Here are a few simple things I'd like to see.

1.Rename files and picture profile.
2.Use expanded focus and peaking at the same time
3.Display a waveform (not sure if this could be done via a firmware update)
4.Fix shutter angle function

How about you?

It would be nice to have more menu items assignable to buttons such as RECORD and MEDIA FORMAT.

- 22fps and 20fps for S & Q mode. (I slightly undercrank a lot for action scenes.)

- Shutter Angle display to stay consistent when shooting 120+ fps, not a 'compensated' readout based on the record fps rate.

- Correctly label 2.35:1 as 2.39:1 or 2.40:1 (a pet peeve of mine)

- 4x3 windowed sensor area for 2X anamorphic use, recorded as 1440x1080 or higher

- Allow user to create real names for Camera & Picture Profile settings for easier recall

- Option for S-Log output on 3G HD-SDI while recording Picture Profile to AVC internally

- Simultaneous record to SD and FMU128 for S & Q

- Record trigger signal on HD-SDI so my Samurai will automatically roll when the camera does

- 4K compatibility with third-party recorders like AJA KiPro quad

- H.265/HEVC 4K internal recording to FMU128

I'd like some crop modes for super slow motion. So instead of line skipping you would get a 1:1 image depending on your framerate. I am sure that even 960 fps would be usable.

The ability to output the slow-mo buffer in 25 fps (not 60) so you could use a cheap external recorder instead of an expensive 3g-SDI one.

10-bit SDI ;)

"Record trigger signal on HD-SDI so my Samurai will automatically roll when the camera does"

tim, this is doable, we use the samurai often when we are shooting, mainly as a backup or when we need to do alot of vfx or grading..

greg

when is the next firmware update scheduled will it be free?

My two biggest wishes have to do with the hdmi output. I use my PIX 240 quite a bit with the FS 700 via the hdsdi out and if I am also using the Alphatron evf I can't even tell if I'm recording much less have any useful info displayed there.

#1. Give HDMI and HDSDI outputs separate options to have lcd info included or not.

#2, Enable expanded focus to at least hdmi outputs if not all outputs. If Canon can do it I've got to believe Sony could find a way.

I just want them to come up with an optional grip that has an iris dial, push-auto focus button, and a sensibly-placed (not the ridiculous pinky button) push-auto iris button.

"Record trigger signal on HD-SDI so my Samurai will automatically roll when the camera does"

tim, this is doable, we use the samurai often when we are shooting, mainly as a backup or when we need to do alot of vfx or grading..

greg

It is probably operator error on my part then, but I would love to know the secret to making the feature actually work properly. The only ways I could figure it would work is by using the LANC cable from the handle and passing it through to another cable back to the camera, or with the REC RUN trigger mode on the Samurai. Unfortunately TC trigger mode also starts recording when you play back clips from the camera's SD card.

I know the Samurai supports camera trigger via SDI, but I don't see anything in the FS700 documentation that says it supports it the SDI trigger flag.

Tim: Just make sure you have the menu options set up as such on the Samurai. HD-SDI - Sony. It works on our FS700 just fine.

I'm with Mark Bolding on his two suggestions! The lumping together of the SDI and HDMI video display overlay is silly, and something that firmware could certainly address. I roll to the Samurai often along with using a Small HD DP4 EVF connected via HDMI. I'd like to have the overlay on the monitor, but of course, that's ruining my external recorder signal if I do that!

The expanded focus working on the HDMI output would also be nice, but certainly not nearly as important as the ability to select video overlay on the two ports independently.

Renaming of picture profiles would be nice. So would the ability to record 50i and 60i movies on the same memory card. I mean, they're just digital files, right?

#1. Give HDMI and HDSDI outputs separate options to have lcd info included or not.



Not possible. There is only one hardware video encoder in the box.

If you want that feature you have to step up to the F3. It has 2 video encoders and has the ability to have a clean output on one output and an overlay on another.

If you want that feature you have to step up to the F3. It has 2 video encoders and has the ability to have a clean output on one output and an overlay on another.
In my experience, the F3 suffers from the same issue. How do you go about setting the F3 to do that, Chris?

You use SDI-A for your clean signal and you use either Monitor SDI or HDMI for your overlay outputs.

But, we've had problems with SDI-A not outputting the proper signal for the Samurai in certain modes, and we've had to rely on the SDI port of the F3. Not to take this too far afield, as this is an FS-700 section... The video overlay on the external ports is a kludge, and Sony really phoned that in. It works well on the onboard monitor, so why didn't they provide the same functionality on the outputs (ie. three toggled stages of information, and selectable independent of the other monitoring options).

Drop me a note off the forum and I'll be glad to see if there is anything I can figure out to help.

Back to our regularly scheduled program... :)

I thought of another firmware update to add to my wish list: The ability to continue scrolling down from a bottom clip in the Visual Index by simply pressing down, instead of having to go over to the down arrow on the left side of the screen. It is very counter-intuitive the way it is now.

I totally agree.

The ability to save a shutter speed (and preferably ISO/gain as well) with each Super SlowMo frame rate.

IMHO, this is the biggest waste of time on this camera, constantly adjusting shutter speed, ISO and aperture while going in to SSM and back to normal recording. The default of shutter = frame rate is simply not sufficient. The cheezy AS15 action cam produces more motion stopping power, and examining the defaults on a consumer CX760V in SSR mode tells us why... SSR (on which FS700 SSM is based, just massively beefed up memory to handle full HD resolution) automatically sets the shutter to 2x the frame rate for better action stopping.

Oh, and how about SSM start trigger that actually starts when the REC button is pressed, instead of 1.8 to 2.2 seconds later??? With a measly 8 seconds of record time at 240fps, it would really help to capture the definitive moment if the camera started recording on time...

Stunning fail on Sony's part that a consumer camera will start recording slow motion within 0.3 seconds of pressing REC, but an $8000 pro camera can not achieve this basic feat!!!

Juan, there is no lesser camera by ANY manufacturer that can do anything close to what the FS700 does. Honestly, find me a cheaper camera that currently does 1920x1080 pixels at full resolution in 240 FPS, and maybe you'll have an argument. I don't think you understand the engineering behind true super speed frame rate capturing. The camera you mentioned doesn't do it at all (60p is a far cry from 240p, after all).

The reason you have to adjust aperture is due to the nature of how cameras work. You lose sensitivity when you push that many frames through the camera. I'm really not sure how you can compare a consumer camera to the FS700 today.

Read the manual! You can set up an End Trigger, where the camera buffers the previous 8 seconds, and allows you to hit the record button AFTER the action you want takes place. Personally, that's the way I prefer to run the camera. Even the Phantom cameras can only buffer so much media. 8 Seconds is typically plenty when you're running at 240 FPS. You're the first person I've encountered who calls 8 seconds of 240 fps "measly." By today's standards, the camera is totally groundbreaking!

Eric, I do not know a single professional stills photographer who would accept a so called professional still camera without 2 or 3 user settings memory banks. Canon & Nikon stills cameras of both prosumer & pro models have these, and you can store **every** aspect of your favorite setups in each one. Not just picture profiles, but every last detail of the camera operation. Big time saver. Maybe pro videographers have more free time on their hands? I doubt it. So just saying, wouldn't that be a great feature for pro video cameras? Yes it would.

I guess you are not familiar with Sony's "Smooth Slow Record"? This is a feature found on many of the pro tape cameras, and almost all of their consumer / prosumer video cameras. Usually goes hand in hand with "Golf Shot". It is identical to the FS700's Super Slow Motion, **except** it is at a much lower resolution, and on consumer cameras it only runs 3 seconds. On the pro cameras, it runs 3, 6 & 12 seconds. On the pro cameras, it's actually pretty good, and I've used it for years. Worthy of note is that when set to start trigger, it starts pretty much the moment you hit the record button.

Remember this: Sony is an electronics company, first and foremost. This means that building new circuits, and modifying existing ones is what they **excel** at!!! My point here is that the FS700's Super Slow Motion is a **super enhanced** version of the circuit that they have been using for **years** under the name Smooth Slow Record. For Sony, as an electronics design & manufacturing company, this modification was child's play. Engineering just needed Marketing to tell them to do it. Beef up the data bus bandwidth, add a bunch more memory, and now you have Full HD slow motion. Could you or I do it at home? No! Could Sony engineers do it in their design labs? Yes, without a whole lot of difficulty.

Now, I'm not putting down the FS700, as you seem to think I am. Electronically, it's a pretty nice piece of equipment. Ergonomically, it's a disaster, but from an image quality and electronics point of view, it's pretty sweet, and I'm quite pleased with it. But when I pay $8K for a camera, I expect it to start recording when I press the record button... for my type of shooting, Start Trigger works best, or at least it would if it started when it was supposed to. That is my point.

Very familiar with Vision Research. Beautiful stuff. But they don't have Sony's mass manufacturing might, so of course the cameras are going to be much more expensive. Boutique vs mass production. Toyota vs Bugatti.

Juan, the resolution is everything. There are Casio consumer cameras that do very high frame rates in postage stamp sized video clips. It doesn't take a company the scope of Sony to pull that off. But, to do it in 1920x1080 takes an otherwise prohibitively expensive camera from a select few boutique companies. I'm sure that, in due time, another company like Panasonic or JVC will put out a camera that can do what the FS700 can do at a similar or lower price point. But that day has yet to come.