Sony HXR-NX80 4K camcorder unboxing 

Excellent! I'm very pleased with mine still although it's had two occasions recently where the entire unit has begun vibrating as if the stabiliser is wildly trying to compensate for a shake that isn't there, and that in turn put the focus to pieces. It's very weird.

Thank you. I suspect it will be a brief re-occurrence because there just aren't that many camcorders these days (and I'm quite broke so I can't buy much kit!!). I'll do a "first impressions" video fairly soon but not sure now long the full review will take, there's a lot to examine here :-)

It's XAVC-S in 4K, at 100Mbps, 8-bit 4:2:0. Not sure about the slowmo yet because there seem to be various slowmo modes; so far I've found a 100fps for 25p playback but there's also something called super slowmo which hints at 240fps. I'll get back to you when I've worked it all out. Not sure about autofocus in slowmo but in normal filming it's very fast although it doesn't like focusing on woodwork (!). Lowlight I've yet to try. Cheers

Thanks for the quick response! Waiting for your full review :-)

Thank you. So far I can say the autofocus is stunning. Very fast (and that was on the default setting, not even the fastest one) and accurate as far as I can tell. It's also very configurable to how fast it changes, how sensitive it is to changes, how sensitive to movement etc. The only thing it had trouble with was a blank sheet of wood but I could see the woodgrain was sharp but the camera indicator didn't go green to show that it "knew" it was sharp. Also, the manual focus is really good. I can get crisp images easily even without using the focus magnifier.

Thank you. I do intend to but have had a rare burst of full-on filming/editing work which has left my little enthusiasm at the end of each day to do any more! I'll try to put something out soon. Essentially, I think much the same of it as I did the X70 so see my review on that :-)

Thank you :-)

It does, yes, the only annoyance being when you try to set the input levels, it doesn't show the meters on screen so it's a lot of trial and error!

Cheers. I've got a filming project on Tuesday that I'll use this for, so should have something then.

Hi. Sorry, I haven't had a chance to shoot much on it yet. Did do one job recently but in a bit of a hurry so need to look a the shots before I put them online! Hope to have something up soon. Cheers.

I'll give it a try and get back to you :-)

I can't cope on cameras without them :-)

Hi. This camcorder has high frame rate recording though I forget exactly what (best check the manual or online specs). It has two levels of zebra, can't remember about peaking but I expect it does, I just don't use it. The standard battery on this cam is OK but always worth buying a bigger one in my opinion.

@@UKAirscape Many thanks! A little more research since suggests up to 120FPS which is good, 240fps would be better. Agree about the lack of a flip up lens cover - such a useful feature of the Canon. Will keep looking, but this one is very firmly 'in the frame' I think. All the best. Nick

There is no rhyme or reason to it! What you can get depends on your budget.

Unfortunately, the edit question I cannot answer as I don't have Premiere or FCP; I'm intending to try DaVinci Resolve with it. The image question I hope I can do, over time!

I've been using them and no probs so far though I note they appear to be slightly different voltages

It does have a nightshot mode (I have not tested it). It seems to be compatible with the older batteries (I tried the one from my AX53 and it was fine although I notice they're listed as different voltages)

Not so far (as far as I know) although I've heard rumours of an AX53 successor but that could just be people being optimistic :-)

It's a perfectly fine codec. I don't use Premiere Pro so can't definitively answer but I'd be amazed if it couldn't handle it, Sony camcorders are so prevalent.

Very limited trials so far, just idly sitting with it and setting up the buttons to my preferred options etc. I will flick through the manual today to see if there are any oddities I ought to know about. It's raining and miserable so likely no test footage today either. What are your impressions?

Really like the feel of it although being left handed the "joystick" is going to be a challenge compared with my previous touchscreen. Also realised that I've got to be careful otherwise the deadcat on my mic will appear in shot! By the way the disc is the manual on pdf. Like you I'm waiting for it to stop raining...........

Agreed about the deadcat! And the mic holder is too wide a diameter to grab my mic (Audio Technica AT897R) so I'm going to have to wrap the mic in gaffer tape or something to make it fatter...

I think Preston's foresaw this for the NTG1 and provided a Sony microphone spacer

"touch screen vs joystick" for left handed. Hmm very interesting an excellent point. the NX80 is not really a touchscreen operable camera, it's actually designed to be operated with the joystick and the excellent viewfinder. The Canon XF400 was designed to be operated with the left hand on the excellent touch screen.

It's very nice. I can only justify it for the occasional paid jobs I do, it won't be for vlogging.

I don't know about running it from a power bank - and that would have the wrong shape connector (the power in is not USB) but I have run it continuously via the mains adaptor. From memory I believe the camcorder is switchable PAL / NTSC with a reboot

I don't mind the button and slot placements. I mind not receiving a charger. It's a shame you have to buy the Z90 if you want 10-bit 4:2:2 encoding too. What specifically do you not like about it?

Glad you are testing and evaluating this camera. Exactly this is what I have been waiting for. I am very interested, too, what's wrong with the "button and slot" placements? Actually, which buttons and which slots, the SD card slots?

Miklos Nemeth the dial under the screen, the SD card slots and door (lcd killer), the assignable button on the front (pain in the ass to press) the record button placement (you have to break your finger to reach it) the joystick placement (unwanted presses under record, unable to push up while You hold the camera) the AF/MF Switch almost unreachable and You can’t feel where is it while the LCD is opened, You cannot change the battery if You mounted to a pro or semi pro tripod head, you easily can broke a microphone connector with the holder stripe, and the Menu button completely unreachable if You opens the LCD... You need more? I have the X70 (same body) and I like the video quality, but the ergonomics is HORRIBLE! And the autofocus is just awful... especially under face detection off..., but when You switch it on, You face get blurred and You loose details on color. Ah, and the Focus ring is just a joke. Almost impossible to do manual focus. You need more?

Definitely agree about the menu button who thought that was a good idea? Also trying to unplug the microphone connectors!!

Agreed about the unplugging, when you have a shotgun in the mic holder (with a windjammer on it) the access to the XLR unclip "tab" is atrocious!

I've no idea

Hi. It's annoying, isn't it? I truly have no idea why. I think you have to go a fair bit further up their range to get it (the Z150 is only 25/30 as I recall) as is the FS5. I think I'm right in saying only the FS7 gets 50/60.

UKAirscape Hopefully that's its only shortcoming. I'm very interested in the focus tests you'll do. The Canon XF400 had focusing issues which was really disappointing. Looking forward to your review.

What was wrong with the XF autofocus? I thought it had Canon's whizzy dual pixel thingummyjig.

UKAirscape It hunted quite a bit for me. That was one big reason I sent it back. I felt I couldn't trust it for an event I'd be shooting. One shocker was trying to film a statue at night just panning up and down. It couldn't focus. Manually it was fine but in a pinch I didn't feel I could trust it. I love my HC-X1.

But that's always going to be an issue for autofocus, isn't it - trying to work out the sharp edges in dim light is a nightmare (even manually sometimes!)

I doubt it; Panasonic never lend me any gear and I have no intention to purchase that model from my own funds.

eBay maybe?

They're completely different beasts, not really comparable at all. The ZV1 is a pocketable, fully-auto point-and-shoot based on a still camera where the NX80 is a semi-professional camcorder with fully manual features. They're for different applications. I don't use the NX80 for the boat channel other than very occasionally but I still like it apart from the issue with the XLR audio (see other video). I bought the ZV1 for my campervan channel because it's size makes it ideal for travel videos. I wish it had better stabilisation though so I'd probably take a GoPro / DJI Osmo along as well for any moving shots.

@@UKAirscape Thanks David. I have watched all your channels for many years. I started with the camera reviews. I have no real interest in Canal boats or vans but you do such a great job presenting any topic that I look forward to your content. Great job.

Thank you

I think, off the top of my head, they have the same sensor don't they? So it would come down to the lens and I don't recall which one has the wider aperture offhand. The image quality would be much the same from either (though the NX100 is HD only I think, where the NX80 does 4K which would look grainier per pixel due to each pixel being that much smaller)

@@UKAirscape thanks

Only you can decide, no-one else can tell you which to get. It depends on your needs, your budget, your experience, your preference etc etc

Bobbing about on my narrowboat: ru-vid.com :-)

Yes. I have no need for the Z90's version of the XAVC codec and genlock/timecode.

Thank you. I've used the PXW-X70 but have had trouble working with Sony's XAVC-L CODEC but, at the time, thought I wanted the ability to create 'broadcast ready' footage. In your opinion is the X80 suitable for small commercial jobs? For me the XAVC-S CODEC is MUCH easier to work with.

As long as you don't want / need to do hard colour grading, the loss of 10-bit 4:2:2 HD from going with the NX80 is no great loss, I think. The stuff I do just has a bit of mild colour tweaking and it's fine for a corporate client but I'm not making cinematic masterpieces! I just shot a week of commercial work on the NX80 and (shhh, don't tell) used AVCHD!!

I have the Sony PXW-X70, but for me I find the the XAVC-L files too hard to work with, so I often use the AVCHD, it's interesting to me that you can use the AVCHD for client work. Thanks. 🙂

To be fair, the corporate job was classroom lectures so no attempt at "pretty" pictures or colour grading was required, they just needed an accurate capture of the people speaking.

Yes, or 25p if you want that (eg in PAL countries)

Thanks. One last question if u don't mind. I want to buy this cam for filming music videos should I go with the z90 instead or u think this one will be fine?

If you need to shoot "as live" multi-camera music videos then the Z90 has SDI out which is better for live mixing; equally if your material is to be heavily colour graded then the Z90's 4:2:2 HD codec will withstand more treatment than the version in the NX80. But it depends on what you're going to do, what your budget is, where you're distributing the videos etc.