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

[Alister Chapman]

Don't forget on the pricing that the F3 will stay a current model and it's almost certain that the F5 will be more expensive than the F3.

[Chris Medico]

If a functioning kit is less than $20k I'll be pleasantly surprised (camera, VF, 2 batteries, days worth of media).

I'm estimating $16,900 or so for the body, $2k for the base VF, $1600 for 2 batts/charger, and $1000 for a couple of memory cards.

BYOG (bring your own glass)

[Brett Sherman]

A couple cards? I've found the minimum I'm comfortable with is about 5 64GB cards when shooting for a few days at a time. I think that pushes up the cards to over $5000. (CF is about $1000 or $500 if you're okay with Transcend)

[Alister Chapman]

The media requirements for raw will be way beyond what most people are used to. A 128gb card may only last 10-15mins, maybe more if Sony use compression. Even if you are going to use XAVC for HD your still looking at 100Mb/s so around 100gb per hour and the faster SxS Pro+ media is likely to be more expensive than regular SxS.

This is part of the reason why the F3 is not being dropped. Cost of ownership of an F3 is likely to remain considerably lower than an F5/F55.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

This is part of the reason why the F3 is not being dropped. Cost of ownership of an F3 is likely to remain considerably lower than an F5/F55.

We still need to see what final pricings will be, but I'd veer heavily towards an F5 over an F3 on the face of what's been said so far.

Points taken about media costings, but with an F5 basic setup, you could still now record XDCAM 422 50Mbs in camera, for little extra media cost than recording 35Mbs in camera on an F3. And get full broadcast approval without any external recorder. And additionally, the possibility of recording to XAVC or even 4k in the future - should the need ever arise.

[Mark Kenfield]

Originally Posted by David Heath

We still need to see what final pricings will be, but I'd veer heavily towards an F5 over an F3 on the face of what's been said so far.

Points taken about media costings, but with an F5 basic setup, you could still now record XDCAM 422 50Mbs in camera, for little extra media cost than recording 35Mbs in camera on an F3. And get full broadcast approval without any external recorder. And additionally, the possibility of recording to XAVC or even 4k in the future - should the need ever arise.

Would it be worth it though just for the form factor over the F3 + Recorder (assuming that's what most F3 shooters would be upgrading from), and the ability to expand recording options and frame rates down the line?

I suspect that for a LOT of shooters and shooting scenarios, it's less necessary than many think. But given that everyone's got camera fever right now, I've no doubt there will still be something of a mass exodus.

If I were considering the new cameras though, my money would be on the F55 (even at a hefty premium), with its global shutter and internal 4K - it's 'future-proof' in a way no other camera is at the moment.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Mark Kenfield

Would it be worth it though just for the form factor over the F3 + Recorder (assuming that's what most F3 shooters would be upgrading from), and the ability to expand recording options and frame rates down the line?

"Would it be worth it?" Good question, and why i said we'll have to wait for the final pricings. If a basic F5 is not THAT much more than an F3, my personal answer would be "yes" - though I'm thinking less of an upgrade from an F3 than a first purchase.

Why an F5 may be a better buy than an F3, rather than the worth of upgrading.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

If the F5 comes out as same price as F3 + ext. recorder, I think many would be sold to do a swap for that alone. I still think many shooters don't care about 4k codec or RAW until clients as for it, and generally clients won't want either but things may very well change... who knows.

I certainly have camera fever - that's for sure!

[Rajiv Attingal]

HI there,

Just curious to know, what may be the price of Lens Package
Sony offers along with these cameras. And what could be difference
in price and performance vs same package from Canon.

Thanks
Rajiv

[Chris Medico]

Originally Posted by Rajiv Attingal

HI there,

Just curious to know, what may be the price of Lens Package
Sony offers along with these cameras. And what could be difference
in price and performance vs same package from Canon.

Thanks
Rajiv

You are wondering the same as many other people.

Lots of questions to be answered about the new gear.

[Mark Kenfield]

http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/201211/12-165


So roughly $32k for the F55, $19k for the F5 and $5.6k for the R5 recorder. Anyone who went in on the F55 deal with Creative Ventures just did very well for themselves!

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

The difference between the Japanese list price for F55 and the one quoted from Creative Ventures is more than 40%. I think the list price for Europe and USA will be lower.

[Alister Chapman]

I think those prices are a little low, I get $34k for the F55 and $22.5k for the F5.

So, I'm getting an F5 with R5 recorder and the L350 EVF. I already have V-Lock batteries so I don't need those, all in I'm looking at about $30k/£20k.

That's a big step up from an F3/Samurai at around $16k/£11k and I don't need batteries. If you add in 4x of the new V-Locks and a charger you add another $3.5k/£2k. Of course you can use any V-Locks you don't have to have the new ones. Those are list prices, so street prices will be less, but even so potentially the F3 is still 40-50% cheaper, significantly lighter and smaller. A lot of people going up from an F3 to F5/F55 will also need to upgrade their tripods and support gear. Also you need to start considering 4K monitors if your going to go to 4K.

The other option is a FS700 plus R5 which comes in at around $18k/£12k.

Not sure just how practical and useable the 4K XAVC compressed footage from the F55 will be. Sony will be using a lot of the advanced AVC encoding functions to get the best image quality so it will be very processor intensive to decode.

Probably a great time to pick up a used F3. Anyone want one of mine?

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

So, I'm getting an F5 with R5 recorder and the L350 EVF. I already have V-Lock batteries so I don't need those, all in I'm looking at about $30k/£20k.

That's a big step up from an F3/Samurai at around $16k/£11k and I don't need batteries.

But if you don't (yet) want 4k, then subtract the recorder price from that and you still have something that will record very good 1080 HD with the XDCAM422 codec without a separate recorder.

And unlike the F3, it's always upgradeable for 4k RAW at a later date.

Whether or not an upgrade from an F3 is worth it if you don't need 4k now is debateable. If you're buying from scratch, then I would definitely try very hard to find the extra for a new F5 over a new F3.

Or make Alister an offer for a used F3....... :-)

[Chris Medico]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

If a functioning kit is less than $20k I'll be pleasantly surprised (camera, VF, 2 batteries, days worth of media).

I'm estimating $16,900 or so for the body, $2k for the base VF, $1600 for 2 batts/charger, and $1000 for a couple of memory cards.

BYOG (bring your own glass)

Street prices for the gear is starting to leak out. My guess was a little low for the VF but right on target for the camera body. :)

Sony F5: $16,500
Sony F55: $29,000
AXS-R5 Recorder: $5,350
DVF-EL100 OLED Viewfinder (1280 x 720): $4,930
DVF-L350 LCD Viewfinder (960 x 540): $3,230
DVF-L700 7″ Full HD Monitor (1920 x 1080): $5,000
Sony 512GB Card: $1,800
AXS-CR1 USB 3.0 Card Reader: $550
Sony 3 Lens PL Kit: $11,500
Sony 6 Lens PL Kit: $20,900