10 Features I Really Like about the Sony FX30, and 7 That Bother Me
I’m a long time full frame Sony shooter. With all the video content I’ve been making lately I decided to pick up an FX30 because i just wasn’t quite ready to shell out for an FX3. The FX30 is an APS-C sensor sized mirror less camera that puts video features first and has no mechanical shutter.
There’s a few limitations with this camera but we are going to start with the things I like.
Fantastic Features:
Record lights. There’s a big tally light on the back, the front of the camera, and the outside of the screen has a red outline when you are filming. This really helps give you confidence that you are actually recording while you are talking to the camera.
Built in fans/unlimited recording time. The FX30 has no record limit, you can keep going as long as the battery last and as long as you have memory available. The fans keep it from overheating which is a breath of fresh air when you compare it to Sony cameras that will randomly stop recording due to heat issues.
Recording buttons. You get a big recording button on top of the camera that lights up as well as a convenient one on the front of the camera.
Power switch. I love that the power switch is a slider and it’s out of the way, so you aren’t going to accidentally bump it while filming.
Directly mounting audio top handle. The top handle has XLR inputs as well as a 1/8” input jack, and to use the top handle, you just slide it onto the shoe and use the thumbscrews to tighten. You don’t have to worry about it falling off and you can record audio in a higher bit rate than using the camera’s built in audio jack.
Extra 1/4-20 mounts. The FX30 has 3 1/4-20 mounts on the top, one on the left and right, and one on the bottom. This allows you to mount various accessories or tripod plates to different parts of the camera. You can film vertically without needing a cage.
The doors on the side. The doors stay open and don’t flop around. They also are just super out of the way when you have them open.
Strap slots. The strap slots are easy to attach a strap to and you don’t have the annoying jangly triangles.
Ergonomics. The grip on the camera is great, buttons all feel good, and the size is perfect. It’s very comfortable to hold.
10 Bit color. The 10 Bit color leads to very high quality video files that take up a lot of space, but look beautiful. There’s a depth to the recording on this camera that was greatly missing from the A7III.
Airing My Grievances:
No 3rd dial like on the A7IV. I really like the exposure dial on the A7IV that locks and I have it set to ISO. I really miss this on the FX30.
No charger included. You can charge with USB C but this is honestly annoying when you have multiple batteries that need charged. You’re going to either need to buy Sony’s expensive charger, or a different third party charger.
Button layout is slightly different namely the menu button. On all the other Sony cameras the menu button is to the left side of the camera, and on this camera it is on the right
Low light performance.. IT IS USABLE! It’s just noisier… with the A7iv I’ve been going up to 10,000 with no issues with this i just notice more noise even around the 3200 iso range. Still usable, just not as crisp as i would like.
Audio handle is short without buying the SmallRig add on. I just don’t get why they made it so small. Its too bad you have to shell out extra money just to get the length usable.
Only one 1/4-20 slot on the bottom… This means you can’t use two screws to attach to a tripod plate. That just makes a plate a lot more snug.
Uses shutter speed instead of shutter angle. I would love to just set it to 180 shutter angle so I could change back and forth between 30 and 60 FPS
Overall I really like the FX30 and it has become my main talking head camera because it is so reliable. There’s just a few things I wish were different about it, but you can totally work around all of those limitations. Ever since I bought this I haven’t been using my A7IV as much for my Youtube videos.
