Practical tips for Sony HXC-FZ90 camera

In the field of visual communication today, the leap from standard definition to high definition has brought audiences a completely new viewing experience. Nowadays, the footsteps towards 4K are sweeping in. As an engineer, I have visited numerous multimedia centers and had in-depth discussions with journalists and teachers. Whenever we talk about the gap between 4K and high-definition, such as watching classic TV dramas in my childhood, the images are incredibly clear in my memory. However, when we revisit nostalgic old movies, we are often troubled by picture quality issues.
This is because in terms of visual experience, after experiencing clearer and better looking high-definition and 4K HDR videos, people's visual perception ability that truly approaches the human eye will also improve. The leap from high-definition to 4K is not just an improvement in clarity, but also a visual upgrade, including higher brightness, richer and more comprehensive colors, and higher dynamic range. The visual experience brought to the audience is updated and iterated, which is also the reason for the trend of widespread adoption of 4K. It is a pursuit and expectation of higher visual experience by the audience. Today, I would like to share with you the practical, simple, and easy-to-use techniques of the Sony HXC-FZ90, which will help you capture more exciting images in the era of 4K.
Easy to get started, solve shooting anxiety
Exposure adjustment is no longer complicated
In the functional system of HXC-FZ90, TLCS (Total Level Control System) is particularly user-friendly for individual combat and users who have just started using the Xundao series products. It is like a machine intelligent exposure manager, responsible for automatically controlling exposure to ensure that the brightness and quality of the captured image are just right.
In actual shooting, the complex and varied lighting conditions bring many challenges to the shooting. For example, when shooting outdoors, the intensity and angle of light change instantly from an open area with direct sunlight to a mottled light and shadow area under the shade of trees; Indoor shooting is not easy either, as the lighting layout for activities is complex and the illuminance constantly changes. The emergence of TLCS allows photographers to easily tackle these challenges.
Because it can not only automatically adjust the aperture (Iris), but also intelligently control the shutter (Auto Shutter) and gain (Auto Gain). TLCS automatic parameter adjustment is very convenient to operate, and the design of TLCS is very user-friendly. The photographer can assign it to one of the ASSIGN 1/2/3 buttons on the camera, and set any Assign to TLCS in the SWITCH ASSIGN1 (menu O15/U04) of the Operation menu. When shooting activities, if there is a sudden change in stage lighting, the photographer can quickly press the button to turn on or off TLCS and adapt to the light changes quickly.
And TLCS has three practical working modes. Backlight mode is used for backlit scenes, such as shooting interviews with leaders under backlight, which can make the faces of the characters clear and avoid underexposure; Standard mode is suitable for most daily shooting, with natural and realistic images and just the right brightness; The SPOTLIGHT mode is suitable for scenes where the main body of the event is illuminated and the background is dark, such as shooting solo performers on stage, which can highlight the main body while balancing the background exposure.
TLCS under the HXC-FZ90 functional system is an ideal feature for users who are unable to adjust lighting in a timely manner during individual combat, or who are concerned about delayed or inadequate exposure adjustments due to complex and changing lighting conditions at event sites or outdoors.
2. Clear 4K autofocus difficulty
In the field of photography, manual focusing has always been a challenging problem, especially in the 4K era that pursues ultimate image quality, where the demand for precise focusing has reached a higher level. In the past, mastering manual focusing techniques often required photographers to invest a lot of time in practice, go through countless attempts and explorations, in order to achieve the desired focusing effect.
However, the designer of HXC-FZ90 fully considered the pain point of users and carefully designed a series of simple and easy-to-use focusing functions for this device, allowing users to completely get rid of the trouble of focusing during the shooting process.
The HXC-FZ90 is equipped with a wide range of practical focusing functions. Taking the detailed function of the viewfinder as an example, first enter the Operation menu VF Detail (menu O4) and set VF Detail and COLOR Detail to ON, and COLOR LEVEL to 100%. It can directly add dedicated image enhancement edge signals to the viewfinder, and also provides three colors for users to choose from: red, yellow, and blue. In actual shooting scenarios, such as shooting a host, if the user sets the color to red, the moment the focus is accurately on the host, the face of the host in the viewfinder will be covered by the red peak. This intuitive display method is like a "signal light" that indicates the focus to the photographer, helping them quickly and accurately identify the focus, greatly improving the convenience and accuracy of focusing.
Other focusing methods, such as the Focus Assist Indicator function, can use the indicator swing as a guide when the FOCUS ASSIST (Menu O8) INDICATOR option in the ACTION menu is turned on. When the Area MARK option is turned on, the indicator box can be opened to determine the selected focus position. The longer the indicator, the more accurate the focus, and it is also convenient to determine the focus.
The focus position table supports the function of placing markers, which is extremely practical in actual shooting. When the photographer needs to quickly switch focus between two subjects, the data of the two focuses can be stored in the device in advance, and unique colors can be edited for different focuses. Firstly, turn on FOCUS POSITION METER1 (Menu O6) in the ACTION menu, and then flip to the next menu, FOCUS POSITION METER2. Focus on the subject 1 first and then press the button on MKR1 to find a position point on the screen. Similarly, press the button on MKR2 after the subject is focused clearly. During the shooting process, when the focus ring reaches the preset specified position, the corresponding color will appear around the screen to prompt the photographer in a timely manner, helping the photographer to quickly and accurately change the focus position and ensure that the focus of the captured image is always on. Accurate and error free, not missing any exciting moments.
3 precise skin beauty, clear eyebrows and eyelashes
In today's era of widespread beauty technology, whether it is broadcasters who showcase their professional image in front of the screen or leaders who appear at various events, they attach great importance to their own facial presentation effects, and the demand for skin beauty is particularly concerned. The "Natural Skin tone detail" feature on the HXC-FZ90 perfectly meets these needs.
With this feature, users can easily fine tune the skin tone of a character by selecting the skin tone adjustment area on the PAINT menu (P14) page and activating the NATURAL SKINGTL function. By intelligently softening specific areas, the skin surface presents a delicate and smooth texture, while accurately sharpening specific areas, further highlighting the three-dimensional sense of the face. It is worth mentioning that in the process of modifying the skin tone of characters, this function performs particularly well in preserving eyebrow details. After processing, the surface of the cheeks will become smooth and natural, reducing blemishes, while every detail of the eyelashes and eyebrows remains clear and visible, giving the character a perfect skin texture while retaining real and vivid facial features, presenting a more natural and beautiful visual effect.
4 lossless image quality magnifying glasses, eliminating the trouble of telephoto lenses
After upgrading to 4K resolution, even in HD shooting mode, the powerful digital rangefinder function (D.AddenDER x2 or x4) can be enabled by assigning it to the shortcut customization key, SWITCH ASSIGN1 (Menu O15/U04) in the Operation menu, and setting any Assign to D EXTENDER x2， It can achieve a 2-fold extension of the focal length. Due to its use of an original image generator, using a 2x digital zoom lens during HD shooting will not reduce the image quality. This feature brings great convenience to photography. When shooting large-scale events that occur every few years, if the telephoto lens is insufficient, this feature can help photographers easily capture exciting scenes from afar. The magnification switching is simple, and important images and exciting moments can be accurately captured during live broadcasts to avoid omissions.
5CCU front panel integrates RCP panel function
The HXCU-FZ90, which complements the HXC-FZ90, has undergone clever targeted optimization in its design. It integrates a series of commonly used functions on the RCP remote control panel, such as aperture, main black, white balance, shutter speed, gain, and standardization, into the CCU camera control unit for easy adjustment by the cameraman. In this way, in many scenarios, when the cameraman takes the camera out for simple shooting, they no longer need to carry the RCP remote control panel. With the tacit cooperation between HXCU-FZ90 and HXC-FZ90, they can easily complete the program production, greatly improving the convenience and flexibility of shooting, making the shooting work more efficient and smooth.
For users who do not need to frequently adjust the exposure and color of the image during the shooting process, the HXCU-FF90 demonstrates strong practicality. When shooting in the studio or indoors, the basic adjustment functions on the CCU panel are sufficient to meet the requirements. Whether it's fast-paced news recording or shooting variety shows with high visual requirements, these features can be relied upon to smoothly complete and provide stable and reliable shooting support for users with different needs.
Professional choice, infinite possibilities
The functions of HXC-FZ90 are far more than that, it also has many hidden "treasure" features, such as up to ten kilometers of fiber optic transmission, external battery design, unique image tuning, pure line by line format for OTT and esports live streaming, and so on. Pick up the HXC-FZ90 and experience it for yourself, to personally feel how excellent the picture quality of the HXC-FZ90 is under the 4K torrent, and how easy it is to get started.