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With the latest firmware update for the Sony FX3 and FX30, Sony brings powerful new cinematic shooting options to these compact and affordable cinema cameras. Let's take a look at what the update delivers and how these new features can enhance your productions.
Why update?
With the latest firmware update, the Sony FX3 full-frame digital cinema camera and FX30 Super 35 digital cinema camera now offer DCI 4K and true 24 frames per second recording with a 1/48 shutter speed option to match. Plus, there is even an option for 1/24 and 1/96 shutter speed. The update also brings intra-frame compression, anamorphic de-squeeze and several quality-of-life improvements to both cinema cameras. The FX3 also gets in-camera focus breathing compensation.
With these updates, Sony integrates feedback from the community to enable more cinematic shooting options and further unify the Sony cinema camera lineup. For cinematographers looking for an accessible way to capture their creative vision, the Sony FX3 and FX30 just got way more appealing. Here's why.
DCI 4K
Both the Sony FX3 and FX30 offered UHD 4K video before this update. With a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, UHD 4K is exactly four times larger than 1080 full HD and uses the same familiar 16:9 aspect ratio. DCI 4K has a resolution of 4096 x 2160, giving it an approximate aspect ratio of 1.90∶1. That means it is slightly wider than UHD 4K, though both standards are the same height.
While UHD 4K is a common resolution for computer monitors and televisions, DCI 4K is the standard in cinema production. It's the native resolution for 4K digital cinema projectors. If you're shooting a short or feature film that will screen in a theater, it's smart to shoot and edit in DCI 4K.
True 24 fps
Along with DCI 4K, the newest firmware introduces true 24 fps recording to the Sony FX3 and FX30. Previously, the cameras offered only 23.976 fps. It might not seem like a big change, but upgrading these cameras to shoot 24p video further aligns them with the cinematic standard.
The option to shoot true 24 fps also makes it easier to match footage from the FX3 and FX30 with other cinema cameras that offer 24p, such as the Sony FX6 and the Sony VENICE. This is especially true when it comes to synchronizing audio.
New shutter speed options
Complementing the 24p frame rate option, the new firmware update adds new shutter speed options to better match cinema production standards. These include 1/24, 1/48 and 1/96.
The shutter controls how long light is allowed to pass through to the image sensor, but it also influences the amount of motion blur visible in the resulting image. Though filmmakers sometimes adjust the shutter for creative effect, the most cinematic and natural-looking motion blur is produced using the traditional shutter angle of 180 degrees.
Motion picture cameras with a global shutter use shutter angle rather than shutter speed to describe shutter settings. A shutter angle of 180 degrees means that each frame is exposed for half of one revolution of the shutter. Since the shutter rotates once per frame, this works out to an equivalent shutter speed of 1/double the frame rate. So, if you're shooting video at 24 fps, a shutter speed of 1/48 will produce the most cinematic motion blur. And after this update, you have that option with the FX3 and FX30.
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