F3: Feature Requests for Firmware Upgrade on the Sony PMW-F3

A

Andrew Stone

Veteran
Taking up on the suggestion made in another thread, let's begin to cobble together a list of Feature Requests for a new firmware upgrade for the Sony F3.

Let's make the list reasonable in terms of the perceived development & QA testing time required. We can present this to one of the key Sony personnel at NAB, possibly Peter Crithary or some other individual.

I suspect there will be more than one of us at NAB, we can present it to them as a group and give a business case for them to do this. Obviously client retention will be one of them.
 
Sending zebras out over one of the SDI monitoring port would be nice. As well as being able to customize both zebra levels, instead of just one of them.

A few more audio options would be nice as well, like being able to record dual-mono from channel 1.
 
with respect, if Sony were concerned about the potential loss of business as a result of F3 owners having found their investment in a product to have an unusually short, and unsupported, product cycle, wouldn't you think that they might have undertaken at least lip service for the purpose of damage control on the Sony forum where the subject has been repeatedly raised?
 
Hi Finn,

Yes Zebras and definitely the Histogram. I have a sneaking suspicion these cannot be output out the SDI port. It seems so obvious.

Back before the F5/F55 were released, about 4 months before, Sony made overtures to the F3 Community to speak up and tell them the features they wanted in the fabled version 1.5 firmware that we never got released. They issued a 1.45 firmware update instead which leads me to believe they intended at the time to honor the commitment to a fulsome firmware update but due to developers being tasked with the F5/55 firmware, it just never happened.

Workflow enhancements that would be easy to implement, like adding particular features to the assignment buttons would be easy to implement and test. Giving all users access unlocked access to the 444 RGB feature set would delight existing F3 users that don't have it.
 
MPB said:
with respect, if Sony were concerned about the potential loss of business as a result of F3 owners having found their investment in a product to have an unusually short, and unsupported, product cycle, wouldn't you think that they might have undertaken at least lip service for the purpose of damage control on the Sony forum where the subject has been repeatedly raised?
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That would be a rational thing for them to do but they don't operate like that. If you think early adopter F3 owners feel disenfranchised, try being an F65 owner.

We've been beating our head against a wall about this for two years now, I think we should focus on trying to get a proper list of requests down, so it is ready for NAB. It is not far away.
 
However, if we approach them directly, face to face, and make a compelling argument they may change their mind. It is worth a shot.
 
I agree it's worth a shot, though I don't hold out hope for much. As much as I would love to pay for a 'hardware upgrade' ala F5(5) to allow ProRes/DNXHD @ 50p on to the internal SxS cards, I think we have an icecube's chance in hell of actually getting anything.

A universal upgrade to open up 4:4:4 output on all F3s seems perfectly reasonable (and easy to provide) IMO though.
 
Andrew Stone said:
However, if we approach them directly, face to face, and make a compelling argument they may change their mind. It is worth a shot.
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i expect that the corporate structure does't allow for the decision makers to attend the trade shows. but good luck to you!
 
At nAB I was told by someone high up in US chain that they simply have a limited # of people working on R&D and they put them where they expect they most bang for buck is . He told me not expect new developments on the F3. That was some time ago -probably last year.
Don' t begin to think about 422 internally - its a waste of time.
 
MPB said:
with respect, if Sony were concerned about the potential loss of business as a result of F3 owners having found their investment in a product to have an unusually short, and unsupported, product cycle, wouldn't you think that they might have undertaken at least lip service for the purpose of damage control on the Sony forum where the subject has been repeatedly raised?
Click to expand...

As Oddball would say, '' What's with negative waves!... Have a little faith baby... Have a little faith''

Some of us won't buy the F5/55 for fear we would get stung again! As a business, it makes sense for Sony to make money. Would you not sell a new clutch to a car owner because his car is 3 years old? The problem is, you need more than 8 people on a forum, if we could get 100+ signatures, then I think they might take us serious. Does Alister Chapman not post here? We could do with his signature, and perhaps Philip Bloom if he still owns his F3. If Sony don't want my money, then so be it, I'll give it to Sound Design or Convergent Design.

As for the wants,

PMW-F3 Hardware
1) A 10 bit internal codec to SxS cards, HDCAM SR, XAVC, PRO RES :grin: (worth a try)
2) A HDMI cable that connects to the DV-EF100 / DVF-L350 viewfinders (is this possible?)

PMW-F3 Firmware
1) 2K output
2) S-Log 2 or 3
3) 60p or higher

I'll update as I think of more. One thing, how many of you would be prepared to pay for some of your requests?
 
JackCarter said:
As Oddball would say, '' What's with negative waves!... Have a little faith baby... Have a little faith''

Some of us won't buy the F5/55 for fear we would get stung again! As a business, it makes sense for Sony to make money. Would you not sell a new clutch to a car owner because his car is 3 years old? The problem is, you need more than 8 people on a forum, if we could get 100+ signatures, then I think they might take us serious. Does Alister Chapman not post here? We could do with his signature, and perhaps Philip Bloom if he still owns his F3. If Sony don't want my money, then so be it, I'll give it to Sound Design or Convergent Design.
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it could be written off as negativity in the absence of any other indication of Sony's intentions, or experience of their policies. i really do wish you luck, but your first mistake is anthropomorphizing a massive, lumbering beast. their market share is such that none of us in this business can say we won't buy their products, but the corollary there is not that they need your money.

however, i'd love to be proven wrong, and i'll gladly queue up to pay for an upgrade. :)
 
1. 10bit internal, whether adding xavc, prores, or some other codec.
2. Slog2
3. 1080p 60fps in burst of continuous isn't possible with #1

i agree it's worth a shot, so let us have our fun. Stranger things have happened.
 
:thumbsup:

So that makes 2 so far.

I don't see the point of buying a F5 when we have a perfectly good camera at our disposal. Someone said to me today ''The bottom line is the 2.5k Alexa and 1080 F3/35 are probably the best 1080 cameras on the planet (and 3chip2/3 cams too)''. Lets not forget, on the F5, you have to lobb on a soft filter to get nice 1080. I'd rather shoot 1080 on the F3 thanks.

Andrew Stone, would you not pay for some sort of upgrade? I wish Dennis still had his F3, he would be all over this!
 
I'd pay. But I can't see it happening.

Sony have not prestented bad value (in their eyes) - we should have paid our f3s off in three years with rental charges to clients - 30 days a year at 100/day covers it?

the interesting debacle is that Sony need to put 4k internal in the f5 to really want us to upgrade and not get a 700/o7q instead.
 
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