F55: F55 On My Dining Room Table

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nsoltz

Veteran
I have an F55 for the day and will be shooting on Monday with Timur Civan. Since this is really very last minute (I met Peter in a mall parking lot to pick up camera from him, convinced I was going to get busted for a drug deal), we don't have time to assemble cast, crew, lighting truck, generator truck, full grip not to mention a compelling story line shot to the high standards of board participants.

Also note is the new 85mm lens. I don't know whether there are more lenses sitting around but I didn't question.

Lens construction is certainly better than a CP2 (which isn't saying that much). But it is metal, sturdy and has a nice smooth focus. T2. Judge from the pictures. More after we shoot with it. We might also have a Cabrio 19-90 but that isn't definite yet.

One interesting note-- camera is set to display ISO rather than DB (you can do either). When switching to SLog2, ISO sets to default of 1250. Hypergammas set ISO to 500 and Standards Gammas range between 500-1000. Those then seem to be Sony's "base". Of course you can set whatever ISO you desire, or increase gain as desired. Or decrease.

The AXS-5 is also attached and we hope to shoot some Raw.

We also have permission to post the footage. Now remember, these will be camera tests. Don't be as hyper-critical as some of you are about The Contract. I could always write about you in the magazine ;) And wife is former Naval Intelligence officer and I know that I am scared of her. You should be too. ;)

Ned

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Timur can act! Make a scene where he's sitting around bitting his nails wondering if his Cabrio is ever going to show up :)
 
Can't wait to see some samples Ned. Given the limited time you have, I'd suggest ignoring standard/hypergammas completely and shooting everything in SLOG2 - we want to see the most the camera is capable of :beer:

Also, some shaky-car-riding/bright-flashing-strobe-lights/normally-jello-inducing footage would be great to see how the global shutter handles such situations.
 
Ned, if we can somehow arrange a server situation, can you somehow make available some short native files? I will start looking for a home for them immediately if you agree.

Just a properly exposed, wide angle landscape shot @ infinity would be nice. You can get a feel for resolution and latitude, especially if the sun is out.

I'd love to see a raw file posted, and a 4K XAVC. Andy Shipsides tweeted the other day that amazingly enough, VLC can open 4K XAVC files. I expect Resolve will be updated shortly for 55 raw...they are always ahead of the curve on that and I know a beta that reads it is in testing.

[edit: I second the motion of leaving hypergammas/standard gammas alone. Sony's tuning of highlights in that mode leaves a lot to be desired. Slog + raw are most useful, I feel]
 
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Good suggestions. I was really uninterested in the standard and hypergammas. Main interests are SLog2 and Raw.

One thing that I should note about both F5 and F55 is how solid the PL mount is. Large wings, as I've already noted. But so much smoother than F3 in operation and so much more precise. I just find sometimes with the F3 I am really fiddling to get a lens to sit before locking, and locking is a chore. Not so with the PL mount on these cameras.

Ned
 
Nate is onto something which has been absent from almost any Sony test footage and that is to have some footage, in this case RAW, worked by people who have experience grading. Love to see some footage done up in post that doesn't have any of the signature Sony looks. Hopefully, they will agree to it. Would do a lot, in my view, to dispell a good portion of the negative thinking around Sony shot stuff in general.

nsoltz said:
One thing that I should note about both F5 and F55 is how solid the PL mount is. Large wings, as I've already noted. But so much smoother than F3 in operation and so much more precise. I just find sometimes with the F3 I am really fiddling to get a lens to sit before locking, and locking is a chore. Not so with the PL mount on these cameras.
Click to expand...


Transvideo made up a replacement baseplate (bottom) for the F3 camera that also includes a "wing" to put on the F3 PL mount. Works like a dream and so simple.
 
I have a professional drop box account with lots of space that I would be happy to host large raw files on.

Looking forward to seeing some footage :)
 
Would love to be able to play with some raw and xavc footage, if we can get this happening I'd be hugely appreciative! And I definitely second some rolling shutter tests. Look forward to seeing where this goes.
 

Transvideo made up a replacement baseplate (bottom) for the F3 camera that also includes a "wing" to put on the F3 PL mount. Works like a dream and so simple.
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Hello Andrew, I tried to find the replacement baseplate you mention here but didn't have any luck. Can you direct me to the relevent page for this and the PL mount "wing"?
Thanks!
Peter
 
The little door houses a USB connection. I suspect it is some kind of service interface.

Once I get some footage, we can figure out a drop box or other server to make footage available. Glad to do so. Was unable with the F5.

It is raining this AM and supposed to be cloudy pretty much the rest of the day.

But I like the idea of trying to get some simple footage that we can all grade. And yes, VLC does read XAVC. I'll try it in Resolve after I get some footage on the cards. I've got 2 64gb SxS Pro+.

Ned
 
Hi,
was wondering: no covers for all the connections?
How's your impression on weather "sealing"? There seem to be way more open slots than the f3 has...
 
No covers for any connection and that even includes VF connection if you're not working with the Sony VF.

There is also a fan on top and an air outlet. So that means more openings. But the body is of much more solid construction than F3.

Ned
 
petermullett said:
Hello Andrew, I tried to find the replacement baseplate you mention here but didn't have any luck. Can you direct me to the relevent page for this and the PL mount "wing"?
Click to expand...

Hi Peter, Here is the link to the Transvideo product page on the F3 Replacement Baseplate and PL Wing kit. They also have a rails adapter made specifically for this baseplate but it is presently only advertised in their PDF catalogue. Here is the link to the catalogue.

I just created a new thread on this topic. You can find it here.
 
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