Of course all tools.. blah blah .. but given a choice between the two.. F55 or C200 for the same price.. would you really buy the C200... I mean come on
F55: Would You Buy A used F55
- Thread starter starcentral
- Start date
Of course all tools.. blah blah .. but given a choice between the two.. F55 or C200 for the same price.. would you really buy the C200... I mean come on
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
In reality Id get the F55 and chop it in for a C200 and a Movi.
If I had to own one. Well Id probably take the 55 and raw recorder to get HFR, but the 200 fits my shoots much better so I dont know.. I really dont know.
My work is shoulder solo shooting.. Id pick a 200 out of the cupboard for that.. and gimbal.. Id pick the C200 for that too. For sticks dolly work Id take the 55 but don't do much sticks work.
Id like em both
S
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
Its a different type of shoot - advertising heavy story board 8 second takes vs editorial long form.
And thats the whole thing tools - rolling for hours? XAVC on shoulder.. boarded shots? raw on a gimbal.
And thats the whole thing tools - rolling for hours? XAVC on shoulder.. boarded shots? raw on a gimbal.
You said your work was solo shoulder shooting.. and for that you would use C200 and a gimbal .. no ..? even boarded shots.. holding a gimbal out in front of your body is going to kill your back before lunch time.. even an Osmo gets heavy !..thats what they dont tell you in the tipster man bun promos.. no wonder easy rig came out with a while new arm just for gimbals.. and maybe making them actually be cool one day
abreu-canedo
Well-known member
I'd buy one...if I were in the market, and the price was right for me (although I'm not sure what that price would be).
Good ergonomics, I shoot a lot of 4k RAW, and it would be the best b-camera for my F65. Specially with a RAW recorder on the F55 at 16bit RAW and simultaneously shooting proxies is a great workflow.
Although to be fair, I've never worked with the F55, so I'm basing off of second hand knowledge.
Also second-hand knowledge (would love to hear from folks who have used it), 240fps in 2K RAW center scan seems very robust. The work I've seen online does not shoe the moire or aliasing artifacts I see on the FS7 and FS700 compressed slow motion.
But if money was not an issue, I would probably look at other options.
Good ergonomics, I shoot a lot of 4k RAW, and it would be the best b-camera for my F65. Specially with a RAW recorder on the F55 at 16bit RAW and simultaneously shooting proxies is a great workflow.
Although to be fair, I've never worked with the F55, so I'm basing off of second hand knowledge.
Also second-hand knowledge (would love to hear from folks who have used it), 240fps in 2K RAW center scan seems very robust. The work I've seen online does not shoe the moire or aliasing artifacts I see on the FS7 and FS700 compressed slow motion.
But if money was not an issue, I would probably look at other options.
Run&Gun
Veteran
It has a better EVF..
Well... The flip out panel is cool, kinda gives you the best of OLED and LCD VF's functionality. But... did they change/improve the optics in the Amira VF from the initial release? I played with one and it was horrible. I heard a lot of people complain. I'm presuming it must have been fixed quickly.
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
I do both, want to do less of the long form shoulder stuff. Never would take a gimbal on a doco style shoot.
S
You know folks all these camera comparison based on specs are kind of silly. All 4k images are not equal for instance.
Don't confuse the wrapper with what is on the inside.
The truth is that you need to look at the images coming off each of these cam's in order to really understand the differences.
Don't confuse the wrapper with what is on the inside.
The truth is that you need to look at the images coming off each of these cam's in order to really understand the differences.
Re the F55 to C200..Your basically comparing a second hand, high level Merc to a new Toyota Corolla ..
To fully enjoy high level Mercs, Chauffeur is required. C200 has DPAF.
starcentral
Veteran
What would another option be to the feature set of the F55 for $20k USD used I wonder? I don't think it exists? :/
ah well there in lies a good analogy .. .. the beauty of a nice car is in the driving, if you know how to,not sitting in the back half asleep.. and I would say the same for being a cameraman and auto focus.. unless you want to be just there for the ride..
It was a bit of a tongue in cheek reply .. Ive haven't used the Amira hundreds of times.. but the times I have I thought the EVF was pretty good.. and actually better than the Sony OLED.. that flimsy diopter ring for $5K...!! but what Im looking forward to is the new Sony OLED out in Sept I think..
Run&Gun
Veteran
The diopter ring IS an absolute joke. I can't take the camera off my shoulder without accidentally changing it. I did a shoot for Sony several months ago and actually brought it up. Of course they said they haven't heard anyone complain...
I am looking forward to the new Sony OLED and I will be buying one. I hope the diopter locks like on the VariCam LT, or it at least has enough tension in it to stay in place like every other diopter adjustment ring on every other Sony or Panasonic camera I've ever owned.
Yes I,ll be checking it out for sure.. you will need a new arm/bracket.. that comes off your handle also.. hopefully the whole thing isnt too expensive.. they say they will continue making the older one too.. but if the price is anywhere near similar who would ever buy the older one ?.. so hoping its not a $7,000 EVF !
Yes so Ive read, but then who would ever buy the older one they claim they will still be make.. much like they say they will still make the f65 after release of the new FF camera .. which has to be a f65 replacement .. but yes I,d love the EVF to be under $4k at least !! it was the best news out of NAB for me.. been waiting for a new f5/55 vf for years
Sadly all those other things you mentioned often matter more to people than TC
Agreed. Tough to see the ROI in a F55 purchase when 99% of people won't know the difference between a F55 and a F5 (which costs a fraction of the amount secondhand!).
Or heck, get a Sony FS7 for even cheaper! Which is a much more requested camera.
Interesting, I guess if they're pairing the BMPC4K with 2x URSA Minis then I guess both of the URSA Minis are of the 4K flavor?
I think the low light abilities (or rather lack of!) of the BMD 4K sensor is very crippling.
Rather go with two URSA Mini 4.6K and a BMD Micro Cinema Camera on the gimbal.
Agreed, Sony marketing sucks at selling this to the indie/tv/web/film world.
I don't think they are the same camera of course. The 55 is probably way under appreciated.
I dont know enough of the foibles (or not) of the camera to really know if it works 'on set'.. and Sony dont really tell me. ( I guess luts are a complete arse like the FS7????) I guess its app is crud like the FS7 (C200 and Ursa have apps)
Im just not sure what hole it fits into.
Low budget feature? These people are in the market for a used cinema camera.
4k sport broadcast? These people have tooled up.
Netflix show? Varicam has cache
High end HD doc? Amera has cache (and proper slo-mo beyond 60p)
Corporate? Producers know and trust the FS7 and rely on 24-105/booster for affordable reach.
Fools that plough their own furrow (me)? Yep it is interesting
The Red brigade? Well they want 'Shot on Red'
A lot of producers are obsessed with 4kProRes which pushes one in other directions and will melt if you suggest a codec that even I cant remember the name of.
The 'sony look' does not have a good reputation
You may remember that I shot a big FS7 doco and due to the need for TC and some other stuff I wanted to switch to F5 which was on the shelf unused in the rental house.. the producers thought I was somehow short of the full mental package 'like the 5 is worse than the 7 right?'
Its a hard sell is what I am saying.
S
You nailed it.
And if *YOU* struggle to see clear reasons for picking an F55 over the competition (and you're way way waaaaaay more schooled up on what Sony offers than the average. You'd never think "7 must be better than 5??" :-o ), then what possible hope does the average joe in the market for a new camera have??? None.
They'll take the typical path of a RED / BMD / Arri / Varicam instead.
Exactly, Sony is at the bottom of that list. What can be done to change that?! :-/
Last edited:
True. I wouldn't want to bet on any camera as to which will depreciate the least after one year (a not unusual number number pluck out of the air for an indie feature film to shoot for, once you count on one or two times the dates being pushed back, then a few pick up shots spread out later on which happen when they can).
But if I had to bet on one, it would be a secondhand Arri Alexa Classic to depreciate the least (in terms of %) after a year of ownership.