Sony Announces Details of v7 Firmware for the F5 and F55

[Eric C. Petrie]

Sony has revealed details of the upcoming firmware version 7 for the F5 and F55 cameras. Its due out in January. Its great how Sony has really stuck to their commitment to continuously updating these cameras. It helps current owners feel like their investment is protected and hopefully it helps prospective owners feel that the these cameras are 'long haul' products, not something to cycled through every 24 months.

From Sony:
The F5 and F55 platform continues to be refined. We are excited to announce details of the upcoming Version 7 firmware for the F5, and F55 motion picture cameras.

Quick Menu: Version 7 firmware features a significant update in the operator's experience. Powerful features will now be easily accessible through an intuitive interface for fast and efficient navigation at the users fingertips, by utilizing the sub display and the silver buttons on the camera.

Implementing Rec. 2020: As you know Sony has the widest color gamut of any motion picture camera. In addition to the existing color spaces, Sony is implementing the ITU-R BT. 2020 (Rec. 2020) standard, the native color space of new generation 3840 x 2160 4K Ultra HD.

Expanded options for simultaneous recording: Due to popular demand from documentary production needing to shoot 59.94i HD with 59.94p 4K Sony is implementing simultaneous recording to the same SxS Pro+ card of MPEG2 50Mbps 4:2:2 and 10 bit 4:2:2 4K XAVC in either 3840 x 2160 or 4096 x 2160. This is a powerful workflow that will allow productions with high shooting ratios to significantly reduce the time and money to produce 4K content.

These are very powerful features, and are a strong testimonial to the continued development of the F5 and F55 platform – and there is more to come!

Eric Petrie
Professional Video
epetrie@provideoandtape.com
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[Nick Wilcox-Brown]

Lets turn round the Sony spin and say that actually there is little in v 7 that F5/55 users have requested, bar some menu tweaks, this is just a box ticking exercise.

The comprehensive survey that was put together earlier this year (2015) prioritising user requirements has been ignored. This is a shame because these are some of the best and most flexible cameras on the market, they just need some real TLC and development from Sony.

For sure there will be more cameras at NAB

[Nick Wilcox-Brown]

Originally Posted by Eric C. Petrie

it helps prospective owners feel that the these cameras are 'long haul' products, not something to cycled through every 24 months.

The newly announced deals with $10,000 off + free DSLR suggest otherwise?

[Eric C. Petrie]

I know a lot of people speculate that a model must be done if there is a large price drop of some kind of hot incentive. That's understandable. Certainly that's part of our culture these days. New iPhone launches, get last years iPhone for half-price.

However, in this case i strongly do not believe we will see a 'replacement' model of any kind in the next 10-12 months, minimum. As a Sony dealer for the last 25 years there are certain internal signs that we typically see when i model in EOL. One of the most notable includes a change to the dealer sales programs from the manufacturer, alteration of sales incentives and modification of advertising rules. There have been no changes of these kinds with this model. We saw it recently with the NEX-FS700. Its recent public price drop were accompanied by behind the scene changes of how the camera was to be sold. Having said that, a product can remain End Of Life for 12 months or more, its not an instant kind of thing.

It's my belief that the recent package with the a7SII and accessories is simply realigning of market placement. Canon is launching a little camera thats generating some buzz called the C300mkII at $16,000. When you buy a C300mkII you get a viewfinder and internal 4K recording out of the box. Because it takes CFast cards you don't need an expensive card reader. Sony is addressing this by giving you a viewfinder, a card reader, the 4K capture, a shoulder pad (an essentially required item) all in the bundle.

Plus they're sweetening the pot by crossing over what is essentially two separate companies, the 'Consumer' division a7SII and the 'Broadcast' division F5. I don't think most people appreciate how difficult this is to pull off. From my position as primarily a Broadcast division partner i experience it frequently as working with Alpha series photo products presents logistical challenges for me. Of course Sony's doing this because there is a ton of buzz behind the Alpha products for video right now. Sony wouldn't be doing this simply to have a blow out sale on F5. They'd simply slash the price. That would be much much easier for them to pull off internally.

Finally i feel something that's extremely overlooked with pro-level cameras these days is that the presence of a new model does not negate the quality of a previous model. The Canon C300 didn't all of a sudden start making terrible pictures because they announced a C300mkII. IF there were some kind of "F5mkII" camera coming it would be closer the $20k and wouldn't have any extras bundled with it. Even if this happened tomorrow it wouldn't change the great value that the F5 bundle is offering. I think that, while a lot of users understand this and agree, its the uncertainty of what's coming next that drives people a little crazy when it comes to investing in technology.

I'll conclude by saying that i have NO insider knowledge of Sony's R&D or future product pipeline. Everything mentioned here is my own personal opinion. I can only speak to what i've learned in 25 years of working on this side of the industry and what i see in my daily communications with the manufacturer. Ultimately each owner/operator must decide for themselves if they need a really great camera today at an amazing price that's going to make fantastic pictures for years to come. OR if they don't need a camera today and can wait 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months etc. for the inevitable replacement model that we all know is coming someday.

Please free free to hit me up with questions. Keep in mind that i'm offering great financing incentives on Sony CineAlta products including the F5+a7SII bundle, the FS7, and the upcoming FS5. For more information about Sony 0% financing programs email or call. Thanks for your time everyone. I'm happy to help any way i can.

Eric Petrie
epetrie@provideoandtape.com
503-598-9142
Finance the NEW Sony F5+a7SII bundle for $492/36 mo. $0 down
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[Dennis Hingsberg]

Sony has assured me they are committed to the F-series cameras long term and there are no plans for a replacement model in the near future.

I'm interested to see what firmware changes come after v7, so far it seems like the features and requests there is noise about do not get implemented. centre-crop one-button, LUTs for custom mode (even 1D for crying out loud) and many more…