Sony FS5 Initial Thoughts (pre-production model)

Thanks for this. I had a quick look in Edius and I like how it looks & grades. Very clean but not overly digital. This has my attention for sure.
 
Erik Naso said:
Cant decide between the FS5 or a used FS7. Both have strengths.
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FS5 = Run n' Gun for Television
FS7 = Feature Films for Cinema

Total night and day difference between the two cameras. Yes you could use either outside of the uses listed above, but that is what they are optimized for.

For me, I find myself have more creativity when my setup is smaller and lighter so if I had to choose: FS5
 
The one catch with the FS5 is going to be shooting using the s-log gammas since it has now user LUTs, neither 1D or 3D like the previous gen cameras have.

This sort of reminds me of the days shooting with the Sony F3, where getting exposure with slog can be a little tricky.

The F3 had a function called "brightness display" which put a small box in the center of the frame and gave you a digit readout of the IRE the box was placed over. This was a fantastic feature but I haven't seen it on any Sony camera after that.

Without a "good" exposure tool you're going to want to learn to use the zebras effectively for slog and I'm not sure yet if there is any built in WFM on the camera. I hope if there is it's not like the FS7/F5/F55 as I can tell you that personally I find the 1" square unnumbered thumbnail WFM 100% useless on the F55/F5/FS7 useless.

The FS5 does have a gamma assist mode which will add some contrast to the image to help you get a better idea of the exposure but from what I know it doesn't affect color.

I'm getting a FS5 demo soon and will be shooting some tests and also be adding it to the series of Ultimate Exposure guides I have authored on FS7 and F5/F55 cameras.

Overall I think the FS5 will be a massive hit. 4K 8-bit isn't going to be that much of a drawback, there are lots of people shooting professionally on 8-bit Canon cameras so I really don't see the "big" problem with it for the "average" shooter or project.
 
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I have the same problem with the MXF files on a MAC. I can't drag them into FCPX I, I will only see an audio clip then. If I use the Import dialogue I it will work but then FCPX converts the files somehow and the files can't be opened in other programs like Premiere or Davinci. I hope this gets fixed soon by apple. Does have a solution or idea? The only one I can think of is that for now I will have to transcode everything to ProRes.
 
DanielFS5 said:
I have the same problem with the MXF files on a MAC. I can't drag them into FCPX I, I will only see an audio clip then. If I use the Import dialogue I it will work but then FCPX converts the files somehow and the files can't be opened in other programs like Premiere or Davinci. I hope this gets fixed soon by apple. Does have a solution or idea? The only one I can think of is that for now I will have to transcode everything to ProRes.
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Yeah, I wasn't able to find a way to get it working, and had to transcode via Adobe Media Encoder. MXF support is listed for FCPX 10.2.2 so not really sure what's going on. Hopefully with the release this week, FCPX will update it and get it working fine.
 
Hey guys, I've now picked up a production model and will be putting it through it's paces properly. I also rented an fs7 2 weeks ago for a shoot so that I could probably try both within a short time span to compare better.

In the meantime though, the 48hour film we shot with the pre-production unit has so far gotten Audience Choice and is a top 10 finalist which will be screening at the Dubai International Film Festival this weekend. So that's pretty cool :)

Here's the trailer if so inclined:

 
starcentral said:
The F3 had a function called "brightness display" which put a small box in the center of the frame and gave you a digit readout of the IRE the box was placed over. This was a fantastic feature but I haven't seen it on any Sony camera after that.
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I shoot on the FS7 maybe 3 times a month... and while I'm not positive, I'm think I saw this option in the overlay menu?
 
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