New Sony FS E-mount 4K camcorder to be announced at IBC

[harddrive]

If Sony had something like that {Z100 upgrade with large sensor front end} under their sleeve would it not make sense to release info at IBC, to take away some of the thunder for the dvx200? Which is effectively the Z100's direct competitor.

I can only guess that they may have thought such may have detracted from the FS5 launch - taken thunder away from the launch of that, rather than the DVX200? And maybe they want to keep something in reserve for another event?

And - maybe they think the FS5 will do a better job of "thunder-stealing" than what I was speculating about? When the DVX200 was first announced, there seemed to be dissatisfaction (from some) that it wasn't the "AF200" that had been hoped for. Which seemed to be coming mainly from those more into the low budget cinema style of work than any other.

Isn't the FS5 quite close to what many hoped the AF200 (and by implication the DVX200 in reality) should have been? Even down to being able to crop the s35 sensor to use super16 lenses for HD?

And whilst I don't see the FS5 specs as perfect, it does seem it will support RAW output to an external recorder, which may boost it's appeal in the cinema market.

[EDIT - When I said I "don't see the FS5 specs as perfect", then one factor (especially relevant to the cinema inclined users) that made me say that was the apparent absence of true 4K - it was a QFHD only camera. I've just learnt that future firmware upgrades will enable true 4K ability (4096x2160), as well as true 4K RAW to an external recorder.]

 

[dmitrizigany]

Mitch (can be referred to by one name only ... unless he prefers a different moniker) says FS5 does have a 10-bit out via HDMI to an external recorder.

Probably for the HD only?
Edit, according to the text Mitch posted in another thread, it does indeed seem like it will output 10bit via HDMI.
Which means you should also be able to record that with a lower cost PIX-E or Ninja Assassin...

 

[Giriki]

7500 dollars in Europe. Pass.

 

[firehawk]

Why doesn't it use XAVC-S like the A7s II ? I don't think my NLE can import XAVC-L. What a bummer!

 

[Ebrahim Saadawi]

Does anybody know the difference between XAVC-L and XAVC-S? As far as I can see, they are both AVC MPEG4 H.264 Long GOP codecs with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling and 8bit bit-depth and 100mbps bit-rate at UHD/4K ?

 

[dcloud]

Does anybody know the difference between XAVC-L and XAVC-S? As far as I can see, they are both AVC MPEG4 H.264 Long GOP codecs with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling and 8bit bit-depth and 100mbps bit-rate at UHD/4K ?

Xavc L can do 422 10bit or higher

xavc s is mp4 and i think can only do 420 8bit

 

[mattjeh]

I haven't seen any info on features like switchable scene files and basic focusing tools like peaking. Has anyone seen or read anything confirming their presence or absence?

Edit:
Ahhh Picture profile, that's Sonys scene file isn't it, there is an assign button on the body for P Profile.
And to be honest, peaking is a given isn't it?

 

[Ebrahim Saadawi]

Xavc L can do 422 10bit or higher

xavc s is mp4 and i think can only do 420 8bit

So an XAVC-L 4:2:0 8bit version is equivalent to XAVC-S?

 

[dcloud]

probably! just a different wrapper

 

[philiplipetz]

I haven't seen any info on features like switchable scene files and basic focusing tools like peaking. Has anyone seen or read anything confirming their presence or absence?

Edit:
Ahhh Picture profile, that's Sonys scene file isn't it, there is an assign button on the body for P Profile.
And to be honest, peaking is a given isn't it?

histogram but no waveform was reported on another forum

 

[Danilo Del Tufo]

I think it's very silly question but I wonder if Sony's 18-105mm E-Mount servo zoom (Sony FS5 Kit lens) is just 6X zoom in 4K, or more than that in FHD? Or you can add 2x ZOOM (digitally as for prime lens according the new technology of Sony, that's something like 2x for HD and 1.5x for 4K to the same ZOOM 18-105mm lens)? Anyone can confirm that? Probably the lens characteristics remain the same I believe.

 

[ntouched]

Why doesn't it use XAVC-S like the A7s II ? I don't think my NLE can import XAVC-L. What a bummer!

Apple Final Cut Pro X now handles XAVC-L!!!

 

[mattjeh]

I haven't seen any info on features like switchable scene files and basic focusing tools like peaking. Has anyone seen or read anything confirming their presence or absence?

I'll add zebra to that. I can't find any information on the viewfinder & LCD and the feature set, zebra and peaking etc. Anyone know? I can't believe they would be features that would be removed from the FS7 downgrading process.

 

[Mitch Gross]

Mitch (can be referred to by one name only ... unless he prefers a different moniker) says FS5 does have a 10-bit out via HDMI to an external recorder.

Well I guess that moniker should be switched to "he who needs to write better notes" because I got this wrong. The 4K HDMI output from the FS5 is indeed 4:2:2 8-bit, not 10-bit. My apologies to all.

 

[Giriki]

Is there a reason why Sony can't offer anything even close to F65 colors in the FS5/7 range apart from "we don't want to kill F65/F55"?

 

[harddrive]

I think it's very silly question but I wonder if Sony's 18-105mm E-Mount servo zoom (Sony FS5 Kit lens) is just 6X zoom in 4K, or more than that in FHD? Or you can add 2x ZOOM (digitally as for prime lens according the new technology of Sony, that's something like 2x for HD and 1.5x for 4K to the same ZOOM 18-105mm lens)? Anyone can confirm that? Probably the lens characteristics remain the same I believe.

If it's a 6x zoom lens, it's a 6x zoom lens, end of story. The resolution makes no difference.

What will make a difference will be whether or not the whole sensor is being read - or only a crop of it. If only the central 1/2 in area terms, then apart from max resolution obviously being less, the other effect will be that whilst it's still a 6x zoom, it will be a narrower angle of view at both wide and tele ends. The effect will be comparable to using a tele-extender.

And yes, the way I read it, it does seem possible to dynamically alter the crop factor to give a "digital zoom" without loss of quality - certainly in HD. So whilst the zoom is still optically 6x, it will seem like a true 12x operationally.

 

[DLD]

Well I guess that moniker should be switched to "he who needs to write better notes" because I got this wrong. The 4K HDMI output from the FS5 is indeed 4:2:2 8-bit, not 10-bit. My apologies to all.

But that was a quick correction (and, I assume, no harm was done).

And yes, the way I read it, it does seem possible to dynamically alter the crop factor to give a "digital zoom" without loss of quality - certainly in HD. So whilst the zoom is still optically 6x, it will seem like a true 12x operationally.

As I wrote on the other FS5 thread, this has to be an internal upscale a la ARRI Alexa. A 1.5 zoom in 4K takes it down to ~ 5.8 MPX, which is visually indistinguishable from 4K by a naked eye.

 

[Ron Evans]

Lots of Sony cameras have Clear Image Zoom. My AX100 has this and it works very well. Normally the sensors 20M pixels are used to scale for a 1920x1080 image but with clear image zoom I guess they gradually crop into the sensor 1920x1080 changing a 12 zoom to 24x zoom. I cannot see any degradation or transition from optical to clear image zoom. From there there is a true digital zoom that does of course degrade as expected.

 

[jtczere]

Will it be possible to use M4/3 lens with and adapter on this camera and what image size would it produce?

 

[alaskacameradude]

Will it be possible to use M4/3 lens with and adapter on this camera and what image size would it produce?

Micro 4/3 lenses wouldn't be big enough to cover the Super 35 sensor, so you wouldn't want to use them.