one to. Fortunately there is a full multi matrix on the Z200 where you can adjust each shade of each color to match on a color chart.

Ah. No wonder I couldn’t find Picture Profiles… they’re not there. Thank you for taking the time to help. We’ve got a SongwritersTX production tonight. With info you provided, we’ll be able to swap out center cam (FX3 w/2x on a 70-200mm) for z200 which should give us a ton more zoom & ease of use. Thanks again.

@@BilliesLive I'd make sure there's plenty of stage lighting. +18 dB is about the max gain before noise becomes too much for proper shoots. I don't know what the equivalent is in ISO.

So far I've just used Cinetone on this camera. I've had no reason to mess with the colors. It looks great right out of camera.

Noise reduction was on and set to mid on both cameras. I don't notice any odd ghosting artifacts in that setting, but I do when NR is set to high. +18 should be clean enough for most gigs.

@@evomedia8611 yeah..I like this camera and it replaces an old HD only Canon XF300 with small sensors and I would never go over 9db gain with that camera, but I'm a bit shocked that this z200 needs a lot of gain to get a good image indoors...hmm..I know the lens ramps from f2.8 to 4.5 quickly...+18db is the most I would try...I always bring a COB light to conferences etc...I will never do 60p 120 shutter indoors! But I guess for conferences I will try 30p 30fps if needed...I will keep my noise reduction to mid at the most.

Just with this camera, or in general? In general, with any camera, you usually want to figure out a max gain or ISO you can use before noise becomes a problem. 0 dB or the base native ISO is usually the best, as that's the standard that the camera was designed around. You want whatever lighting you need to accomplish this. That's easy if you're in a proper studio or somewhere where you have the time and resources to properly set up the scene before filming. It's hard when you're doing news or documentary run and gun, where you have no time to set up and you just need to get the shot as whatever is unfolding that you need to film. With this particular camera, +18 dB is where noise starts to become unacceptable for proper work, but for news it doesn't matter because getting the shot is more important than the noise.

You can run the SDI and HDMI out at the same time, so in that configuration I usually do my monitor as HDMI and the send to the broadcast as SDI, especially if it's a long run. I don't really have any recommendations for a monitor that can input and output both. I have a few Kastar BPU 60 batteries, and those are alright on my FX6's. They send false time remaining info to the camera, and they do not last 300 minutes as it shows when you first power up the camera with a full charge. I've been run Cinetone as my standard straight-out-of-camera look with the FX's ever since I got them, and the only minor change I've ever had to make is raising the black gamma by like +2 on the FX3. Other than that I see no reason to dink around with the color matrix.

@@evomedia8611​​⁠yeah. I usually send SDI to the AV company and use the HDMI for my feelworld monitor but a few AV companies i do work for dont use SDI but HDMI instead which means i would use the SDI for monitor -hence my original question about a new monitor with both HDMI and SDI or I could use a blackmagic convertor from SDI to HDMI but that would add one more item to the setup. Batteries right. So many brands. May just wait and get a BP-U70 or a100!! Massive block

I have a CX350 as well (soon to be "had"), and that camera is pretty good. Most of the shots on my Football Highlights 2022 video were done on that camera. I never had to mess with the colors on it to get a good shot. But the Z200 is just better all around.

@@evomedia8611 Thanks. I will try to rent a Z200 before the football season is over to test it out. Looks like a winner.

Good to hear it looks good on a screen that size. I stayed away from the Z190 as I heard and saw how it struggles in low light.

The color menu is extensive so you should be able to get any type of look or accuracy you want with some tweaking.

do you find the image to be sharper in this camera than the xf605 or what are your thoughts there?

Thanks for your comment. I find the XF605 compared to the Z200 side-by-side to have more red channel.

@@asafblasbergvideographer how about in terms of clarity? am I wrong in saying the z200 seems a bit sharper?

@@ryanwalsh_golf no you’re actually very correct. It’s definitely sharper than the Canon.

Clear image was on the whole time, so that shot of the 2 fans across on the other side that was all the way zoomed in. Other than that I was not all paying any attention to when the zooming was at the end of the optical range and when the Clear Image punch in was engaging.

Not sure what to tell ya. I'm assuming you had everything set up properly on the camera (ND off, shutter at double frame rate, iris/aperture wide open). I always prefer using dB instead of ISO because, quick, what's the base ISO of every camera in every color profile? No one knows, because it's different in every camera, and even different within the same camera using different color profiles. Quick, what's the base dB gain of every camera? 0 dB. Every time.

​@evomedia8611 thanks for replying back. I do photography for a living and just getting into the videos side. And when the nx800 showed up it was set on DB. I am so used to ISO i switched it over to that. And when i take photos it us always set at ISO 100. But yeah those stadium lights are so dim i would have never seen the players on DB 0. Lol. But another guy that has the camera said to keeo it on DB and learn its values lime i did with ISO. But the focusing worked phenomenal during the game. All my other times using the nx800 worked great too. Tested out the auto framing feature at a wedding during the first dance and it tracked them great while I was off taking photos. Just that soccer game had terrible lighting

Yeah probably. I'll be using it on some volleyball and basketball later this year.

I also own a Panasonic CX350 and Sony X70. With this particular company I was subbing for that day they have a few different lower end or older cameras that we usually use, including the Panasonic X1500, Canon XF305, and an X70. I would never recommend the X1500 for anything. It's basically an expensive paperweight. It turns into a fuzzy chroma-block mess the moment the sun dips below the horizon. X70 is pretty good for this sort of thing, XF305 is decent but really showing its age and gets noisy pretty quickly. CX350 destroys all these, as expected, and the Z200 is even better than the CX350. Most of the clips in my Football Highlights 2022 video were done the CX350, and you can probably tell right away which ones were from an X1500.

Thanks. I decided to replace my trusted but oldie Canon XF300 with this Somy z200. I just went and bought it and did my first paid gig with it. A small conference. I was a bit worried about using gain values of +18db but then i decided to use ISO values instead-to match my XF30. I used ISO 2500 mostly and kept the fstop at 4.5. Worked great in 4k 30p in SCinetone. I will compare the footage against my FX30. Looks good but i have to check on my 4k monitor. Hey. About batteries. I got 2 BP-U35 but I want a larger capacity like the BP-U 70 ( the 100 is just gigantic!). But...i want to save some money. What are u using? I hear good things about the Shape brand or the Swit. I will test the camera some more on the weekend. Thanks

Another poster here commented about having a 605,

I don't think I said anything about audio in this clip. But since I'm a soundman at heart, I'll say that I really like the audio features of the Z200. They aren't that much different from most other cameras, but the built-in mic sounds a lot better than most camera's mics, and I can use my FX3 XLR handle with the Z200's hot shoe and the camera recognizes it as 2 more XLR inputs.

@@evomedia8611 ok. Well you kept mentioning db throughout. That’s audio.

@@OutdoorOath Oh I see what you mean, dB is also a reference to image brightness gain on these camcorder type cameras, rather than ISO on the stills photography type cameras.

@@evomedia8611wow. I have a FX30 and also this z200 and they match well in SCinetone. Your audio hack is interesting. So by using the XLR handle you can connect 2 more XLR sources. I only use 2 mainly but interesting

Yeah that's through Sony's MI active hot shoe, which there are a few different things you can slide on and it will automatically recognize it as audio inputs.

That only applies to S Log 3. This video was shot using S-Cinetone which has base ISOs of 320 and 5000.

Compress the file enough in the edit and it all smooths out, even 36db :)