Sony FS-700 Slow Motion and Low Light Performance

Last summer I upgraded my camcorder to the Sony NEX FS-700. One of the main reasons was to take advantage of its ability to interchange lenses. With this camcorder, I can use the same high-end lenses I have for Nikon DLSR. The camera also sports a large sensor – a 4K Exmor Super 35 CMOS sensor with 11.6 million pixels – allowing the camera to achieve very low depth-of-field shots and a very high frame rate.

The low depth-of-field is what helps achieve that “cinematic” look. When combined with shooting at 24 frames per sec (fps), the footage looks very similar to what you would see in the movie theater. For me, this provides a look and feel to my work that I really love. For my clients, their videos look more professional and polished – something the television audience spots right away. Many of my clients report that their customers go out of their way to tell them that they love their TV commercials. The Sony FS-700 is the solid foundation that makes that possible.

FS-700 Slow Motion

The high frame rate allows the camera to capture very cool slow motion – far beyond any other camcorder in this price range. The video above is a compilation of both test and production footage that explores the slow motion modes. It’s very fun to see normal, everyday things slowed down to 240fps. The last scene is shot at 960fps. This super slow motion mode comes at a price. The resolution is cut down considerably – and it shows. This mode is more of a novelty and shouldn’t be used for production work.

Macro Lens in Motion Video!

I’ve also mixed in some macro photography. The first shots I did with the camera were with my Nikkor 105mm micro lens (the daylilies at the beginning of the video). It is absolutely awesome to see in motion video what I previously could only achieve with still photography.

FS-700 High ISO Performance

The other footage in the video demonstrates the camera’s the low-light capability. With my previous camcorder, I did not like using it in high ISO mode. The footage would break down and, frankly, be too grainy. So I got used to avoiding any high-ISO situations. However, I was forced into using the FS-700 at its maximum ISO for some shots at Leda Lanes glow bowling. Here the only lights were the UV lights. If I brought in supplemental lights, it would destroy the UV effect, so I had to shoot with the existing lights. But as you can see from the footage, the camera performed brilliantly. The footage was great and not grainy at all. Now I am confident when I need to crank up the ISO for a low-light situation.

Sony NEX FS-700 Low Light Performance.