Successor to the Sony AX100 ?

Any Idea if this is coming out soon. The more time I spend researching what to shoot underwater the more I have come to believe i want a video camera over DSLR or mirrorless. Seems to be much more versatile with ability to shoot macro or wide angle on same dive.

But the AX100 is getting a little old now so the investment brand new to see a successor come out in 2017 with 60fps would be a killer!

So anyone have any Idea? or what is even your best guess?

60fps would be a killer only with 200Mbps...

Dreaming is always allowed :-) But I dont think this will happen anytime soon. 4k 60p at 150mbps (at 8bit) is just starting to arrive on pro-camcorders running on SD cards. I would not count on them arriving on a sub-$2000 consumer camcorder anytime soon. Consistent write speed of SD cards is still a bottlenecks.

The industry still wants us to believe that we are well served shooting video on photo devices - much like using a fork to eat soup. Its interesting to see that more shooters come to different conclusions, in fact the Gates AX100 has apparently seen some unexpected uptick in demand during this year...

I, for one, am more optimistic.

First, plenty of cameras already offer 200mb/s+ recording onto sd cards. See, e.g. Panasonic GH4 (3 years old now), new Olympus EM-1 MK2. It's not a hardware limitation. SD cards exist now with write speeds approaching 90MB/s (that's 720mb/s). Plenty of headroom.

Furthermore, 4k60p can probably be done alright at 100mbps, especially if using h.265 rather than h.264 encoding (though obviously more is better). The Phantom 4 Pro from DJI records 4k60p at 100mb/s, for example.

So.. I don't think the bottleneck for 4k60p is necessarily storage. I think it's actually sensor read-out speed and the heat generated by current consumer-level sensors when called to read that pixels at such a high frequency.

The GH5 is supposed to record 4k60p internally. The Phantom 4 pro already does, and the Inspire 2 from DJI with the X5S camera (another micro4/3 sensor) soon will. So I would say there's a real possibility the AX100's successor will do 4k60p. Whether that successor will be launched this year or not is anyone's guess, though.

If its only sensor read out and heat I wonder why cameras such as the FS5 don't already have it. It has a very efficient cooling system - and can even read out 12bit 4k 60p raw to an external recorder with that special software update - and still only offers 4p 30p 8bit internally on SD.

Lack of internal 4k 60p is the only thing holding me back. Otherwise I love that cam!

If its only sensor read out and heat I wonder why cameras such as the FS5 don't already have it. It has a very efficient cooling system - and can even read out 12bit 4k 60p raw to an external recorder with that special software update - and still only offers 4p 30p 8bit internally on SD.

 

Lack of internal 4k 60p is the only thing holding me back. Otherwise I love that cam!

Just speculation, but perhaps because Sony wants to protect the market for the FS7/F5/F55

Sony hasn't so far implemented more than 100mb/s recording onto SD cards, whereas others such as Panasonic and Olympus seem prepared to go there.

I would love to see an AX100 MK2 with 60p, 220mbps and a few other upgrades but whether that will come in 2017 or 2018 is anybody's guess.
The AX100 is still a solid investment and a very capable camera in the right hands.

As an interesting side note, John Ellerbrock form Gates just posted this from his visit to CES:

Sony AX100 camera lives on!

At the Sony booth I expected to find a new, replacement Handycam for the AX100, which just passed a remarkable three years on the market. To my surprise the AX100 continues another year! Which of course means the workhorse Gates AX100 carries on too -- a superb underwater 4K rig.

That's rather unfortunate. Looks like only the GH5 is still left in the running for a sub $2000 4k/60p option for now.

Really curious if Sony will release a new A7 camera to challenge the GH5's projected video supremacy.