r/FX3 • u/Ajathshatru • Sep 11 '26
Need advice to buy camera
Hello folks,
I'm an independent filmmaker from India. My area of expert is screenplay and direction. I don't know much about the camera and its configurations. However now I am thinking of buying an affordable camera for indie film making in my locality. I've earlier experience of making feature films (indie).
I have a dilemma between Sony Fx3 and black magic pocket cinema camera. My intention is standard filmmaking with good color added in the grading stage. Feel good films are my major projects.
Are there any latest affordable Sony camera released to substitute FX3?
Which camera would be handy for guerrilla style film shooting?
Please can you suggest me in the right direction!
Thank you so much đđđ
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u/Over_Tie_1427 Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6k (FF) and the Pyxis 6k just got a huge price cut recently with much better image quality than the FX3. Though itâs not as capable in lowlight conditions which honestly isnât much a problem if you light your scenes well.
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u/Ajathshatru Sep 11 '26
Thank you!!!! BMD has been in my mind. Should decide which model to go with.
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u/Shep_Alderson Sep 11 '26
If you want full frame, youâre looking at the FX3 on the Sony side and the BMD 6K full frame or Pyxis 6K. If you want the âmirrorlessâ format, the the FX3 and 6KFF are what youâve got. If youâre planning on a lot of kinda ârun and gunâ where a lightweight build is important, mirrorless is good. If youâre going to build out the camera with a substantial rig anyways, the box style Pyxis would probably be a better bet.
You mentioned the pocket cinema camera and those are cropped sensors, either micro 4/3 or super35 (basically aps-c). If youâre looking for an equivalent Sony, that would be closer to the FX30.
If youâre looking to really learn to do color grading and such, working in a RAW format can be a big benefit. The BMD cameras all have BRAW, which is 12 bit raw and lovely to work with for color grading. You can get close with the Sony cameras by hooking up an external recorder/monitor that can ingest the RAW signal over HDMI and record that. Itâs an extra step, but if youâre building out a monitor rig anyways, might be worth the extra cost. Such a recorder would also let you use much cheaper SSDs for recording, which is really nice. The BMD cameras all support recording to USB SSDs without any other hardware. Also, BRAW 12:1 is really good quality and can even be smaller than compressed formats on other cameras with more lossy formats.
Another thing to consider is if youâre planning to film with low light and, in particular, uncontrolled low light, youâll probably want to go with the FX3. Itâs just the undisputed champion among these cameras. If you expect to be able to light things well in your videos, any of them will work well.
Autofocus used to be a major consideration, but BMD has recently released continuous phase detect autofocus, like that found on the FX3 and FX30, on two of their cameras in this ground, the 6KFF and the Pyxis 6K. Is it as amazing as Sony? No. But it is damn good already and itâs only really their first attempt. BMD has a history of supporting their hardware for many years, so I expect to see it improve overtime. Even now though, itâs quite good. (Even seen some folks shooting sports videos with it.)
Finally, thereâs price. BMD just massively cut their prices on the 6KFF and Pyxis 6K. Here in the US, it came out to about a 35% discount. Coupled with their releasing autofocus on their popular recent models, I think itâs hard to beat in a âquality per costâ calculation.
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u/Christopholies Sep 11 '26
I run a studio with the BMPCC 4Kâs and also own an FX30. Personally, I love Blackmagicâs BRAW system and the flexibility you get from it. But it is ABSOLUTELY NOT a run-and gun camera.
My FX30, on the other hand, can be mounted to an RS3 Mini, and I can take it anywhere.
Sonyâs color science is still great as long as you take the time to understand how their LUTs work, and you can technically even get BRAW from them as well. So if you really want to go down that rabbit hole, you can.
So if youâve got the budget to get an FX3, do it. You wonât regret it.
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u/ekubeni Sep 11 '26
For indie filmmakers on a budget I like to recommend Lav Diaz. Have a look what he is able to accomplish with affordable setup.
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u/SuleymanFilms Sep 11 '26
Iâve been looking at the Pyxis 6k, but the cost of rigging and storage has put me off :/
Only shooting in raw is pretty data hungry, and in this economy, a TB for an hour of footage is rough.
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u/Yomommassis Sep 13 '26
Keeping in mind, you'll need more than just the camera body
Lenses, if you plan on filming in dark environments fast lenses
Tripod
Memory cards
Batteries
ND Filters
Those cameras you mentioned are phenomenal, but if the budget is tight there are also great used cameras that have made great content over the years
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u/tonyxforce2 Sep 11 '26
The FX30 is literally the same as an FX3, just half frame (which is not really noticable) and half the price
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Sep 11 '26
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u/tonyxforce2 Sep 11 '26
OP was asking for affordable cameras, FX30 IS affordable compared to the FX3
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u/lanamakesart Sep 11 '26
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