The ink has barely dried on the Sony NEX-FS100 announcement, and here we are with videos and reviews. Some things have been clarified: the 4:2:2 HDMI output is 8-bit (not 10), and the MSRPs are as follows: NEX-FS100U (without lens) is $5,850, and the NEX-FS100UK (with lens) is $6,550. For street pricing, remove about a grand from each sticker price. Here's the first footage, which is a music video shot on a pre-production unit:


The marketing video from Sony Europe:

And a hands-on review from the guys at F-Stop Academy, which shows off a number of 1/4-20" mounting points, the detachable handgrip, and mentions a forthcoming 128GB SSD recording attachment:

However, not all is coming up roses with the FS100. Nigel Cooper has posted an in-depth review of the camera -- though it was a preproduction unit, which may explain his complaints about plasticky buttons. He likes the image quality very much, but here's what he concluded about the FS100:

All-in-all, the FS100 feels like a very rushed camcorder. The ergonomics are terrible, the fixtures and fittings are pretty much the same, the switches, dials and knobs are too small and they feel horribly plasticky with a vague feel i.e. you don’t really know if you have actually pressed a button; you need LCD menu feedback to confirm. The hand-grip on the side wobbles, even when tightened up, so to does the top handle/mic holder, which feels like it is hanging on by its fingernails. Everything about this camcorder is just so awfully wrong. Sony had the perfect chance to give Panasonic a run for their money, but the FS100 is not the camcorder to do it, in my opinion... There are just too many things missing from the FS100, no HD/SDI output, no ND filter wheel, only one card slot. Its like Sony have taken the F3 and stripped it of any worthwhile features and functions to keep it well away from the F3’s market.

Time will tell how the FS100 compares to the Panasonic AF100. The FS100 does have some advantages -- larger sensor, higher resolution (it yields more TV lines), presumably better low-light sensitivity if it shares the F3's prowess -- but the build quality and HD-SDI output of the AF100 are superior (the AF100 is also limited to 8-bit, but I'd rather have an HD-SDI port than a flimsy HDMI connector). Either way, competition is a good thing and the post-HDSLR market now has two solid entrants at the $5k price point...

Link: NEX-FS100 Review by Nigel Cooper

[via ProVideo Coalition]