Sony F3 Firmware v1.5

No generator. After this storm though getting one. Can charge cell phones at restaurants or neighbors with generator

Ned
 
With gas rationing in nj now, couldnt even power it. Six hour lines for gas. Hopefully should clear up in a few days. North Jersey is on the riority list for this weekend. Thanks s much for offer.

Ned
 
nsoltz said:
With gas rationing in nj now, couldnt even power it. Six hour lines for gas. Hopefully should clear up in a few days. North Jersey is on the riority list for this weekend. Thanks s much for offer.

Ned
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Unless you had a Generac which runs on natural gas.
 
They should be getting some gas in soon Ned. Hang in there.

Back on topic, the response I received from Peter seemed to hint that it was an allocation of resources issue on the v1.5 firmware. They're concentrating their efforts on the New F firmware.

That's understandable from their POV, but its leaving the F3 seeming more like an abandoned step-child, when in fact it's a great camera. Most people don't need 4k delivery and there's not much difference between 2k and 1080p. DR and color palate are important (of course) but the F3 out performs most cameras in that regard already. I think they can sell a lot more F3's.
 
Duke I hope you are wrong about the lack of resources to work on the new F3 firmware. Many of the suggested changes posted on forums were simple workflow changes that would place functions on the assign button lists and such.

Sony has to manage their PR very carefully on this one. Their prime user base for the new camera, their existing one, have been taken for a bit of a ride. Their pricing scheme on the RGB S-log as the most obvious example. Having us buy into an ecosystem (remember the presentations on this) but only to have the value of our assets, the camera, lenses and accessories devalue way before normal expectation. Lack of pricing on current units in this climate only worsens the situation for the F3 owner.

If there is going to be a loyalty program, as someone suggested, then so be it and out with it. Sony has to realize this isn't normal business. The F3 is less than two years old and their quiet communication through bloggers and journalists, ensuring that the F3 will be around for awhile holds little currency for the existing owners.
 
I agree! My job doesn't involve using a camera, but my passion for photography last year led me to take a punt on the expensive PMW-F3 camera to achieve the cinematic look and then this would be supposedly enhanced with the CBK-RGB01 firmware, which turned out to be the Sony con of the decade. I lost thousands of dollars on that scheme and then Sony's response was to offer a rebate on a hugely expensive zoom lens or hugely expensive external recorder. I am still sore from being ripped off. It was just a.... money.... grabbing.... exercise.... and didn't benefit the customer one iota unless you had equally expensive peripherals at the time. The F5 and F55 have now made the CBK-RGB01 completely useless, all the space of 12 months!

Hope that a faceless Sony rep is reading this. I either want my $3600 back or offer me a free prime lens from the new collection.
 
Peter G. Johnson said:
I agree! My job doesn't involve using a camera, but my passion for photography last year led me to take a punt on the expensive PMW-F3 camera to achieve the cinematic look and then this would be supposedly enhanced with the CBK-RGB01 firmware, which turned out to be the Sony con of the decade. I lost thousands of dollars on that scheme and then Sony's response was to offer a rebate on a hugely expensive zoom lens or hugely expensive external recorder. I am still sore from being ripped off. It was just a.... money.... grabbing.... exercise.... and didn't benefit the customer one iota unless you had equally expensive peripherals at the time. The F5 and F55 have now made the CBK-RGB01 completely useless, all the space of 12 months!

Hope that a faceless Sony rep is reading this. I either want my $3600 back or offer me a free prime lens from the new collection.
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I understand the frustration expressed here, as I purchased the CBK-RGB01 at full price, and failed to rent it out at rate prior to the price drop. And I certainly would applaud any further efforts Sony makes to support those of use who bought the CBK-RGB01.

On the other hand... the price of being on the cutting edge is that sometimes you're inadvertently on the bleeding edge. It happens. Sony only dropped the price of the CBK-RGB01 when the Canon C300 was released to market at a competitive price with a built in CLog feature. Sony responded to market by repricing to stay competitive.

The $2500 rebate on the lens or recorder was actually pretty generous. You end up mostly paying for the 32GB SxS-1 card the Slog upgrade came on. Personally, I got $3700 in rebates for buying the lens because I was also an F3 early adopter.

So you didn't like the rebates. I'm sorry. But they made an effort.
 
Viddovation said:
The $2500 rebate on the lens or recorder was actually pretty generous. You end up mostly paying for the 32GB SxS-1 card the Slog upgrade came on. Personally, I got $3700 in rebates for buying the lens because I was also an F3 early adopter.

So you didn't like the rebates. I'm sorry. But they made an effort.
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The problem with the lens and recorder rebate wasn't the amount if you needed them, its that so few people needed them. In effect, it was a useless rebate for most people.
 
Viddovation said:
So you didn't like the rebates. I'm sorry. But they made an effort.
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I too was not happy with what they offered. I've been told on more than one occasion by Sony reps though that they will attempt again at making it right, so I hold out hope that something will be offered on the next round.
 
I am not a Sony apologist, nor an apologist for any vendor for that matter. Sony made a business decision regarding pricing which troubled a number of people. Their options could have been to stonewall it and say that market conditions change. Or they could try to find ways to make it right. Red, in a way, is doing this by providing Dragon sensor upgrade to those who paid old price for Epic but not for those buying at the new price. This at least preserves some value for the $34K crowd.

I honestly think it is time to move on and just to look at camera prices like pork bellies on the commodities markets. Prices fluctuate and better ultimately for us when prices go down. Yet we don't want prices so low that for-profit corporations can't provide sufficient ROI to make the products. Red is the one possible exception because this is both Jim Jannard's business and his passion. It's nice not to have to report to stockholders.

Ned
 
i see your point, one ought to be pragmatic about the matter. on the other hand, it isn't very pragmatic to make substantial investments in a product where the market seems so unpredictable, unstable, or unreliable. if you're in a position where you can afford to take the hit, or you can recoup your investment inside a year, all well and good. if not . . . you can see why Sony might make certain decisions, but you can also see how, if this decision-making process becomes the norm, it just doesn't make as much sense to invest in their products.
 
nsoltz said:
I honestly think it is time to move on

Ned
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And let by gones be by bones, forgive and forget, agree to disagree and other b%ll s^$t cliches you reckon? If it were an honest mistake, then fine, but this was a planned campaign with s-log already built in to the camera, then they offered a $3600 key to unlock it when the time was right, then thought of their own hip-pocket again when the C300 offered its own log for free. Meanwhile the 'loyal' (what a joke concept that is) customer was chucked around like a bull-dog with a kitten in its mouth.

I'll never let it rest until I either get my money back or receive a dirty big discount on some hardware I can actually use. Never feel sorry for big multi-corporate organisations that want your money and offer tokenism in return.
 
Simply put, you should only buy things you need if the current price is justifiable. To borrow a REDism "Everything is subject to change."

I got burned on the Slog deal too, and it did annoy me, but that's a risk of being in business. Sony didn't just suddenly decide to screw us over - they adjusted to a new market paradigm that Canon forced on them.

And $3600 is nothing compared to what just happened with the RED Epic, which lost about $15,000 overnight.
 
Peter G. Johnson said:
I'll never let it rest until I either get my money back or receive a dirty big discount on some hardware I can actually use. Never feel sorry for big multi-corporate organisations that want your money and offer tokenism in return.
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i understand feeling burned, but in terms of your own piece of mind, it certainly is better to put it behind you. raging against sony is like raging against the wind. you can't change its course and it's unlikely you'll get your pound of flesh. it isn't a person, there's no percentage in being angry at it. just try not to make the same mistake with their products again.

if sony makes it clear that it's a bad idea to buy a product early in its shelf-life, in a market where the shelf-life is less than two years, that will alter their course. otherwise you're spitting in the wind.
 
Viddovation said:
And $3600 is nothing compared to what just happened with the RED Epic, which lost about $15,000 overnight.
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Red have quite conveniently discounted their equipment, true, but not by almost 90% like Sony did with CBK-RGB01. I understand good marketing any day, but that was just deception from a supposedly reputable company.

But anyway, I'm just having a good vent. I know that Sony couldn't care less, however if the reaction is strong enough, they won't try that again!
 
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