I got to fondle the engineering prototype at Sony NJ today and while I could not take any pix of it nor shoot anything, here are some impressions.
Amazingly compact, yet solid. This unit had an old 85mm prime just to display an image (no news lenses in US) and the weight was pretty hefty. It wasn't burdensome and it, for lack of a better term, felt like a real camera. Nothing plastic about it. Solid. Buttons and controls felt solid. Not all side menu and viewfinder menu options were implemented yet, but everything accessible and easy to change. Even with the viewfinder menus, no need to wade through levels of menus any more because so much can be controlled on the side of camera.
Just saw the LCD viewfinder. Again, no OLED available yet. Adjustable mounting and viewing options. Very sharp for what is no doubt the basic viewfinder.
The PL mount is solid metal (silver on the F55, black on the F5 but it's the same mount). Big metal ears. None of those flimsy plastic F3 ears.
Top handle-- solid metal and attaches firmly. Contains a number of mounting holes which are visible as metal threads set into the holes in the handle. Viewfinder mounts to front hot shoe and there is a top hotshoe.
Very well balanced.
Bottom has numerous mounting holes as well. Many accessories already for F3 will work with it. Definitely the shape baseplate and handles.
Because of this form factor, it will work very well on shoulder. While I didn't see it, Sony had a Fujinon Cabrio lens which they said worked well and made for a very balanced shoulder package.
No recorder. No media.
Did see the Olivine battery. Very lightweight. Maybe a bit lighter than my Dionic 90's.
There will be scopes and most likely false color but nothing is firm yet.
And the price-- Sony USA isn't ready to announce price but they were "working on it" while I was there. Now, working on price isn't the easiest thing in the world when you are a large multi-national corporation from quasi-autonomous international units. I was told, however, that Japanese pricing isn't US pricing. My take-away is that it could be lower than the yen-$ equivalents we've calculated on the board but don't quote me because this isn't what I was actually officially told. It is only a guess based upon the tenor of the conversation.
When there is an actual camera, I will be getting one to evaluate and will gladly invite anyone in the NYC area for a play day. Or we could even use it on a paying gig. You might even get quoted in the magazine.
Any questions?
Ned
Amazingly compact, yet solid. This unit had an old 85mm prime just to display an image (no news lenses in US) and the weight was pretty hefty. It wasn't burdensome and it, for lack of a better term, felt like a real camera. Nothing plastic about it. Solid. Buttons and controls felt solid. Not all side menu and viewfinder menu options were implemented yet, but everything accessible and easy to change. Even with the viewfinder menus, no need to wade through levels of menus any more because so much can be controlled on the side of camera.
Just saw the LCD viewfinder. Again, no OLED available yet. Adjustable mounting and viewing options. Very sharp for what is no doubt the basic viewfinder.
The PL mount is solid metal (silver on the F55, black on the F5 but it's the same mount). Big metal ears. None of those flimsy plastic F3 ears.
Top handle-- solid metal and attaches firmly. Contains a number of mounting holes which are visible as metal threads set into the holes in the handle. Viewfinder mounts to front hot shoe and there is a top hotshoe.
Very well balanced.
Bottom has numerous mounting holes as well. Many accessories already for F3 will work with it. Definitely the shape baseplate and handles.
Because of this form factor, it will work very well on shoulder. While I didn't see it, Sony had a Fujinon Cabrio lens which they said worked well and made for a very balanced shoulder package.
No recorder. No media.
Did see the Olivine battery. Very lightweight. Maybe a bit lighter than my Dionic 90's.
There will be scopes and most likely false color but nothing is firm yet.
And the price-- Sony USA isn't ready to announce price but they were "working on it" while I was there. Now, working on price isn't the easiest thing in the world when you are a large multi-national corporation from quasi-autonomous international units. I was told, however, that Japanese pricing isn't US pricing. My take-away is that it could be lower than the yen-$ equivalents we've calculated on the board but don't quote me because this isn't what I was actually officially told. It is only a guess based upon the tenor of the conversation.
When there is an actual camera, I will be getting one to evaluate and will gladly invite anyone in the NYC area for a play day. Or we could even use it on a paying gig. You might even get quoted in the magazine.
Any questions?
Ned
