Center Scan or digital zoom Sony FS5

[Docea Marius]

Hallo..on FS5 which is the best option CENTER SCAN or DIGITAL ZOOM ? example, I have a 35mm lens with metabones..
hiere is a nice presentation from Doug Jensen..only for center crop

Sony PMW-F55 - 2K Center Scan Mode Testing (Updated Version) on Vimeo

[Nigel Davey]

I'm pretty sure in Doug Jensen's FS5 Master Class training he said (at 1080) the centre scan was better because it's a straightforward crop of the UHD/4K sensor. With clear image zoom I think he said there is some image processing going on. But the difference between the two isn't great.

I suspect Doug will comment if he spots this.

[Docea Marius]

yes...center crop is ok..hire is a nice test

Sony FS5 zoom test on Vimeo

[Marcus Durham]

Just be wary that with the Centre Scan you can end up with increased barrel distortion on the picture depending on the lens and the zoom level you are at. The distortion was always there to begin with but if you are at the end of a lens that already has a small amount of barrel distortion it will be more evident on the centre scan.

Certainly noticed this on the stock lens when testing. Zoom in, hit centre scan and it becomes evident on straight horizontal lines.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Nigel Davey

I'm pretty sure in Doug Jensen's FS5 Master Class training he said (at 1080) the centre scan was better because it's a straightforward crop of the UHD/4K sensor. With clear image zoom I think he said there is some image processing going on. But the difference between the two isn't great. I suspect Doug will comment if he spots this.

Nigel has summed it up for me already, thanks. Center Scan is defintitely better, but digital zoom looks better than I would have expected

[Chad Johnson]

I just got a sweet Canon 70-200m f/2.8 IS II lens for the FS5, and I wanted to see what my max reach would look like using either Center Scan, Clear Image Zoom, and both. Here's a video I just made yesterday. Center scan is definitely better looking, but like Doug says, Clear Image isn't terrible. Both combined are not acceptable for any pro work.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Lee Berger]

Great tests everyone. I was suspicious of center crop and clear zoom initially. Back in 2012 I purchased the NEX EA50 which had a type of clear image zoom function. Sony initially claimed that "thanks to the 16 megapixel sensor it's possible to perform a 2x digital zoom with no perceivable degradation." It was anything but imperceptible, and pretty much unusable. In later editions of the users manual they copped to the truth,saying that "due to digital processing, the image quality will deteriorate." While clear image zoom does have some degradation, I've found it acceptable in some situations. I find center crop totally usable.

[Ray Lee]

Originally Posted by Chad Johnson

I just got a sweet Canon 70-200m f/2.8 IS II lens for the FS5, and I wanted to see what my max reach would look like using either Center Scan, Clear Image Zoom, and both. Here's a video I just made yesterday. Center scan is definitely better looking, but like Doug says, Clear Image isn't terrible. Both combined are not acceptable for any pro work.

https://youtu.be/hLbzdERLmK8

Never thought about using crop or zoom especially combined... obviously had to mount the 600mm f4 and try it out, well my tests proved without a doubt I need an bigger better tripod and head and no point in testing on wood floors unless you are going for that hand held look :)

[Chad Johnson]

I programmed center scan onto button 6 on the handle, so I can trigger it with my ring finger easily. But you cant turn on Center Scan when the camera is recording. That would be nice to be able to punch in during a recording, but still it's a great feature.