F5: First F5 Footage: The Contract

"S-Log was not implemented in the pre production camera. It may be have been one of the Hypergamma's, let me check

Regards

Peter"

Copy and paste from Sony forum
 
I gotta say, this is not impressive. I have no doubt its not the camera's fault. Not a good way to show off Sony. Sigh. I wish they would give me one to do a marketing video...

Just talking visuals, here are my gripes. Normally I wouldn't pick apart something on a public forum, but since I am excited about this cam it kinda bugs me when I see the first short and its not so good visually...

-car lighting was bad, storefronts totally blown, it seemed like mostly available light which was not pretty
- composition/cinematography was VERY lacking and completely boring for the most part
- everything seemed exposed higher than it should have been, lighting pretty uninteresting
- grading seemed very uninspired
 
I think if you are are going to slag off someone's production on an Internet forum you should at least put your real name on the post. Also, it's worth pointing out this was a student production and we need to take that into account when judging the material. We are after all supposed to be judging the cameras capAbilities, not necessarily the film makers.
 
Liam Hall said:
I think if you are are going to slag off someone's production on an Internet forum you should at least put your real name on the post. Also, it's worth pointing out this was a student production and we need to take that into account when judging the material. We are after all supposed to be judging the cameras capAbilities, not necessarily the film makers.
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I know it sounds harsh, but my point is IN RELATION TO THIS BEING FIRST FOOTAGE from a camera everyone's itching to see the capabilities of. I know it's a student production, it certainly doesn't look like it's been shot by an ASC member does it? That's kinda my point. It bummed me out because I saw the thread title and watched it excitedly and then was like "really?" Anyway, just giving my honest opinion. My name's Jake Wilganowski.
 
I agree whole hartedly with Liam's perspective on this. It is self-admittedly a film done by film students and one should gauge their comments in that light. Not only in terms of experience but in terms of having a sense of decency towards those who made the film.

Much of the criticism, like the interior lighting in the car or the lack thereof, is bandied about as an issue. I see it as a benefit as one of the main points Sony wants to put across is dynamic range. If it was lit up, you wouldn't see the range between the exterior store lights and the interior of the vehicle. Also of note is the afro-american actor being largely unlit in the car further shows off how this camera can deal with dark skinned people against a bright backdrop of the store lights.

Anyone can trash a film. Let's look for something positive to say.
 
+1

The point here is to look at the DR, skin tones and other characteristics of the F5 shot in XAVC HD. And to see it not in the context of a subject posing with a color chart. The jello-vision critique is a valid one and tells us that with the typical rolling shutter CMOS chip we might need to watch for that issue. We would not expect that to be a problem with the F55.

I honestly wasn't even paying attention to the piece-- even had my volume turned down. I was looking at camera characteristics and I am generally pleased with what I see.

Ned
 
It's an interesting experiment actually. It proves our desires for engaging content regardless of the medium.
 
I wish they would give me one to do a marketing video...
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so you think you would have shot a better film? Can you post a link to where we can see some of your current work? Just curious as to what your capabilities are.
 
Interesting footage. But honestly didn't see anything that couldn't have been done on any large sensor camera. It could easily have been done on a F3, FS100, AF100 or DSLR. The artificial sharpening was also distracting as was the soft and missed focus. Generally, the F5 seems to be more F3 than F35. Still think the F35 is the best cinema camera Sony has ever made, apart from maybe the F65 which I haven't really seen enough yet to judge. Maybe it's the CCD instead of CMOS. But the motion pattern, highlight handling and overlook seem to be just above all these CMOS cameras.
 
I'll say it again.

This is a professionals tool that cost more than some cars. Or a good start of a down payment on a house, or a nice chunk of a college education bill....

I dont think its right for students to be showing off a professionals tool... In fact, where else is this done in any industry??? Do you see Caterpillar bulldozers being used by the average guy with a large back yard? A huge render farm with multi stacks of processor blades for a single animation student? A formula 1 race car for someone who just learned how to use a clutch?

There is no difference here then. Don't use a student to show off professional gear. End of story.
 
I think the point of giving it to students is to A) showcase how easy to use the camera is & B) foster good relations with educators and new people entering the business. At least they didn't give it to a self-promoting blogger. I'm curious to know what happened to the film made by the French team that was screened at the launch events along with Dig. Why has that not been released online?
 
FilmDude said:
I'll say it again.

This is a professionals tool that cost more than some cars. Or a good start of a down payment on a house, or a nice chunk of a college education bill....

I dont think its right for students to be showing off a professionals tool... In fact, where else is this done in any industry??? Do you see Caterpillar bulldozers being used by the average guy with a large back yard? A huge render farm with multi stacks of processor blades for a single animation student? A formula 1 race car for someone who just learned how to use a clutch?

There is no difference here then. Don't use a student to show off professional gear. End of story.
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I don't really see how it's any different to Kodak and Fuji offering big discounts on film stock to students, it's part of introducing new/soon-to-be professionals to their products and trying to foster a kind of relationship with them.

It's nothing new as a business practice.
 
FilmDude said:
I'll say it again.

This is a professionals tool that cost more than some cars. Or a good start of a down payment on a house, or a nice chunk of a college education bill....

I dont think its right for students to be showing off a professionals tool... In fact, where else is this done in any industry??? Do you see Caterpillar bulldozers being used by the average guy with a large back yard? A huge render farm with multi stacks of processor blades for a single animation student? A formula 1 race car for someone who just learned how to use a clutch?

There is no difference here then. Don't use a student to show off professional gear. End of story.
Click to expand...

It doesn't work like that in photography or other visual arts, because contrary to what people say, a better camera, or any art tool for that matter, will make you a better artist. If a student only got gimped equipment to work with all the time, he might get a poor impression of what actual production will be like, and get disencouraged by the prospect of film making.

An extreme example, but imagine you've just left film school learning to use a dSLR and all the knowledge needed to use one, but then, on your first real assignment, you find yourself standing next to an Alexa on hire for $$$ daily, what do you do?

If anything, students MUST learn their craft using the most expensive, top of the line equipment that can be afforded. I applaud their tutors for letting them loose with something so cutting edge.
 
The footage looked darned good to me.
What really bothered me was the editing, especially the sequence where they got out of the car. Looks like they shot themselves into a bit of a hole, there.
The camera manufacturers have been pimping that school with gear for a long time...I say lucky them!
 
Better is the enemy of good enough.
Critiquing someone else's work is easy enough to do. Getting out there and shooting something creative and engaging isn't--Get'er done!
 
Most of the complaints seem to be centered on the highlight roll off. Considering its non-slog and has extreme lighting I think it looks very good, AND does have some real content unlike most camera tests.
 
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