I have been a Sony a7sIII (same as FX3) user for 3 years already. I started working at a local TV station one month ago, and they use the Canon XF205. It’s brutally worse compared to my a7sIII, but I understand all the benefits: variable ND, SDI output, the big zoom range, and controlling XLR input levels with a physical button instead of going through menus like on my a7sIII. All these features are essential for broadcast services or documentary short films, like the one you’ve made here, without the need to change lenses and waste so much time. Honestly, I like it because I’m a bit tired of configuring different rigs for different situations with my a7sIII, and I’m really enjoying my new job. From what I’ve seen, this Z200 is exactly the type of camera I’d like to use. It’s a fully functional camcorder with all the features you need, while still delivering great quality, color science, 4K up to 120fps, and even matching the colors of the a7sIII/FX3/FX6 in some cases. I hope that one day we’ll replace our 3-4 Canon XF205s with this Sony. By the way, thanks for the great work and review. I couldn’t find anyone else showing how the S-Log3 works, how the 4K 120fps looks, how cinematic it feels, or how the high base ISO performs. Great work, brother!
That's awesome! Yeah, the benefits of a camcorder really stand out when you get a chance to use them first hand. They didn't fully hit me until this Chicago shoot. That's cool you get to use the Canons at the station. I think using different cams based on our needs for the kind of shoot we're doing make us stronger creatives at the end of the day. I hear you on the configuring rigs! A lot of extra cash goes into all those other accessories too. I have old cages and other stuff laying around my studio from other Mirrorless cams... Very much enjoyed just picking the Z200 up and being able to shoot without having to perfect a rig or deciding on which lens to put on. Being able to match this footage to the FX3 BTS shots in this vid made me soooooo happy. Hoping you guys can get the Sonys one day too! Appreciate that so much! Cheers man!!
Loved your video and the footage. I've had my Z200 for about 2 weeks and love it. I also bought Doug Jensen's tutorial, which I can recommend to everyone. The noise reduction seems to use AI, and I have no complaints with it crancked up to +4. I wouldn't do that with any other camera! The zoom and the variable ND are winners for me. The CFexpress Type A card was painful as was the A100 battery, but now I am all set and no need to buy anything else. Trivial things that I love on the Z200, which my out going Canon XF605 doesn't have include simultaneously active Zoom Ring AND Power Zoom Rocker (Hurrah!) and being able to view the LCD from the side. For mirrorless, I shoot Fuji X-H2S, by the way. Oh, and you got a new Subscriber!
Thank you for watching and subscribing to the channel! Glad you got one too! I'm really going to have to dive in to Doug’s tutorial soon. Agreed on the noise reduction: I don't think I've used that internally on a cam before, but it was definitely on when filming in Chicago for all of this. It was nice not to have to add it in editing. Agreed with zoom and NDs-those are 2 big things my mirrorless cams don’t have. I've always liked the colors coming from Fuji cameras, but haven't personally tried them.
Thank you man! I kind of missed out on filming with them when I was younger so that's why I got so hyped at the skate park-just so much fun! I'm with ya. If it did, this would have potential to be my main cam. But it's definitely worthy of coming out on set for client projects.
@@thefilmconnector Everyone wants a bigger sensor, but you don't get 20x optical with full frame. It doesn't even happen with s35. If you need a tool like this, there's no large sensor camera that can replicate what it does.
great video! But you got the magic touch man! I got this camcorder to use along a couple of Sony FX30s-I don't have a lot of money to invest but for live events etc this camcorder is pretty good. Not perfect but really good. The 1" sensor and the slow lens (f4.5) is not great but totally usable. It won't compete against the FX6 or even the FX30 with a f1.4 lens but it doesn't have to compete. It's a tool for some jobs. I try not to go over gain +14db....still a lot but usable. I hope Sony keeps improving it. Doug Jensen's online course is great! I will keep this camera for as long as it works for me. With some adjustments to pic profile etc it can give great footage. You got a lot of out of it!
Thank you! That's cool you're using it with FX30s! I've been tempted to get one of those as a b-cam to the FX3. I'm excited to use the Z200 on the next live event-it'll even be fun for a corporate speaking gig. You're definitely right about the lens and not having to compete. Good to know on the +14db. I'm hoping Sony does too and the course is on my to-do list. Appreciate you watching and best of luck shooting more with the camera!
Great review and demo on the Z200, I purchased the NX800, Great camera so far, typical cloudy flat fogy days are holding me back for further testing but it will soon be spring 😉 As mentioned before about Doug Jensen, he has put a fantastic 7 hour course online and I highly recommend it to you and others that read this. The Sony online manual is poor and can be very difficult to understand, especially if you have not used a FX6 etc. Enjoy and hopefully we all will see some more great content soon. "New Sub"
Excellent footage! Hard to believe you got that out of a camcorder. I use the Sony HDR-CX405 HandyCam on occasion and I’m always impressed by the 1080p image quality, stabilization and zoom range. Sony is the Camcorder GOAT!
I've seen lots of review videos for this camera and this is probably in the top 2 or 3 as far as image quality. This will probably be my next camera purchase, both to freelance with as well as being a b-camera for my day job.
@@thefilmconnector if you really want to learn to wring it out, I'd suggest getting Doug Jensen's master class videos. The introduction alone is an exhaustive overview of just what this little rig is capable of doing.
Looks great. I've been using 1" sensor camcorders (Canon XA50 recently) to shoot indie fiction features and they work well for that purpose. Looking forward to trying this cam out.
@@thefilmconnector great. I shot Cosmic Disco Detective Rene on an XA50 - it played theatrically in Chicago, NYC. I shot Slow Romance on a Sony MC88 - played in NYC theatrically. Then back in the day - 2017 or so, shot Werewolf Ninja Philosopher on a Canon XA-15, not even a 1" sensor on that one :) - smaller - and that played theatrically in NYC and Chicago. Shooting 53 Spaceships now on the XA50 or maybe on the Z200. But, Z200 will be the next cam I think - for future movies. Several of my features are on TH-cam, or better versions on Vimeo VOD.
I bought the 800. Got to say the only thing Im struggling with is the stated custom s-cinetone with the iso of 250 ( rather than the flexible iso 1600. Where does one see 250? ) Is that -3 in custom setting mode? I've watched a few videos but none seem to show navigating through the menu to set the camera up with the 250 iso. Does this mean the camera has a duel base iso of 250 and 1600 or is the 250 setting reducing the sensors sensitivity? Regardless, having fun. Thanks.
Nice! When you're in the custom mode it switches over to 250 ISO, but is labeled then as db which is new to me. I believe the db label has been a thing on camcorders for a long time. 0db = 250 ISO and than the ISO get's higher as you increase the db. I don't think the cam technically has dual iso though but not fully sure how that's working. I've just been so used to shooting in log and working with base ISO footage so it was easier for me to trust this cam to get started by shooting in that. I've picked up some good tips on this cam in the Z200 Facebook group too!
@@thefilmconnector Thanks. It's all a bit vague. I have a fuji x100v1 for stills which has a base iso of 125. I usually lock it off at base unless I need to boost the sensitivity / grain. In manual it can drop down to 65 iso. I think there's no advantage ( such as less grain) to shooting in 65 except it does drop down a few stops ( which has its uses). I've have my concerns that moving off the base iso reduces the stops of sensitivity. Regardless, enjoying the 800 as a run and gun. Not much to touch it at the price.
What a great video from a videographer just north of me (fond du lac). I primarily record live events and have been eyeing the z200. I currently use three canon XA 55 that are showing their age. I might have to rent a couple z200s. What did you think of the variable ND? Did you try the auto framing?
Appreciate that! That’s sweet you’re in Fondy! One of my upcoming vids will be a big BTS video from filming a commercial all over Fond du Lac. 🙏🏼 Renting is always a good idea to test something out. The ND was awesome. You could even switch the increments which was a bonus. It really does save time having them. No, but I will test that out soon! I'd expect that to be a sweet feature for corporate live events.
nice footage and a great review! You shot some lower light video but you didn't talk about that later in your video. I have the FX6 and A7iV. So this one will fits nice between them (will sell my sony z280 for this one probably)
Thank you so much! The low light was better than I thought it would be at 1600 ISO, but still a little bit of noise. I've seen cleaner results in other TH-cam examples when it's shot in custom mode at 250 ISO. I wanted everything in S-Log for this video though so I didn't switch. A comparison video of those two settings in the future would be cool. That's awesome you have the FX6! That has to be a ton of fun to shoot with.
It won't because we need SDI and variable nd into the body for totally diff cases + with 15/20x optical zoom on aps-c it will be really much heavier than fx3 with some basic lens like 17-70, and the camcorder itself will cost about 5-7k with these specifications and fx30 is much cheaper!
It is impressive how crisp it is for a 1" sensor! I haven't tested the audio too much, but I imagine it's killer with having the 2 xlr inputs on the side. The first day I turned it on and recorded random shots in studio, I was surprised how decent the internal mic sounded with my audio of just talking. I should run it through some real tests, though.
1" sensor footage can look fine on a movie theater screen. Specially if shot at 4K, w/ a large file for screenings. I've been making and showing 1080p and 4K fiction features shot on 1"sensor camcorders for a while now. works.
Dang. The noise is way too muddy in the shadows, and even in the midst of a properly exposed image. Like the shot of the hand with the cigar, his hand is crawling with it! I'll keep my XF605 for now. I was hopeful that Sony would give us an S-Cinetone capable camcorder, but the Z200 is a bust to me. Maybe they fix it with firmware, or the Z280 replacement has 3 chips and fixes it there.
@@billmakesmovies Actually no one sees this. On a TV streaming most of the channels are 1080p, bitrate is so bad all the noise become same dark colors instead of detailed reproduced noise 😂
@@CHTFilms No one see's this? Then how am I seeing it right now? If you're suggesting that the noise this camera creates is fine because the footage may end up on TV where it'll be compressed away, that's just plain silly. I need a camera that I can use to record footage for web delivery. I'm seeing noise in this video, right here on the web, in Sony's own promotional video, and the ProAV TV video. The noise out of this Z200 is worse than a GoPro, or a Pocket 3, or even the FX30, which I remember mentioning the noise when its promo video dropped. That was totally fine compared to this. Why would I want a camera that makes an image that looks like it's crawling with ants, even in broad daylight? Can it be that Sony just messed up, and something is horribly wrong with this Z200?
@@billmakesmovies for web delivery you will buy full frame mirrorless for the budget of this cropped 1 inch camcorder. You are right, I am disappointed too but maybe they will fix it in future with firmware updates, or the sample footage is recorded in low bitrate... I don't like camcorders at all but with these poor sensors it is absolutely normal to show some noise especially in dark areas above 800 ISO..
![Overrated: Camera features that don't matter [ft Gerald Undone]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SlLbkeNH9to/mqdefault.jpg)
I have been a Sony a7sIII (same as FX3) user for 3 years already. I started working at a local TV station one month ago, and they use the Canon XF205. It’s brutally worse compared to my a7sIII, but I understand all the benefits: variable ND, SDI output, the big zoom range, and controlling XLR input levels with a physical button instead of going through menus like on my a7sIII. All these features are essential for broadcast services or documentary short films, like the one you’ve made here, without the need to change lenses and waste so much time.
Honestly, I like it because I’m a bit tired of configuring different rigs for different situations with my a7sIII, and I’m really enjoying my new job. From what I’ve seen, this Z200 is exactly the type of camera I’d like to use. It’s a fully functional camcorder with all the features you need, while still delivering great quality, color science, 4K up to 120fps, and even matching the colors of the a7sIII/FX3/FX6 in some cases. I hope that one day we’ll replace our 3-4 Canon XF205s with this Sony.
By the way, thanks for the great work and review. I couldn’t find anyone else showing how the S-Log3 works, how the 4K 120fps looks, how cinematic it feels, or how the high base ISO performs. Great work, brother!
That's awesome! Yeah, the benefits of a camcorder really stand out when you get a chance to use them first hand. They didn't fully hit me until this Chicago shoot. That's cool you get to use the Canons at the station. I think using different cams based on our needs for the kind of shoot we're doing make us stronger creatives at the end of the day.
I hear you on the configuring rigs! A lot of extra cash goes into all those other accessories too. I have old cages and other stuff laying around my studio from other Mirrorless cams... Very much enjoyed just picking the Z200 up and being able to shoot without having to perfect a rig or deciding on which lens to put on. Being able to match this footage to the FX3 BTS shots in this vid made me soooooo happy. Hoping you guys can get the Sonys one day too!
Appreciate that so much! Cheers man!!
Loved your video and the footage. I've had my Z200 for about 2 weeks and love it. I also bought Doug Jensen's tutorial, which I can recommend to everyone. The noise reduction seems to use AI, and I have no complaints with it crancked up to +4. I wouldn't do that with any other camera! The zoom and the variable ND are winners for me. The CFexpress Type A card was painful as was the A100 battery, but now I am all set and no need to buy anything else. Trivial things that I love on the Z200, which my out going Canon XF605 doesn't have include simultaneously active Zoom Ring AND Power Zoom Rocker (Hurrah!) and being able to view the LCD from the side. For mirrorless, I shoot Fuji X-H2S, by the way. Oh, and you got a new Subscriber!
Thank you for watching and subscribing to the channel! Glad you got one too! I'm really going to have to dive in to Doug’s tutorial soon. Agreed on the noise reduction: I don't think I've used that internally on a cam before, but it was definitely on when filming in Chicago for all of this. It was nice not to have to add it in editing. Agreed with zoom and NDs-those are 2 big things my mirrorless cams don’t have. I've always liked the colors coming from Fuji cameras, but haven't personally tried them.
Hell yeah! This is awesome. I miss camcorder days. While we don't NEED a bigger sensor, by golly would it be nice to have one.
Thank you man! I kind of missed out on filming with them when I was younger so that's why I got so hyped at the skate park-just so much fun! I'm with ya. If it did, this would have potential to be my main cam. But it's definitely worthy of coming out on set for client projects.
@@thefilmconnector Everyone wants a bigger sensor, but you don't get 20x optical with full frame. It doesn't even happen with s35. If you need a tool like this, there's no large sensor camera that can replicate what it does.
Great Video! I bet you grow pretty fast on TH-cam with high quality content like this right out the gate. Keep up the great work!
This comment means so much, thank you! 🙏🏼 ❤
such an underrated camera
Agreed! 🙏🏼
@@thefilmconnectoraye don’t get it twisted though, it’s also the person behind the camera 💪🏼
@ I appreciate that!! 🙏🏼
great video! But you got the magic touch man! I got this camcorder to use along a couple of Sony FX30s-I don't have a lot of money to invest but for live events etc this camcorder is pretty good. Not perfect but really good. The 1" sensor and the slow lens (f4.5) is not great but totally usable. It won't compete against the FX6 or even the FX30 with a f1.4 lens but it doesn't have to compete. It's a tool for some jobs. I try not to go over gain +14db....still a lot but usable. I hope Sony keeps improving it. Doug Jensen's online course is great! I will keep this camera for as long as it works for me. With some adjustments to pic profile etc it can give great footage. You got a lot of out of it!
Thank you! That's cool you're using it with FX30s! I've been tempted to get one of those as a b-cam to the FX3. I'm excited to use the Z200 on the next live event-it'll even be fun for a corporate speaking gig. You're definitely right about the lens and not having to compete. Good to know on the +14db. I'm hoping Sony does too and the course is on my to-do list. Appreciate you watching and best of luck shooting more with the camera!
Awesome 👏 Thanks for the review. I shoot a lot of sports on the Sony Z190 and the Z200 looks like a really improved system!
You're welcome! It's a great cam for sports-especially football!
Great job amazing video
Nice shots!!
Thank you!!
Love these shots, edits and color grade. Great review very insightful.
❤❤
Great review and demo on the Z200, I purchased the NX800, Great camera so far, typical cloudy flat fogy days are holding me back for further testing but it will soon be spring 😉
As mentioned before about Doug Jensen, he has put a fantastic 7 hour course online and I highly recommend it to you and others that read this.
The Sony online manual is poor and can be very difficult to understand, especially if you have not used a FX6 etc.
Enjoy and hopefully we all will see some more great content soon. "New Sub"
Excellent footage! Hard to believe you got that out of a camcorder. I use the Sony HDR-CX405 HandyCam on occasion and I’m always impressed by the 1080p image quality, stabilization and zoom range. Sony is the Camcorder GOAT!
@@MGriffin2501 That means a lot, thank you for watching! That's sweet, and the size of those makes it so fun to shoot with I bet. Sony really is! 👏🏼
I've seen lots of review videos for this camera and this is probably in the top 2 or 3 as far as image quality. This will probably be my next camera purchase, both to freelance with as well as being a b-camera for my day job.
That means a lot, thank you! Happy to hear that, and can't wait to see some of your footage. 🙏🏼
@@thefilmconnector if you really want to learn to wring it out, I'd suggest getting Doug Jensen's master class videos. The introduction alone is an exhaustive overview of just what this little rig is capable of doing.
@@realCAMERALERO Appreciate the push on that. I saw his video pop up earlier this week-I'll definitely check them out, thanks!
Looks great. I've been using 1" sensor camcorders (Canon XA50 recently) to shoot indie fiction features and they work well for that purpose. Looking forward to trying this cam out.
Thank you! Love to hear that you’re using them for features! I see you have a ton of vids on your channel-going to check some out. 🙏🏼
@@thefilmconnector great. I shot Cosmic Disco Detective Rene on an XA50 - it played theatrically in Chicago, NYC. I shot Slow Romance on a Sony MC88 - played in NYC theatrically. Then back in the day - 2017 or so, shot Werewolf Ninja Philosopher on a Canon XA-15, not even a 1" sensor on that one :) - smaller - and that played theatrically in NYC and Chicago. Shooting 53 Spaceships now on the XA50 or maybe on the Z200. But, Z200 will be the next cam I think - for future movies. Several of my features are on TH-cam, or better versions on Vimeo VOD.
nice work my man
Thank you 🫡
I bought the 800. Got to say the only thing Im struggling with is the stated custom s-cinetone with the iso of 250 ( rather than the flexible iso 1600. Where does one see 250? ) Is that -3 in custom setting mode? I've watched a few videos but none seem to show navigating through the menu to set the camera up with the 250 iso. Does this mean the camera has a duel base iso of 250 and 1600 or is the 250 setting reducing the sensors sensitivity? Regardless, having fun. Thanks.
Nice! When you're in the custom mode it switches over to 250 ISO, but is labeled then as db which is new to me. I believe the db label has been a thing on camcorders for a long time. 0db = 250 ISO and than the ISO get's higher as you increase the db. I don't think the cam technically has dual iso though but not fully sure how that's working. I've just been so used to shooting in log and working with base ISO footage so it was easier for me to trust this cam to get started by shooting in that. I've picked up some good tips on this cam in the Z200 Facebook group too!
@@thefilmconnector Thanks. It's all a bit vague. I have a fuji x100v1 for stills which has a base iso of 125. I usually lock it off at base unless I need to boost the sensitivity / grain. In manual it can drop down to 65 iso. I think there's no advantage ( such as less grain) to shooting in 65 except it does drop down a few stops ( which has its uses). I've have my concerns that moving off the base iso reduces the stops of sensitivity. Regardless, enjoying the 800 as a run and gun. Not much to touch it at the price.
What a great video from a videographer just north of me (fond du lac). I primarily record live events and have been eyeing the z200. I currently use three canon XA 55 that are showing their age. I might have to rent a couple z200s. What did you think of the variable ND? Did you try the auto framing?
Appreciate that! That’s sweet you’re in Fondy! One of my upcoming vids will be a big BTS video from filming a commercial all over Fond du Lac. 🙏🏼 Renting is always a good idea to test something out. The ND was awesome. You could even switch the increments which was a bonus. It really does save time having them. No, but I will test that out soon! I'd expect that to be a sweet feature for corporate live events.
nice footage and a great review! You shot some lower light video but you didn't talk about that later in your video. I have the FX6 and A7iV. So this one will fits nice between them (will sell my sony z280 for this one probably)
Thank you so much! The low light was better than I thought it would be at 1600 ISO, but still a little bit of noise. I've seen cleaner results in other TH-cam examples when it's shot in custom mode at 250 ISO. I wanted everything in S-Log for this video though so I didn't switch. A comparison video of those two settings in the future would be cool. That's awesome you have the FX6! That has to be a ton of fun to shoot with.
They should've put at least an aps-c sensor but that would cannibalize the fx30
I hear ya! I wonder if they will for the next one? 🤔
It won't because we need SDI and variable nd into the body for totally diff cases + with 15/20x optical zoom on aps-c it will be really much heavier than fx3 with some basic lens like 17-70, and the camcorder itself will cost about 5-7k with these specifications and fx30 is much cheaper!
So a one inch sensor camcorder may be all you really need unless you’re headed to the big screen? Great looking footage - how’s the audio?
It is impressive how crisp it is for a 1" sensor! I haven't tested the audio too much, but I imagine it's killer with having the 2 xlr inputs on the side. The first day I turned it on and recorded random shots in studio, I was surprised how decent the internal mic sounded with my audio of just talking. I should run it through some real tests, though.
1" sensor footage can look fine on a movie theater screen. Specially if shot at 4K, w/ a large file for screenings. I've been making and showing 1080p and 4K fiction features shot on 1"sensor camcorders for a while now. works.
👏🏼👏🏼Amazing.
Appreciate it! 🙏🏼
Dang. The noise is way too muddy in the shadows, and even in the midst of a properly exposed image. Like the shot of the hand with the cigar, his hand is crawling with it! I'll keep my XF605 for now. I was hopeful that Sony would give us an S-Cinetone capable camcorder, but the Z200 is a bust to me. Maybe they fix it with firmware, or the Z280 replacement has 3 chips and fixes it there.
Z200 has an S-Cinetone profile, brother.
@@CHTFilms I know it has the profile, and I was pretty excited when it was announced, but the camera is a noise machine, even in broad daylight. NFG.
@@billmakesmovies Actually no one sees this. On a TV streaming most of the channels are 1080p, bitrate is so bad all the noise become same dark colors instead of detailed reproduced noise 😂
@@CHTFilms No one see's this? Then how am I seeing it right now? If you're suggesting that the noise this camera creates is fine because the footage may end up on TV where it'll be compressed away, that's just plain silly. I need a camera that I can use to record footage for web delivery. I'm seeing noise in this video, right here on the web, in Sony's own promotional video, and the ProAV TV video. The noise out of this Z200 is worse than a GoPro, or a Pocket 3, or even the FX30, which I remember mentioning the noise when its promo video dropped. That was totally fine compared to this. Why would I want a camera that makes an image that looks like it's crawling with ants, even in broad daylight? Can it be that Sony just messed up, and something is horribly wrong with this Z200?
@@billmakesmovies for web delivery you will buy full frame mirrorless for the budget of this cropped 1 inch camcorder. You are right, I am disappointed too but maybe they will fix it in future with firmware updates, or the sample footage is recorded in low bitrate... I don't like camcorders at all but with these poor sensors it is absolutely normal to show some noise especially in dark areas above 800 ISO..