F55: F55 unboxing and initial impressions, side by side with the F3

I think people might be thinking you can write xavc 4k to the AXS5 recorder. No dice. It is only Raw. About 66 min at 23.98

Ned
 
Thanks Erik, Gary, everyone..

Nate Weaver said:
Hey, just sayin...

4K XAVC is 240mbps @24fps. It's 600mbit/sec at 60p.

But there's no 512GB card to shoot XAVC to. 128 is the biggest SxSPro+ you can shoot XAVC to at moment.
Click to expand...

Good catch, 24p is 2.5 less data so you'd get 2.5 more runtime minutes on a card. But even more true is there is no 512GB card to use with XAVC as others have pointed out.

128GB would still give you around 71 minutes of 4k XAVC 24p.
 
All the texting over the weekend and not a word about your new toy????.. I am hyperventilating over here... Congrats!
 
I just got it last night and wasn't expecting to hear anything from the vendor until the end of March! Then poof it appeared. It is as much a surprise to me as it is to you! :happy:


So tonight I went out for a field test, mainly to get use to the camera. What it makes up for in terms of good ergonomics (mainly just the forward EVF really) it loses in other areas like a laggy menu and having to really dig deep into menus to find settings you are looking for ie. auto white balance,.. but perhaps I am still getting use to it.

On the image side, first off the OLED VF is sharp yes but there's something about looking at the image through it that is sureal. It is crisp full of life and color. As others have told me you just need to look through one to understand how great it is. Also the motion of the footage as you see it on the VF (and hopefully on playback) has some feel to it that can only be described as "film like". This can only be the global shutter at work and I am really surprised at how much a difference it seems it can make.

Well so far my biggest annoyance is the lack of any exposure tool. Damn it I'd even take even a histogram at this point just to know where things are approximately at. Using your eye to judge exposure, well I couldn't call myself a DOP anymore. I hope Sony is working on this!
 
I got my F55 today and shot for a bit as well. One note, the ND wheel can hang in the corner of the frame if not engaged correctly or gets bumped. Keep an eye to the corners.
View attachment 67883 ND corner
The OLED is awesome! So worth the extra clams. Super sharp, color is perfect. And screen saver (white flash) is a welcome addition. So nice not to have a Frankin Rig...Love the batteries too, have to pick up more. That VF cord still needs some protection though.
Skin tones "just off the truck" were so nice.
kids.jpg
 
Fotojorno said:
I completely agree with you although I went for the F5 coming from a F3. The main reason being, here in NY one can rent a loaded Alexa or Epic package for $1000 a day/weekend or $3K for seven days. At those prices until the 55 becomes the darling camera the Alexa is or trendy/cool camera the Epic is, I saw a rough time making a timely return renting a personal 55 to productions. I hope Im completely wrong and the 55/5 becomes "the camera" to go to. Maybe I just need bigger clients ;-)
Click to expand...

main reason why I left the Sony world... no one knew what an F3 was and no one took it seriously. I didn't get an F55 either because here in NY, as you know... its Alexa or RED or go home. So im sticking with my RED for now. I dont ever want to try and educate a client ever again. I dont miss that 1 bit. Hope you love your F55, but for me... I think my Sony days are done unless I get an F65... I more than likely would buy an Alexa before that anyway.
 
FilmDude said:
main reason why I left the Sony world... no one knew what an F3 was and no one took it seriously. I didn't get an F55 either because here in NY, as you know... its Alexa or RED or go home. So im sticking with my RED for now. I dont ever want to try and educate a client ever again. I dont miss that 1 bit. Hope you love your F55, but for me... I think my Sony days are done unless I get an F65... I more than likely would buy an Alexa before that anyway.
Click to expand...


I have to agree with you here FilmDude, don't particularly want to, but what you say does make complete sense to me.
I personally cannot see the F5/55's knocking Alexa off of the top of the rental desirability list and as Arri adds to the features of the camera as they surely will down the road, the newer versions and even the existing generations of the Alexa will continue to be the "go to" rental choice.
A simple test of this is in the comparisons that are made when a new digital camera is unveiled. It used to be "how like film is this or that camera?", now it's " how like the Alexa?", and to some extent the Reds.
Red? I'm not so sure about, but that could be just due to the fact that I have never "clicked" with that camera, however it is still a highly rentable piece of kit.
I see the F3 as being the last camera that Sony has recently made that was one that you could make the capital cost back on. Well maybe the F5 will be the same as the F3 fades into the digital sunset. But the F55 versus the Alexa, I see no contest.
My F3 will be the last Sony camera that I'll own, it's been a great system to use and I've learned a lot from it but now I intend to step sideways and get into a much simpler system for my personal work and rent the higher end cameras for "paying jobs" from the ever increasing pool of gear that's out there now.
 
I point out to producers that if you want the best go for the Alexa but it you are on a budget go for my F3 and you'll end up with something very similar. That's how I play it, in the backwater of the Alexa.
 
Seems to me that the only way the F's will take off is if the ASCs blow it up in Hollywood or at least in the blog world. The only ASC to dig on the F3 as far as I know was Schreiber, and even that you didn't hear about it much. The Alexa made Deakins ditch film, Soderbergh and Fincher shoots all their movies with Red, and even the 5ds are blown up by Hurlbut. Sony needs some love.

Congrats on the investment Dennis, I'm jelly!
 
The upcoming F65 releases will probably give a bit of trickle down to the F55.

I think with all the options and plus points the F55 has, it will get producer's attentions. The ability to shoot 4K/2K raw and 4K/2k/1080p proxies simultaneously is enough to get noticed.
 
Osslund said:
I point out to producers that if you want the best go for the Alexa but it you are on a budget go for my F3 and you'll end up with something very similar. That's how I play it, in the backwater of the Alexa.
Click to expand...

Same here. Every producer I "sold" the F3 w/Samurai to, loved it and the camera paid itself off about 6 months ago. For my F5 Im even creating a convoluted sliding rental rate for smaller clients who normally lean towards DSLR's because of legitimate budget constraints. Basically, the camera stays on MPEG, no HFR, XAVC, 4K, S-LOG or 444. Now if a normal client wants 4K RAW I have to be careful to come in under the Alexa and Red rental rate after sourcing a AXS-R5 recorder. My assumption is the AXS recorder with media will prob rent for about $250 here in NY, add on my rate for the F5 while staying under Alexa/RED rate and your at about $600 for the camera. Not that good. A good position to be in is one where the client demands 4K but doesnt like RED for some reason.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade about the F55, I wish I could of gotten it and Im excited for all who stepped up. Just speaking for myself in my market why I didnt go for the 55.
 
It all depends what kind of existing work you do now and what type of work you would like to do or get into. I don't do alot of corporate videos and am mainly looking to work on higher end productions, commercials and some narrative work work. As some might recall I owned a F3 and last year decided to buy a 2nd camera and actually bought a RED Scarlet because I wanted the flexibility of what each camera brings to the table - despite their individual pros and cons. Once the new F's were announced (at the same time I bought RED) it made sense to reconsider my decision. I decided that one of the New F's made more sense for me. I never thought it would be F55 but am hoping it opens some doors of opportunity for me since first its an amazing camera, and also because I truly believe people will like the image quality they will get from it.

On that note, here is some camera porn:

f55-starcentral.ca.dp.jpg
 
Yes that EVF is pretty honking but I think it's accentuated a little from wide angle lens on my blackberry (yes can you believe that picture was taken with blackberry? iPhone can never take as good a pic... oh no here we go...)
 
Not sure they are backwards compatible but I am using a Sxs-1 card right now for testing and it will do 4k xavc at 60 fps no problem.
 
starcentral said:
Yes that EVF is pretty honking but I think it's accentuated a little from wide angle lens on my blackberry (yes can you believe that picture was taken with blackberry? iPhone can never take as good a pic... oh no here we go...)
Click to expand...


I am not sure why you think you need the F55 when you have a phone that takes pictures like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top