So here’s the offical list pricing for the F5 and F55. Looks very attractive indeed. Some dealers are already listing the F5 body for just a little under £10.5K GBP + VAT and the F55 for around £18K + VAT.The 512gb AXS Access card at €1.5k Euro’s is not as expensive as I thought it might be. Still a pretty big investment though if you ned 3 or 4 of them. The Olivine batteries are really rather expensive. You can get similar capacity V-Lock batteries from other manufacturers for quite a lot less. OK you can’t charge them super fast but do you really need ultra fast charging?

PMW-F5  €15.340 Euro

PMW-F55 €27.804 Euro

AXS-R5 S35mm F-series External RAW Recorder €5.206 Euro

AXS-CR1 Access Card Reader €549 Euro

AXS-512S24 Access Card 512GB for AXS-R5 External Recorder €1.535 Euro

SCL-PK6/F CineAlta PL Lens Pack (6 lenses) €19.895 Euro

SCL-PK3/F CineAlta PL Lens Pack (3 lenses) €11.118 Euro

DVF-L700 7″ LCD Viewfinder for F-series €4.113 Euro

DVF-L350 3.5″ LCD Viewfinder for F-series €2.925 Euro

DVF-EL100 0.7″ OLED Viewfinder for F-series €4.113 Euro

BP-FL75 Olivine Battery for F-series €470 Euro

BP-L90 Olivine Battery Charger for F-series €766 Euro

So, first of all what is Par-Focal? Well it’s the ability of a zoom lens to maintain the same focus point throughout the zoom range. In other words as you zoom in and out there is no focus shift. Most DSLR zoom lenses are not Par-Focal, they don’t need to be, as when taking stills photos you would zoom to get your desired framing, then set the focus. Some are closer to par-focal than others, some are pretty good, others are way off.

If you have ever used a full size shoulder mount broadcast camera with a removable zoom lens you’ll know that the lenses used have an adjuster on the rear of the lens to set the back-focus. This adjustment is there to take into account tiny variations in the lens mount, the optical filters behind the lens, wear and tear and temperature extremes. If you don’t adjust this correctly the zoom lens will not be Par-focal. DSLR lenses and most PL Mount zoom lenses don’t have this adjustment. Without a means to adjust the back focus it is the luck of the draw as to how par-focal your lens will be. On the Sony PMW-F3 you can adjust the back focus by adjusting the sensor to lens mount distance with an adjuster screw. However the way the ND filters work, with one stacked above the other will shift the optimum back focus distance depending on which ND filter you use. Most higher end 35mm video and film cameras have mounts that can be fitted with shims to adjust the flange back. In addition the better quality PL mount lenses are designed to be fitted with shims so that all the lenses in a set are corrected for the 52.00mm flange back distance for PL mount.

So, seeing as all the cheaper 35mm and APS-C video cameras have no facility to adjust or shim the distance between the lens mount and the sensor you are relying on the precision of the the camera manufacturer. In addition you are also relying on the precision of the lens manufacturer and the manufacturer of any mount adapters you might be using. Overall, even if the lens you have is truly par-focal the chances of everything being absolutely perfect are small, so the chances of your focus tracking perfectly accurately is also small. As a result, in most cases when using zoom lenses on a lower cost large sensor camcorder your focus will not track perfectly throughout the zoom range.

Sony have just released a firmware update for the PMW-200. Click Here for a download link.

One of the key features of this update is the ability to automatically adjust the cameras back focus. This will be great news for the few users out there that are reporting slight focus shifts when zooming. The design of the Fujinon lens used on the EX1, EX1R, EX3 and new PMW-200 means that if the camera is bumped around, say in transit somewhere or during delivery shipment the back focus can get misaligned. The auto flange back adjustment operates by placing the camera at least 3m (10ft) from a wall with patterned wall paper or a flat brick wall (something with a texture or pattern the camera can focus on easily) or a Siemens Star chart. The camera must be square on to the target. Then execute the FB Adjust option in the menu to run the calibration routine.

The next new feature is the ability to add the CBK-WA01 WiFi adapter to the camera for remote operation from an iPhone, iPad or Android device (although I have not seen the matching app for this yet). Finally there is now the ability to save the camera setup to a USB memory stick.

Here’s a little compilation of some clips from my recent trip to Iceland. All shot with the Sony FS700 using the 18-200mm kit lens. The slow motion clips were all done at 240fps. I’ve done a small amount of grading, but nothing major, primarily a bit of a colour boost to bring out the greens and blues in the water.

Don’t forget folks that I an running a workshops at AbelCine in New York next week on Gamma curves, log and raw camera setups and workflows as well a workshop with Den Lennie on working with Sony’s large sensor cameras, the FS100, FS700 and F3. Then I’ll be in Austin Texas running a two day short film production master class where we will shoot a music video with a local artist. I’ll be teaching lighting, camera setup, pre-production, planning and post production.

For more details on the AbelCine workshops click here.

For more details on the Austin workshop click here.

Looks like someone made a bit of a mistake and released the Japanese Yen prices for the F5, F55 and it’s accessories. The web page with the prices is here: http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/201211/12-165/

A rough conversion of the prices gives us the following:

PMW-F55 Camera Body    £23k/$36k

PMW-F5 Camera Body  £13.6k/$22k

ASX-R5 Raw Recorder  £4k/$6.5k

DVF-EL100 OLED Viewfinder £4.4k/$7k

DVF-L350 LCD Viewfinder £2.5k/$4k

DVF-L700 7″ Monitor/Finder £3.5k/$5.6k

ASX-CR1 ASX Card reader (pronounced “Access”) £480/$770

BP-FL75 Battery £390/$625

BC-L90 Dual Channel Battery Charger £630/$1k

These prices are a rough direct conversion of the Yen prices. They do not take into account any regional tax or import duty variations so the prices may end up a little different from what you see here. However they should at least be pretty close. Cameras are expected to start shipping in Feb 2013. No prices for the ASX media or for the SxS Pro+ cards as yet.

I am running a short film competition for factual films with some great prizes. Inspired by the BBC’s acclaimed “Horizon” strand, this contest is for anyone with a passion for telling a true story using a good narrative, accompanied by great visuals.

Entries should be no less than 4 minutes and no more than 8 minutes in length, the subject can be anything you choose, provided it is true. I am looking for films that explain a real event, tell a true story, educate or enlighten. This could be a story about an expedition or adventure, a scientific discovery, a life story or natural history. It might be about you or someone else, where you live or somewhere you have visited. All entries must have a voice over or other form of spoken narrative. This can be in any language, but if it is not in English then English sub-titles must be included. It must contain live action, no graphics or CGI only productions please. It can be a self contained 8 minute film or an extract from a longer production. In the case of an extract it must leave me wanting to see the longer version.

To enter simply upload your video to Vimeo and then send me a message with the vimeo URL using the contact me tab above. Entries must be received by the 1st of March 2013 and the winners will be announced on the 8th of April 2013. Judging will be done by myself and other invited judges. The judges decision is final and there are no cash or alternate prizes.

The winning entry may choose from any of the prizes available, with second place etc choosing from the remaining prize list.

The Prize List:

Sony NEX-30 PAL Camcorder, kindly donated by Sony Europe.

Black Magic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle 2.

Ledpro X6 Camera Light, kindly donated by Alphatron.

If you wish to enter please read the rules below. Any entry not complying with the rules will be excluded from the competition.

RULES: Videos must be factual and have a voice over or narrative audio track. If not in English then English subtitles must be included. Entries must be no more than 8 minutes long and no less than 4 minutes long, they must be HD (720p or higher). Entries must have been completed within the last 18 months. The judges decision is final, no explanation may be given as to the reasons behind the winning selections. Any music used must be licensed for internet and web use. Entries containing material judged to be offensive or immoral will be excluded without explaination. There are no cash alternatives to the prizes. You must be over 18 or have the permission of a parent or guardian to enter. You may be required to prove that the facts within the film are true and accurate. The film must incorporate live action, real world footage. CGI only films will be excluded.

XDCAM-User passed a new milestone last month with record breaking traffic levels. In October the site took an average 50,000 hits per day from just under 3,000 visits a day. Over the course of the month the site had 1.5 million hits from 90,000 visits by 36,000 unique visitors. I’m flattered that so many people are visiting the site. As usual let me know what you want me to write about. I’m going to be really busy between now and Christmas so I’m not going to be able to devote a huge amount of time to the site. I do have plans for some documentation on the various workflows for XDCAM, the PMW-F5/F55 and raw. In addition I’ll be looking at the differences between S-Log and S-Log2 and the differences between using S-Log and raw.

I was just looking at this picture of the F55 on a shoot in the UK:

I noticed the camera was being powered by two VL-175 batteries, that’s two 175Wh batts! Seamed a bit overkill to me, it may be just to balance out the heavy PL-Mount lens. But it got me thinking. I’ve checked the specs and the camera body is rated at 25W. A viewfinder will probably add around another 5W (maybe more) and the ASX-R5 has a rather large fan which suggests it gets hot, so it probably consumes a fair amount of power. If we say 15W as a guess for the R5, then your looking at an all up power consumption of around 45W. So I think you may be looking at somewhere between 40 and 50 watts for a complete F5/F55 R5 outfit. That’s a lot of power, no wonder Sony have also released the new high current Olivine batteries to power them. Remember to allow for a decent set of batteries when you looking at getting an F5/F55.