[Gear] Sony Reveals NEX-FS700, ’4K Ready’ and 240fps Camera Body

Hot on the heels of NAB 2012, Sony’s Europe website posted the NEX-FS700E Camcorder. The hitlist of features include a Super35mm CMOS Sensor, 4K RAW output with a future upgrade, up to 240fps @ 1080p, built-in ND filters, and 50/60Hz switching. Pricing is still unannounced, but EOSHD’s sources tell them it will only be $8,000! Hit the jump for actual product images and a detailed feature list.

At first glance, the Sony FS700 resembles the Sony FS100 quite a bit. It keeps the same form factor, LCD panel, and E-mount lens system. But there are very notable improvements, and depending on it’s price point, this camera body could make for some tough competition with a camera like the Canon C300.

Resolutions and speed;
1080p @ 24/25/30/50/60p
240fps @ 1080p for 8 seconds
120fps @ 1080p for 16 seconds
Up to 1,480fps in a line-skipped readout, interpolated to 1920×1080

The camera will record footage in the AVCHD 2.0 format, and has HDMI/3G-SDI outputs. It’s likely the 4K update in the future will require external recording hardware to support the massive data stream.

Built in ND filters at ¼, 1/16, and 1/64 will make exposure easier to control and will be much appreciated by the video folks who have been using DSLRs.

The E-mount lens system works with a handful of Sony E lenses, but with an adapter you can use lenses with a Sony Alpha mount, for which there are quite a few more.

Questions still remain, but answers are hopefully coming. What’s the official cost going to be? How much will the 4K upgrade be and when should we expect it? What’s the deal with ‘line-skipped readout’ and how acceptable will the footage be at 1,480 frames per second? The bigger picture questions remain as well, which include how this will sit with the current offering of Super35 sensor cameras, and when 4K hits how it will compete price and features-wise with RED cameras. Competition is a good thing, and I’m looking forward to being able to afford one of these systems in the near future.

Keep your eye out for an upcoming podcast on the fxguide site that may shed some more light on the this camera and hopefully answer our questions.

[Via Dan Chung at DSLR News Shooter]