Sony PXW-FS5 - Initial User Impressions

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Walter Brokx

One question: how much does the body only weigh?
How much does it weigh with only a small battery?

You should be able to find that all back on the sony product page: PXW-FS5 (PXWFS5) : Specifications : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

[Nate Haustein]

Jeroen, which 3rd party batteries did you try? I only ask because I was researching today and saw some did work with the FS7 - I wonder if those same ones would work with the FS5 (Wasabi and Kastar were reported to work on Amazon comments)

[Mike Watson]

I ordered two Wasabi 60's. We'll know when those come in, later this week. I assumed the same thing about the FS7 compatibility.

[Walter Brokx]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

You should be able to find that all back on the sony product page: PXW-FS5 (PXWFS5) : Specifications : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

Thanks!
Body + BP-U30 is 1050 g.
Good to know!

It seems to be ca. 150/170 g lighter than a C100 mk2.
Although Canon states the body to weigh approximately 1kg, which leaves some room for uncertainty...
(I'll check it out.)

A Metabones weighs 150 g, a speedbooster 203 g
So it looks like the setup will be pretty close to each other when using Canon glass.

[Jeroen Wolf]

Originally Posted by Nate Haustein

Jeroen, which 3rd party batteries did you try? I only ask because I was researching today and saw some did work with the FS7 - I wonder if those same ones would work with the FS5 (Wasabi and Kastar were reported to work on Amazon comments)

Good to hear some third party batteries do work. I have a DSTE battery I purchased on eBay that does not work on the FS5.

But I spoke too soon: another no-brand BP-U60 replacement that powers the camera via a little cable (I was going to return it but the batterylife is good) to the DC in jack works fine. But it doesn't communicate via the connectors and has its own LED battery life indicator.

Nate, after reading about your research I think if you buy 'reputable' third party batteries it shouldn't be a problem.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Some lovely shots in this new short from Alister.

The Falcon. PXW-FS5 short film. | XDCAM-USER.COM

[Andy Wilkinson]

I am filming night time operations for a helimedix charity that I support and whilst we're awaiting an emergency call out thought I'd use the time to get to know the FS5 better. So as well as the C100 I have with me for filming tonight I also brought the new baby and have read the Manual cover to cover.

It's probably something simple I've overlooked but I can't seem to access the Direct Menu on the cam - Page 54 in the Manual. Spent the best part of the last hour trying! The default button is Fn 5 (on the handgrip) but pressing that does absolutely nothing. I have checked the cam is not in Full Auto Mode (of course!!!) but just can't seem to get this Direct Menu access to work. Must be a setting I've missed somewhere I suspect.

I even wondered if I might have a dodgy/non-working button 5 on the handgrip - so as a trouble shooting, temporary measure set the Status (button 3, on the camera body) to Direct in the Button Assign Menu - and still no joy.

Anyone with a FS5 care to tell me what the stupid mistake I'm making is?

[Andy Wilkinson]

Found it! Face Detection must be turned OFF for this Direct Menu control to work, via button 5 on the side handgrip - or any other button you might asign. This (and a few other notes) are on page 55.

Just posting this in case this baffles anyone else!

Also, I just discovered the tiny button 6 tucked away round the back, inside edge of the side handgrip. Have assigned it to Centre Scan for now. There are so many control options on this grip :-)

[Jody Arnott]

Andy, have you had a play with the picture profiles yet? I'm wondering if there's a profile that's similar to the Canon C100's "Wide DR" profile. I.e. More dynamic range without the need to heavily grade the footage.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Nope - frustratingly (but I'm not complaining!) I'm mega busy with client work at the moment. I'm as interested in this aspect as you, I assure you!!!... but everyone wants their film finished before Xmas! (plus there are lots of family/kids/school events that happen this time a year too).

I'm not going to have much time to play with the FS5 (or my new Letus Helix Jr.) for a while, let alone the detail needed for tweaking Picture Profiles.

I think others (now the FS5 is shipping in large numbers) will be able to contribute on this aspect - and failing that, I'm sure it'll be worth buying Doug Jensens training material for the FS5 (when it becomes available - he has said January 2016).

[Andy Wilkinson]

Newsshooter FS5 review is here:

Sony FS5 review: A grab and shoot camera for the large sensor era

[Dave Mercer]

Fir those who have the FS5, what cards are you all using?

[Nate Haustein]

Just shot a bunch of 4k with an old PNY 64GB U1 class card from my A7s - seemed to work just fine, even though I thought you needed the U3. For that matter the 128GB (U3) versions are on sale right now at a variety of places online for $39.99 each. I'm planning on getting a few.

I shot for 3 hours tonight at a professionally lit collegiate choir concert and I'm starting to get the hang of the camera. It'll take some more time to gather my thoughts, but overall I'd say it's a good progression from my C100s. Sideways in some ways, but for the most part a nice little camera. Transcoding to ProRes proxy right now in FCPX because there's no way that my personal 13" Retina Macbook is gonna play this stuff. Just too processor intensive. 2013 i7 + 2014 5k iMacs at work can handle about 2-3 streams before they start to choke.

Also, it looks like a cool Bolex or something when you put a grip underneath :)

[Christopher Young]

First impressions here with the FS5 using the MTF B4 adapter with a B4 lens with a doubler. Pictures look very acceptable indeed. Very comparable to an FS700 or an FS7 using the same setup. Totally useable.

Then we tried the FS5 S16 crop mode with the 2x disengaged on the B4. On an under scan monitor you could see that the circle magnification even though only designed for a 2/3" sensor did in fact cover the S16 centre crop. BUT and a BIG BUT... the chroma aberration (CA) was woeful, absolutely horrible. Made the whole setup totally unusable.

If one wants to use B4 lenses on the FS5 or the FS7 it looks like you will have to buy Mike Tapa's dedicated MTF B4 to S16 E-mount adapter or something similar. Not the cheapest of solutions at around US2,250 but there again if you need that capability and can earn $$$s with it maybe a worthwhile investment.

Newsshooter at IBC 2015: MTF - B4 to Sony E-Mount adapter on Vimeo

According to Mike the optical path and beam convergence of B4 lenses that are designed to work through beam splitters has been corrected for proper convergence on this new adapter when used on cameras without beam splitters (prisms).

The S16 crop mode of the FS5 and the FS7 looks like it is only going to be useful with the S16 lenses it was designed for unless you are going to use a dedicated B4 to S16 adapter.

A fascinating camera the FS5. A cross over that's more of a blend between an FS700 and an X70 rather than an FS7 and X70. Still evaluating!

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

[Olof Ekbergh]

Originally Posted by Dave Mercer

Fir those who have the FS5, what cards are you all using?

Both these work well.

Amazon.com: Sony 128GB SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Memory Card (SF128UX/TQN) (OLD MODEL): Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00