F5: Operation guide for Sony F5?

Infilmer

Infilmer

Member
Hi everyone,

In 2 weeks we will be running a 8-day production and we will rent the Sony F5 as our A-cam.
However, we have no experience with the F5 and would like to learn as much as we can about how to operate the camera before we actually start the shoot. The closest we get as far as operating Sony camera's is the FS700, which seems to be completely different in operation. I have tried to find a good operation guide but have been unsuccessful up to now.

Can anyone recommend a proper guide to operating the F5?

Thanks in advance!
- Charley
 
Dear Doug,

I would truly love to read your book, however with all due respect, I think the price of your book is a bit "steep".
Any other suggestions which are cheaper or free perhaps?
 
Hi Charley,

I think when you get the camera in your hands (with nothing to help you but Sony's so-called "manual") and discover out just how dense and complex it's menus and recording options are, you'll understand exactly why Doug's guide is as extensive as it is (and priced accordingly).

If at all possible, try and have a play with it at the rental house before hand - you really need to know what you want to do with it, and how you can get there, before you add in the pressure of being on set.

Good luck!
 
I also have an exposure guide if you fancy that. It's NOT how to operate the camera however, just focused on exposure.
 
Infilmer said:
Dear Doug,

I would truly love to read your book, however with all due respect, I think the price of your book is a bit "steep".
Any other suggestions which are cheaper or free perhaps?
Click to expand...

About 400 hours of work went into researching the camera, trying different settings, coming up with recommended procedures and settings, shooting test footage, finding the pitfalls, and then putting it all down in a legible format. I will NEVER sell enough books at any price to ever make it worth my time on dollars and cents alone. Even though I charge for it, it was a labor of love, as I'm sure Dennis can understand perfectly well. Besides that, $85 isn't even an hours's worth of pay for an F55/F5 owner/operator. So if it's not worth $85 for someone to learn a $28,000 camera, there's nothing else I can say, except good luck. :)
 
That was very calmly said, Doug. In your shoes I probably would have been much less diplomatic. If the poster thinks an $85 investment for a guide of this quality is "too steep" before launching on a paid 8 day shoot, then he's a poster boy for "penny wise, pound foolish."
 
As far as I know, there's no better resource available to cram for an Fcam shoot than Doug's guide.
How much would it cost you to screw the shoot?

The price of the guide is a bit steep, but I bit the bullet and I'm glad I did.

Not only that, but you could spend days on the net trying to find that kind of info. What's YOUR time worth?
 
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Please don't get me wrong. :)

I don't think that $85 is too much for an in-depth guide that will render out the most of the camera at all. What I actually meant is that spending $85 on the guide is too "steep" for this one specific job. I would glady pay $85 for the guide if we were to buy the camera, which we probably will if we like the image it produces.

But right now, all we need is a general understanding of operating the camera properly so we can get the most of the testing days we planned.
 
Well if you'd like some free instruction on how to quickly set-up and operate the F-55, I can give it to you. But it will be worth exactly what you pay for it - $0. It's a complex camera as you've already discovered. If $85 is too much of an investment for a camera test, I respectfully suggest trying another camera. (I'll assume you are renting the camera for free. )
 
For $0 I guess there is always the operational manual, it's actually not all that bad albeit cryptic at times.

The user menus are probably the biggest challenge on the camera - not at fault of the camera system itself, but more because these cameras are indeed packed with many features that simply warrant deep and extensive menus.

The good news is you can create a custom menu to speed up access to commonly used menu settings. There's the assignable buttons on the outside which are also quite handy.

Lastly, have you tried any of Alister's camera notes? He has some good stuff published online as well you might want to google.

Cheers,
 
First off, I don't like some of these hostile comments.
It almost seems as if you MUST buy the guide if you're new to the F5, it doesn't even seem to be optional. These kind of comments actually make me feel I shouldn't buy the guide at all and I'm quite sure that 99% of the people who started working with the F5 never bought such a guide.

But then again, such a guide does offer comprehensive, detailed information, and I'm considering to maybe, perhaps, buy it in the (near) future.

For those who did actually help me out a bit, thanks! :)
Starcentral, thanks for the offer, I actually found your exposure guide yesterday and reading it right now.
 
Infilmer said:
First off, I don't like some of these hostile comments.
It almost seems as if you MUST buy the guide if you're new to the F5, it doesn't even seem to be optional. These kind of comments actually make me feel I shouldn't buy the guide at all and I'm quite sure that 99% of the people who started working with the F5 never bought such a guide.
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I don't think anyone's trying to be hostile Charley, it just can't be understated how complex these cameras are (us owners have been complaining about it for ages) - and that complexity makes them pretty hard to just pick up and get pretty pictures with, you need to understand the settings, how to access them and how they'll actually effect the picture you're recording.

And other than doing a day's prep tests with the camera to figure it all out practically (the best option), Doug's guide is your next best option. If you want to get the info for free, you can do that, but you need to start trawling through the last six-twelve months' worth of forum threads to uncover the specific info you need - and it doesn't sound like you have time for that.
 
You can quite easily arrange some free time with a local rental house, or authorized Sony dealer. They often welcome it, since they are certain it will result in a rental or sale down the road.

Just tell them you're being hired to work with the camera and would like some time with it beforehand.

Perhaps it will be free, maybe even a small fee but charge it back to the production or talk to them about it as it makes sense you know the cam first before going into production with it. I mean someone has to know it.
 
Infilmer said:
These kind of comments actually make me feel I shouldn't buy the guide at all and I'm quite sure that 99% of the people who started working with the F5 never bought such a guide.
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Dude...seriously? There's a saying about noses and faces [spite=on] that comes to mind here. First, how many accessories to any professional video camera can you buy these days that cost less than $85? Secondly, how much money are you being paid to shoot for 8 days with this camera...and what's it worth to you to be as comfortable with the camera functions and operation as possible? Third, if you have to spend any time at all fighting the camera or looking up a function while on the shoot, how impressed do you think the client will be when you say "sure...we just spent an hour getting into slog3 mode and being able to output it over the (fill in the blank here) port, but hey, I saved $85 by not buying the industry standard operation guide?"
 
captslomo said:
Dude...seriously? There's a saying about noses and faces [spite=on] that comes to mind here. First, how many accessories to any professional video camera can you buy these days that cost less than $85? Secondly, how much money are you being paid to shoot for 8 days with this camera...and what's it worth to you to be as comfortable with the camera functions and operation as possible? Third, if you have to spend any time at all fighting the camera or looking up a function while on the shoot, how impressed do you think the client will be when you say "sure...we just spent an hour getting into slog3 mode and being able to output it over the (fill in the blank here) port, but hey, I saved $85 by not buying the industry standard operation guide?"
Click to expand...

First of all he is not a "dude".
He is another forum member with his own set of wants and needs just like you.
How about addressing him in a little bit more respectful manner?

Second, being beaten around the head to buy the $85 guide is a complete turn off.
Once is enough. Chiming in again serves no one.
If a member makes a simple request for some quick start info and comes to a forum to get it - and instead receives an incessant sales pitch for an $85 guide from a bunch of other forum members I could see how that would be off putting. Can't you? Is that so hard to understand?

So instead of chastising him, perhaps you could come with some other more constructive ways of responding?
 
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yoclay said:
First of all he is not a "dude".
He is another forum member with his own set of wants and needs just like you.
How about addressing him in a little bit more respectful manner?

Second, being beaten around the head to buy the $85 guide is a complete turn off.
Once is enough. Chiming in again serves no one.
If a member makes a simple request for some quick start info and comes to a forum to get it - and instead receives an incessant sales pitch for an $85 guide from a bunch of other forum members I could see how that would be off putting. Can't you? Is that so hard to understand?

So instead of chastising him, perhaps you could come with some other more constructive ways of responding?
Click to expand...

Exactly my thought.
We have 4 days with the camera for our test days, so I'm quite confident that we can figure out whatever we need to figure out.

@Jusgorilla
Thanks for Alister's guide, reading it right now. :)
 
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