Sony showed off a 35mm sensor camera and a 3D unit

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Simon Wyndham

This makes much more sense now. The camera was designed to be used alongside cameras like the F35, companies that already use HDCAM SR, and rental houses. This is made clearer by one of the marketing managers at Sony who said "We want every SRW-9000 renter to own this camera," and "If you have a first-unit F35 or SRW-9000, this would be a perfect second camera." They are also developing cards for the system that will record SR directly.

A sort of digital Arri 35IIc, except you can shoot sound (without needing a blimp).

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Originally Posted by Nate Weaver

If Sony could fix all the problems Canon brings to a job, then that's awesome, but if it costs almost the same as a Red, then why bother?One thing that COULD save it is if it truly is as quiet as a church mouse, and gets that 13 stops they're saying. Nobody is getting anything like that without spending a $25K for a Red with MX at the moment.

Don't forget that Jim Jannard said that Epic is now ready, that Scarlet S35 will ship before April - I know they aren't good with release dates, but considering that Epic is officially ready and Scarlet has a lot of the same tech, I think it's fair to assume that it will be shipping not too long from now - and that an S35 will cost approximately 8000 dollars (body only) and will have HDR with 18 stops of DR...

The Sony Cam may be a good cam on its own, but the competition has become fierce.
The EX1 was a great cam at a great price at the time, that had all reasons to sell as well as it did. But it's 2011 now. You have RED on the forefront, Canon, Panasonic, all contesting for the same audience. (RED with the Scarlet of course, for their higher end audience there is the Epic)
I'm even wondering how strong the 2/3" RED Scarlet will be in this market.

[Brian Drysdale]

It seems that this camera is aimed at productions that don't wish to use the RAW workflow found on the RED. The Arri Alexa gives the option of recording ProRes or RAW (some even want to use HDCAM SR with it). If you don't want to use RAW, the Scarlet doesn't really enter the equation.

In the end, it really depends on which market Sony is aiming this camera.

The 2/3" Scarlet camera will have it's own market, ideal for docs and a lot of other productions. It's easy to get excited by big sensors, but the 2/3" market is very large. At the price being quoted the 2/3" Scarlet could replace quite a few 1/3" cameras, although the problem could be the RAW workflow and fast turnarounds.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hasn't RED also announced a Proxy Module? That would record to Prores (or was it H.264)?

[Simon Wyndham]

I've given up commenting on Red. But although some are calling the F3 a Red competitor I'm not sure that it is.

Broadcasters and firms that have an investment in HDCAM SR will like this camera, because as intended it plugs right into their workflow like the missing piece of a jigsaw. I don't think that competition from Scarlett even comes into the equation because this camera is not aimed at that market.

While I can't read their minds, I would say that Sony are probably thinking that this will do very well in it's intended market (to work with high end cameras and work seamlessly with existing HDCAM SR workflows and investments) but that if it does eat into Red, and maybe at a large stretch AF100 sales than that's simply an added bonus. But not one to fret over if it doesn't turn out that way.

Sony will be well aware that the F3 will probably find a market outside of it's primary intended use. Personally I'd much rather invest in an F3 and a NanoFlash than I would a PMW-500. It's ideal for the type of filming I do these days.

[Brian Drysdale]

I believe they announced one being an option, I don't know what stage it's at or if you can do more than record proxy files.

[Joe Carney]

Syman is dead on in his observations.
If anyone wants a 10K version of this, they would have to have an F3 mount only, single SDI out, no support for Cook or Arri data links, remove support for 3D linking....
And I bet it would fly off the shelves at that price.

BTW according to Sony Press release effective resolution of the sensor is 1920x1080, so the actual pixel count should be somewhere over 2K to achieve this. So no down sampling, line skipping or pixel binning.

[Andrew Stone]

If anyone wants a 10K version of this, they would have to have an F3 mount only, single SDI out, no support for Cook or Arri data links, remove support for 3D linking.

November 17th, Sony is set to take the stage again with things pointing towards another camera being announced. We'll have to wait and see. You may be onto something.

[Craig Seeman]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stone

November 17th, Sony is set to take the stage again with things pointing towards another camera being announced. We'll have to wait and see. You may be onto something.

F3 is an odd number to start with. Perhaps an F1?
But why the rush on the F3 and not just have one event?
Or did they not want one to overshadow the other since they're for different markets?
I guess we'll know on Wednesday.

[Andrew Stone]

Hi Craig,

How about this thought expression on the naming of the camera.... EX3 < F3 > F35

The rush?! We will never know for sure but things have been going viral on the lead up to the launch of Panny's AF100, as you know, and it appeared that Sony felt it had to jump in and stave off some of the momentum.

Sony's staggered launch on the F3 appears to have been done on an ad hoc basis. Two weeks ago Sony was saying "we'll tell you all on the 17th" and then they started to leak out stuff at several different times RIGHT after they announced the 17th as the launch date. Furthermore, the F3 was to be launched on the 17th, not this other purported camera that some are pointing to that is under the shroud in their promo shot of the F3 for this unveiling on the 17th.

I do have a funny feeling about whatever it is under that is under the cloth in the promo shot. It sure looks like a crummy old DSLR. I sure hope Sony isn't bringing out their own version of the Canon 5DmkII. Cameramen all over the world will be busting a gut if they do.

[Brian Drysdale]

Sony could be learning some internet marketing given how much on line discussion there's been on the subject of a lower priced camera in advance of a possible announcement.

[Paul Cronin]

I bet Sony had a line of 35mm cameras. We will see on Wed.

[Alister Chapman]

Well Sony have the new 35mm NXCAM here at Interbee in prototype form, but that's a discussion for another thread. What has also been shown here is the 3 prime lenses. Very good looking lenses, that look much like a Cooke or Ziess prime. Big and chunky with large focus rings etc. But the big surprise is the weight. The Sony primes are remarkably light. There is a lot of plastic in their construction. I have mixed feelings on this. If your going to use an F3 hand held you want light lenses. BUT they just don't ooze quality like a Ziess. Have to say though that the picture from them look beautiful.

Also the F3 to PL adapter is about 25mm thick so plenty of room to make an F3 to DSLR adapter.

[Terje Rian]

Alister: Do you have a picture link to the Sony Prime Lenses?

Thanks!

-terje

[Andy Wilkinson]

More here on Alister's blog (in case he's a bit busy to reply right now with looking at all the new goodies!)

XDCAM-USER.com Interbee 2010. Sony F3, Sony 35mm NXCAM and Hurricane Rig.