F55: RAW Camera Comparison

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CinemaElectronika

Well-known member
A bit of fun really as it is hard to tell from a Vimeo upload.

Sony F55, Alexa, BMCC and Canon C500?

All shot at the same time, lenses matched as much as possible.

Graded to match using RAW controls and 1 node only in DaVinci Resolve. Cameras at 800ASA.

The first 4 clips are at the original framing, clips 5-8 at maximum Resolve zoom.

All filmed on the Geoff Boyle RAW Roadshow 2013.

https://vimeo.com/69530462

Have fun!
 
Just finished working on part of a feature film that shot on two F55's at 4K RAW. Was very impressed with the image, although I wasn't doing on set color work. The recording time to the cards is rather impressive, as I was expecting it to be much heavier when I was testing this camera back in the first days Sony had hands on prototypes floating around.

I'd put it up there as an option next to Alexa and Red, in that order. Canon SLOG has never done much for me. It's not RAW, and when it comes to LOG, it's the least loggy I've ever seen,more like a flat scene file versus log... But I came from and was first introduced to LOG with the Panavision Genesis LOG, which is flatter than a table top! This camera definately pulled itself into contention with the bigger cameras. I would not be surprised that in capable and talented hands it could look just as good as Alexa. Again, it really goes with the amount of talent. Geoff is a very knowledgable bloke. If he understands the tools he has, I have no doubt he can make them look as similar or different as he wishes.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say, is that the F55 RAW was impressive, although their RAW software needs a bit more to it. It's like a RedCineX-lite, but otherwise, it's a great option.
 
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It is not only VIMEO but it is 720. The only thing that should be for sure is that the second cropped clip has to be 4k so it has to be either the F55 or the C500.
 
I DP'd a short film over the weekend with an Alexa, and we're doing pickups with my F55 Friday.

My plan is to shoot 4K XAVC and to downres to 1080p to avoid the 1080p XAVC compression. It's not that I need the extra pixels, it's that I need the extra bitrate and having essentially 444 color resolution after the resize is a nice bonus.

Comparing the above two methods back to back in Resolve, the 55 is absolutely there with the Alexa IQ-wise. Or it's so close I certainly can't tell, and I like to think I'm quite the pixel peeper when necessary with my Sony 17" OLED.

Where it falls down right now is lack of functionality with LUTs while shooting and other options. It was really nice to be able to route looks and LUTs on the Alexa to every conceivable output as needed, it's the difference between a well-thought-out camera and one that's not quite there yet.
 
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