My time with the Sony FX3

When Sony lent me the brand new FX3 to try out for 2 weeks I was cautiously excited.
I say cautiously excited because I’m an A7SIII owner & I was well aware that the two cameras were largely the same.

The first thing that struck me when I picked up the camera was the size of it. Or lack thereof. It feels really nice in the hand while having a small, nimble body. To have a grip this size with a body that small is quite impressive as typically with smaller bodies, they can feel uncomfortable to hold & hard to get a grip on. Especially if you have larger hands like myself. The FX3 solves this.

Aesthetically it looks great, the textured grey with a faint shine looks really nice. But as we know it's not about the look of the camera, it's about the performance. Specs and pedigree only mean so much when it comes down to it.

If you have an A7SIII you’ll know exactly the performance you'll get out of this camera. 10 bit 4:2:2 colour with 4k from 24-120 fps with great range of all intra & long gop codecs. Expect to see crisp images, beautiful colour & dynamic range everywhere. These two cameras are a HUGE step up for filmmakers over the likes of an A7III & include the ever-popular SLog3 & S- Cinetone picture profiles.

Internally the FX3 & SIII are largely the same. But externally they are not. Most notably the FX3 sees the removal of the EVF. I personally use the viewfinder on my SIII as an extra point of contact while shooting video fairly often so I was a little sad to see its removal, however, I understand the move as operators of this camera will typically use a monitor (More on that later). I would’ve loved a removable EVF via the hot shoe, much like the Canon M6 MkII alas I grew used to its removal over the time while I had this camera.

Other notable differences include the on/off button is now located on the left rear of the camera & the traditional switch around the shutter has been replaced with a power zoom control for compatible lenses (or clear image zoom). The FX3 sees the inclusion of a cooling fan which will allow you to record as long as your batteries & Cfexpres type A cards will allow. You will now find buttons for the ISO, aperture & shutter speed that when pressed will lock the setting from being changed. Click it again & you can freely change until locked again.
This is a really awesome & very functional addition. This is great for shooting when leaving a camera alone or mounting to a car etc so you have peace of mind that no settings will be accidentally changed & your shot won't be compromised. The joystick we’re all very accustomed to being on the rear has found its way up to the top of the camera. I personally didn't really love the feeling of it up top & as a result, found myself using the Dpad & screen more than the joystick itself.  

Shooting on the FX3 is largely based around mounting monitors & handles etc to the cameras many mounting points. The camera has a bunch of ¼ inch threads so you can mount different accessories to the camera without the need for a cage.

My biggest gripe with the FX3 is these mounting points. I love to use my ninja V, especially due to being able to record RAW via HDMI. But I also like using a handle on the left side of the camera. Unfortunately, if you use the mounting point above the HDMI door (left side of the camera) you lose access to the HDMI point meaning you can no longer use a monitor. So it's a monitor or handle unless you add a cage.

While there are features I wish it did have to set itself aside from the SIII like waveforms, DCI 4k, true 24fps etc (which could potentially be added via firmware so fingers crossed for that) functionally the results from this mini cine are incredible. To get the best results from the FX3, you’ll want to pair it with a Ninja V to record in up to 4K60p RAW via HDMI.

All in all this camera has all the bells and whistles in a fun-sized package.
If you're a “run & gun” filmmaker or looking for a great travel companion or gimbal/drone camera you'll appreciate the size & feature set of the FX3.
This camera may just be the best fit for you!

See the full video review below.