fs5 & Atmos or fs7?

[Daniel Delarusa]

dear fellow(more experienced) cinematographers

 

if you had the choice between buying the fs7 or fs5 with the Atmos for external 4k what would be your choice(price would be about the same at least here in Switzerland) I mean for just hd the fs5 is perfect when it comes to size(I own a ronin and a drone) and the picture is stunning but 4k is not acceptable. Fs7 is the whole package fot its price range.

 

What would you recommend for someone that wants to be able to deliver very good 4k but also has to consider size and shoots a lot of project in HD? fs5 with Atmos, Fs7 with GH4 or...

 

Thanks for your input

 

Dan

Edited January 15, 2016 by Daniel Delarusa

[Stuart Allman]

Dan,

 

I'm struggling with this decision myself. The main problem I see with the FS5 is that it lacks a rec.709 monitor LUT while recording S-log3. The FS-5 has a fixed monitor "LUT" that only increases contrast so you can pull focus, but lacks any way to detect color problems on set. I've personally come to rely on the rec.709 LUT in the FS-7 as a way to sanity check my exposure and lighting while recording S-log3 internally. It's difficult to give that up, however it's also difficult to give up another $2500 US for that one feature!

 

I've mainly used the smaller Atomos recorders, but when we tried to use the Shogun we had a lot of problems with thermal shutdown on multiple rental units. We also had a problem with a cracked screen due to the lack of a protective bezel. My friend bought the Video Devices recorder and hasn't had any of those difficulties. Just a heads up.

 

Stuart Allman

---------------------------

illuma.blogspot.com

[Phil Rhodes]

I have an FS5 in my hand; if there's anything in particular you'd like checked out, let me know.

 

The "gamma display assist" thing supports either S-log 2 or S-log 3, or "auto", which isn't explained further in the menus.

 

The other thing you get with the FS7 is much longer runs of slow mo.

 

Yes, those Atomos recorders are easy to crack.

 

P

[Robin R Probyn]

Go with the Fs7..for a relatively small amount more its a way better camera.. Cine EI mode and alot more.. the Fs5 4k is also not broadcast spec.. external recorders are always a pain.. and then you dont have the small form factor which is just about the only reason to buy the Fs5 in the first place.. and besides that there seems to be alot of people having trouble with noise,artifacts with the Fs5.. so much that Sony have officially announced they are looking into it.. although others are not seeing these problems.. you might want to hold off on the Fs5 till there is an answer from Sony .. if thats what you go for.. my 2 cents anyway

Edited January 16, 2016 by Robin R Probyn

[Phil Rhodes]

A lot of people bleat about noise on slog cameras without really understanding what the approach is supposed to be.

[Robin R Probyn]

Yes but the Fs5 is odd in that they are saying its better in Slog.. ??? and in 4K.. well UHD.... rather than the shoot in the dark Slog thing..

[Daniel Delarusa]

thanks for the input. Will probably go with the fs7 and have the gh4 on the drone fro now.

 

And if I have a good year I'll get the RAVEN ;)

 

thanks guys

[Jon Kline]

I think you're making the right choice with the FS7. It's the camera that producers are asking for right now. The FS5 will be the junior cam, suitable for drone work but not much else. Nobody wants to use an external recorder if they can help it. Too much can go wrong!

[Robin R Probyn]

As above ..

[DavidKlaus]

Hello

 

Just did a test day with the Fs5. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. I did several projects with the fs7 and I was really excited about her little sister. I don't have anything to say about image quality. It delivers what it's suppose to do. But the overall ergonomics of the menu and the lack of professional functions is really a shame. For example, you can't set your zebras under 70 percent. And you're supposed to expose your whites at 60 in s-log modes.... Another pretty annoying thing is that you can't set a custom clip name or you can't set the timecode to clock mode. Anyway, little annoying things. It's like they put a handycam firmware in a pro camera. (OK I'm exagerating a bit)

[Freya Black]

I was surprised when I discovered how small a difference there is in price between the FS5 and the FS7.

The FS7 is worth the extra money by a long way IMHO!

You are shooting yourself in the foot to get an FS5 although the tiny form factor is interesting.

[Jimmy Jib]

Try getting the F3... :P Pretty bad ergonomics and internal recording codec, but you can work around those and be happy. I don't believe in getting "the best" gear anymore, since new and "better" cameras are being released every 6 months anyway...

[Aapo Lettinen]

by my experience the FS7 seems to be still in a bit unreliable firmware stage (I've had dozens of situations with a rental camera where the video scopes stop working with all settings and have to rely only on zebra for exposure. sometimes may have other quirks also. these may magically fix themselves during the day, sometimes not).

but it is relatively lightweight and handy camera with good image quality. the display/viewfinder is a bit awkward, it can easily go little off level without operator noticing anything which may lead to slightly awry images. and the original handgrip is not that good. the kit zoom lens is otherwise good but it has lots of latency which limits its usage.

 

With 3rd party viewfinder accessories and handgrip it is quite good camera though the image quality is not as good as with F5 which is supposed to have about the same sensor but with different image processing. and seems to be that the FS7 sensors may be lower quality throwaways from the F5 assembly line just like the RED does with the Epic/Scarlet sensors.

 

I you happen to find a used F5 for good price you should 100% take that but otherwise the FS7 is a good buy ^_^

[Robin R Probyn]

A good point.. the F5 is a better camera..(except for the XLR in put location).. and there are quite a few second man ones around now.. but they will only record 4K internal if they have had the $1,000 official Sony up grade.. although I think nearly every owner has done that up grade..

[Jon Kline]

by my experience the FS7 seems to be still in a bit unreliable firmware stage (I've had dozens of situations with a rental camera where the video scopes stop working with all settings and have to rely only on zebra for exposure. sometimes may have other quirks also. these may magically fix themselves during the day, sometimes not).

With the firmware 3.10 on the body, 2.0 on the extension unit, and whatever is current on metabones adapters, I've had no issues. I do tend to factory reset a lot, but that's because I rent my camera to others and you never know what's going to come back set funny.

 

I did stop relying on the camera to do everything anymore, and got a Gratical HD to handle scopes and LUTs. It's a useful item for any camera, but HUGELY helpful for the FS7.