Why choose the Sony BURANO or FX6?
6th Feb 2026
When buying a camera, there are many things to take into account. Cost is a major consideration: initial purchase price, ROI in the form of a daily rate, residual value down the line (generally unknown at the time of purchase), necessary accessories and what they cost, and media. Demand: do your customers like this camera, and do they see a perceived value if the camera is more expensive? Lifespan: will the camera still be in favour next year?
Let’s imagine we are thinking of the FX6 or Burano. Is the Burano worth four or five times the cost of the FX6? Fundamentally, no. But, it’s like asking whether a Porsche Carrera is worth four times the cost of a Ford Focus. Again, fundamentally no, if the decision is based on buying a car to do car things. The FX6 does what it does very well at a very affordable price. The Ford Focus drives around, getting you from A to B in relative comfort. So, what we need to concentrate on is what extra things the Burano and the Porsche do, and whether that is worth the extra spend. I don’t sell Porsches, so we’ll dump the analogy and stick to the Burano.
The heart of every camera is the sensor. Both have 36 × 24 sensors, with the FX6 tied to 4K and the Burano achieving 8K with four times the amount of active pixels. Much has been made regarding the sensor read rate and rolling shutter of the Burano, but mostly this affects the 6K and 8K formats. Now, with v2.0 firmware, in UHD FF the Burano is 6 ms, the FX6 in UHD 25p is 8.8 ms, and the Alexa Mini LF is 7.5 ms. The Alexa S35 is around 6 ms for 4.6K 16:9, and the Venice 2 at 8K is ultra quick at around 4 ms, but that’s why the last two are mega expensive cameras. IR pollution was the next issue, and again this was all the rage when 4K cinema cameras first came out and was solved with IR filters. Sony has replaced the front filter to reduce the IR pollution.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at why the Burano is more Porsche like than the Ford Focus. Onboard recording formats will be the biggie. The FX6 is restricted to XAVC-I, 10-bit 4:2:2. This is fine for most things. You can record S-Log3, which should give you 15 stops of dynamic range, and 10-bit colour depth is ample for TV. With a max data rate of 600 Mbps (60 fps), this results in fairly low data and storage requirements. The Burano has XAVC-I, then XAVC-H for 8K, but also X-OCN LT for onboard 16-bit RAW recording. X-OCN LT has a very similar data rate to XAVC-I but is unsampled, as it’s RAW, and is 16-bit. The FX6 does have a 16-bit RAW output to record externally, but as yet there are no devices that can record 16-bit, so you’re restricted to 10-bit.
The Burano will go to UHD 120 fps in S35 and FF, while the FX6 is S35 only for 120 fps, restricted to 60 fps in FF. The Burano tops out at 60 fps in 6K and 30 fps in 8K, which the FX6 obviously doesn’t do.
Autofocus is hybrid in both cameras with the correct lenses, as is image stabilisation, but the Burano also has 5-axis in-body image stabilisation, so all cinema primes and zooms can be stabilised as well.
Both have dual base ISO, with the lower being ISO 800. The FX6 upper base is 12,800, a whole four stops up. This is probably a good thing for documentary and live action when you are starting to struggle for light and need to step up to reduce noise. In a lit environment, where things are more controlled, you’re probably not going to need to go up four stops. The Burano, with its second base at ISO 3,200 (two stops up), is probably more useful. To add to this, the FX6 only has an electronic ND with 1 to 7 stops plus variable ND, while the Burano has glass ND filters plus 2–7 stops of electronic and variable ND.
Both cameras take Sony E-mount lenses, and the Burano comes with a PL mount adapter. The Sony E-mount allows both cameras to be adapted to the majority of lens mounts.
Hopefully, this gives you some insight and can help your decision if you are considering a Burano. There are many other differences, such as gamut, ergonomics, viewfinder, etc., but these can all be subjective and a matter of choice.
If you’d like to come and have a play with a Burano, we have one in our showroom where you can compare it to others.
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Author: Mike Thomas