August 25th 1981 Sony unveiled a prototype of the company's first still video camera this is the latest in camera technology it is called a Mika that stands for magnetic video camera contrary to what the name might suggest this camera did not record videos it stored pictures by producing a video signal similar to that of televisions at this time the pictures were stored on magnetic floppy discs and because of this method of storing them they could be shown on televisions we are now more than 43 years away from this moment and something new is happening to cameras consumer cameras have been digital and of incredible quality for a while in fact cameras that are able to produce footage of cinematic quality are becoming cheaper more easily available to Consumers and easier to use the Sony fx3 is not the first example of such a camera but it has some unique features that could explain why everyone is buying it the fx3 was released at the beginning of 2021 and while at first it seemed like it was just a rehoused A7 S3 people soon Started Loving it it is currently one of the most searched for video camera for creating professional cinematic looking videos and on YouTube the camera cannot be avoid it Sony fx3 the Sony fx3 Sony fx3 Sony fx3 in 2023 Time Magazine added the camera to their list of best inventions of the year in the accessible film making category and reviews online also show a lot of praise for the camera some even say it has changed their lives a couple months ago I also got my hands on this camera my black magic pocket 4K got hit by a laser at a festival and I decided to replace it with the Sony fx3 all right so why is everyone buying this camera well the first part of the answer is rather straightforward it shoots incredible footage the fx3 has a 35 mm fullframe sensor it can shoot 4K 10bit collar up to 120 frames per second and the fx3 offers 15 stops of dynamic range what all these specifications actually mean is that it has a big sensor can therefore use lots of beautiful lenses that capture a lot of light uh it can capture a lot of detail and a lot of detail in between dark and bright parts of your image ultimately it shoots incredible footage which can also be seen by all the Cinematic upload to YouTube shot with this camera another incredible feature of this camera is that it can shoot in incredibly low light scenarios according to Gareth Edwards you can basically shoot in Moonlight with this camera it shoots at 12,800 ISO so you can film in nearly moonlight so that is the first part of the equation however there are other inexpensive cameras that also shoot beautiful cinematic looking footage and these cameras also solve this first part of the equation like the the pocket 4K for example well the second part of the equation for why everyone is buying this camera is something the pocket 4K does not have it has to do with who this camera was designed for Sony designed this camera with content creators in mind Sony basically brought the quality of the higher-end cameras in their Cinema line dumbed it down a slight bit made it more convenient put it into a smaller form factor and created a camera for Content creators it might not have internal and D filters and the sensor isn't exactly the same as the fx6 but it does easily fit into your backpack or around your shoulder this focus of the fx3 on content creators can also be seen on Sony's website one device that answers the needs of young creators who are looking for new ways to express their Creative Vision usability for small scale and oneperson shooting a compact lightweight body that provides the performance and Mobility to meet the growing demands of today's content creators so the fx3 success can be attributed to it being an incredible camera and a camera that's super convenient and easy to use targeting content creators as your consumers offered Sony an additional powerful Advantage the fx3 essentially gets marketed for free as creators show it in their videos on top of that the content creation industry is expected to rapidly grow which will drive even more sales for the camera now with the popularity of the Sony fx3 it might surprise you that Canon still dominates the camera Market with 3.3 million units sold in 2023 which makes for a 46.5% of market share an explanation of these numbers would be that Canon has a greater diversity of products however Sony is actually ahead of Canon when it comes to the value of those sold cameras Canon's higher number of camera bodies sold equated to 56.7 billion yen while Sony sold fewer units for a sales value of 565 billion yen Canon seems to be excelling when it comes to selling more affordable cameras while the opposite is true for Sony all right even though time added the camera to their accessible film making category it still costs over €4,000 for the body alone here in Europe so are we all poor losers according to Time well um if you compare it to most cameras used to shoot Hollywood films that are around $100,000 the fx3 at $4,400 could definitely be considered accessible but does that mean that it's worth it for you so I've had the camera for around 3 months now I have used it for client shoots here in Amsterdam I've used it to solo create an Instagram ad that reached over a million people I used it to capture some beautiful sunsets here in Amsterdam and I am now using it to shoot this YouTube video although it's the most expensive expensive piece of film making gear I've ever bought I do think it was worth my money and a big reason for that is that I'm in this film making thing for the long term and apart from YouTube I can also use the camera for client shoots however there are definitely levels to this stuff so here's what camera I'd recommend for you if you're on a different level in your film making Journey if you're starting out with film making you want to explore film making you um you're not really sure and you're not really sure what to get don't buy anything and just start with your phone if you want to dedicated camera that's slightly better than your phone get an action camera or get the osmo poket 3 if you really want nice looking footage that you can possibly color grade get a camera that shoots 10bit color um gh5 can do this for example you can get this camera for around €600 probably even cheaper if you go look at secondhand ones uh it's an old camera there so there's probably lots of secondhand ones you can find um and it's also quite convenient camera to use osmo pocket 3 also shoots 10bit color but you can't swap the lens on that camera if you want even better quality perhaps take a look at the pocket 4K but keep in mind it's not a great camera for Run and Gun stuff it's quite inconvenient to work with now there are lots of cameras that I haven't mentioned like the A7 S3 fx30 the black magic 6K or the Canon C70 I simply haven't used these but I bet they are also great cameras from the things that I saw on YouTube you can check out all the cameras I recommend in the description below and as you probably would expect by now the Sony f is at the top actually I took some picture in Hawaii on the way here I showed it there okay let's let this is a Mr moro's personal album here of testing all right let's go ahead and show those pictures on the screen if we can other a pict yes look at that now there's some little breakup because of the television transmission but the fact is it's a very clear you certainly know where to go to test your product Mr Marita that's a nice place to take I thought you would take pictures of Japanese Yen or the industrial might of your country or something the Japanese have certainly figured out the Americans I'll say that for them