Sony F5/F55 Pricing

[Mark Kenfield]

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


Looks like we now have a rough idea for pricing on the new cameras and accessories:

F55: $32k
F5: $19k
R5 Raw Recorder: $5.6k
OLED EVF: $6.3k
Regular EVF: $3.7k
7" LCD Screen: $5.1k
Olivine Batteries: $562
Raw Media Card Reader: $742
6 Lens Kit: $28k
3 Lens Kit: $15.6k

Interesting times indeed...

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I'll take one of each please!

[George Griswold]

The F5 isn't really a replacement for the F3 in my estimation. F3 does what it was designed for and still great for most broadcast/ cable shoots. I will keep mine and use it for some time to come. Anyone else feel the same way?

[Dennis Hingsberg]

F3 is a great camera and will continue to be for honestly a very long while, in fact for as long as there is HD.

The F5 however will give some shooters the higher bit rates they've been looking for without having to use ext. Recorders, cables, power solutions and requirements. Not to mention a cable-less RAW recorder for modest price.

Sony did it right, I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed.

[David Heath]

If I had an F3, I wouldn't feel a desperate need to replace it unless 4k was a necessity.

If buying from scratch, I'd definitely go for the F5, not the F3. Inbuilt 50Mbs codec, better ergonomics, viewfinding etc, and possibility of 4k upgrade in the future.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I'll be moving over to F5 or F55 and its not so much for 4k as it is higher bit rate 2k with option to go 2k/RAW or 4k/RAW with simple add-on module.

[Alister Chapman]

Lets see how much AXS (pronounced "Access") and SxS Pro+ media costs first.

I will be upgrading to an F5/R5 but it will be interesting to see just how much the media required to record most of the higher bit rates will cost. XAVC at up to 100Mb/s can be recorded on to standard SxS cards, but all the higher frame rate and raw modes will require new media.

F3 still has a place, it's compact, one piece and if 35Mb/s is OK then very easy to use. Add on a Samurai or Gemini and it's an incredibly capable camera. The F3 is well suited to hand holding (as opposed to shoulder mount) and the lighter (and cheaper) batteries mean a smaller tripod can be used. The F5/F55 is significantly bulkier and fully rigged with the EVF and V-Lock batter a much heavier package. I have two F3's and while I well sell one, I may keep the other for portability. I'm not looking forward to going back to lugging a large V-Lock battery kit around the world with all the grief of having to carry the batts in my carry-on while the camera goes in the hold.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

It will be interesting to see but I personally never look at media or power prices and exclude them from all my "camera evaluation" calculations. Mostly because I want a camera for it's feature-set and secondly usually with the number of batteries or size media you buy what you can afford at the time and grow from there.

I already own v-mount for my steadicam so am set. I expect 512GB to cost at least a couple thousand more or less.

[Dean Harrington]

Originally Posted by Mark Kenfield

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Looks like we now have a rough idea for pricing on the new cameras and accessories:

F55: $32k
F5: $19k
R5 Raw Recorder: $5.6k
OLED EVF: $6.3k
Regular EVF: $3.7k
7" LCD Screen: $5.1k
Olivine Batteries: $562
Raw Media Card Reader: $742
6 Lens Kit: $28k
3 Lens Kit: $15.6k

Interesting times indeed...

I'm hoping the street pricing comes down a bit. The F3 is still a very good camera. I'll continue to wait a bit and see how this plays out.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

Japanese prices converted to USD are still slightly higher than street prices in North America so I suspect we will see these even sligthly lower.

Needless to say, the prices are where I think many people had guessed or at least in that range.

[Dean Harrington]

Yes ... Dennis Japanese gear tends to be more expensive here compared to the States. Good prices however, can be had for used gear.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I also notice UK prices are slightly higher than North America, although haven't even bench marked it against Japan.

Canada where I live, is also usually a little higher than USA prices by 5-10%.

[Skip Brand]

Alister, you mentioned you thought the F3 is usefull for being smaller, lighter and easier to hand hold then the F5. I see Sony lists 2.4 kg or about 5.5 lbs for the F3 body. I have used it rigged with a nikon lens, nanoflash, alphatron VF, Anton Bauer dionic to power everything, and a shape plate with handgrips. That rig turns out to be bigger than my F800 and quite unwieldy for hand held shooting. Do you really think the F5 is going to be worse? Anybody seen the weight listed for a basic F5 body?

[Dennis Hingsberg]

Weight of the body only I've seen listed at 2kgs.

[Alister Chapman]

I think the F5/F55 body comes in at 2.5kg with the FZ-PL adapter attached. Then add on the heavy top handle, viewfinder bracket (which is robust but also heavy), viewfinder, v-lock adapter or R5 and your over 3.5kg. When I had a play with the F55 last week it did feel much heavier than my F3. But then as a minimum you will add another 0.5 to 1 kg for your batteries. So a basic ready to shoot F5/F55 without lens I think will come in around 1.5 to 2kg heavier than a bare F3, perhaps tipping the scales at 4 to 5kg and considerably bulkier.

Of course you can add shoulder rigs etc to either camera and make them as heavy as you wish, remember that there is no form of handgrip or shoulder pad on the F5/F55, this will have to be added for handheld.

I can fit my F3, lens adapters, a couple of DSLR lenses, two or three BP-U60 type batteries and the single channel charger in a regulation size airline carry on bag. You will be able to do the same with an F5/F55 body and similar lenses (I have already done this with an F55), but then where will you put the significantly bulkier V-lock battery kit. Especially considering that Li-Ion batts are not permitted in an aircraft hold.

Make no mistake the F3 and F5/F55 are very different propositions. My F3 works well on my Vinten 5AS tripod for most applications. The F55 was too heavy for the 5AS, I will be using my Vinten 100 with mine.