F55: Vote for Prores

Its not like Sony can just make it happen in a camera that was already built. Buy an Odyssey like Im doing ;)
 
Actually, it comes from the Sony Forum, it is possible, and apparently Sony are considering it. Most F5/55 owners don't really want to build or use a frankenrig camera that's one of the reasons I bought one. Granted probably not going to happen for the F3 though, Odyssesy is a good option.
 
After their teaser for a big firmware update for the F3, it seems they just stopped and only worked on F5/F55 firmware. The Long GOP MPEG is backed in a coding chip on the camera, but I've wondered if it could be 10 bit instead of 8 bit....
 
I read through that and don't see anything but made up rumors. What am I missing?
 
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One guy claims a Sony guy at a trade show said they were considering it, but it's expensive. That's about the only lead anyone has. ProRes would go a long way towards keeping the cameras competitive with Amira when that arrives.
 
That sounds like a real stretch to me but whatever.

I think its very strange that a new camera (and from Arri??) is coming out soon that is HD only. I don't think it will compete with the F55 that well. 4K, while we know is not as valuable in practical application as many wish, is the coming standard so who can justify spending $30K on a 1080 camera in 2014?
 
I keep hearing that, but I don't buy it. When you break them down, both the F5(5) and the Amira are lightweight, high-quality, ergonomically designed S35mm cameras with the ability to shoot HFR. That puts them head to head regardless of specs.

The F55 wins the spec-sheet war, no doubt, but by most account's the image from the Alexa's sensor is still preferred by most - so specs become less relevant; people want pretty pictures, the specifics of how they're made don't matter much.
 
But from the mostly ignorant producer's or director's standpoint, 4K will be asked for quite often for 2015 which is about the time the Arri will be used in numbers Arri would like. By that time, many consumer TVs will be 4K standard and even iPads are exceeding 1080 now. If you are an all 1080 guy in 2015, you are stupid, I'm sorry to say. Phone screens will be 4K by then, needed or not. What about stock footage? They aren't going to buy 1080 material by then because why bother when no one will ask for it that following year?

I'll hang onto the F3 until I can buy the leading cheaper 4K system or a used F55, or maybe that Varicam will be cool enough!
 
I'll hang onto the F3 until I can buy the leading cheaper 4K system or a used F55, or maybe that Varicam will be cool enough![/QUOTE]

Ahhh OK that's great that you got that off your chest, but back to the original reason for this post........

If you own an F55 or are considering buying one FROM SONY and would like to see PRORES added to the codecs available tell them here

http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/...247411#U247411

Until someone from Sony says it's not possible, we should let them know what would make the camera more useful to us
 
And you got that off your chest, again, nice try but you aren't getting what you want.

What is with people these days who demand things like this? Be happy with what you have and deal with it.
 
Shoots56 said:
I think its very strange that a new camera (and from Arri??) is coming out soon that is HD only. I don't think it will compete with the F55 that well. 4K, while we know is not as valuable in practical application as many wish, is the coming standard so who can justify spending $30K on a 1080 camera in 2014?
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I suspect we are going to see a 4K product from Arri soon, very possibly NAB. It seems reasonable that such will be "the new Alexa", and with a price tab to match. In which case, having already setup the cheaper (non 4K) option makes sense.
 
Different markets as well. The Amira is designed in varying degrees for the ENG/EFP/Corporate & doco markets. The Alexa is designed largely for dramatic use which we know is moving towards 4K acquisition in some way shape or form.
 
Maybe it's the PC/Premier user in me, but I don't see the big deal about prores. What's wrong with their xavc as long as you can natively edit it?
 
Richard Allen Crook said:
Maybe it's the PC/Premier user in me, but I don't see the big deal about prores. What's wrong with their xavc as long as you can natively edit it?
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The appeal is that it's become an industry standard; people know what it does and how far they can push it. It looks good, grades pretty far and most importantly cuts very quickly. People trust what they know, and when a standard delivers what you need - alternatives that have to be learnt anew hold a lot less appeal.

It's why the Amira (assuming it comes along at a competitive price to the F55) will quite possibly stomp all over the Sony's market share - because it'll offer features people need and image quality that people love. Which counts for a lot more than features people aspire towards and superiorly specced image quality.
 
Richard Allen Crook said:
I agree with everything you said. But I don't think the pull to Alexa is the fact that it uses prores.
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I agree, it's the quality of the image that brings people to Alexa. But the ease of the workflow it provides with ProRes certainly helps seal the deal, and ProRes does seem to provide a very high-quality deliverable for that image quality - which in turn contributes to people knowing and trusting the codec, and wanting to stick to its workflow.
 
Allow me to soapbox for a second, tell me what you think about this. I think the progressive way of thinking is not demanding prores is on all cameras. I dare to say prores is going to be obsolete. H265 and other more efficient codecs are probably going to prevail. The progressive way of thinking is how can I get my edit system to natively edit these files. That should be the focus in our industry.

Just my two cents.
 
Richard Allen Crook said:
Allow me to soapbox for a second, tell me what you think about this. I think the progressive way of thinking is not demanding prores is on all cameras. I dare to say prores is going to be obsolete. H265 and other more efficient codecs are probably going to prevail. The progressive way of thinking is how can I get my edit system to natively edit these files. That should be the focus in our industry.

Just my two cents.
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My 'soapbox' view would be: if the answer is by using 'rental' software, no thank you! :)
I don't think anyone is talking about going to ONLY ProRes......just using it as another option.
If it can be done easily and would help some users, why not?
 
I deal with plenty of productins large and small that dictate what cameras can be used basd on what files editorial will accept. This happens every day. If you can't deliver files to ingest in one step into our AVID (or in the case of ProRes, our FCP) system, then you don't get the job.

This is the reality of the production world, where olderly formats hang on far beyond what they should because someone else down the line doesn't want to change. It can be for financial reasons, technical reasons or just because they are lazy. Ask me how recently I had to arrange to deliver someone a 3/4" U-Matic tape. Frightening.
 
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