My Preliminary Review of a Pre Production Sony F55

[Timur Civan]

http://timurcivan.blogspot.com/2013/01/first-look-sony-f55-4k-digital-cinema.html

Mods, i put it here in Offtopic, though i imagine some REDusers would be curious about this new camera. Delete if neccesary.

I got to take a preliminary look at the F55. Some Nifty features, some not. Be sure to watch the video, as Ned Soltz and I go pretty deep into the camera.

Best,
-T

 

[Matt Doane]

Huh, so he's saying the XAVC recording is compressed RAW, like REDCODE RAW? I would've assumed it was all baked in.

 

[Timur Civan]

That was an error. It is baked in, like prores. Its essentially "AVC INTRA" in LOG 10bit 422 @ 220-600 Mbps (600Mbps is for 60P). AVC is 2X as efficient as MPEG, so its comparable to PROresHQ, but a bit more efficient and produces less artifacts than Prores would.

 

[Matt Doane]

Okay, that makes sense. I'd be curious to see how the workflow is with their raw material. Seems it would be a pig to work with if it's completely uncompressed.

 

[Mike P.]

Haven't watched the video yet, but I read the entire thing and couldn't tell if it is (potentially) going to be your go-to-camera from now on. As in, are you considering ditching Epic to pick one of these up as your personal camera?

Edit: How many Wh are those short-stack V-mounts? Are they using some new fandagled ion that lets them last 5 hours and be half the size (that'd be cool)?

 

[Bob Gundu]

Timur just joined the party. He's going to stick around for a while me thinks

Haven't watched the video yet, but I read the entire thing and couldn't tell if it is (potentially) going to be your go-to-camera from now on. As in, you're considering ditching Epic to pick one of these up.

 

[Timur Civan]

Haven't watched the video yet, but I read the entire thing and couldn't tell if it is (potentially) going to be your go-to-camera from now on. As in, are you considering ditching Epic to pick one of these up as your personal camera?

Edit: How many Wh are those short-stack V-mounts? Are they using some new fandagled ion that lets them last 5 hours and be half the size (that'd be cool)?

Lets put it like this. HEEEEEeeeeeeellllllllll NO i am not buying a F55....... not with a Dragon right around the corner. Dragon will be faster, Sharper, have more DR and i REALLY like the way the epic clips. It looks phenomenal. Don't get me wrong, im impressed with the technology, but technology does not equate to an attractive picture. Its very neutral, clean and sterile. If you know my work you know i hate sterile. The epic is not perfect, but it has character.

Also the batteries are some new technology. Supposedly they charge very quickly. I dont remember the exact capacity, i seem to recall about 90wHr, lasts about 2 hours on the F55, and the cool part is they charge in like an hour or something. They charge very fast. but we had no charger.