Sony FX3 vs. FX6 vs. a7S III vs. ZV-E1 | Which Is Right For You?

Sony's a7S III, FX6, FX3, and ZV-E1 have the same full frame sensor, so you should just buy the least expensive, right? Wrong! While there are some similarities between these four cameras, each are tailored to specific needs. Are you looking for a cinema or hybrid camera? Are you going to livestream as well? Nick discusses this lineup and details the features that set these cameras apart from each other. Based on your skill level and workload, which of these would be right for you?

Watch our initial reviews of these cameras

Cameras compared

0:00 Intro
0:47 Lineup Rundown
1:51 Image & Photo Quality
3:37 Video Features
6:25 Feature Set Lighting Round
9:00 Professional Video Shoot
12:04 Stabilization Test
15:06 Content Creator/YouTube Studio Setup
20:58 So, Which Is For You?

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[BandH]

Based on your skill level and workload, which of these would be right for you?

[LouMonestime]

Unfortunately the s3 is being neglected by Sony at the moment :(

[SnakesfortheMemories]

Great video. My wife bought me the ZV-E1 to upgrade from my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I will say I haven't had any issue with long 4k recordings. Put in my 256gb card and put the fan the back and i can record what seems like forever.

[kowabundant]

We love our A7SIII camera and it has been a fantastic commercial beast for the last 2 years. Great for photos too to share on social. It works great, we do wish Sony would update it more but overall it is an amazing camera.

[MichaelPerez]

FX3 does have a mechanical shutter. It’s the FX30 that removed it to lower the price.

[IbrahimSarker]

It seems that Zve1 has lower saturation at 2:00 compared to other cameras, and at 15:44, it appears that the soft skin effect was applied.

[J.Lulo_]

Great 👍 video man love the breakdown of each camera. I wish I could spend more time learning how to operate those kinds of cameras more. But it’s seems to take a long time to learn each and every feature that cameras have to get the absolute best image quality out of them. It absolutely fascinating to me how great these cameras are. I currently own a canon 6d Mii and have been considering changing over to a Sony lately.

[SianCKB]

I got the zve1 and it's an insane camera. And overheating isn't an issue since I don't do documentaries, interviews, etc etc I mostly use it for social media & filmmaking! Short bursting all the time.

(I previously had the Sony A6400.. so to me it's a huge difference in image quality. 🥵😍)

[hungrybearcub_films]

Planning to upgrade to the Sony A7SIII soon. Was a toss up between it and the FX3. Seems like they are same cameras. The only concern is Sony not releasing updates for A7SIII. Should that be a concern? Is Sony gonna support A7SIII moving forward?

[nightdonutstudio]

Fx3 has mechanic shutter and can do flash photography at normal sync speed. ZV-E1 does not have mechanical shutter but it still can do flash photography but at miserable sync speed 1/30, pretty useless for flash.

[Jambo]

You can purchase the XLR-K3m audio module for the A7S III. If the ZV-E1 has a hot shoe, maybe it fits on there as well. Its a good sound controller, but I don't like is cheaper plastic vs the ones on Sony Camcorders years ago. Also what all the reviewers ignore, is these cameras has 4 channels of audio. So you can have 2 channels with safety tracks, or 3 actors and ambient sound, etc.

[SamGossner]

Great video, thanks B&H team! I think this is a great comparison, covers all of the specs and use cases nicely.

FX3 won for me after comparing with A7IV, A7C, and A7SII; the ergonomics & menus are a big step up, while retaining a size small enough to fit three of them in a backpack w/ lenses, plus the very low image noise. I still keep an A7IV around for photography and its surprisingly useful APS-C/Super-35 crop video mode ("virtual 1.5x tele-adapter"), and a few A7C's as discreet "C" cameras. It'd be interesting to compare such "oversampling" high-res sensors vs. "1:1" low-res sensors for video use.

Despite my initial excitement as a possible A7C replacement, I have a lot of concerns about the practicality of the ZV-E1 as Sony's published "Notes on continuous movie recording" are abysmally low, as little as 5-20 minutes, but Sony's spec for overheating usually seems to be more of a suggestion than reality. There are some models which never seem to have heat issues and others that definitely do... I literally once stood like an idiot blowing air across the back of an a6500 which overheated during a gig. Since then, I've been a lot more cognizant of that spec!

Might I suggest doing a 'continuous recording drag race' in future videos? Fresh batteries in each camera, identical settings and lenses, hit record, perhaps repeated at 24fps and 60fps or two temperatures. I got just under 150 min (2h30m) on the FX3 (fan 'low') and A7IV identically, using full manual lenses, no audio handle, screen folded out, 4K24 4:2:2 10-bit 240Mbps, about 25c/77f air temp (indoors), neither overheated. Audio handle w/ a 3mA condenser mic gave me the exact rated 135 min (2h15m). Longest Sony I've found is the A7C at an impressive 3 hours (8-bit 4:2:0), which is great for a set-and-forget camera you hide on a stage or something. I reckon the fan on the FX3 should make it considerably better suited than A7SIII, A7IV, ZV-E1, A7C, etc. for working continuously in sunlight without overheating. I did notice though that the A7IV's and A7C seem to dump some heat into the lens/mount, so large/metal lenses might be giving it an advantage over small/pasticky ones.

[gradianpictures]

side by side, the look of A7s3 is more pleasant than FX3, it's because the codec are different or other thing, A7S3 and FX6 look are closely similar, i dont know why

[Jambo]

I've been happy with the A7S III, except: XLR adapter is plastic and weak, and mounts directly to the hot shoe. Recently, I get occassional 1-2 second sound drop-outs.

[Switchkyng]

I was really enjoying your video, until you said the zve1 has a recording limit. Have you actually tested it? I recorded full podcasts with it in 4K, recorded way past 30 minutes.

Question is which one gets Firmware updates?😂😂😂 I‘m done with Sony. Payed 4500 € for a so called Cinema camera A7SIII with no future support …

[lightexplorer]

Excellent video. I was trying to understand the differences between these cameras as I am getting into video

[rudolphlagarrigue]

To me A7S3 is the best because: it has viewfinder when you shoot outdoor, no need phan even in sunny day, hotshoes for sound or portable Tentacle Track e 32bits, it is light with light codec no need to add atomos ninja wich add too much weight.... i just add DJI Ronin rs3 mini and you can do a lot of good things. What it needs to be better is only evND (even if sony needs to sacrify ibis), 4K DCI format and a light way to internally record like raw without debayering (stop noise reduction sharpening etc), two screws at the bottom to fix it, that all nothing else. A7S4?. If i was sony's R&D responsable i will work on wireless monocular viewfinder like dji drone one.

well imo the fx6 is the worst when recording internally. 8bit long gop, older sony color science (while a7siii, fx3 and zv e1 have simply more pleasing skintones), no 100fps base with audio (which sucks for musicvideo production) the body and ND is cool though and the bp batteries also ... some features are cool but i do not like the image as much, i had both the fx6 and a7siii and idk the a7siii was graded in an instant, the fx6 was always more of a hassle, it has more noise and the colors where simply too spread out from yellow to magenta resulting in yellow and magenta tones in the skin which are simply not that nice. On papaer the fx6 was a dream come true but i bought it and had always a hate love relationship with it, sometime i want it back and then i am reminded of my experience with it

[rjroser]

I need Sony to give my ASIII some updates 😔