FS700, is it really the full 12 bit raw coming out?

Y

yadnom1973

Member
So I have been looking at the very popular combination of the FS700 with a recorder like the Odyssey 7Q. On paper it’s the same sensor as the F7 so skipping the FS700’s guts and using the Odyssey 7Q it should have all the great benefits of this high end sensor like the dynamic range in a manageable 10 bit ProRes 422 HQ.

However, after a little more research I found people talking about noise, and the 7Q Raw and ProRes HQ not being as flexible which made no sense to me as it’s coming straight off the same sensor.
Then I came across a few places talking about the 3G SDI not really being capable of carrying these high data rates. And after some further research and asking about I find it suggested that the FS700 after taking the image from the sensor has to process it so it’ll fit down the SDI pipe line, so the 4K raw coming into the Odyssey 7Q is not the same as the one pulled of the sensor.

To add another level of complication to this the Odyssey 7Q Super Samples Higher resolutions and creates higher bit depth 2K and 1080 files in ProRes.

It’s the Fs700 and the 7Q or the Ursa Mini 4.6K for us at the moment and I would lean towards the Fs700 for the benefits of its lowlight capabilities, especially combined with a Metabones Speed booster that will again give another stop of light, improve the IQ and most importantly will also allow me to use my full set of Cine-Moded Contax without the normally missing wide end. Incredible lenses like the 35-70mm come into their own in FF.

Prores 422 HQ is good enough for me, maybe even the 2K super sampled but if the bit depth has dropped below 10 bit it’s not good and though the FS700 sensor can stand up next to the Ursa Mini 4.6K if it’s dynamic range is handicapped the Uras mini with its 4:1 raw starts to again look quite appealing.

So I’ wondering if there is folk out there with experience with this FS700 + external recorder for ProRes HQ compared to the FS7, Ursa Mini 4.6, C300 and other sensors in this bracket, and if they find the FS700 ProRes stands up in post like it should on the page?

I’m not too concerned about the over-cranked stuff or the 2K raw feed of the FS700, these jump through too many hoops for it to be fair. I just want the 4K raw or ProRes and 2K/HD super sampled ProRes to work for me in grading.
 
So nyvz posted this in another thread the moment I started this thread: "I would not call it heavily processed. My understanding is it is compressed 3.6x and encoded with a SLOG2/Sgamut curve at 12bit precision to fit over SDI. That is quite lightly compressed, the same minimum compression the F5/F55/F65 have and similar to RED's minimum compression ratios."

Thanks to nyvz for this and I think this pretty much answer my question unless someone has something else to add. I'd pull the thread but cant really see how and don't suppose it can do any harm.

If anyone has anything to say about their own personal experiences with the FS700's ProRes in the grade then I'd still be very interested to hear it before I go ahead on the purchase.
 
I've been using the fs700r & Odyssey 7q combo for a couple years-I'm no colorist but I've never had any issues with the 10bit 4K prores files and grading them. Although a 4444 12bit would be nice (*hint hint Mitch)
Yes the fs700 is noisier then the fs7-but think that happens due to the more powerful/newer internal processing that the fs7 does in comparison to the fs700 (like the noise levels between the RED Epic and Weapon Dragons) as well as since the RAW coming out of the fs700 doesn't have noise reduction since its bypassing that for the output.

It's still a great combo and I do use it quite a bit when not using my Weapon.
 
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The note about the compression is correct. Sony does a mild compression in order to fit the signal through a single 3G-SDI pipe. The RAW data remains 12-bit, which yields a full & rich 10-bit video in ProRes.
 
Thanks for the replies. People seem to be happy with the combo and feel like the 10 bit is still there at the other end, there is still some talk about noise. Ultimately I guess it's difficult to know how it stands up to other cameras without shooting them side by side. I'm thinking that to answer this I've probably got to the point where I need to rent/beg/borrow the Ursa and the Fs700/Odyssey 7Q and look for my self before committing. If anyone has come across any comparisons with the FS700 ProRes I'd be interested to hear about them or find them if they are on line..
 
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