Sony FX30 Review: Baby Venice

After looking for a replacement for my GH5 II for video production, my eyes landed on the Sony FX30 with its XLR handle. After days of consideration, I bit the bullet and clicked the order button with it only arriving days later.

Being the most budget offering in Sony's Cinema Line, I was expecting the FX30 to be similar to the Sony ZV-E10, but I was proved wrong immediately. The FX30 is in a league of its own, even outshining the Panasonic GH6 as a video creation machine. I opted for the FX30 with the XLR top handle, in order to streamline capturing quality audio without having to sync in post.

Let's start with the body; it's the exact same as the FX3.

That's not a bad thing though, but the FX3 body is great, and carrying it on to the younger siblings introduces a lot of benefits. For one, you really don't need a cage for this camera. Its multiple 1/4" inch holes on the camera, even on the sides, make it easier for vertical content and easy to rig out for larger-scale productions.

Other than that, the body is just amazingly designed, having buttons for every little setting, making it easy to switch on the fly, which you can also change the functions of to suit your preferences.

On the left side, we have two 3.5mm audio ports for audio monitoring or a microphone, with an HDMI port that can output 16-bit Apple ProRes RAW to an Atomos external recorder. On the right you have two card slots that support up to two UHS-II V90 SD Cards or two CF Express Type A cards; you can't put four in at the same time, but you can mix and match without any issues.

With Angelbird releasing their 1TB CFExpress Type A cards for £550 ($687 USD at the time of writing this,) you can shoot literal HOURS of high bitrate 10-bit 4:2:2 4K without any issues; but I opted for two Sony Tough 64GB V60 cards instead, as I didn't want to fork out another £130 for Sony's CFExpress reader.

Like the rest of the Cinema Line, the FX30 comes in a grey and black color scheme, making it fit in perfectly. The only thing I would wish for now is that Sony made a battery grip for the FX3/FX30 for extra weight and battery life.

A welcome addition is a brand new 26 megapixel sensor not found on any other Sony camera, replacing the sensors found in the Sony A6xxx series and the Sony FS-series video cameras. This new sensor brings a whole host of features, with the most notable one being oversampling 4K from 6K, increasing the quality of the 4K capture, and 15+ stops of dynamic range, allowing shadows and highlights to retain even more detail. This also extends to editing, giving you finer control when colour grading.

IBIS comes standard on this little gem with 5-axis SteadyShot, making handheld filming much better. Like many newer Sony cameras, the FX30 also gathers gyro data which can be inputted into their Catalyst software to stabilise the footage further. In order to capture gyro data the FX30 must have Active SteadyShot enabled which adds a 1.1x crop to your video.

In terms of video specifications the FX30 is packed. With it sharing the new Bionz XR processors with the newer crop of Sony cameras, the FX30 has a multiple flavours of video available but let's start with 4K. The FX30 is able to capture 4K all the way to 120p in 10-bit 4:2:2 in both XAVC-S and XAVC-HS with S being H.264 and HS being H.265 video. If you still want to capture high quality video but save on storage, the FX30 also offers 10-bit 4:2:0 4K capture in it's XAVS-HS codec. 24p, 30p, 60p and 120p are all available in XAVC-S with HS omitting 30p for some odd reason. If you are shooting 120p, the FX30 adds a very noticeable 1.6x crop to your video, requiring the use of wider lenses for the same field of view as standard lenses.

Like the new crop of Alpha cameras, the FX30 also has SLog 3 built in, maximising the dynamic range of the sensor when colour grading. It's also loaded with S-Cinetone, which is my go-to when filming with it's colour profile aimed at cinematic video without needing to grade, but can be graded if needed.

Video performance with this camera is amazing; I shot this quick candid shoot with the FX30 and the Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 in S-Cinetone and was really happy with the footage out of the box. After a quick grade in Premiere and correction, I was ready to upload.

The XLR Handle is, without a doubt, one of the best things Sony has added to the Cinema Line. Having the option to capture 24-bit audio directly into the camera combined with a good mix of input options makes the FX30 an even better all-in-one solution. The only issue I have with the handle is that it's plastic. Really Sony? You're charging ~£600 for the handle, and it can't be made out of a more sturdy material? With the plethora of mounting holes offered on the handle, they would expect you to attach things like monitors on top. I do hope this gets a mid-cycle refresh to combat this, as I've already seen users with broken handles.

Despite that, the amount of control you have over the audio as well as being able to switch to three different audio inputs is amazing, especially in the event that you need to use backup audio. The best part is that this handle isn't only exclusive to the FX3 and FX30, as Sony plans to sell this separately. The fact that it also uses the Multi Interface shoe means it's also compatible with Sony's newest cameras, starting with the A7Siii with Smallrig already selling a metal plate to lock it into place with their cages.

So the FX3 starts at £2,399/$2,198 for the body with the handle or £2,099/$1,798 with for the body only, and honestly I can't complain about the price, sure the Blackmagic Pocket 6K is around the same price for 6K video with ProRes and BRAW video, but the FX30 also offers Sony's best in class autofocus, so you don't need your own focus puller when using gimbals while also offering high quality 4K video without needing tonnes of storage space.

The only things I would love to see available are waveforms and shutter angle when needed for proper cinema capturing. Please Sony; these are sorely needed.

The FX30 also slots into a Sony environment really well with the FX6 and the FX9 as a B or C-Cam, with it being able to mix footage without any noticeable issues. Even as a first foray into filmmaking, the FX30 is a great camera with E-Mount having a wide variety of first and third party lenses available for use. I seriously can't recommend the FX30 enough for anybody who wants a video production workhorse.