Sony announces new 4K camera systems PMW-F55 and PMW-5

[Insung Hwang]

Full press release at Sony grows large sensor camera family with new 4K camera systems at DVInfo.net

See also Sony | Showcase

[Greg Penetrante]

Wow! Way cool. I'm sure the prices will be out of this world for us 99 percenters ;)
But they hit it out of the ballpark this time!

[Philip Lipetz]

Sony F55 and F5 | Film and Digital Times

Great tech overview. Great tech!

[Dennis Hingsberg]

The F5 will offer high speed rates (120fps 4k RAW / 180fps HD) but only record internally in HD/2k and much like the FS700 require external recorder to allow any 4k codec or RAW recording. It's an upgraded F3 with 422 50mbps and capable of 4k out the back including RAW.

The F55 will record internally 2k (180fps), 4k (60fps) to current SXS card and can go fully RAW (2k RAW up to 120fps) to external recorder. The F55 uses the F65 sensor featuring color gamut exceeding film, and the F55 has a GLOBAL shutter equiv. to mechanical shutter for ZERO image distortion.

Both have 14 stops of dynamic range. ISO is 1250 on F55, and 2000 on F5. Both are very modular and will require separate module for XLR inputs and other future planned features. Both will record to Sony's new AXS-R5 recorder that uses a new AXS Memory Card. Both are pretty exciting.

[Paul Cronin]

Sounds great on paper. Now how long do we have to wait? What is the cost?

If the cost is really $25K for the F55 and it is on the market this winter it would be come my A-Cam, if it is up to the Sony marketing HYPE!

[Dennis Hingsberg]

We should know more tonight apparently, either at 3pm or 8pm EST. Or who knows, maybe delayed until tomorrow...

As for delivery I heard Jan 2013 but again, don't take it as gospel.

Exciting times,

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks Dennis,

Completely understand if they are delayed. Tough storm in RI and they were hit hard in NYC.

Jan delivery would be very nice.

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

The quoted prices 15K and 25K probably exclude the VF, which will not come cheap and the 4K recorder. The F55 looks a far better deal, because it can record 4K without the external recorder, albeit not raw.

[Paul Cronin]

F55 global Shutter is a huge breakthrough. Yea I bet the VF are at least $10K. I had a C35W on my F800 and PMW-500 and that was $10K new. 4K viewfinder won't be cheap.

Looking at a F5 all up I am sure you will spend $25-30K minimum with out glass. F55 I bet that will be $50-60K.

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

According to this European dealer the prices are more than reasonable:

Sony PMW-F55 - Creative Ventures BVBA

Sony PMW-F5 - Creative Ventures BVBA

Probably without VF though...

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Philip Lipetz

Sony F55 and F5 | Film and Digital Times

Great tech overview. Great tech!

I'm still trying to digest the information, but there are some anomalies starting to appear. In that link they say:

Get the F55 if you want to record 4K, 2K or HD internally to......... and want an F65 type of sensor design.....

The F55 imager has a Bayer Pattern similar to the F65 and a “global shutter.” F5 has a Bayer Pattern similar to the F3.

The first thing to say is that the F65 does not have a Bayer pattern - it's Q67. Main features of that are that photosite rows are at 45degrees to H&V, and there is one green photosite for each pixel of output resolution. So for 4k, there are 2x4096x2160 photosites total - about 20 megapixel.

As far as I can make out, the pattern for the F5 and the F55 seems to be the same - traditional Bayer at 4k. Which means 4096x2160 effective photosites, or close to 10 megapixel - half the count of the F65.

I suspect many people are surprised by how wide ranging the announcement is - far from just the new camera that was generally expected. As such it's probably one of the most significant single announcements I can remember in the industry.

Two cameras for a start. An obvious commitment to making 4k a "BIG THING", in a similar way to HD announcements about 10 years ago. And new codecs. The latter has been maybe a little overshadowed by everything else, but I think that would be wrong.

XDCAM422 50Mbs is likely to remain significant for some while to come, certainly in the broadcast TV world. But it's been becoming evident that there is room for something inbetween it and RAW to satisfy those for whom RAW is too much post hassle - but want more post grading flexibility than XDCAM422 allows. The new codec allows for 10 bit (and these cameras do seem to have front ends noise free enough to make that worthwhile) and such as 50p and 4k modes.

XDCAM422 was certainly a good solution when memory was expensive, and to an extent that's still the case. It also allows consumer media in such as the Canon cameras. But memory costs are falling year on year, so it's not the problem it was.

It remains to be seen exactly what the cost of these cameras are when equipped with viewfinder etc, but certainly the specs are likely to have got Canon worried so far. First impressions are very good. And for once they seem to listened to users regarding ergonomics........

[Jim Giberti]

There's an enormous amount to like about these cameras at this stage.

For obvious reasons (F65, F3) I have a lot of confidence that the image quality will be world class.
The cameras themselves are still in development as is the price structure.

But Sony has the opportunity to craft the finished cameras and pricing in tune with the 21st century market and so far they've been listening like no other camera company in the past decade.

For us the new Fs are the cameras worth investing in for our new upgrades and for the next few years (maybe longer looking at the F55)
The C's weren't, although we would have liked them to be.
If Sony finishes off their potential coup with genuinely competitive pricing then they'll get our multi-camera purchase as soon as they're available.

[Trell Mitchell]

So far, this is the best info regarding Sony's PMW-F55 and PMW-5.
Den Lennie from f-stop academy posted a hands-on introduction to the cameras.
Worth reading & Watching video included within the link!
Click below!

Sony F5 and F55 (From the horses mouth - not speculation...) - F-Stop Academy

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks Trell good to see some of the options.

Still have not found pricing?

Is it true that SXS Pro only?

[Philip Lipetz]

I believe that in the FB discussionwhere it was stated that the lowest bit rate setting would work with old SXS cards, but all others required the Pro version.