Sony’s newest full-frame CineAlta camera, BURANO, came to market earlier this year to great fanfare and robust sales. The combination of an 8.6K sensor, similar to the one found in Sony’s flagship VENICE 2 CineAlta camera, combined with a smaller, lighter body and a compelling complement of codecs, has proven popular with a broad swathe of customers.

Following Sony’s recent release of firmware version 3.0 for their popular PXW-FX9 full frame cinema camera, we thought it would be interesting to continue exploring and documenting some of the new features in this latest free update, as we did with version 2.x in July.

Since the release of Sony's PXW-FX9 digital cinema camera, we've gotten a lot of questions from clients about how it compares to Sony's flagship cinema camera, the VENICE. Now that Sony has released major firmware updates for both cameras (2.01 for the FX9 and 6.0 for the VENICE), we thought now would be a good opportunity to compare their capabilities, particularly in terms of each camera’s sensor.

Running about a month ahead of schedule, Sony today announced the availability of firmware version 2.0 for the PXW-FX9 full-frame digital cinema camera. Originally scheduled for October, the new firmware brings 16-bit RAW output (in conjunction with the XDCA-FX9 extension unit), new 4K recording and sensor modes, 180fps shooting in HD, and improved image quality when shooting in the camera’s Super35 2K mode, among other enhancements.

In keeping with our long-standing tradition, AbelCine has released our standard suite of scene files for the Sony PXW-FX9. The names of these scene files will be familiar to anyone who has been downloading and using them with other popular cameras over the years. We have done our best to keep the looks faithful to the original files created some 15 years ago.

In our tradition of providing scene files for the latest professional cinema cameras, we have created a collection of scene files for the Sony PXW-FX9. These files are based on the looks AbelCine has been creating for many years and are designed to fit a variety of common shooting scenarios.

Any time a new compact lightweight camera like Sony's PXW-FX9 comes out, camera assistants and operators have to spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to kit it out. To that end I recently spent some time myself evaluating and analyzing the different accessories on offer for the new camera. I also conferred with our rental department to get the perspective of a typical camera house environment and use that to compare against the more specialized needs of an owner-operator or low-budget filmmaker. Combining this insight with my own experience as a 1st AC and documentary camera operator helped me create this accessory guide, which, while not all-inclusive, should serve as a good starting point for any new FX9 owner.

Tom Cubby from Sony dropped by the office to give us a first look at Sony’s brand new full format camera: the PXW-FX9. Join Tom and I as we dive into the philosophy, specs, capabilities, and exciting new features of this compelling addition to the ever-expanding full format video/cinema camera landscape.