The Sony F65 New Digital Cinema Cam

[Charles Papert]

Obviously it will depend on your projected shoot dates then Stuart--while some are obsessed with being early adopters of cameras for the 15 seconds of internet fame of being "first", my experience is that it can lead to a lot of heartache on set, unless you have full support of the manufacturer, extra bodies sitting on the truck etc. F55 looks great but I wouldn't want to gamble on it being out there and fully functional for a mission-critical project for quite a while.

[Mark Kenfield]

Originally Posted by Stuart Graham

Thanks for getting back to me Charles. I'm trying to come up with solutions for a number of different shooting scenarios for future digital feature projects. One of which is for a Bourne Ultimatum or NYPD Blue style of filming - lots of action and camera handheld camera movement, Though it might not be something we'll do I need to figure out what cameras would be needed to tick that box. The F55 or F65 seem like the best candidates (with testing).

One option you might want to consider Stuart is either the F35 (which can be had for a song these days) or the F65 paired with a light-weight external recorder like the Convergent Design Gemini. If the frame-rates and recording options fit within your needs, removing the huge and heavy Sony recorders from the equation really changes the dynamic with the big Sonys by bringing the weight down in line with Alexa. The form factor of the body will never be as nice as the Arri, but once the weight becomes manageable you can do a lot more with the camera (and importantly, for the sort of shooting you're describing, you get a global shutter with both of those cameras).

[Stuart Graham]

That's really useful info, thanks guys :)

Charles, good point about the F55 and that it might not be fully de-glitched. I'll put it on the list but only for projects in the distant future!

Mark, that's a great suggestion, thank you very much. I didn't realise the F35 had a CCD sensor (super 35mm as well!). I must look into this camera further. They're cheap on ebay too! :) I guess they're not as popular now because it's not a K resolution. I always thought full 1080 HD looked great on a cinema screen myself but it might be a problem for cinematic distribution unless you upscale to 2K, not sure if that's a good idea or not. But apparently 1080P might be acceptable for digital cinema packages. It would be a great camera for going straight to TV or DVD / Blu-ray anyway if that was the only intended market.

I didn't realise it was the Sony recorder that was the problem in terms of F65 mobility. I wondered why the weight of the camera was similar to the Alexa in the spec but people were complaining about it being a pig to work with.

The form factor of the body will never be as nice as the Arri

I definitely agree - the Alexa has the perfect body :)