Dear Friends,

We have just received official permission from Sony Japan.

Our Convergent Design Odyssey7Q has been given permission to record 4K Raw from the Sony FS700.

Support for recording 4K Raw, will be included in the next Odyssey7Q firmware release.

Our next firmware release is due around the end of February, 2014, so the wait is only two weeks or so before everyone with our Odyssey7Q + FS700 option (and a 4K capable FS700) will be able to record in 4K Raw.

I would like to thank Sony Japan for approving our request and for the wonderful support that we have had from Sony around the world in supporting our request.

Respectfully,

Wow. That's great news. Thanks Sony. My FS700 has a lot of life left in it. Dan any information yet on 4K frame rates? Thanks for the hard work so far.

Monday

Dear Friends,

We will record 4K Raw, up to 60 fps.

There is another, separate mode in the camera that allows around 4 seconds of 4K to be recorded at 120 fps.

I do not believe that we have tested this mode yet.

Our 4K Raw, up to 60 fps, support is for continuous recording, from when one presses the record button on the FS700 to when one stops by pressing the record button again, or until our two SSD's fill up.

Thus, this is a very easy and effective way to record 4K Raw from the FS700.

Respectfully,

Good to hear Sony is actually allowing the 7Q to have this option. Hopefully pricing on the capability won't be prohibitive.

Dear Jack,

This is included in our FS700 Option.

Thus, anyone who already purchased our FS700 Option already will get the ability to record 4K Raw without any additional cost.

Those that have not purchased the FS700 Option will get this additional capability once they purchase the option, and the price of this option, which is currently $795 (US) will not change.

Thus, with our FS700 Option, you can record from an FS700 in 2K Raw, in 12-Bit, up to 240 fps continuously, and shortly will be able to record 4K Raw, in 12-Bit, up to 60 fps continuously.

Respectfully,

Wow, that is great news! Now my EA50 is really close to going on eBay to fund the 7Q for my FS700R :)

Dan,

Is the 7Q compatible with the f5?

That's awesome news! Sony rules!

Dear Duane,

We can record HD (1920 x 1080), full uncompressed in DPX, from the Sony F5, up to 60 fps.

With our upcoming firmware release we will also support recording HD (1920 x 1080), up to 30 fps, to a popular compressed codec.

And as soon as possible, we will increase this to 60 fps.

And we may increase our DPX support to 120 fps, but I do not know at this moment, if the F5 can output 120 fps.

But, since the F5 does not support 4K output over HD-SDI, we can not support recording 4K from the F5.

We do not have access to the multi-pin connector that does output 2K Raw and 4K Raw, sorry.

On the Sony F55, we will add, in upcoming months, the ability to record 4K in the Odyssey7Q.
We can do this since the F55 outputs 4K.

Respectfully,

Dear Friends,

Here is our official Press Release

Odyssey7Q To Record FS700 4K RAW

(Colorado Springs, CO) Convergent Design’s Odyssey7Q is the most capable portable monitor/recorder on the market. It can capture and display the signals from more camera systems than any other product.

That capability will soon be increased even more as we announce that recording of the 4K RAW signal from the Sony PMW-FS700 will be available in the Odyssey7Q.

4K RAW recording will be a part of the FS700 Record Option on the Odyssey7Q. It will be made available as part of the upcoming February Firmware Update for the Odyssey7Q. Any current owner of the FS700 Record Option will receive the 4K RAW capability as part of the firmware update and at no additional cost.

To use the FS700 Record Option on the Odyssey7Q, an FS700R camera or an FS700 with RAW upgrade from Sony is required. In 4K RAW mode, the FS700 can output 4096x2160 up to 60p. This signal can now be captured on the Odyssey7Q. With the FS700 Record Option the Odyssey7Q can also record 2K RAW (2048x1080) at frame rates up to 240p.


Respectfully,

Dear Duane,

We can record HD (1920 x 1080), full uncompressed in DPX, from the Sony F5, up to 60 fps.

With our upcoming firmware release we will also support recording HD (1920 x 1080), up to 30 fps, to a popular compressed codec.

And as soon as possible, we will increase this to 60 fps.

And we may increase our DPX support to 120 fps, but I do not know at this moment, if the F5 can output 120 fps.

But, since the F5 does not support 4K output over HD-SDI, we can not support recording 4K from the F5.

We do not have access to the multi-pin connector that does output 2K Raw and 4K Raw, sorry.

On the Sony F55, we will add, in upcoming months, the ability to record 4K in the Odyssey7Q.
We can do this since the F55 outputs 4K.

Respectfully,

Fair enough, thanks Dan.

awesome news!!

Terrific news! Ergonomically the Sony recorder setup is just too ungainly to be practical on set with the FS700.

This makes the FS700 a lot more interesting in the grand scheme of thing.

With our upcoming firmware release we will also support recording HD (1920 x 1080), up to 30 fps, to a popular compressed codec.

And as soon as possible, we will increase this to 60 fps.

Do keep in mind that anyone trying to use a 1080p60 source over HDMI only works with a HDMI -> 3G-SDI converter. The internal HDMI in port only supports up to 1080p30.

Same would go for 4K HDMI, you will need a 4K HDMI to 4X3G-SDI converter.

Dear Friends,

Jack is correct.

On the Odyssey7Q, our HDMI input is limited to up to 1080p30, 1080p60 requires a converter.

And our HDMI input does not support 4K.

4K is supported via the HD-SDI inputs only.


And to be clear, the Sony FS700 outputs 4K Raw over HD-SDI 3G, which is fully supported by the Odyssey7Q.

And this support includes 4K Raw at 60 fps.

Respectfully,

Is the FS700 physically limited to 60fps at 4K I.e. No higher than that ever?

Great news about the 4K recording though :)

How about 4K compressed - what frame rate will that support shortly and what's the max theoretical?

Thanks.

The 4K120p mode is a buffer mode in-camera it sounds like. It cannot record beyond 4 seconds. It's very likely guaranteed for 60p.

Now, a small thing that would make the 7Q more appealing for the budget conscious is a software switch that will allow any SSD to be inserted, but showing a warning that CD does not test non-approved SSDs and that the owner accepts the risk of losing data. I guess the compressed codecs could have this switch at first, since the data rates are lower.

Is the FS700 physically limited to 60fps at 4K I.e. No higher than that ever?

Great news about the 4K recording though :)

How about 4K compressed - what frame rate will that support shortly and what's the max theoretical?

Thanks.

Dear Paul,

The FS700 supports a special buffered (cached) 4K Mode which allows one to record full 4K at 120 fps for around 4 seconds, then the 4k footage is dumped out at a slower speed.

I have not asked our team, as they have been exceptionally busy, if they have tested this 4K at 120 fps mode yet.

I believe that we will be able to support this mode, either around the end of February 2014, or later.


But, while this mode does offer 120 fps 4K recording, the 60 fps 4K recording, to an Odyssey7Q is very desirable, as one can shoot 4K Raw until your SSD's fill up, as opposed to having to shoot for 4 seconds, then output the footage. When done one can start the process again.

With an Odyssey7Q (or a Sony R5), one can record 4K at 60 by pressing record on the camera, then stop, then start recording again. In the field, this ability to record and stop, as desired, when desired is very valuable.

Please do not get me wrong, I applaud Sony for including this mode in the FS700, which is very useful when one needs 4K at 120 fps. And remember, 4 seconds of 120 frames per second is 20 seconds of footage when played back at 24 frames per second.

------------------


We expect to be supporting the popular compressed codec, in HD (1920 x 1080), in our next firmware release, at frame rates of 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30.

We will be working to add higher frames rate, such as 50, 59.94, and 60 fps, just as soon as possible.

This involves going back and optimizing some code slightly to support these higher frame rates. We can actually, support some higher frame rates right now, but we need to optimize it a little more.

-------------------

And, we will be working on another project for an upcoming release.

This includes the ability to record, from the FS700 in 4K to a popular compressed codec in 4K.

Our goal is to have this ready sometime around April 2014. This is a goal, not a promise.

--------------------


This should not be confused with a special mode that will be included in our next firmware release, the one due around the end of February 2014.

This special mode, takes the 4K Raw images from the FS700, processes them, deBayers them to HD, then records them to the popular compressed codec in 4:2:2 YCbCr in 10-Bit.

Please note that this improves the FS700 camera's images in HD (1920 x 1080) as we start with 4K 12-Bit images, as opposed to the 8-Bit images that the FS700 outputs in HD now.

This requires our Odyssey7Q + FS700 Option + a FS700 which supports 4K, in other words an upgraded original FS700 or the FS700H.

We believe that you will be very pleased with these HD images super-sampled from the 4K Raw images.

It won't be long before this capability will be in your hands so you can evaluate the images.

And everything that I mentioned here will be available, for free, for anyone with our Odyssey7Q + our FS700 Option.


Respectfully,

The 4K120p mode is a buffer mode in-camera it sounds like. It cannot record beyond 4 seconds. It's very likely guaranteed for 60p.

Now, a small thing that would make the 7Q more appealing for the budget conscious is a software switch that will allow any SSD to be inserted, but showing a warning that CD does not test non-approved SSDs and that the owner accepts the risk of losing data. I guess the compressed codecs could have this switch at first, since the data rates are lower.

Dear Jack,

I will bring your suggested up with our team soon.

Of course you are aware of all of the reasons why we want fully tested, and by this I mean individually tested SSD's used in our gear. This is to ensure reliability.


Jack, the following is for others that may not have seen my previous posts on this subject, and this is just a few of our concerns.



Other SSD's use at least twice as much power and generate twice as much heat.

And low cost SSD's most likely do not have built-in power protection.

And the firmware in an SSD, within a given brand and type of SSD may change over time.

And the subtle characteristics of SSD's are different, thus all may not work with our unit.



Our reputation is harmed when an Odyssey7Q fails, for whatever reason, even if one goes out on a shoot with an untested SSD, and it fails.

And it would cause us pain to say "We are sorry, but no, we can't recovered your important footage".


And our SSD's are priced lower that the same amount of memory using most CompactFlash cards.
And certainly lower using any "Professional Quality" CompactFlash cards.

In fact, our SSD's have the lowest price of any professional media.

But, I will discuss this with our team, and maybe we could try your suggestion to see if it causes problems or not.

Please understand that we can't add this to our next firmware release since would push back the release date.

Also, we took this approach with our nanoFlash, and many people used CompactFlash cards which were not on our qualified list, and were untested, and many problems occurred. And in almost every case, (all that I know of) we tried diligently to recover their data (for free).

Respectfully,

Please remember you can see the Odyssey 7Q and get in-depth and hands-on with it and it's abilities at the Cascade Mt. Video Show in Portland Oregon on February 26th. For more info about the show head to the website. Production Cameras, Camera Accessories | Portland, OR | Shows (http://www.provideoandtape.com/shows.php)

Quite excited about this announcement. I will certainly be purchasing an Odyssey 7Q at some point soon.

As a wildlife and documentary cameraman, one of the features I miss on the FS700 is pre-record in normal speed shooting. Is there any way this could be enabled on the Odyssey 7Q?

Dear Jonathan,

Yes, this is in our plans for the future.

Respectfully,

Dear Jonathan,

Yes, this is in our plans for the future.

Respectfully,

Great news! Thanks Dan! This feature will
Make the FS700 a great wildlife and documentary camera.

Thanks for the detailed info Dan.

You guys are great at communicating via the forums and twitter etc.

Wonder if it would be good to somehow bring this info out onto a 'work in progress' or 'latest updates' page on your site or somewhere else? Often this great info is buried within forum posts that wouldn't be found unless you read every post. Would be particularly good as obviously timescales for releases etc change regularly. One place with all the up to date info would be very useful I think. That way, you also wouldn't need to repeat yourself so much across the forums maybe? Just a thought but as I said, your comms are excellent :)

Thanks.

This is good news. I've been shooting the FS700 for over 3 months now and I am very impressed with this small camera. The overall capabilities are fantastic.

The Odyssey 7Q is also a very nice accessory. But since so many pieces are coming out in a rather haphazard manner- I'm yet to see the results of the last month of shooting. I did not receive a physical manual with my 7Q ( rental for one more month) and that is problematic and created some suspense and surprise at times.

In a few more days, I'll be back at the headquarters of our documentary on the life of John James Audubon where the massive downloads will begin.

I've been shooting 3 cameras for both the visual differences as well as capabilities- and the security of having known results on at least the less risky of them. The high speed option on the FS700 even in AVCHD recording is crazy.

I look forward to perfecting my Odyssey setup. The potential is certainly there. The vital means of using it without lugging a car battery or 5 to 10 pound batteries arrived just after I left. So i am looking forward to using Dtap Ptap and I also bought the L-series battery mount. The main feeling I get is that the addition of the 7Q moves the FS700 to a RED level. The design of on screen functions is very well thought out.

Later Next week, I'll post a review of a month with the 7Q and the FS700. I'm cautiously optimistic so far.

Tim Barksdale
Birdman Productions LLC

Dear Tim,

Thank you for using our Odyssey7Q.

Our Odyssey7Q manual is on our website:

Odyssey7Q \\ User Manual (http://www.convergent-design.com/Products/Odyssey7Q/UserManual.aspx)

This allows us to keep the latest updates available to everyone at a moments notice.

And I provide 24/7 support, every day of the year.

Support | Convergent Design (http://www.convergent-design.com/Support.aspx)

Please note that my mobile number is the best number to call.

Respectfully,