F55: F55 shoot initial thoughts

T

txdp

Well-known member
Just got done with a day shoot with the f55. It was a music video for a well known rock band. After reviewing the footage, the global shutter is apparent. Not noticeable on slow or static shots, but very noticeable on fast moving long lens action shots or shots with a lot of fast motion within the frame. IT IS AWESOME. I've shot a lot with epic, Alexa and pretty much every camera out there except the super high end f65 for example, and it really jumped out at me. Looks so much more film-like. I never knew what I was missing. I'll be doing a full write up, but I migh have to wait until the video is released...
 
Talking about the GS on the 55, I told somebody at Abel last week "oh yeah, that's what cameras *used* to look like". They laughed out loud.
 
I never thought GS was a big deal until I saw it for myself. A whole new "look" if you will. Well reality for me at least is its something I'm just not use to seeing :cool:
 
Nice Jake! Two questions: 1) how did you shoot...direct to cards in 1080p, and 2) why the heck didnt you call me so I could come play too! (Lol j/k)
 
Hey Richard! I shot 4k XAVC 24p slog2 to a 128g pro card. I ended up with 3 minutes left after the shoot. I had another card of course. ; )
Also, for one shot I did 108060p in s&q mode. I then loaded the 4k camera files into davinci and exported 1080ProResHQ files to edit in fcp7. I did a cut, exported XML. Loaded 4k camera files into davinci and imported XML. I'm now coloring. I think fcpx has XAVC capabilities now, but I haven't tried it yet....
Also of note, I shot ISO 2000. Looks great...
 
Nate Weaver said:
Talking about the GS on the 55, I told somebody at Abel last week "oh yeah, that's what cameras *used* to look like". They laughed out loud.
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And what Red can't have even with the Dragon update. Per Jim J, but "you wont want it." LOL He cracks me up sometimes. Getting rid of one of the last artifacts of digital cinema.
 
Is there a resource to find out record times? We are heading up to LA for Music Video shoot this Sunday. We only have 2 SxS Pro+ Cards and planning to shoot in 4K 24p slog2.


We can also record out to our Pix in 2k as a back up.

Thanks,

Ross
 
Hey,

record times are (as of the foto on sonys site - haven't worked with them yet)
128gb:
40min XAVC in 24p (should be around 18 min in 60p)
120min XAVC 1080p
240min MPEG2 1080p

maybe that helps...
 
krost-audiovisual said:
Hey,

record times are (as of the foto on sonys site - haven't worked with them yet)
128gb:
40min XAVC in 24p (should be around 18 min in 60p)

maybe that helps...
Click to expand...

txdp said:
Yep that sounds about right from my experience
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I've been repeating those figures for a while as well, but imagine my surprise when my brand new 128GB reported 66 minutes in 4K XAVC. I just put it in, formatted, to confirm.

I chalk it up to Sony always quoting numbers for 30p as opposed to 24p

66 minutes of 4K XAVC in 24p to a 128GB card. Matches exactly the 512GB card in raw.
 
great to hear!

did test the f55 two days ago very briefly... while in 1080p comparing to an f3 with samurai it's hard to justify a buy( when most of the work goes on vimeo), in 4k it's a whole different story...

so again thinking and thinking and thinking of getting one....;-)
 
krost-audiovisual said:
did test the f55 two days ago very briefly... while in 1080p comparing to an f3 with samurai it's hard to justify a buy( when most of the work goes on vimeo), in 4k it's a whole different story...
Click to expand...

It's a different story in 1080p too. About the only place where you're hardpressed to tell a difference is web. Even for 1080p web, because a web bitrate will soften 1080p so much it erases the difference in crispness.

But 1080p clips on my 1080p broadcast monitor, the difference is not so hard to spot.
 
The GS was immediately apparent to me after seeing Nate's first couple of clips and when you see it, which everyone does, it does make a big difference from where I stand. Thus why the F55 interests me and Im always taking a peek at new stuff online - as opposed to the F5 which Im not remotely interested in. Just one persons opinion.
 
no, the f5 doen't interest me either..

sure, the 1080 from the f55 is better-gs,cleaner,colors,noise,actually great codec, sharp etc etc...

but i think many are in the same boat as i am. my clients don't see the difference.
it's not like going from an ex-1 to an f3 (actually it is, maybe even a bigger stepup, but only for me
and not for the clients that want to have a small vimeo clip in 720p...)

i can't surcharge about 1000dollars for renting the f55 on jobs, when i have an f3 around/at home.
but i could add with the same clients about 200-300 dollars for an f55 if it is my only/main camera...
so dilemma is quite obvious: do i trust the f55 to "last" the time 'till i payed it back with this surcharge?
( as you can guess there's no big rental house right where i live...;-)

thing is, it doesn't stop there... i love my samyangs/rokinons for what they are but at 4k? after my initial test i have my doubts...
will see on a shoot with the f55 which is kindly provided to me end of the month-will rent master primes for this one...
( yep we have a budget for that on this job - though the main master will be a digibeta... ouch)
and the new schneider-kreuznach line looks very interesting! would sure be nice on an f3 as well.

it all feels like in that superstore when i was in amerika last december standing in front of a gazzillion different yogurt brands ;-)


well, well
 
krost-audiovisual said:
thing is, it doesn't stop there... i love my samyangs/rokinons for what they are but at 4k? after my initial test i have my doubts...
will see on a shoot with the f55 which is kindly provided to me end of the month-will rent master primes for this one...
( yep we have a budget for that on this job - though the main master will be a digibeta... ouch)
and the new schneider-kreuznach line looks very interesting! would sure be nice on an f3 as well.
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I'd be very interested in your results and comparisons on these lenses too. [Maybe in another thread.]

I have 3 Zeiss lenses, 5 Rokinons and 9 Nikons including zooms. All should have enough resolution for 4k as they were designed for film or high resolution digital. I wouldn't say the Zeiss are signifcantly better. Miniscule, and miniscule worse in others.

While I'll freely admit there are artifacts in the Rokinons. If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy the 14mm; and the resolution on the 85mm is softer (but in an odd way flattering), the Zeiss and Nikons introduce artifacts too. One may have coma, another CA in one directions, etc. All in all I wouldn't say they are that far apart.

My testing so far is that the old cinema lens are softer than the Rokinons or Nikons. Please tell us your impressions.

Back on topic. When finances permit I'll be looking at the F55, as I agree the F5 is similar to the F3 in many ways.
 
It will be interesting to see if Canon and Panny will introduce their own version of GS. Interesting further still if GS as a feature will make its way down a little lower on the product line food chain, its only a matter of time IMO....just how much time is the question.
 
krost-audiovisual said:
great to hear!

did test the f55 two days ago very briefly... while in 1080p comparing to an f3 with samurai it's hard to justify a buy( when most of the work goes on vimeo), in 4k it's a whole different story...

so again thinking and thinking and thinking of getting one....;-)
Click to expand...

Do it.. do it... do it !

No, you probably won't be able to charge more because of global shutter, etc.. but at least you will lose external bits and gain even more ISO (like you need it), Global Shutter and 4k XAVC should you ever want/need it!
 
...show me the money...;-)
will try to o a comparison, but it might not be possible due to timing reasons ( client on set and a vey very tight shedule in post)
cheers
 
I do not follow the logic, F5 has the same 14 stops rage, as F55, 4K, so in terms of resolution, colorimetry, F5 while shooting moderately steady, from the tripod, will produce similar results to F55. Am I correct? Handheld a severe camera shaking clearly does not make F5 a weapon of choice, due to rolling shutter.
What are the thought of the community?
/Still too little footage shot, shown, graded, hope to see more soon!
 
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