The New F's - Previewing the F5 and F55

NOTE - For those who shuddererd at the size of this post here are the two New F's key specs in a nutshell.

F5

• New S35mm Sensor S-log Colour space 
• Min 14 Stops DR (RAW) 4K 60fps 16bit RAW recording (via optional recording module) 
• 2k and 1080p 120fps 16bit RAW recording (via optional recording module) 
• 2K and 1080p 120fps 10bit recording internally 
• Records in XDCAM 422 50Mbps 8 bit and XAVC 10bit 2 SxS Pro+ media slots 
• FZ Mount with PL adapter
• 10bit SDI out
• Genlock, Timecode in/out etc

F55

• As the F5 But Including
• 4K 1-60fps 10bit recording internally
• 2K and 1080p 180fps 10bit recording internally
• 2K and 1080p 180fps 16bit RAW recording (via optional recording module)
• Records in HDCAM SR 12bit
• Records in XDCAM 422 50Mbps 8 bit and XAVC 10bit 2 to same card simultaneously
• Wider Colour Gamut
• Global Shutter

Phew, Just got back in from an exciting day at the Sony The Future Is In Your Handsroadshow in London. There were some fascinating new technologies on display including the new PMW-200 which looks a very worthy replacement to the EX1 and finally records in 50Mbps 422. The new OLED display and reference monitors look absolutely stunning and the diminutive HXR-NX30, despite looking a bit like a sci-fi Iron, seems to be sporting an all new image stabilising system that could potentially become a big player in the fixed lens camcorder market. Sony are calling it Balanced Optical SteadyShot™ and it seems that the entire optical block of the camera can move around and compensate for camera movement. From the outside this function makes the Zeiss branded lens look rather grotesque, a bit like an eye lolling drunkenly in its socket. It seemed fairly effective though with slower movements and I think will definitely be a technology to watch.

 Floppy eyeballs aside, the real news was of course 'THE NEW F' that we have seen reference to over the last couple of weeks. It turned out, in-fact, to be F's in the form of the all new Cine-Alta badged PMW-F5 and its slightly beefier brother the F55. Despite the fairly limited hands on access I had it was clear to see that these are intended to be serious challengers in the independent film and promo market and Sony have managed to squeeze in some of the technology from the incredible F65 at what should be a lower price point. Both cameras have the same modular body which can be built up with recording unit, audio inputs, viewfinder and even 12v power distribution. They are constructed with robust feeling metal and plastic (they seemed sturdier than the F3) and have an 'Alexa' like LCD on the side displaying all the key shooting settings with operational buttons above the relevant information for quickly changing things. The lens mount is the same as the F3 (FZ mount with supplied PL mount adapter) and seems to be the only discernible difference between the two bodies as the F55 has a slightly jazzier silver locking ring in comparison to the F5's plain black one.

Now for the exciting part - both cameras sport brand new S35mm sensors and can shoot 4K, 2K and 1080p with variable framerates in 1 frame increments. They can also record in a variety of codecs including 4K 16bit RAW! Yup you heard right! The sensors are 4K Native and the other resolutions are down-sampled from this so there shouldn't be any annoying crop factor implications when selecting lenses.

The RAW recording comes via the AXS-R5 proprietary recording module that connects neatly to the rear of the camera body and uses Sony's new recording media the AXS card. Larger than an SxS but smaller than an SSD and will come in sizes up to 1Tb. Now, this is where we start to see differences between the two models, the F5 will only Record 4K via this RAW recorder. It can not do it internally or output it via the 3G SDI output. The F55, on the other hand, can record 4K internally to SxS cards (a new faster SXS Pro+ version of the media has been introduced for this purpose) using a new, and again currently proprietry Codec, XAVC. This Codec looks like a high quality I-frame h.264 implementation like ProRes and has been designed specifically for recording high resolution and high speed video. The F5 Records it to SxS as well, but only at HD and 2K resolutions. Im sure many people will wonder why Sony chose not to go the ProRes route like the Alexa and Black Magic Cameras but they seemed confident that the Codec was more than up to the Job and will be implemented across all major NLE's at product Launch.

On the Subject of Codecs here lie more differences between the cameras. They both record internally to SxS, SxS Pro and SxS Pro+ in S-log colour space with 8bit Mpeg 2 50Mbps 422 (XDCAM) and the new 10 bit XAVC as well as offering the 16bit RAW via the external recorder. This on its own is fantastic but the F55 goes one step further and includes HD CAM SR for Recording of HD resolutions in 12bit 444 (Im not sure about 2K in SR but I think the 4K is only recordable using RAW or XAVC). If this is not enough, by using one of the new SxS Pro+ cards you can record 4K XAVC and 50Mbps Mpeg2 to the same card - simultaneously! This opens up unparalleled flexibility on the F55 and essentially means you can capture proxy recordings in a broadcast acceptable format alongside the 4K masters.

Another Difference between the two Cameras is in there high speed framerates. Both will do 1-60fps 4K RAW with the attached Recorder and internally the F55 will also record 4K RAW at 1-60fps. Like many cameras the higher speeds are at lower resolution but this is nothing to be sniffed, however, as both deliver incredible performance. The F5 shooting both 2K and HD at up to 120fps and the F55 pushing it further with 2K and HD at 180fps. If you add the RAW recorder things get even more exciting as the F5 maintains its 2k 120fps frame rate but in 16 bit RAW whilst the F55 can deliver a staggering 240fps in RAW at 2K. This sort of performance is phenomenal and although it comes wuth the caveat of only being possible through a proprietry recorder and media I think if it delivers like they told us it is going to it will have people salivating across the globe. It also seems like a serious blow to Canon in the large sensor camcorder war as they are still fairly Lack lustre in the high speed department.

Terrible iPhone photo of the PMW-F5 on Display

The Sensors are brand new designs and we were told will deliver a minimum of 14 stops dynamic range as well as delivering great high iso performance. The F55 has a slightly more advanced sensor with different pigmentation that is claimed to deliver a wider and more natural colour gamut than the F5. They both looked great and really clean on the monitors at the show but this was just crappy indoor lighting so we will have to wait for some decent footage to become available before it is possible to discern how overall Image Quality differs between the two Cameras. There is no reason to believe it will be nothing short of fantastic though on both models as sony is making phenomenal sensors at the moment and we only have to look at the FS100/700 and F3 for credentials not to mention the chip in the new A99 DSLR and Nikons D800 which also sports a sony CMOS chip.

The final major difference between the pair lies in the shutter system. The F5 has the usual CMOS rolling electronic shutter so will still exhibit rolling shutter artefacts, although we were told great attention has been taken to keep these to a minimum. The F55, however, sports an F65 inspired Global Shutter for true film emulation and complete annihilation of rolling shutter nastiness. Its a shame this isn't included on the F5 but I guess they needed to keep the pricing structure sensible for the lower-end of the two models. On this matter all the Sony reps were particularly reticent - pricing was not finalised and would not be discussed. The only hints we were given were that the F55 would obviously be more expensive and the pair would sit somewhere between the F3 and F65 on the scale. I think this leads towards a guestimation that the F5 will probably be be somewhere in the £15-20K Realm and the F55 probably around £25Kish. Its possible the F55 will be higher as this still leaves quite a gap between it and the F65 but you are going to get a lot more with the F65 which is also getting updated to v3.0. Rather incredibly it is going to include new de-mosaicing to deliver 6-8K capability even on footage that has already been recorded at 4K Raw!

Exciting news for anyone who's budget will not stretch to these lofty heights is that the 4K RAW recorder developed for the F5/55 is also going to be the means of unleashing the mysterious 4K potential of the FS700. They are currently working on a version that will connect to the 3G SDI out and deliver true 4K RAW recording although whether it will be 10,12 or 16bit seemed uncertain. This will not be available until later in 2013 bet will provide a fantastic entry level gateway to 4K acquisition and allow adopters of the FS700 to really expand their system rather than seeing it become obsolete.

As well as the announcement of The RAW recording module a number of other accessories were announced alongside the new cameras. A new battery module that is V-Lock mount but about half the size of a traditional V-Lock battery whilst offering the same sort of performance. It also delivers twice the life-span of other LiIon batteries and can be charged in 60 minutes making a 2 battery outfit a real possibility. The other major piece of kit was the choice between a new LCD viewfinder (much improved over the F3) and an even better 1280x720 OLED EVF unit that offers a 1000:1 contrast ratio. We didn't see the OLED unit but the new LCD looked very nice and both are fitted with an adjustable arm that allows differing positions for a variety of shooting setups.

All in all these new cameras look to be incredible film-making tools and a real commitment to making 4K recording a possibility for many productions. I certainly cant wait to use them and its going to be fascinating to see how the other major manufacturers respond with their technology.