FS7: New 2.1 firmware

Then you're obviously very very lucky.

It is a huge pain and I - and others - have it every single time we shoot and make any changes.
 
Don't get me wrong - my camera is making me money.

Mostly, I'm increasingly frustrated with the new business model that seems to be coming about in modern camera manufacturing and support. The life cycles are getting shorter each time, and instead of dedicating significant engineering resources to bug fixes on existing current production model cameras, most of the engineering hours go into working on whatever will be the next generation camera.

Timelapse support was available on the Sony EX1 series cameras as a standard feature. Why is it now missing from a 2014 released camera?
 
Viddovation said:
Don't get me wrong - my camera is making me money.

Mostly, I'm increasingly frustrated with the new business model that seems to be coming about in modern camera manufacturing and support. The life cycles are getting shorter each time, and instead of dedicating significant engineering resources to bug fixes on existing current production model cameras, most of the engineering hours go into working on whatever will be the next generation camera.

Timelapse support was available on the Sony EX1 series cameras as a standard feature. Why is it now missing from a 2014 released camera?
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+1
Us being quiet means accepting that model thus encouraging companies to keep doing it.
 
Liam Hall said:
Coming in October, in version 3 - I seem to post this info everyday...
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Yes... 1 year after release of the hardware. Again - my point - it was standard on the EX1/EX3 and plenty others. And also, let's be clear - Sony has made plenty of firmware projections for future update that don't end up being done... on a number of platforms. You can't count of a future firmware release as a done deal. Whenever Sony doesn't smell enough profit left they abandon future scheduled firmware and move the engineers to the newer products. It happened on the Sony PMW-F3, the the SR-R1, the F35... and numerous others.
 
Liam Hall said:
Doug, wild guess, but I'll bet you set your shutter to 'SPEED' and not 'ANGLE'??
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Absolutely!! I'd say more about why, but it really seems to ruffle feathers here when I advocate one technique or camera setting I prefer over another. I don't want to personally insult anyone by making a case for speed vs. angle.
 
I'm in agreement that shooting is a lot more productive than whining. I just managed to shoot an 80 minute feature on mine, and despite my shortcomings (and thanks to Doug's tutorials) it looks distinctively better than anything I've shot in the past (on the HVX, AF100 and FS700). If you do feel the need to whine, do as Alohaype keeps saying and go to the Sony forums to do it, where it could actually do some good.
 
mainstreetprod said:
I'm in agreement that shooting is a lot more productive than whining. I just managed to shoot an 80 minute feature on mine, and despite my shortcomings (and thanks to Doug's tutorials) it looks distinctively better than anything I've shot in the past (on the HVX, AF100 and FS700). If you do feel the need to whine, do as Alohaype keeps saying and go to the Sony forums to do it, where it could actually do some good.
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I find this discounting of legitimate issues as 'whining' to be incredibly patronising. Brilliant if it works for you. And yes, we are all still shooting around the issues. But why on Earth would you not urge the manufacturer to fix them?
 
Could it be that some of these 'limitations' are by design of market segmentation by Sony? Let's face it, if the FS7 didn't have these quirks, why would people buy an F5 for more than double the cost?

Frankly, the fact that you can't use WFM in UHD and 4K modes is unfortunate, as that's most of the shooting many of us will do with the FS7. When I switch to HD, the WFM magically appears in my VF. That would be nice if all I shot were 1080, but it's not.
 
basspig said:
Could it be that some of these 'limitations' are by design of market segmentation by Sony? Let's face it, if the FS7 didn't have these quirks, why would people buy an F5 for more than double the cost?

Frankly, the fact that you can't use WFM in UHD and 4K modes is unfortunate, as that's most of the shooting many of us will do with the FS7. When I switch to HD, the WFM magically appears in my VF. That would be nice if all I shot were 1080, but it's not.
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There are elements some people are complaining about that are very likely design limitations from the get go. In some cases this may be a result of handicapping hardware to generate market segmentation, but in many cases, the hardware used is specific to the exact capabilities planned for the model. Where there are genuine hardware limitations, or even designed handicapping, I'm personally not complaining. What bothers me is the degree of bugginess in the advertised features.

We shouldn't have problems with:
- Shutter reset/change glitch
- GPS/MI Shoe interference (if it's a hardware limitation, firmware should force GPS module off when MI shoe active)
- LUTs not consistently deploying per menu settings
- Inconsistent availability of scopes.

Also, I'm very annoyed to see features like timelapse, which ought to be hardware possible, and which have been offered as standard in other similar priced Sony cameras, not offered at launch or prioritized for release.
 
Doug Jensen said:
Absolutely!! I'd say more about why, but it really seems to ruffle feathers here when I advocate one technique or camera setting I prefer over another. I don't want to personally insult anyone by making a case for speed vs. angle.
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Funny that. I'd explain why, but I wouldn't want to upset anyone either:-)
 
Ben Scott said:
I find this discounting of legitimate issues as 'whining' to be incredibly patronising. Brilliant if it works for you. And yes, we are all still shooting around the issues. But why on Earth would you not urge the manufacturer to fix them?
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Exactly right Ben. He's basically telling professional DoPs to bugger off because he likes Doug. I like Doug and enjoy his discourse on this and other forums. Doesn't mean I agree with everything he posts and it certainly doesn't mean I or anyone else shouldn't voice their opinion where appropriate.
 
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Seems there are three cats of firmware 'fail' in the FS7.

Inconsistency. Ive never had a camera that forgot its settings.

This should be fixed.

Or.
Most unusual to have (for example) Luts OR WFM.
I guess this is the price of a cheap camera. Live with it.

Also there was (when buying the camera blind) some IMO marketing misrepresentation.. I thought I was paying for WFM and LUTs but I got WFM or LUTs. To get WFM and LUTs cost me another battery and $1000 (DP502)

'Dumb' design.
Huge menu digs to get from some places (Say 4k 25p to HD 180p)
I guess this is the price of a cheap camera. Live with it.

Then extra dumb design or failure to understand purpose.. for example to me 'punch in' will only be of use if it is on an assignable. I can get a longer lens quicker then a menu dig.

S
 
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morgan_moore said:
Most unusual to have (for example) Luts OR WFM.
I guess this is the price of a cheap camera. Live with it.
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According to a well known Sony advocate this was going to be FIXED in version 2. Though the said person didn't understand we need the WFM to reflect the underlying SLog and NOT the LUT.
 
I can see that it may not be fixable - I dont know the parrallel process that would need to occur.

I would desire core WFM and LUT WFM - as they serve different functions.
(seeing what you can recover, and seeing what will hit the 'first light' and exagerating colour shifts - yep I want an RGB tool - like on an NEX5n!)

Ive moved on and got all of this now with my 502.

I do feel bummed that that cost me.

S
 
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