Thoughts on FS700 in 2016

Rafael, would you mind sharing more pics of your stripped-down FS700/7Q hand held "rig" (non-rig)?

Here it is. Still a little too tall, but overall, still keeps me pretty light.
image.jpgimage.jpg

I still wish I could mount it lower and more flush towards where the closed on-camera screen would be:

image.jpgOops upside down =Z

also wish I could get rid of the battery on the o7q. Just have a cable out of the fs700.
 
Too bad there isn't a smaller 5" version of the O7Q+. That would help with making a more compact setup
Yeah, several of us have been asking for this. Or even better a small recorder
and separate monitor. So you could rig it out with both for tripod work /interviews
and go small with just the recorder for handheld/b-roll. Probably not worth it
anymore....people will just upgrade and buy the FS7/5 so little incentive for
anyone to build something like this.
 
Thanks Rafael! For some reason the thought that you could put it upside down never occurred to me... But that seems to be the way to go...
Despite what people say I find the FS700 quite useful hand held, especially with a light weight Sony e-mount lens. The good stabilisation of the lenses combined with the weight of the camera gets you really steady footage. However, it gets heavy if you need to do it for longer times, for sure.
I did it this way only once so far with the 7Q on top, but then I powered the 7Q with the power adapter and had a long extension cord trailing behind me ;)
With a battery in both it starts to really get too heavy. It's a shame that Sony don't sell the medium sized np-f770 batteries separately.
That's another plus for the FS5, with a large battery (can't remember the name of the ones it uses, the 14v ones) with d tap you could probably power both the FS5 and the 7Q for quite some time...

Problem with putting it too low is it gets in the way of the FS700s screen so you can't seeing you need to go in the menu to change something...
But I'm definitely gonna strip mine down again and do a version of what Rafael is doing!
 
I've had the fs700 since it was released and the Odyssey 7Q sure brought life into that already great camera. I will say as a Red Weapon owner that this camera still holds it own and still knocks my socks off! I recently did a test in a controlled lighting environment against my Weapon camera and the fs700 does make a pretty good b camera to my Red!

https://youtu.be/vfJ5MIMi6lI
 
I've had the fs700 since it was released and the Odyssey 7Q sure brought life into that already great camera. I will say as a Red Weapon owner that this camera still holds it own and still knocks my socks off! I recently did a test in a controlled lighting environment against my Weapon camera and the fs700 does make a pretty good b camera to my Red!

https://youtu.be/vfJ5MIMi6lI

Cool! Can't wait to see the great material you will produce with this set-up.

I am currently in Pre-Pro for a short I'm writing and directing...and likely shooting and editing it too (yikes!).

I will probably use the FS700/O7Q to be the B-Cam to the F65. On the surface it may not be ideal, but I have found the FS700 4k RAW signal to hold up well in an ACES workflow. The reds go magenta, but that is just because the "wide-gamut" of the FS700 isn't quite as wide a color space as ACES Sony RAW IDT is mapping from. But that is easy to correct once you know what is going on. And exporting to a 2k DCP will help them to match better. Plus I'll be using the same lenses on both cameras, which will help. (likely to be Cooke minis or the new Xenar IIIs).

So the FS700/O7Q will use a non-adjustable quick-release plate so that it can go back and forth from steadicam to second camera on sticks or handheld, without having to re-balance the steadicam every time. The F65 will likely never see steadicam use in my budget because I can't afford a rig to handle it well.

But yeah, I have found the FS700/O7Q to be a great b-cam for top tier cameras...specially at the price it can be had for, specially when using the 12bit 4k RAW.
 
For you who rig you FS700s with an EVF, how do you deal with the latency of the picture? I find it pretty bad, especially with people talking, or even worse perforforming music. Drives me mental quickly.
 
For you who rig you FS700s with an EVF, how do you deal with the latency of the picture? I find it pretty bad, especially with people talking, or even worse perforforming music. Drives me mental quickly.

I have used the Kinotehnik LCDVFe EVF since I purchased the FS700 over 3 years ago. The latency is not enough to have caused me any concerns, it's about 3-4 frames, and I got used to it pretty quickly. It would be nice to have none, but the camera's LCD is there for the occasions when I need that. Incidentally the Odyssey 7Q+ has about the same latency as my EVF.
 
I have used the Kinotehnik LCDVFe EVF since I purchased the FS700 over 3 years ago. The latency is not enough to have caused me any concerns, it's about 3-4 frames, and I got used to it pretty quickly. It would be nice to have none, but the camera's LCD is there for the occasions when I need that. Incidentally the Odyssey 7Q+ has about the same latency as my EVF.
Yes, really annoying watching the 7Q+ as well, latency drives me nuts as soon as someone is talking or singing!
 
Well, another year has gone by.
Still feel the same about the FS700R? Still competitive or is it finally too long in the tooth?
 
It still offers the cheapest way to get 4K raw/ProRes anywhere. In fact, the recent free upgrades to the Atomos recorders have made it more competitive, rather than less, in my opinion.
 
I still love and use my combo all the time. I was forced to rent an fs7 on a shoot because it "had to be an fs7 or C300ii" lol
I really didn't like the fs7 as much, and found that I hated the menus. To each his own, but I'm good with it probably for another year if not longer - I don't see anything coming out that I would grab. Think about this too - the Arri Alex xst does under 4k resolution and is used by most major films out there. The colour science is amazing though, but just putting that out there. It's not like every major hollywood film is running out to shoot 8k helium
 
I'm just about to embark on a 35 day shoot for an adventure/travel show (10x30min) with the FS700/Inferno as the primary camera. It doesn't have to be 10-bit and I could definitely get away with not shooting to the Inferno (I've just used the internal for the past 2 seasons), but we're going to be filming lots of bushland & trees, lots of sunrise/sunsets, and lots of wide-blue-sky vistas, which are 3 scenarios which really push the limits of the internal recording. So this year it'll be 10-bit 2k for acquisition.

I could easily use just this job to cover the cost of a fully kitted-out F5 package and still have change If I wanted to, but I see absolutely no need to, so I'll just keep all that money in my pocket instead.

It's still the same situation as a few years ago - if you're hired based on your camera then producers will want someone with a FS7 or C300mkII as the minimum. If you're not married to the requirements of freelancing for producers and networks then the FS700 - with a recorder - still delivers a punch well and truly above it's weight (or cost). I'll get another 12 months out of mine at least, I think.
 
I still think it is...and I took the plunge and picked up an FS7 as well. However, truth be told...I'm still a bit partial to the image out of the 700 w/ a 7q. But, it's a bit more overhead to deal with especially when your running and gunning. Don't get me wrong, I love the FS7 and probably use it a bit more now but under the right circumstances I still use the 700/7q. I've finished three docs over the past couple years, probably 60/40 in favor of the FS7 but I would invite anyone to pick out which images were from what camera. But like some have mentioned, it would be tough sell to bid a job with that camera even in combination with a 7q...your more apt to get a request for a FS7 at minimum. However if your like me, half my work is creating my own content for the outdoor industry so it doesn't matter what I use. So as far as my 700/7q goes, I could see easily getting a couple more years out of it.
 
I know it's not necessarily the 'hip' thing to say.....but I still shoot internal with my FS700.
I am mostly a 'one man video company' so it works well for me. I really appreciate
the ease of archiving (small footprint)....I can fit almost 3 hours of footage, as data files
on a black Blu Ray disk.) When I finally do upgrade, all the money I have been saving by
not buying a new camera, will go much further than it would go if I bought one today.....
and I wouldn't make any more money myself from upgrading right now.
 
Funny to see this thread pop up now in 2017!
I reckon it is still a good question to ask, I get tempted to buy a FS700 now and then.

And I reckon the new Atomos updates just make it even cheaper to get 4K now, like Tim said:

It still offers the cheapest way to get 4K raw/ProRes anywhere. In fact, the recent free upgrades to the Atomos recorders have made it more competitive, rather than less, in my opinion.
 
I'm still booking work with it, still using it as my A cam. See no point in buying another camera until I can get 6-8K or more DR for under $10K.
 
Funny to see this thread pop up now in 2017!
I reckon it is still a good question to ask, I get tempted to buy a FS700 now and then.

What's stopping you? Shogun Inferno is down to $1295 new so you could easily pick up a camera/recorder combo for under $4000.
 
What's stopping you? Shogun Inferno is down to $1295 new so you could easily pick up a camera/recorder combo for under $4000.

This. I actually already had a Shogun that I picked up for less than I could buy a monitor that displayed a 4k signal and had scopes for. I finally managed to score an FS700R last week for $!500. For $2300, I can now shoot 4k RAW (once I get a new drive for the Shogun, my current drive can only do 2k RAW). I was actually out playing around in my friends studio with the setup last night, and did some tests with 2k RAW. Holy crap. It looks amazing. :D SO HAPPY.
 
Back
Top