---
title: 'Sony Camera Codecs Explained: XAVC, HEVC, H.264 & Choosing the Best Settings'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=_UWzgG21dO4'
video_id: '_UWzgG21dO4'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 697
---

# Sony Camera Codecs Explained: XAVC, HEVC, H.264 & Choosing the Best Settings

> Source: [Sony Camera Codecs Explained: XAVC, HEVC, H.264 & Choosing the Best Settings](https://youtube.com/watch?v=_UWzgG21dO4)

## Summary

This video explains the various codecs available in Sony cameras, including XAVC HS (H.265), XAVC S (H.264), XAVC HD, and XAVC SI (All-Intra). It covers key concepts like bit rate, color subsampling, and bit depth, and provides practical recommendations for choosing the best settings based on your needs.

### Key Points

- **What is a Codec?** [00:00] — A codec compresses video footage to reduce file size. Sony cameras offer several codecs, accessible via the shooting menu under image quality and recording.
- **XAVC HS (H.265)** [00:47] — XAVC HS uses HEVC (H.265) for efficient compression, producing files about half the size of H.264 with similar quality. However, it requires more processing power to decode.
- **Frame Rate Limitations in XAVC HS** [01:41] — In XAVC HS, only 24, 60, and 120 fps (or 50 and 100 fps in PAL) are available; 25 or 30 fps are not supported.
- **Bit Rate Explained** [02:08] — Bit rate (in megabits per second) determines data per second. Higher bit rates (e.g., 200 Mbps) yield better quality but larger files. 100 Mbps equals 12.5 MB/s.
- **Color Subsampling: 4:2:2 vs 4:2:0** [03:08] — 4:2:2 retains more color information than 4:2:0, which is beneficial for green screen work. Choose 4:2:2 when possible.
- **Bit Depth: 8-bit vs 10-bit** [03:29] — 10-bit offers 1 billion colors, while 8-bit has 16 million. 10-bit is superior for color grading.
- **XAVC HD (1080p)** [04:21] — XAVC HD records in 1080p at various frame rates with different bit rates, color subsampling, and bit depth options.
- **XAVC SI (All-Intra)** [04:39] — XAVC SI compresses each frame individually, reducing artifacts in dynamic scenes. Requires V90 SD or CFexpress Type A cards. High bit rates (e.g., 500 Mbps at 50 fps) result in large files.
- **XAVC SI DCI 4K** [06:34] — Available on FX30 and FX3, this mode records in DCI 4K (17:9 aspect ratio) at true 24 fps for cinema use.
- **Recommended Settings** [07:10] — For 50/100 fps, use XAVC HS (H.265) at 100 Mbps for manageable files. For 25 fps, use XAVC S 4K (H.264) at 140 Mbps 4:2:2 10-bit. Avoid HD and SI codecs unless necessary.
- **Memory Card Recommendations** [09:11] — V60 SD cards are a sweet spot for most codecs. V90 cards are overpriced for minimal gain. CFexpress Type A is needed for XAVC SI. Freewell Pro Card Reader Plus and Pro SSD Link are recommended for fast offloading.

### Conclusion

Understanding Sony's codecs helps you balance quality, file size, and workflow. For most users, XAVC HS at 100 Mbps or XAVC S at 140 Mbps 4:2:2 10-bit offers the best compromise, while V60 cards provide sufficient speed without breaking the bank.

## Transcript

In today's video, we're going to break
down the codecs of Sony cameras so you
don't have any misconceptions about
those. But first of all, you need to
understand what a codec is. A [music]
codec is basically a container, a way of
pressing down, compressing the footage,
uncompressed, pretty big files to more
compressed and more manageable file
sizes. And as you can tell guys, in Sony
cameras, we have several different
codecs. Here is the Sony FX30 as an
example, but most of the Sony cameras
have more or less similar codecs. And to
change the codec, you need to go to the
shooting menu, image quality and
recording and file format. Then hit like
this and you'll see different codecs. Or
there is another option. If you go to
the home menu, you'll have the codecs
right here. And the first thing you'll
see is the XAVC. XAVC is basically a
naming for Sony codecs and it doesn't
mean anything specific. And the first
one we have here is the XAVC HS4K. It
means that you'll have a 4K image, but
also we have the letters HS and it means
that it will be an HEVC or the high
efficiency video codec, also known as
the H.265. We have the older H.264,
which is not as efficient, and we have
an H.265, which is more efficient. It
means that the H.265 can compress the
file sizes more. For example, you'll
have two times smaller file sizes while
still retaining the image quality. But
guys, there is a catch because the H.265
265 is more heavy for your computer to
uncompress. So, we have more compression
in camera, but the computer has to
uncompress this footage and some
computers may struggle with this. But if
you have the M1, M2, M2 Max, etc.,
you'll be more than fine because Apple
is including the decoders and encoders
for the HEVC or H.265 and a lot of
Windows computers as well. Then, if you
go to movie settings, you'll see
different formats. For example, in
XAVCHS, we only have 50 frames per
second and 100 frames per second.
[music] And that's a bug of Sony cameras
because in XAVCHs, H.265, we're not able
to record in 25 frames per second or in
30 frames per second as well, only 24,
60, and 120. Or if you are in the PAL
region, only 50 and 100 frames per
second. But then we have another option,
which is the record setting. And in
here, we have different numbers. And
what do they mean? Basically, we have
here the megabits per second. 45, 75,
100, 150, and 200 megabits per second.
Don't mess those with megabytes.
Megabytes are actually eight times more.
As you can tell here, it's written 100 m
capital, but the B is a small one. We
have the megabits. If it was megabytes,
we would have the B as a capital letter
as well. It means that the bit rate of
100 megabits per second is actually
[music] 12.5 megabytes per second. we
have to divide 100 megabits to eight to
get the megabytes. So this is called the
bit rate and the higher the bit rate the
more data we have and also the heavier
will be the file sizes. Sometimes it is
crucial to have smaller file sizes and
for this I'd suggest getting something
like 45 megabits per second but
sometimes for heavy color grading and
color correction it is crucial to have
higher bit rates and for this I would
suggest picking something like 200
megabits per second. Up next we have the
color subsampling. We have the 422 and
420. And it means that we have several
amounts of color information for each
pixel. And as you can tell from the
charts, the 422 has more color
information than the 420, which is more
important for green screen work. For
example, if you have an option of
picking the 4:22 instead of 420, just do
this. And finally, we have the bit
depth. 8 bit or 10 bit. 10 bit has about
1 billion colors, whereas 8bit only has
about 16 million colors. So always if
you have an option to pick the 10 bit,
pick the 10 bit because it's much better
for color grading in post. [music] And
for each codec, you'll have different
movie settings. For example, right now
we were in HS codec, but now let's go to
XAVCs, which is the H.264. It has less
compression, but it has bigger file
sizes. So if we pick the H.264, XAVC
S4K, and go into the movie settings,
right now we have the 25, the 50, and
100 frames per second. And as you can
tell, we have different record settings,
different bit rate, different color
subsampling, 420 or 420, and different
bit depth, 8 bit or 10 bit. And also, if
you go from 25 frames per second to 100
frames per second, you'll also see the
different record settings and different
bit rates. The next codec we have here
is the XAVC HD. It means that you'll
only be able to record in HD, 1080p,
basically at 25, 50, or 100 frames per
second. [music] And here you have
different bit rate values, color
subsampling and bit depth [music] values
as well. The next codec is called the
XAVC SI and it means that this codec has
an all intra compression. All intra
means that each frame is being
compressed individually but also the
previous codecs such as the S and the HS
they had the long GOP compression. It
means that you only compress the first
shot then after about eight shots you
get another compression and then it goes
like so from the first to the eighth.
then from the eighth to the 16th,
[music] etc. It means that the all intra
codec such as the XAVC SI is slightly
better for really dynamic scenes. For
example, if you shoot in Fountain,
you'll have less compression artifacts
with the drops that are coming from the
fountain basically. And also, right now
guys, I'm using the SD card which has a
V60 label and through all the codecs
that I've mentioned above, it was plenty
of speed with the SD card. But if I want
to use the SI, so all intra compression
with higher bit rates, it will show me
this sign. You have to use a V90 SD card
or the CF express type A card. And right
now I have inserted the CF Express Type
A card with really high bit rate speeds
for recording and also for offloading
the footage. And as you can tell guys,
in the movie settings we have 25 frames
per second and 250 megabits per second.
It's a super high bit rate. And if we go
to 50 frames per second, we'll have 500
megabits per second. So the file sizes
will be pretty dramatic. And also guys,
I have to mention that you don't have
100 frames per second in all intra mode.
So with this codec XAVCI, but you can
actually enable it with a slow and quick
motion if you set the FPS for the
recording and for the frame rate. The
next codec we have here is the XAVC SI.
So once again, an all intra codec with
higher bit rates, but for the 1080p HD.
And as you can tell from here, we have
the 93 mgabits per second speed for 25
fps and also for 50 fps, we get 185
megabits per second bit rate at 4210
bit. And the final codec that is
available only on Sony FX30 and Sony FX3
for the cinema cameras is the XAVC SI.
Once again, all intra but in DCI 4K
format. This format is usually used in
cinema in movies and it has the aspect
ratio of 17x9 not a 16x9. And in this
mode I'm able to record at 24 frames per
second. So a true 24 like cinema 24p as
you can tell from here and also in 25
and 50 frames per second. And you only
need this mode if you plan on using it
for the film and if your client requires
you to shoot in this 17x9 aspect ratio.
Now you know about the codecs
themselves, about the bit rate, bit
depth, color subsampling, and
differences between those, but which
ones are my favorite, and which ones do
I recommend? Usually, if I need to shoot
at 50 or 100 frames per second, I'll
just go to XAVC HS because it still has
really nice image quality, but really
manageable file sizes. As you can tell,
for 50 frames per second, I can easily
use 100 megabits per second and I'll
have about 8 and 1/2 hours of recording
to my 256 gigs card. But if I were to
go, for example, to the XAVC S4K, which
is H.264 codec, I'll have the bit rate
to about 280 megabits per second. And
here I have only 3 hours and 15 minutes
of record time, which is more than two
times less. But the image quality
difference isn't that noticeable at all.
But if I need to record in 25 fps, I'll
go to xavc 4K H.264 codec and I'll go to
25 frames per second and I would pick
140 megabits per second 42 10 bit just
to be in 10 bit codec and in 4:2 color
subsampling. And with this mode, I'll
have about 6 hours and 40 minutes to my
256 SD card. And I almost never shoot in
HD because the 4K quality is really nice
on Sony cameras and I simply don't need
to shoot in HD. I would have the bigger
resolution with the 4K definitely. And
with the SI codec, I also don't use it
often because if I pick this codec and
shoot in 50 frames per second, I only
have 57 minutes of record time to my 256
CF Express Type A card, which is really
not a lot. It's eight times less than
shooting in uh XDC HS.265. And the
difference in image quality is literally
indistinguishable. At least in my
opinion, especially when you upload your
video to YouTube or Instagram, for
example, you won't notice any difference
because YouTube or Instagram will apply
their compression and you'll see no
difference whatsoever. And since I don't
shoot movies and don't shoot for cinema,
I don't use the DCI 4K mode as well. And
for the codecs I've shown you, I do use
the V60 card. This one is 256 gigs and
it's for 25 megabytes per second speeds.
And as you can tell right here, I have
50 frames per second in XAVCs codec and
the bit rate is 200 megabits per second.
So it's plenty of headroom for me. So
the V60 would be a sweet spot between
the price of the SD card and the
recording capabilities. And the transfer
speeds with the V60 cards are still
pretty much manageable and it's not that
much slower than for example a V90 card
which is much more expensive. But still
guys, occasionally I do want to shoot in
XAVC SI mode for my clients
specifically. And you can purchase one
CF Express Type A card for this type of
shot in XAVC SI codec or for the DCI 4K
and then you'll have a second slot with
the V6 DSD card as a backup. In my
opinion, there is absolutely zero need
to buy a V90 cards because they are much
more expensive and you don't get major
differences in those codecs that I
regularly use and you won't see a big
difference in the transfer speeds as
well. There is also a V30 type of card
for the SD cards and you'll be still
able to record a lot of different
formats. [music]
For example, XABC HS 10 bit 100 megabits
per [music] second easily and they're
even cheaper than the V60. But in my
opinion, the V60 is a sweet spot. But no
matter which cards you're using, micro
SD, SD, CF Express Type A, or CF Express
Type B, I would always recommend using
our Freewell Pro Card Reader Plus to
offload the footage in a fast and
convenient way. Not only does it support
all the memory cards that I've mentioned
above, it also has a USBC port with 10
Gbits per second speeds. And the file
transfer speeds are crazy fast, but also
you can use it with our Pro SSD link
little hub which can be connected like
so. And you can actually offload the
footage straight in the field just by
simply using your iPhone and connecting
it together. And what's even cooler is
that the Pro SSD link hub can be used
with your SSDs M.2s at up to 8 TB of
footage. You can use it as an SSD disc
or as a hub for your iPhone, for
example, like here. And you have a
magnetic connection like so. And a
little adjustable cable in the kit. And
then you can use it also to store your
footage from the camera by using the
card reader. With our Freewell Pro card
reader plus and also with the Pro SSD
link, the possibilities are literally
endless. I hope you did enjoy this
video, guys, and now you know everything
about the Sony cameras and codecs in
those. And we'll see you in the next
video. Take care.