Thoughts on FS700 in 2016

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Darktide Media

Active member
So I just got my FS700 last week and love finally owning the camera. I have used it a few times before but more or less using DSLR for the past few years. After talking with a few people and got odd looks as to why I would buy such an old camera when sony has the new FS5 and FS7 cameras out so it got me thinking why did I go FS700 and it was easy really, its cheap for one and it can output an amazing image. You can take it one day as a basic camera with no add ons then the next have a Cine Lens and 7q doing pro res or raw for a big job that can match a RED if need be . I would really like to know others thoughts on this topic. Is the FS700 still a camera that is worth getting and if so why to you?
 
I don't know if I'd buy a fs700 today with fs5 and fs7 around, but I'm not in a hurry to change the one I'm using for 2 years with O7Q for any of these 2 newer cameras. It's an amazing combo for the price. In fact, the only reason I'm thinking about selling it is:

ERGONOMICS

I'm shooting a direct cinema documentary right know and it's tricky to operate.
 
I think FS700 is still a very good choice, especially at this new price. But ! With the Odyssey. Because without, the codec is ... mmmmmh not the best.
4K@120
2k@240
4K@60p
In Prores or in RAW ! Shooting in Raw is a huge difference IMO. Now the SSDs are cheap ... A good monitor.
FS7 ? Except for the ergonomics, where are you ?
 
I havent got to play with any of the FS700 Raw files yet, the prores ones are amazing one reason I went with the camera. The slow mo is much better in pro res and we get 4K so thats nice.
 
If you can pick the camera up at the right price...perhaps. But one also needs to keep in mind that for all intensive purposes it's end of life and if you can deal with that you'll be fine.

I've owned mine now for about three years and at this point I'm to heavily invested into it...meaning shoulder rig, cage, various rain gear, e mount lenses ect ect. However, with a little know how, the right lens(s) and paired w/ a 7q you can get some pretty greasy images. So for me the camera has long since paid for itself, I'm still monetizing it and I've never had any complaints from clients about deficiencies with the camera or the images coming out of it, so I'm going to ride that pony till she drops.

The reality is every six months to a year some manufacturer is going to drop the "latest/greatest" model and yes it may be the latest but not necessarily the greatest. I would be lying if I said at times I don't get twitchy and start thinking about an upgrade...but then I start looking at price point vs feature sets and then comparing that to what I have, and what little I might gain with a perceived "upgrade" and I end up sticking with what I have. Eventually I will upgrade but when I do It will be a much bigger leap at a much greater price point with a lot more to consider.


But in the here and now, in this world of 5k t0 10k cameras it's all about compromise, what can you live with and what can you live without...there is no one size fits all, not in that price range. So unless your willing to make a sizeable investment to get above that (and it is sizeable) to get a camera that can arguably do it, in the mean time you'll need to make that price vs performance compromise...and I think the FS700 fits that bill nicely. It certainly doesn't do everything well but it does most things well enough.

I would agree with the above commentor though...the form factor of the camera has a lot to be desired and once rigged out for shoulder work especially adding the 7q, does not make it fun to sling around for a day or get caught
in tight spaces. I've also found it a bit more tricky to balance on a Ronin then other cameras and I'm sure some of that has to do with the form factor...but like anything else, you deal with it and make it work.

So at this point pretty happy and for the most part content with the 700/7q combo and plan to be so for at least another year...or so.
 

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When I was deciding on my A cam 1.5 years ago, it was down to the FS700 and the RED Scarlet. I went with the cheaper option. My decision at the time was based on not wanting to have to upgrade for at least 4 years. Hopefully 5. The fact that 4k wasn't even requested yet and the long list of possibilities using the O7Q recorder meant I couldn't forsee any clients asking me for 6K capture for quite some time. Would I like better low light noise performance? sure, but other than that...I don't feel the FS700/O7Q combo is lacking in anything I NEED at the moment. I think I'll definitely get my 4 years from the camera.

Ergonomics aren't the best, but once you've put everything on a sled, it doesn't matter anymore.

My only fear at this point is the built in ND filters, as they are known to break.

The FS700 with an O7Q+ is still the best bargain right now. There are bugs/glitches with the new cameras, that will take some time to work out, but the FS700 is pretty damn solid at this point. Same goes for the O7Q+.

I would still recommend this combo for anyone looking for a new A cam, that want 4K, high speed and RAW.
 
And I'll flog the dead horse again... imagine how good it would be with burnt in LUT's into the O7Q+ Mitch!

Regarding ergonomics, I've gone through 3 bases for the camera over the years, I now have the zacuto universal base. It gives the camera the best chance to get back onto the shoulder without counterweights and be well balanced. The tooling of the zacuto was a bit questionable though (threads and ratchet knobs not very well tapped, and broke on day one), but other than that I'm happy.
The FS700 still has (almost) everything I need.
 
let me tell you something: recently I shot a music video on red scarlet and fs700. small crew, hot tropical locations, non actors and all sort of limitations everyone knows. one day we had to get rid of one of the 2 cameras.

so I said scarlet goodbye and kept the fs700 shooting raw on O7Q. same image quality? well, maybe not, but waaay more easy to deal with its built in NDs, 2 SSDs and small batteries.
 
35mill said:
And I'll flog the dead horse again... imagine how good it would be with burnt in LUT's into the O7Q+ Mitch!
Click to expand...

+100

I just had a job that required this and I had to run the LUTed output to my Blackmagic Video Assist to record and deliver HD Prores with a baked LUT, and it was such a pain to have to deal with being tethered to another recorder just to get recording LUTs, not to mention I had some glitches with the BMVA since I was only planning on using it as a monitor/converter, not a recorder that day... I had to play out any slowmo to the BMVA so it could record it which is another annoying step that seemed a little glitchy and a pain to have to remember to do when I didn't have time for that extra step.

It is just so ridiculous that we can do everything but have been asking for recording with baked in LUTs since the beginning and still cant get it. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like it would be such an easy thing to add!
 
With the 7Q, I still love my FS700. The 7Q+ unlocked my A7s as well. There is a good chance I will buy another FS700 (used) as prices drop over the next year knowing I already have another 7Q+ to gear it out and that would give me two exact matching cameras. I am plenty satisfied with the images I am getting and would rather drop the extra few grand I save on more lighting.
 
Well, I bought a new fs700 at the end of last year.
Why?
Because of price.
Because of codec.
Because for the reasonable (1080p) future I will be using it as A-cam with my EA50 and a6000 as needed.
Because when I add the O7Q+ then it will give it more life until eventually I'll have to buy new cameras.
Hopefully this plan will work out :)
 
Not much left to say, here. Of course, there are always trade offs.

Me personally, I am not much of a shoulder guy so my handheld is Bolex style (minus the looking into a viewfinder part). So I am usually holding it in front of me with I hand underneath, the other on the lens. Surprisingly I can do this for quite a while, but never have to. It is usually on a Steadicam, gimbal or tripod. For me, the ergonomics never were a problem. I never wanted it on my shoulder to begin with. But I can see why people complain about that.

The way I see it:
-4K
-12bit RAW
-10bit ProRes
-240fps
-Wide color gamut
-2 audio inputs with decent enough pre-amps
-ND filters (albeit not IR and a bit flimsy)
-And for my style, not bad ergonomics

At today's prices for an FS700/O7Q, what else gives you the same specs? And I think these specs will do the job for a while to come still. Well into Rec2020.

All that said, you have to decide what is priority for you and where the value lies. if you are a shoulder rig type, you will have to kit it out and it won't be perfect...adding viewfinders and handles and what not. Perhaps that will raise the price beyond what it is worth for you. And perhaps you don't need 12bit RAW or 240fps. Well if you are a shoulder person who does not need 12bit RAW nor 240fps, well then, perhaps you would draw a different conclusion than I.
 
I just moved over from C100 mark II to the FS700/O7Q combo. The ergonomics and Dual Pixel AF were outstanding on the C100. I just couldn't get around the fact that it was a new camera as of 2015 and only shot 28mbps. It's a pretty good codec but I just wanted something more rich. The thing I love about the FS700 is that it's versatile for any situation. I can strip it down to the body and a small zoom lens for run n gun shot grabbing. I can rig it out with shoulder mount and Odyssey 7Q for 4K Pro Res. For a 2012 release the FS700 seems to be a more relevant camera today than the C100mkII.
 
The 700 is still very relevant for me, with the O7Q though. I don't see any major differences in the FS7 or F5. I'd consider a 55 although i'm more interested in the varicam as having substantially different colour gamut to work with. But right now 4K RAW out of the FS700 is more than acceptable.

cheers
Paul
 
paulcurtis said:
The 700 is still very relevant for me, with the O7Q though. I don't see any major differences in the FS7 or F5. I'd consider a 55 although i'm more interested in the varicam as having substantially different colour gamut to work with. But right now 4K RAW out of the FS700 is more than acceptable.

cheers
Paul
Click to expand...

Yep. I've used the FS7 a couple of times on jobs and the images are pretty close. 2 major advantages for FS7 are internal 4K and 10 bit recording, and SLog3. You'd still probably be using an external monitor anyway on the FS7 so that's a moot point. Slog2 works great with an Slog2 to LOG LUT in the first node of grading.
The menu system in tne FS7 is horrible in my opinion.
 
AaronChicago said:
Yep. I've used the FS7 a couple of times on jobs and the images are pretty close. 2 major advantages for FS7 are internal 4K and 10 bit recording, and SLog3. You'd still probably be using an external monitor anyway on the FS7 so that's a moot point. Slog2 works great with an Slog2 to LOG LUT in the first node of grading.
The menu system in tne FS7 is horrible in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Sure, as an overall camera it's better. But i'm using the 700 with the O7Q doing 4K RAW or 4K ProRes, mostly RAW. So in that scenario the differences are much less.

cheers
Paul
 
I'm on the verge of buying an FS700 (just awaiting a tax rebate!).

My needs are slightly different. While I'll be using it myself that will only be for my own 'hobby' projects. The main reason is that I'm starting a small hire company specifically aimed at low-budget indie film-makers in my local area. I had been looking at the C100 mk 2 but really, in terms of what that target group will want from a camera package, the FS700/Odyssey package leaves the Canon standing. The combination of 10 bit ProRes, insane frame rates (in such a low-cost camera) and metabones-a-bility coupled with the lower cost to me makes it a no-brainer.
 
The FS700 is very much a "indy film makers universal camera" in the way I haven't seen since I purchased my first Bolex in the '80's (even better... it can do sync sound and you don't have to wind it up!). Of course without the Odyssey the internal codec is lacking compared to even the EX1-EX3 from years earlier. Sure, it could be better in any number of ways, but it's good enough in general to make it a winner. In a recent production I shot it held up very nicely to the Canon C300 Mark2 (both recording to the Odyssey UHD ProRes) and in truth I enjoyed the "experience" with the FS700 more and used it for 2/3rds of the shoot days when I had the opportunity to use either camera. The over-cranking flexibility is wonderful, the rolling shutter very under control, the built in ND's... the ecosystem of accessories inexpensive (those cheap batteries last and last!). The metabones adapters makes the Canon lenses a pleasant enough experience. And as far as the Odyssey goes, support for the FS700 was a target from conception and has had the greatest development time of all the cameras out there, IMO.

What doesn't get enough press, even from Convergent Design, is how, by recording from the RAW stream to the Odyssey, the dreaded Sony "look" is completely avoided... no yellow highlights, no Sony profile processing, just the the least messed-with image with nice white clean over-exposure, even when using the 1 or 2 stop compensation LUTS. Is it a noisy camera? Sure, but that fact (unlike the other Sony cameras that use the same sensor) is not immediately hidden behind all the in-camera Sony processing and the Odyssey assures that the actual noise texture is cleanly recorded and not thrown away by the lesser in-camera codec. Throw the 1 or 2 stop LUT on the Odyssey, effectively over-exposing to 1000ASA or 500ASA and it cleans up remarkably while still leaving lots of dynamic range.

Did I just talk myself into buying someone's nice used FS700? Maybe I did.... :)

Regards,
 
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