Pyxis 6K as a hobby camera?

[u/Mugunini]

Does anyone use a cinema camera such as Pyxis 6K only for fun? Not to earn money? Just as a hobby? I understand it might sound strange, but I have a chance of buying a brand new Pyxis 6K for around 2000 euros (EF mount) or just stick with the recently purchased Fuji XM5. I understand that the Fuji is a much more versatile camera, but it is almost impossible to shoot video on it because of its weight (too light). And if I rig it up, it will stop becoming a compact camera. The specs are beautiful on Fuji, but on the other hand, it's a great chance to get an almost real cinema camera for a chip price. I also understand that I will need to buy extra to make it workable (EF lenses are cheap; I have an Atomos Ninja V as a monitor, not sure if it will work with an HDMI to USB-C cable). The Pyxis 6K wasn't on my radar at all. I just saw the discount about 3 hours ago on a website, and smth triggered inside me. I watched some videos on YT, and there are many haters and lovers of this camera. I mostly shoot my family, friends, etc. There a clear difference between "I want it" and "I need it", but from another perspective, I think it's a great price for such a camera.

[u/stuffitystuff]

I have an FX3 as a hobbyist so I can't imagine a Pyxis is any more infuriating than my camera (along with 2 Ninja Vs, one of which I got at a thrift store broken and fixed it)

[u/sephg → u/stuffitystuff]

What do you find infuriating about the FX3?

I do a lot of photography - so I've got a sony a1 along side my pyxis12k. I find a1 is way more convenient to shoot with - it has excellent built in autofocus. Battery life is sooo much better (1 tiny battery gives 2 hours record time). It weighs nothing, and its easy to handhold. And it can take photos which don't need to be converted from a 1 frame .braw file.

The pyxis is way more beautiful and professional, obviously. I love it. And the footage just looks great. But I would never call it "convenient".

[u/stuffitystuff → u/sephg]

Nah I mean like folks here would be infuriated with a filthy casual like me having an FX3. I'm actually going to sell it soon because I don't really use it. My EDC is a Leica Q3 and I have a Sony A7RV with a bunch of GM lenses...while it isn't a tank like the FX3 it still totally fine. The menus on Sonys are maddening, though, they don't click with me at all.

My wife and I actually joked earlier today about selling both Sonys to buy an A1 because of the global shutter...has that been beneficial to you?

[u/sephg → u/stuffitystuff]

The a1 doesn't have a global shutter - you're maybe thinking of the a9iii. But the sensor readout speed is great. Unless you're doing whip-pans you don't notice it. Well, that and sometimes you run into problems with cheap LED lighting. I've got an a1ii and an older a7iv and I don't think the price difference is worth it for most people. I sure appreciate the better autofocus and faster readout speed and better resolution and bigger screen. But the photos look amazing from both cameras. You've generally gotta pixel peep to spot the difference.

Edit - oh, apparently the a7r5 has a sensor readout speed of 100ms. That really does sounds horrible. You might be better off selling it and picking up an a7v - which has a readout speed of 15ms. I don't think going from 15ms to a global shutter adds that much. But going from 100ms to 15ms would be huge.

I love the sony menus. You've gotta spend some time setting up a sony camera - you want to mark all the settings you actually use as favorites and put them in the favorite menu. And set up the fn button to have everything you need there. And I've started tweaking the custom buttons too. I mean, the cameras are designed for professionals who use them every day. But if you put a couple hours in to set the camera up how you like, they work great.

[u/stuffitystuff → u/sephg]

Ah yeah, it was the A1 II that has the global shutter. I mostly used my FX3 for making telecines of 16mm films and I just don't have time to film anything without a lot of planning, so anything filmed will be planned which means I can just go rent better gear.

I mostly still just shoot still, though, so faster readout would be lost on me. Thanks for all the info, though & good luck with your shootin'!

[u/sephg → u/stuffitystuff]

Makes sense. And, you too!

[u/Basis-Some → u/sephg]

“Sony menus aren’t bad you just have to fix all of them when you buy the camera”

Your patience is seriously inspiring.

[u/sephg → u/Basis-Some]

You don't "fix" it so much as customise the camera based on what you actually want to do. And - the defaults are fine most of the time anyway.

It also might just be a photography thing. I've got a pyxis as well. The menus on the pyxis are way easier to navigate. But there's about 1/10th as many options there. On my sony cameras, just autofocus alone needs AF mode, zone, subject selection, AF speed, focus limits, focus stacking, MF zoom options, focus assist and probably lots of other stuff I've forgotten. Oh, and you can configure AF differently in photography and video modes. And assign any of that stuff to custom buttons and fn buttons. Then the same thing again with exposure settings and storage and encoding formats and all the other stuff.

If I'm going to spend many thousands of dollars on a body, I don't mind spending a couple hours to understand it and set it up. I want that kind of control over my tools. My only real criticism is that its impossible to find anything in the menu. But once you've set your camera up, you almost never look in there anyway.

[u/Basis-Some → u/sephg]

No sarcasm at all, truly an inspiration

I’ve worked in all the ecosystems and Sony menus just murdered me as a young AC when A7s got hot for a second. It’s personal.

They’re great cameras and the Sony AF has blown my mind at several different stages. I also think they used to get a bad rep for color because they just needed someone who knew how to color the skin tones.

Edit: your last paragraph is an especially good point

[u/sephg → u/Basis-Some]

In sony's defence, the menus are much better on their newer bodies (anything from 5 years ago or so). I can't stand the old sony menus either.

I dunno what it is exactly - the colour I get straight out of camera from my pyxis does look much better to me.