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

Just pulled the trigger at Samy's Camera in San Francisco today to finance the FS7. They were telling me that Sony might possibly be late on shipping to dealers, so many people won't get theirs until December! Hopefully Sony ships some units out sometime this month so we won't have to wait too long.
 
Original
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My grade
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Ok, here's my shot at it.
I think my grade would look something like this.
I still see some posterization in the above right corner, but again I think with a 10 bit 422 file there would be enough info there for the transitions. Blacks look a little too crushed on this RGB screen, but they seemed better on a grading monitor. Probably would ease back on them a little in a final grade so there was more detail in the hair. Maybe bump up just the skin a little with the highlight density slider to add a touch more contrast too for the face.
 
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Very nice.

When grading a screen grab any idea what the bit depth is? Kind of baffles my mind you can even grade a screen grab..
 
starcentral said:
Very nice.

When grading a screen grab any idea what the bit depth is? Kind of baffles my mind you can even grade a screen grab..
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8 bit. So it really doesn't reveal much about the camera's codec to be honest. But a nice log image does provide you with a good base even so. When I looked at the grab, I saw that it was slightly clipped, but I am sure the original is better. It is well exposed even so. Whoever shot the image did a good job of holding the highlights in the background.
 
cinemasteve87 said:
Just pulled the trigger at Samy's Camera in San Francisco today to finance the FS7. They were telling me that Sony might possibly be late on shipping to dealers, so many people won't get theirs until December! Hopefully Sony ships some units out sometime this month so we won't have to wait too long.
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Congrats! As I said, I pulled the trigger on day 1 but since I ordered the back and the 28-135 lens, I wasn't expecting delivery before Dec anyway. I honestly haven't heard anything from either Sony or dealers about shipping time frames. And if Sony told me, I couldn't repeat it anyway ;)

Ned
 
nsoltz said:
Congrats! As I said, I pulled the trigger on day 1 but since I ordered the back and the 28-135 lens, I wasn't expecting delivery before Dec anyway. I honestly haven't heard anything from either Sony or dealers about shipping time frames. And if Sony told me, I couldn't repeat it anyway ;)

Ned
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Also ordered FS7 with 28-135 lens and back. Was told cameras in Oct., Cameras with lens Dec., and once those are filled lenses on there own will be available.
cheers
Morton
 
Liam Hall said:
Worth noting, the target market for this camera is not the commercial industry. It's designed for the single shooter/small unit jobs where 10bit 4k internal should hit a sweet spot.
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steve phillipps said:
According to who?

Steve
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According to the fact that anybody who shows up on a commercial shoot with a FS7 won't be taken serious. Unless we're talking very low end stuff like local car dealer commercials.

The FS7 is basically a wedding camera that gives you options to make it behave more like a production camera by adding cumbersome accessories. Exactly like the FS700.
 
I don't know where you come from.

But here in germany there's not only weddings and hi-budget commercials.
There's a lot more where people need a camera, that can deliver in many situations. The hi-end world isn't the
target market of the FS7. But documentaries, corporate video, low/mid budget stuff, parts of ENG and weddings are.
Everywhere where the operator needs to control the image without help, the FS7 will be the right horse.

Just look where the C300 is. Is it a wedding camera in the 1st place?
 
You missed the point Erik. The talk was about the commercial industry specifically. Not about what is in between weddings and commercials. Look at the quote.
 
Sttratos said:
The FS7 is basically a wedding camera that gives you options to make it behave more like a production camera by adding cumbersome accessories. Exactly like the FS700.
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Did I really miss the point?

I just don't think that the FS7 is "basically a wedding camera".

For me it will a nice companion for most of the work I do without the "cumbersome accessories".
That's what it is all about: It works for a lot of people without adding cumbersome accessories.
You take it out of the box, ad a lens, a battery, a card - there you go. Getting footage in 4k 10bit
if you want.

If you want a full production cam with Genlock, Timecode, ProRes or RAW, matte box, follow focus...
The FS7 will not be at home. You better take RED, BM or AJA cameras, or F5/55.
 
My F3 have always been regarded highly on commercial shoots and I do think the FS7 will feel right at home. Heck I've shot so many commercials with "real" wedding cameras like Canons 7D and 5Dmk2 and they also have been welcome on set.
 
I think wedding camera is a great description (of the naked cam). Not in a bad way - many people make big buck doing weddings.

But it is flexible.

Naked. Wedding camera.

Add the back block - genlock = doco camera (broadcast approved)

Add raw - almost a movie maker.

S
 
Osslund said:
My F3 have always been regarded highly on commercial shoots and I do think the FS7 will feel right at home. Heck I've shot so many commercials with "real" wedding cameras like Canons 7D and 5Dmk2 and they also have been welcome on set.
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There are commercials and then there are commercials. :smile:

Like I said low budget commercials are not a problem. A commercial shot with a DSLR is either going for that look or has no money.

But morgan_moore gets it. It is a wedding camera. Just because it shoots 10 bit 4K doesn't change that. This is basically the normal now. 10 bit XAVC is the new XDCAM.
 
Well summed up Sam.

I love shooting on my F3. My clients also love the look. Mostly shooting fast turn around music videos internally to SXS. For higher end jobs the BM shuttle pops on the back but it's a bit cumbersome and heavy. We've done quite a few adverts for broadcast on the F3 BM combo and it works out great. I'm looking forward to the FS7 but will be keeping hold of the F3 as 1080p is going to be here for a while I think.

I'm hoping that the IQ of the FS7 will be a step above the F3 and near that of the F5. Also losing the BM shuttle will be a godsend.

10bit Internal 4k@60fps and MLUTs is pretty much all I need and the 180fps continuous is going to be very useful.

If the FS7 can pay for itself over 2 year which I think in our case is easily do able then I think it's worth definitely worth it.
 
surinder said:
I'm hoping that the IQ of the FS7 will be a step above the F3 and near that of the F5. Also losing the BM shuttle will be a godsend.
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Personally, I don't think the IQ of any of these cameras is much above the F3, if at all. The latter continues to look great and unless a deliverable is in 4K, I defy any client to tell the difference at FullHD. What you get is slo-mo in a more ergonomic body and internal shooting for broadcast.
 
yoclay said:
Personally, I don't think the IQ of any of these cameras is much above the F3, if at all. The latter continues to look great and unless a deliverable is in 4K, I defy any client to tell the difference at FullHD. What you get is slo-mo in a more ergonomic body and internal shooting for broadcast.
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You hit the nail on bang on the head :)
 
But that's exactly what we are talking about here all the time.

The tempting news is the flexible form factor of the FS7 combined with
internal 10bit log (be it 4k or HD) in a robust codec.

If you want max. image quality, the BMCC and RAW is the best bang for the buck.
But if you shoot with it for the 1st time, you'll have a new definition of cumbersome.

The FS7 will basically be a workhorse not a wedding camera.
Just my 2 c.
 
Erik Wittbusch said:
Is the F55 then a toaster or lunch box for DOPs? :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
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You can call it what you want. But it is then a toaster or lunch box for DOPs with a global shutter, film gamut colors, better RAW recorder integration, better EVF, more features and better designed to fit a high end workflow.
 
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