Newly Announced Sony FX6 Full-Frame Cinema Line Camera Launching In Malaysia This January

 

Sony has announced its new FX6 full-frame cinema line camera which is due to launch locally by early next year. The company touts the video camera to feature its cinema technology and form factor, along with advanced imaging technologies that make up its Alpha mirrorless camera systems.

The Sony FX6 features a modular design, allowing for different mods to be attached to various locations on its body – including its 3.5-inch LCD viewfinder. The camera’s body is constructed of a magnesium alloy chassis that measures 11.6cm x 15.3cm x 11.4cm, and weighs 890g. It also includes support for interchangeable lenses via its built-in E-mount, which enables it to be compatible with more than 50 native lenses from the company, as well as a wide variety of third-party lenses.

The FX6 packs a 4K 10.2MP full-frame back-illuminated CMOS Exmor R sensor, paired with its own Bionz XR processing engine. According to the company, the sensor is capable of offering more than 15 stops of dynamic range and has a maximum ISO of 409,600 for shooting videos in low-light conditions. Also onboard is a 627-point Fast Hybrid AF system with advanced autofocusing features such as Face Detection and Real-time Eye AF.

The camera is able to capture 10-bit 4:2:2 footage in full-frame 4K resolution at 120fps, or 1080p at 240fps. In addition to this, users could also output 16-bit SDI Raw 4K/60p video by utilising its onboard 12G-SDI port. Included is Sony’s S-Cinetone profile that is based on its VENICE colourimetry, which it claims is designed to quickly and easily create rich looking final content without the need for expensive post production. There’s also internal electronic variable ND filters that can be manually adjusted in increments from 1/4 to 1/128.

Other than that; the FX6 features built-in WiFI, four-channel audio recording, compatibility with Sony’s Catalyst Browse and Prepare software, as well as the brand’s Content Browser app for mobile devices. Storage-wise, the new video camera is equipped with two CFexpress Type-A card slots, which are also backwards compatible with SD UHS-II cards.

The Sony FX6 full-frame cinema line camera is slated to launch in Malaysia in January 2021. However, the company has yet to reveal the local pricing for its newly announced device.

Sony ZV-1 Vlogging Camera Officially Announced; To Be Released Locally In July

Sony has officially announced their latest vlogging-focused compact camera, the ZV-1. As you may recall from our previous article, images and specifications of the device were leaked soon after the company released a teaser for it last week.

As it turns out, the leaks covering the new device are mostly correct. The ZV-1 is indeed inspired by the Sony RX100 series in terms of features and is equipped with a 20MP 1-inch sensor, along with a fast 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens. The camera allows for 4K recording at up to 30fps with full pixel readout, and also 1080p at up to 120fps. On top of providing high quality imagery, its sensor also enables for excellent background bokeh and blurring when focusing on a subject.

The ZV-1 features Face Priority auto-exposure (AE) function with eye-tracking autofocus (AF), which will continuously track a person’s face throughout recording. This enables it to also automatically adjust to the correct exposure for faces even when the vlogger is walking through continuously changing lighting conditions. Another feature, as mentioned earlier, is the “background defocus” function that sets the aperture to its widest setting, thus producing a blurred background while the camera focuses on the vlogger.

The camera itself is not limited to just vlogging-oriented functionality. It also offers real-time AF tracking for regular video recording, and is able to take photos with shooting speeds of up to 20fps with AF and AE activated. Focusing on subjects can be easily determined by the user via touch-focus control on its vari-angle LCD display. The ZV-1 also features optical and electronic image stabilisation that smoothens out bumps and wobbles during recording.

As for audio, the new camera is equipped with a built-in 3-capsule microphone with noise reduction capability. Sony claims that it is capable of recording better audio quality than the built-in mics found on its other mirrorless or DSLR cameras. To further help with noise reduction and to muffle wind noise, the ZV-1 also comes with a windscreen accessory that covers the microphone. Other than that, it also includes a 3.5mm external microphone port and a micro-HDMI port.

The camera weighs in at approximately 294g, allowing users to easily hold it with one hand. Alternatively, they can also opt for grip accessories (sold separately) which also provides access to certain camera controls on the grips themselves.

Sony Malaysia has confirmed that the new ZV-1 compact camera will be available locally from July 2020. Pricing for the device will be announced at that time as well.

Sony Details The Xperia 1 II’s Camera Technology

Sony recently held an online information session to detail the camera technology used on its upcoming Xperia 1 II flagship smartphone, according to Japanese tech site MyNavi. The phone is said to be released in Japan towards the end of May, with some reports indicating that a Taiwan release is expected sometime next week.

The report added that Sony is aiming to have the camera system on its new flagship phone to be on par with its Alpha series of cameras in terms of performance. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that the successor to the Xperia 1 has taken some cues from Sony’s camera division in terms of photography features and hardware solutions.

For starters, the Xperia 1 II is the company’s first smartphone to feature a ZEISS lens, which are prominently included in Alpha cameras, as well as its high-end Cybershot series. The handset is also the first to use the German brand’s T* anti-reflective coating technology which reduces glare and ghosting effects. 

The company explained that the phone will maintain a sensor size of 12MP instead of relying on a larger megapixel count, and even turning down its own 64MP IMX686 sensor. That said, the 12MP sensor equipped on the Xperia 1 II is definitely no slouch. The key camera component comes in at 1/1.7-inches and boasts a pixel size of 1.8µm, thus featuring 50-percent higher sensitivity than its predecessor. Comparatively, the aforementioned IMX686 is only capable of outputting images with a pixel size of 0.8µm.

Another factor to why a smaller megapixel count is favoured is the faster read-out speed, Sony added. When compared to Samsung’s 108MP technology, the company’s smaller sensor allows for a full resolution output at only 10ms, while the former will require 32ms for a 12MP output. Additionally, a 108MP resolution output will require 100ms for a full read-out.

The faster read-out speed enables Sony’s sensor to achieve 20fps of continuous shooting with Automatic Exposure (AE) and Autofocus (AF) active. This is achieved through the sensor’s Dual Pixel autofocus and 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor which aids the camera to keep track of a subject, while its BIONZ X hardware processes 60 AE/AF calculations per second.

Another returning camera feature from its predecessor is the Eye AF, but with new improvements added for an enhanced experience. On top of the ability to track human eyes, it now can lock onto animal eyes as well. Additionally, the Sony Xperia 1 II also utilises 247 phase detection points and a staggering 43,200 points from the ToF sensor for accurate autofocusing calculations.

Sony boasts that the phone’s 24mm digital zoom image quality can be compared to a 24-70mm lens on a digital camera. Whereas its 16mm ultra-wide angle lens goes from 16 to 35mm and the 70mm telephoto goes up to 200mm. The company claims that the range of focal lengths provided by the Xperia 1 successor will cover most grounds for mobile photography.

In a move to entice photography enthusiasts, the upcoming smartphone will include the brand’s Photography Pro app. The pre-installed software aims to provide photographers with a wide array of professional manual controls inspired by its mirrorless cameras, including Shutter and Aperture priority modes, among many others.

From the report, it appears that Sony is banking on the new Xperia flagship’s camera technology to maintain its relevance in the smartphone market. Whether this would finally see the smartphone brand bounce back to its former glory remains to be seen, at least until when the phone officially launches in the coming weeks.

The company has not announced if the flagship device will be released in Malaysia at this time.