Want to shoot direct to HDR with the PXW-FS7, PMW-F5 and F55?

Sony will be releasing an update for the firmware in the Sony PXW-FS5 in the next few days. This update amongst other things will allow users of the FS5 to shoot to HDR directly using the Hybrid Log Gamma HDR gamma curve and Rec2020 color. By doing this you  eliminate the need to grade your footage and could plug the camera directly in to a compatible HDR TV (the TV must support HLG) and see an HDR image directly on the screen.

But what about FS7 and F5/F55 owners? Well, for most HDR productions I still believe the best workflow is to shoot in S-Log3 and then to grade the footage to HDR. However there may be times when you need that direct HDR output. So for the FS7, F5 and F55 I have created a set of Hybrid Log Gamma LUT’s that you can use to bake in HLG and Rec2020 while you shoot. This gives you the same capabilities as the FS5 (with the exception of the ability to add HLG metadata to the HDMI).

For a video explanation of the process please follow the link to my new Patreon page where you will find the video and the downloadable LUT’s.

9 thoughts on “Want to shoot direct to HDR with the PXW-FS7, PMW-F5 and F55?”

  1. Hi, it could just be my system, but…. before you have a proper day of shooting using the new FS5 HDR, can I suggest you try a test first as my Premiere is crashing whilst playing back the files.

    Just sent this to Sony:

    Hi Sony, I’ve just upgraded the firmware on my FS5 camera and have shot some tests of it’s new HDR capability.
    But…… playing back the footage is giving me errors and then crashing Premiere CC2017.1
    To double-check I filmed some shots without the HDR (which playback fine in Premiere) and some more HDR – which again, crash the software.
    I’ve also tried Premiere with the Mercury GPU Acceleration (CUDA) and Software mode – crashes with either.
    Just thought you should know ASAP.

    Camera:
    Sony FS5 using a metabones speedbooster adapter and Canon 70-200mm lens
    Picture profile set to 10 (HDR)

    PC:
    Windows 10 64bit
    64GB RAM
    Intel 6950X CPU
    Nvidia 1080 graphics card

    Please let me know if you find a work around as the HDR footage plays back fine in VLC and looks great.

    cheers Mark.

    1. Is you project set up correctly for HDR. The HDR files carry special metadata tags and these may be upsetting Premiere.

      1. Thanks for the reply, to be honest I don’t know – which probably means no.
        How would you recommmend I set-up and HDR project in Premiere 2017.1?

        Also, since I posted I’ve tried the footage on Premiere CC2015.4 – which works

        Thanks for any help/advice as the footage shot using the HDR looks v.cinematic with low noise.

        1. It’s actually the Rec2020 color that’s causing the crash and it’s only with CC 2017.1.2. Shoot HLG with 709 color and it’s OK.

  2. Alister, I’m a bit confused about this. It seems like a great work-a-round to get rec 2020 out of the box with my FS7, which cannot record Rec 2020 directly, at least not yet. But since the FS7MK2, and F5/55 already shoot rec 2020 in custom mode, which doesn’t require an HLG monitor, what is the advantage of this method.

    Cheers,

    Richard Samuels

    1. It’s HDR straight out of the camera that can be viewed on any TV or monitor with HLG HDR. There is no other way to get a direct HDR image compatible with an HDR TV out of the camera.

  3. Thanks Alister!Very informative!Can I ask what’s the difference in the naming of the files at the end (p00 and p50 and native)?

  4. Missed your answer Alister.So what is p00 and p50 translating to?I thought EI is indicated by the number before the letter p (like -2p50).

Leave a Reply to alisterchapman Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.