F5: Anybody Using Anymore?

B

Ben_Ericson

Well-known member
I've owned the F3 for about a year and a half now. I love the images. I use the C300 MKII at work quite a bit, but own the F3 for freelance jobs and personal work. I would like to purchase a 4K camera, but the FS7 color doesn't do it for me. The C300ii is an option, but the lack of high speed 4k is not good for me. I see lots of decently priced F5 cameras.

Is the FS7 close enough for most people image wise? I know the native EF mount is probably an advantage for a lot of people as well.
 
The F5 is still a great camera IMO.
I think there are so many more F55's out there now that people have kinda forgotten about the F5.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the color. I always liked the F5 too.
 
I'm sure you know, but the F5 needs the AXS-R5 to shoot 4K/60p.

There's the AXS-R7 as well, but only the F55 gets the 4K/120p from it (the last I checked).
 
NorBro said:
I'm sure you know, but the F5 needs the AXS-R5 to shoot 4K/60p.

There's the AXS-R7 as well, but only the F55 gets the 4K/120p from it (the last I checked).
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Isn't that just for raw recording? I was under the impression that you could do 4k/60 internal with the upgrade.
 
I would be very surprised...the camera is old (camera life).

EDIT: I'm wrong, see below.
 
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You can record 4K 60p on the F5 with the 4K upgrade. This is in XAVC 300 only. The camera is old? The F5 going to serve me well over many more years with it's 16bit raw workflow.
 
Yes there is 60p in 4K with the F5.. (with the 4K internal upgrade of course !).. at 300 Mbps.. not too shabby ... and besides Sony's reassurance the F5 could never record 4K.. it obviously had the ability from first release .. all these years ago :)... I would think a good second hand F5 a very good "gradeup" from an F3.. but quality wise I dont think much/any difference from the Fs7 .. the only difference is build (more metal than plastic).. the LCD side screen.. very handy.. and a much better EVF as sold.. TC in and V mount..without needing the EXT.. and 16 bit RAW if thats something you would ever use..
But bang for buck the Fs7 stills is way ahead of anything else really out there.. but you,ll be up for a new EVF.. and need to buy the ext uni t if you only have V mount and work separate audio alot..on the other hand the Variable ND on the new model is a really nice feature..
PS its E mount native not EF.. meaning you can mount any lens in the universe just about .. esp the Fujinon MK cine zooms..
 
NorBro said:
Hey, now I'm interested...so with the F5, you have to buy this?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1111814-REG/sony_cbk_z55fx_software_upgrade_for_pmw_f5.html

And then upgrade to Firmware 8 or 9 for 4K/60p?

(I cannot find any source that directly says 4K/60p for F5, but I of course believe you since you have the camera.)
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Yes this is what I did.. cant remember which Version.. 7 or 8 .. for 1K you get ,for me anyway, the biggest difference between the F55 and the F5.. internal 4K.. yes I know the global shutter.. no difference for my work.. the CFA.. never see the difference in TV/computer screens.. which is my market.. but what became quite quickly the must have ..was 4K recording.. the F5 was originally just a HD/2K camera.. with out the R5/7 for RAW.. as you originally say.. its just an electronic key.. put it on the SD card.. up load .. took a few minutes ..
Actually now with V8 ? cant remember .. 480 Mbps 4K.. 34/25/30p.. this forced "up grade" from Sony makes the F5 even better value .. I would have had to sold mine due to lack of 4K internal within 1 year of buying
 
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Ben_Ericson said:
...but the FS7 color doesn't do it for me. Is the FS7 close enough for most people image wise? I know the native EF mount is probably an advantage for a lot of people as well.
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Having used both the FS7 and the F5 with regards to the image and image color I have found both to be almost identical using the same glass. The F5 offers more in the RAW department if you intend to do a lot of RAW production work. A small correction the native mount on the F5 is the FZ mount, the same as your F3. The FS7 of course runs the E-Mount and on the FS7 MkII a locking flange E-Mount which is a big improvement. I work with still camera lenses for a certain amount of interview stuff but when I need an all round lens that delivers a pretty decent image and that isn't going to break the bank the FS7's 18-110 zoom does that. Unfortunately this lens is not available for the F5. Both cameras have their strengths and weaknesses but as I say comparing images and color straight of the camera their is very little to choose.

I would imagine you already own SxS cards so that probably doesn't have a large bearing on the decision you make but if media costs are point of consideration the XQD cards for the FS7 are way cheaper than SxS media. Currently B&H have Sony 128GB SxS Pro+ D Series Memory Cards for $968 and the Sony 128GB XQD G Series Memory Cards for $190 which is quite a substantial difference. Many varied pluses and minuses between the two cameras but image color and quality have not been a deciding factor from my point of view. They both use the same sensor and front end processing and can both use the same settings in scene files to give you near identical looks. Have a look at the following video to give you some indication:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAh8SYkIcnw

From these guys:

http://extrashot.co.uk/

Chris Young
 
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Donny 123 said:
Yes this is what I did.. cant remember which Version.. 7 or 8 .. for 1K you get ,for me anyway, the biggest difference between the F55 and the F5.. internal 4K.. yes I know the global shutter.. no difference for my work.. the CFA.. never see the difference in TV/computer screens.. which is my market.. but what became quite quickly the must have ..was 4K recording.. the F5 was originally just a HD/2K camera.. with out the R5/7 for RAW.. as you originally say.. its just an electronic key.. put it on the SD card.. up load .. took a few minutes ..
Actually now with V8 ? cant remember .. 480 Mbps 4K.. 34/25/30p.. this forced "up grade" from Sony makes the F5 even better value .. I would have had to sold mine due to lack of 4K internal within 1 year of buying
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yea, it mentions it in FW7...I was looking at 8 & 9.
 
NorBro said:
Hey, now I'm interested...so with the F5, you have to buy this?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1111814-REG/sony_cbk_z55fx_software_upgrade_for_pmw_f5.html

And then upgrade to Firmware 8 or 9 for 4K/60p?

(I cannot find any source that directly says 4K/60p for F5, but I of course believe you since you have the camera.)
Click to expand...

Yes. You need to buy the software upgrade to use 4K XAVC. I can't remember what firmware it worked from, maybe V5. It enabled 4K 60p from the get go.

The only benefit of the FS7 in my opinion is the E-Mount, so you can use a speed booster. Everything else is far better on the F5/55, build quality, direct attachment of the R5, Alexa style side panel, SR 444 codec, a great EVF. I wish someone could either make a FZ mount speed booster, or an E-Mount to FZ adapter.
 
Really I think there is a lot of misinformation on this . I've owned an EX-1, F3 and FS7. The colorimetry is virtually the same on all 3. If you are in Custom mode on an FS7 and turn the phase setting to about -7 and keep all the other settings on the matrix the same in all 3 cameras, they are a perfect match. Unless you need SLog1 instead of SLOg2 or 3 ( which is really splitting hairs) just get yourself an FS7. Its also quieter and cleaner. I prefer the look myself .
 
NorBro said:
Thanks! Yea, it mentions it in FW7...I was looking at 8 & 9.
Click to expand...

JackCarter said:
Yes. You need to buy the software upgrade to use 4K XAVC. I can't remember what firmware it worked from, maybe V5. It enabled 4K 60p from the get go.

The only benefit of the FS7 in my opinion is the E-Mount, so you can use a speed booster. Everything else is far better on the F5/55, build quality, direct attachment of the R5, Alexa style side panel, SR 444 codec, a great EVF. I wish someone could either make a FZ mount speed booster, or an E-Mount to FZ adapter.
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Agree with all above.. but recently I had a shoot with an fs7 MKII.. the silly round EVF rod was Square as it should have been .. and the Variable ND is REALLY nice.. the built in ND,s of the F5.. .9 and 1.8 only is probably its main weak point.. IMHO..
 
LennyLevy said:
Really I think there is a lot of misinformation on this . I've owned an EX-1, F3 and FS7. The colorimetry is virtually the same on all 3. If you are in Custom mode on an FS7 and turn the phase setting to about -7 and keep all the other settings on the matrix the same in all 3 cameras, they are a perfect match. Unless you need SLog1 instead of SLOg2 or 3 ( which is really splitting hairs) just get yourself an FS7. Its also quieter and cleaner. I prefer the look myself .
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To me the F5 and especially the F3 look much closer to the c300 mkii or the red. I don’t think the F3 would be used so much currently if it didn’t have something a little special to it. I am talking purely shooting s-log1 on the f3.
 
Bern Caughey said:
AFAIK it’s possible to use XQD cards in a F5/55 by using Sony’s QDA-EX1 adapter.
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It is. It's exactly what I, and a lot of others, do. Saves a ton of money. I honestly probably would have never done it if my sales rep had not recommended that I go that route. They said Sony approved them for all resolutions, codecs and frame rates that can be recorded internally. Each XQD card that I have(10 of them) lives in its own adapter. And I even found SxS card cases on B&H. I think the adapters are ~$25/each(it's been a while since I've bought any) and the card cases ~$5/each. Unfortunately the XQD cards do not come with readers anymore(each card used to come with a reader), so you will need to get a reader. It's been my experience(and several others that I know) that a lot of times an SxS card reader will not always like the XQD/SxS Adapter combo and will usually "hang" at the end of downloading a card. But the XQD readers are really fast and work well.
 
Ben_Ericson said:
To me the F5 and especially the F3 look much closer to the c300 mkii or the red. I don’t think the F3 would be used so much currently if it didn’t have something a little special to it. I am talking purely shooting s-log1 on the f3.
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I'm not getting you here - afaik the fs7 and f5 look exactly the same..

Unless you use a higher codec available on the f5 - sr444 raw or I guess the 480 codec instead of the 300 one.
I've not played with the 480 but it seems appealing as at 300 the 7 seems just to lack a bit.

The f3 "magic" is obvious- big pixels like the Alexa - it is worth noting that Arri only went 4K by making a bigger sensor.

You will only get any magic from the f3 with and external recorder.
 
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