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Videography

7 Reasons Why I Want to Throw The Sony NEX-VG10 Out the Window

Chris Gampat
No Comments
04/21/2011
6 Mins read
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Readers of this site have asked for more HDSLR reviews: and so the first one that popped into my mind was the Sony NEX-VG10 and I’m currently working on a review. As another addition to the Sony NEX line of cameras, it’s a powerful camera in a small package: and it makes me want to scream at times. Like the Sony NEX-5 that I reviewed previously, I feel like it is best left in the auto modes and never touched otherwise. But that is only one of my frustrations with the camera. Here’s a list of the seven reasons why I want to throw this camera out the window and the few reasons why I won’t.

Video in FX Mode Isn’t Compatible with Leopard

The Sony NEX VG10 has a couple of options for recording video. I often choose the highest quality one, which records at 24MB/s. When I connected the camera to my Macbook, it didn’t recognize the video files. Then I tried just the SD card, and got the same error. Lastly, I don’t want to install Sony Vegas on my computer.

I had this same problem with the NEX 5 when I reviewed it. All that wonderful video goodness may not be accessible unless I can figure out a workaround of some sort.

So what’s the big deal here? Am I just complaining because I don’t want to upgrade? No: especially not when Panasonic, Canon and Nikon are all able to give me videos that work perfectly fine on my Macbook with Leopard. Though I should upgrade, this is a problem for videographers on a budget, whom this camcorder was sort of designed for.

Exposure Settings

When using the VG10 in practical situations, I feel a bit as if this camcorder is the awkward kid on the playground that no one wants to deal with for a very good reason despite its strengths.

The camcorder promises professional image quality in a consumer level package. The VG10 is indeed a consumer level camcorder, but that doesn’t mean that journalists at newspapers, college students and indie filmmakers may not want to use it. These people require more control over their settings to get the very best image quality that they can get. And yes, you can get very praiseworthy footage from this camera if you’re willing to work with it.

If you’re using the viewfinder and need to change your exposure settings in between shots when filming something like an event with changing light, then you’ll need to open up the LCD panel, press the exposure button, dial in your shutter speed, then press it again and dial in your aperture.

The fact that you need to open up the LCD panel in the first place is quite annoying. I’d want dials to be able to change these settings.

Because of this, it’s best to just leave the camcorder in an auto mode and just shoot. Consumers are surely not going to set up appropriate lighting to get the video quality they want.

LCD Screen Doesn’t Turn to Fit Flat Against the Panel (and needs to be better)

Yet another reason why I want to scream is the fact that Sony didn’t think that someone may want to have the LCD facing outwards towards them while recording the video. This is a big one too: it’s very limiting in certain situations. For example: indie filmmakers may want to use the camcorder because of its small size when a prime is affixed to it. When you’re in a cramped and small corner, you need a better viewing option and that LCD screen could have been it.

Instead, the buyer may have to go purchase an external monitor like the Sony V55.

And while I’m on the subject, that zoom lens isn’t going to cut it. It’s huge.

A-Mount to E-Mount Autofocus Support is Very Limited

At the time of my writing this posting, the Sony LA-EA1 adapter is best suited for many of the more affordable lenses from Sony. This is with the latest firmware update, which is version 2.

I’m currently testing the camera with some of the creme-de-la-creme of the lenses: the 50mm F/1.4 and 85mm F/1.4. Neither lens is supported according to the firmware update. What I don’t understand is why some of the even more expensive lenses are supported.

According to the firmware update page:

SAM Lenses

SSM Lenses

Notes:

  • Auto Focus function doesn’t work for continuous AF on movie mode or AF-C on still mode, but it does work for AF-S (single AF by Photo key half push).
  • With an A-mount lens attached, the auto focus speed will be slower than when an E-mount lens is attached. It takes approximately 2 to 7 seconds (based on Sony’s measurement standard) and may vary depending on the subjects or brightness of the shooting environments.
  • To prevent Auto Focus noise being recorded, Sony recommends using a stereo microphone (sold separately) with stereo-mini plug (e.g. ECM-CG50).

Which reminds me: when manually focusing the lens, the microphone will pick up the sound of you moving and turning said lenses focusing ring. My workaround is to use the Rode VideoMic: which is listed on my recommended accessories.

Complicated Menus and Navigation System

Something that many people complain about with the Sony NEX line of cameras is the highly complicated menu system. Trust me, it’s still a bit complicated but for some odd reason I felt that it was simpler on the NEX 5. The most complicated parts come in when you’re in Playback mode. If you’re viewing still images or video its a bit tough to scroll around. There are menu options laid out across the screen but they aren’t intuitive at all. I’ve had to play around with them a bit to figure it out.

Now if it’s tough for me (a guy that’s used to deal with cameras like this and more) it will drive Uncle Ted bonkers.

Top Handle Becomes Difficult to Hold When You Mount a Microphone on It

The NEX VG10 has a microphone already: and a very good one at that. But if you want better audio quality, they give you the option of mounting an external microphone. When you mount the microphone, it makes holding the camcorder by the upper grip a pain to hold.

Behind the dead cat of the microphone are two slots: one is a cold shoe for something like my microphone from Rode and the other is the Sony Hot shoe that can even mount a flash for photos. It’s a little bit clumsy in its design and wrapping your entire hand around the top handle becomes difficult to do no matter what your hand size is.

Granted, it’s not impossible: but when you’re holding thousands of dollars of equipment you want to have the best grip on it that you can. And don’t even get my started on tripods.

The Camcorder Doesn’t Record in 24p

Perhaps the camera’s most unacceptable problem is that it does not record in 24p. It records in 30p, which is great for the web. But in that case, I would think that Sony should’ve taken this further. How so? They’ve got the Bloggie which we have a fondling to, and that’s very compatible with the web. Knowing fully well that consumers are going to want to put their footage on the web, it should’ve had an easy upload option of some sort.

Reasons Why It’s Awesome: the camcorder has phenomenal image quality, but that’s about it. I’m not throwing it out the window because it’s a loaner unit. Plus, it comes with Sony Vegas, so that’s a major plus because it’s an amazing video editing software.

I’ve used it at a concert as well and with artificial lighting, it’s darned good. In natural light and for a camcorder for photojournalists: look elsewhere.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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