FS7: New Sony F7 XDCAM 4K Super 35mm Camcorder

starcentral said:
Nice review Ned.

Did Sony just kill F5 sales with this? There are still some differentiations, but albeit not many.
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From what we know there really are a ton of little & big differences between the two cameras; center crop, mluts, SR444 etc. To just get TC In on the FS7 you need to buy that v-lock battery IO/dock for $2k. Now the camera's base price for a pro production is $10k. Still, a awesome little camera that I would love to have as a B cam. However it could never replace my F5 for all of the things I need in a camera or have come to rely on.
 
Michael, after reading your blog, as far as the new lens, it's full frame capable and has a zoom control built onto it. It will work on the A7S, as an example.
I think it's the perfect lens for Sony to bring out. I gotta disagree on your assessment of it.
 
morgan_moore said:
I think this is gonna be a mess with the R5 onboard (and does it need another interface too??)

The block of the F5/R5 is much nicer.

Mythoughts. http://www.sammorganmoore.com/fs7/
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Wow! No I'm faced with a quandry. I am all set to move to an F5. I have been waiting for the announcement of the FS7. I'm not liking the FS7, much, but I'm not an RnG shooter. The form factor is not right for me....I agree Sam, I prefer the brick. The balance of the FS7 "looks" all wrong. Except for the price, the F5 is still looking like my go-to solution. The jury's still out for deliberation. The Optitek EOS adapter MkII seems to incorporate focus and stabilization for all my Canon glass. The metabones solutions don't do this. Am I missing something, here?
 
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cuervo said:
The Optitek EOS adapter MkII seems to incorporate focus and stabilization for all my Canon glass. The metabones solutions don't do this. Am I missing something, here?
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Not at all

To me having manual glass is 'king' specifically my 28-85 zoom which offers the 'perfect' range for RnG with a speed booster.

If you like canon glass and IS then the Opiteck is gonna be fine - although there are AFAIK E-canon mounts that work with IS and even maybe AF.

For non RNG use Id prefer the F5 and with the fully rigged FS7 I think the price will be close..

S
 
cuervo said:
Wow! No I'm faced with a quandry. I am all set to move to an F5. I have been waiting for the announcement of the F7. I'm not liking the F7, much, but I'm not an RnG shooter. The form factor is not right for me....I agree Sam, I prefer the brick. The balance of the F7 "looks" all wrong. Except for the price, the F5 is still looking like my go-to solution. The jury's still out for deliberation. The Optitek EOS adapter MkII seems to incorporate focus and stabilization for all my Canon glass. The metabones solutions don't do this. Am I missing something, here?
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Cuervo - its a tough call indeed. You probably already know the differentiators spec/tech wise but I think formfactor is a big deal when considering a camera first and foremost. I was never a Canon fan but felt for ergonimics the XL series with 35mm adapters made a lot of sense, so that's what I used. With the F3 I would have paid anything not to have external recorders and in 2012 when the new F5/F55 were announced and I knew there would be a 10-bit codec onboard I was sold at any price.

In the end it will be easy for you to make a list of features and draw comparissons between the two that will help you make your decision.

I know someone here on the forums who just yesterday decide and bought the F5 knowing fully well the FS7 was imminent. He prefers the quality and robustness of the SR codec and again, one body, no external devices, and the fact the F5 does offer many other things the FS7 will probably never offer.

Whatever you decide, good luck, and may the force be with you.
 
Is the F5 getting 4k?

If that is the case it seems a simple choice set.

-AF
-Speedbooster
-Focus check on handle
-earphone plug not in your ear!

Being the killer apss of the FS7

-Tidy even with R5
-Soooolid PL mount

For the F5

To the solo small crew the first set probably sing, and to the crew with a Cabrio the second cam sings.

S
 
To respond to an earlier post in the thread, you can raw output over the 3G-SDI port of the accessory unit. Thus, around $10K street price will give you a 4K and raw output camera. Then once everybody gets things talking to each other, you could use Odyssey 7Q or Shogun for external recording.

The F5 is still a different camera and I do not see this killing F5 sales. It all depends upon your needs.

Even the F3 remains a great camera. Anybody wanna' buy mine?

On another note, I also do not believe that Sony's offering 4K for the F5 was a result of the .ALL hack. First of all, corporations don't move that fast. There had to be something in the works.

Ned
 
nsoltz said:
To respond to an earlier post in the thread, you can raw output over the 3G-SDI port of the accessory unit. Thus, around $10K street price will give you a 4K and raw output camera. Then once everybody gets things talking to each other, you could use Odyssey 7Q or Shogun for external recording.

Ned
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Thanks again for your insight Ned!

So if I understand you correctly unlike the FS700 the FS7 requires the accessory unit to work with external recorders? Isn't it outputting a similar signal to the FS700 over HS-SDI? Why can't the Odyssey/Shogun use that signal they same way?

Thanks again!
 
It's been advertized that the RAW out of the FS7 is identical to the RAW out of the FS700. I beleive the RAW out of the native HDSDI port will correctly feed the O7Q, which records to cDNG. If the user wants to record to an R5; and therefore record to Sony RAW, the interface unit will be required to condition the native RAW signal for input to the R5.
 
The FS700 accessory unit will enable Sony's compressed raw MXF video. Shooting to an external recorder will produce uncompressed CinemaDNG. The CinemaDNG files are 3 times the size of the Sony compressed. I really have not heard complaints that the AXS5 recorder produces degraded images with compression artifacts. So I suppose you could say that it is as lossless as possible. But of course the Sony unit comes at a higher cost and larger form factor.

Ned
 
Ned , have you had a chance to try out the form factor and that crazy arm for hand holding. How much did my F3 just lose in value or was it already rock bottom.
Will hurt FS700 value for sure.

I guess sSony has chosen volume over $'s / unit by hurting the F5. Fine w me.

Hmm Do I understand this correctly - ?
The new 28-135 F4 is full frame ? Will it work on the FS7 with a speed booster and maintain power functions?
Does that mean Sony is giving us the holy grail - 2 lenses in one & f2.8 when needed.
$2500 - not bad.
 
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I have not shot with one yet. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a digital Aaton! Like the form factor. Alistair Chapman has noted that the viewfinder is a little cheesy.

The 28-135 is a native e mount and there is no Speedbooster e mount to emount. While it is full frame, it is designed to work with the FS-7 complete with all electronics as well as servo zoom. Lens will not actually ship until December and I have been told $2500, which I believe is the street price. It does have IS.

Note that Sony calls the mount Alpha system. This is somewhat confusing because Sony had Alpha mount and E mount lenses. They are discontinuing manufacture of the Alpha mount and are calling e mount cameras Alpha System.

When I see how much I ultimately get for my F3 I can begin to determine whether F3 is already at rock bottom.

Ned
 
morgan_moore said:
Is the F5 getting 4k?

If that is the case it seems a simple choice set.

-AF
-Speedbooster
-Focus check on handle
-earphone plug not in your ear!

Being the killer apss of the FS7

-Tidy even with R5
-Soooolid PL mount

For the F5

To the solo small crew the first set probably sing, and to the crew with a Cabrio the second cam sings.

S
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So whats the story with PL mount lenses and this new camera then?
 
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