The Sony F65 New Digital Cinema Cam

[Ozzy Alvarez]

I was wondering if this Sony F65 is the rumored 4K Digital Cinema Camcorder that many have been talking and rumoring about recently on this board and others???

Sony VideON | The F65 "The Arrival" Behind the scenes | Most Recent

[Henry Olonga]

Affirmative

[Heath McKnight]

This will come off as a stupid question, so forgive me, but could we say that this is like shooting on 65mm film, i.e., 4K? Like I said, I may sound dumb here, because I've stepped away from digital film and video production in the past year, and haven't been keeping up on everything.

Heath

[Wacharapong Chiowanich]

This seems to be intended as a 65mm digital equivalent. Considering Sony have so far been blanketing the market starting from a US$300+ 1080/50p,60p-capable video device that shoots very decent footage in the size of a deck of cards, where else can they go but up, far higher up. 1080p will no longer cut it.

[David C. Williams]

The sensor size is no where near a 65mm frame. It's S35mm, just tiny bit bigger than the 23.6mm x13.3mm, 27.1 diagonal F35, 9000 and F3 at 24.7 mm x 13.1mm, 28 mm diagonal.

[Charles Papert]

Yes, it's a bit confusing to compare this camera to 65mm film. Makes sense on a resolution level but having the sensor remain essentially the same size means focal lengths will deliver effectively the same field of view, unlike 65mm which functioned similar to anamorphic, where a given focal length would deliver twice as wide an image. It's a phenomenon approached by the 5D, which does the same sort of thing. The good news is that existing lenses that cover a S35 sensor will work with the F65, rather than requiring a whole new run of lenses to cover a larger format.

[Brian Drysdale]

I believe 65mm neg is usually scanned at 8k and to get the best out of 35mm neg 4k (not the same as the Beyer sensor pixel figures). It was always amazing how good the flagship cinema 70mm prints made from 35mm neg were.

Of course, projection is another matter and they'll be aiming this camera at producing product for the 4k theatres.

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

For me the most interesting is that it can shoot 1,85 without cropping and has the resolution to do 2,35 without anamorphic lenses. Spec wise is very well thought camera. But I couldn't understand the 4:1 compression what kind of file type is?

[Brian Drysdale]

It appears to be part of their SRMaster product range, which increases the range recording formats up to 4K 16-bit RAW. It seems to be a development of the SR Codec.

[Timothy R. Barksdale]

Quite impressive camera. Flew to NYC last month, Abelcine had one on display with a rather complete workflow.

At a wildlife film festival two years ago , I led a workshop on cameras and formats. The panel had a wide range of expertise in film and digital. One conclusion was that the higher pixel count was doomed to slow and that the information "behind" the pixel needed to catch up. We are seeing this occur with Sony's new system of color receptors and the technique of sampling light.

Quite an exciting time to be a cinematographer. If I could only afford ALL the toys this Christmas!

Best Wishes to all for a Great 2012,

Tim

[Alister Chapman]

The F65 package is not a lot more than Alexa M and not a million miles (or dollars) from Red Epic. The price of the camera is $65k or around $85,000 USD for camera, viewfinder, SR-R4 recorder, one SR memory card and a card reader.

[Jonathan Shaw]

I saw one two days ago in Sydney, looks like an impressive beast.

[Adam Gold]

Looks like it's meeting with some approval:

Sony Steps Up Manufacturing After Pre-Orders Land F65 4K Camera in U.S. Top 200 - The Hollywood Reporter

[Peter Moretti]

Originally Posted by Timothy R. Barksdale

... One conclusion was that the higher pixel count was doomed to slow and that the information "behind" the pixel needed to catch up. We are seeing this occur with Sony's new system of color receptors and the technique of sampling light.

...

Tim,

Can you explain this a little more. It sounds fascinating, but I have no idea what it means :).

[Lawrence Bansbach]

Originally Posted by Peter Moretti

Tim,

Can you explain this a little more. It sounds fascinating, but I have no idea what it means :).

It sounds as if he's referring to improvements in light sensitivity and dynamic range, as well as possibly to the development of practical global shutters.