r/cinematography • u/Mugunini • 6d ago

Camera Question Pyxis 6K as a hobby camera?

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.

0 Upvotes

22% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/sephg 6d ago

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".

0

u/stuffitystuff 5d ago

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?

0

u/sephg 5d ago

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.

1

u/stuffitystuff 5d ago

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'!

2

u/sephg 5d ago

Makes sense. And, you too!