Depending on how you work there are some investments that are still worth it just to make your life easier. I just bought some Sachtler Speed Lock CF legs because I don't like bending down to adjust the height of the tripod. I can't charge clients anymore for them but I only wish I'd bought them years ago. I guess a rental firm may be able to charge more for such things but as an owner/operator it's hard to justify an increase in day rate.
F55: Feature Tour Of The F55
- Thread starter nsoltz
- Start date
Depending on how you work there are some investments that are still worth it just to make your life easier. I just bought some Sachtler Speed Lock CF legs because I don't like bending down to adjust the height of the tripod. I can't charge clients anymore for them but I only wish I'd bought them years ago. I guess a rental firm may be able to charge more for such things but as an owner/operator it's hard to justify an increase in day rate.
brad smith
Active member
It was bigger than a RED ONE, only shot HD and came out with a 2/3 Sensor.............. oh but there was also a PL mount version!
Yeah, but the same can be said for the F35 and it got and still gets a lot of work. The 9000PL had a S35 sensor, PL-mount and is basically the same as the F35.
Grug
Veteran
Strange, I was told the reverse was true, and that for episodics the 9000PL was far more popular than the F35... perhaps that was just here in Australia?
Mitch Gross
Veteran
With internal 4K recording and a host of other advantages, no matter how long you think an F5 will last it is a sure bet that the F55 will last longer. If it lasts an extra year is that enough to justify the $13K price difference? 2 years? Look at your business model and see.
They were a HUGE, 2/3" CCD, tape based camera that came out when the trend was clearly moving toward smaller large sensor file based systems. As a bonus, it was also available with the striped CCD PL mount version from the F35, but it was still a tank of a camera. I saw VERY few in action. Certainly a poor choice for any project that shot on location and moved quickly. For Studio shows, maybe it would not be so bad.
But it was still lighter than the F35+SRW1 recorder. Because it was a self contained unit. So I still don't understand. This couldn't be the reason it wasn't popular, because the F35 was quite popular and even larger and heavier.
Nate Weaver
Veteran
For certain situations, the SRW1 could be and was detached for steadi work, etc.
More than that though, I think it was simply the F35 came first and they were more available. I never saw a 9000 anywhere in LA.
The Red One was starting to show up, and while nobody liked the heavy data management aspects of it, they saw where things were going. The 9000 was for big jobs that were married to HDCAM SR, while people using the F35 were waiting around for practical flashmag solutions, was the idea I always got.
I'm guessing there'll be a F7/F77 out before my clients are bothered about 4K internal... I can then put the $13K difference towards one of those!
I did a lot of Genesis/F23/F35 jobs and very rarely had the recorder on the camera. It was FAR more manageable as separate units allowing the creative and technical to be isolated. For example, sound, time code, and video assist plugged into the DIT cart and there was never a need for anyone to approach the camera position that wasn't involved in the shot. Tech-talk stayed far away from the camera and the camera stayed as small as possible.
And then the RED ONE came out and all hell broke loose. ;-)