Guides and info for the PXW-FS7

Sony_PXW-FS7-x-600x413-300x206 Guides and info for the PXW-FS7So you have a PXW-FS7 and your looking for more information on how to get the very best from it.

This page is the place to start. I will be adding a number of guides and information pages specifically for the Sony PXW-FS7 to the site over the coming months. You will find links to these guides, downloads and other information on this page as it is added to the site. So keep checking back here for the latest information.

 

Ultimate Guide to CineEI on the PXW-FS7: Guide on how to use the CineEI Mode.

Correct Exposure with Hypergammas. How to determine the correct exposure for the hypergammas when using custom mode.

Downloadable film look LUT’s for the PXW-FS7 A set of film like LUT’s that can be used with the PXW-FS7.

Downloadable exposure compensated LUT’s (for use when using a higher or lower EI).

Using the High / Low Key function for exposure assessment.

Creating your own LUT for the PXW-FS7 with DaVinci Resolve.

 Downloadable Scene Files for Custom Mode for neutral, vibrant and film like looks.

LUT SETS:

S-Log2 to Canon C300 Look.

300x250_xdcam_150dpi Guides and info for the PXW-FS7

Custom Mode S-Log2 and S-Log3 LUT’s

S-Log3 Film Look LUT’s

 

 

 

62 thoughts on “Guides and info for the PXW-FS7”

  1. I just got delivery of the FS7’s kit lens PZ 28-135 and the zoom speed is very slow and cannot be changed. It takes app 5 seconds to go from full wide to tele and changing the speed in the menu does not affect it at all.
    A Sony tech told me that they are aware of this and will eventually correct it.
    I am wondering why no one has commented on this terrible problem.

    1. I doubt it will ever become much faster than this. Many, many people have commented on this. It’s because the lens was originally designed for use on the A7 series of stills cameras plus the fact that to make it as cheap as it is, it is a vari-focal lens that uses clever electronics to continuously compensate for the inevitable focus shifts as you zoom in and out. You will never be able to crash zoom with this lens, it’s one of it’s restrictions. But you also have to be realistic about what you paid for it. The closest equivalent to this lens ( a lens with a servo zoom that holds focus throughout the zoom range and has a constant aperture) cost colse to $40k, so really for the mony this lens is on hell of a bargain, but does have some limitations.

      1. Hi there, how are you going mate!
        I m so desperate to buy adapter for fs7 because I got only that 28 -135 zoom and have to use cannon lances, cinema lenses etc.
        please will you kindly advise me? I make documentary and willing to shoot cinema in near future
        Thank u

        1. The most common choice is to get a metabones Sony to Canon adapter or similar and then to use Canon DSLR lenses. You can add then add other adapters such as for PL as you need them in the future.

  2. Hi Alister,

    We met at Bandpro a few years ago… I had a question about the Commlite adapter for the FS7…..I bought one but it doesn’t seem to work with my Sigma 70-200 mm 1:2:8 APO DG HSM lens. (I have no iris control) This is the adapter I bought. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MOB2FL0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I’m wondering whether this is only for EF-S lenses? I saw over on the Sony site that you said that your Commlite works fine with Sigma lenses. Would you mind sending a link to the Commlite you have please? If you can find the same on the US Amazon site that would be helpful. I thought the one I bought was for full frame. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Kris

    1. Perhaps it won’t work with this lens. The problem stems from the fact that Canon keep the lens protocol secret. Sigma, Tamron, Metabones, Commlite etc have to reverse engineer the protocols and that can lead to a lot of incompatibility issues as there isn’t a reliable fixed standard in any of the 3rd party products. Both Metabones and Commlite have many problems with different combinations of lenses and adapters.

  3. Hi Alister,
    Like so many before me, thanks so much for the great effort. It’s really been helpful in trying to figure out a very un-intuitive camera. I bought you a cocktail to celebrate.

    There is one point which I am not totally sold on… The matter of changing the EI in Cine EI mode DOES seem like it will change (and lessen) the dynamic range.

    You say in the article:
    “The Cine EI mode allows you to change the effective ISO rating of the camera, without altering the dynamic range.”

    If you shoot at 1000EI, for example –to lessen the noise– you will be opening up the iris by 1 stop to compensate and bring your levels back up. So, as you said, you will be losing one stop of over-exposure protection. If you are in an environment with a large contrast range, you will be losing one stop of highlight range by doing this, and possibly clipping the brightest elements of the scene. All perfectly fine if that’s what you are going for.

    But my point is, there is no free lunch, and you can’t get the lower shadow noise without giving something up. I actually don’t see that much difference in doing this and baking the look in, as Mike said above, vs. recording SLog3 — other than the fact that you still would have more control in post by recording Log. But if you have altered the EI for your goal of lowering the shadow noise and have clipped some highlights as a result, they are gone for good anyway – assuming they have clipped (above 109%) and are above the sensor’s ability to record them, right?

    Thanks,
    Deke

    1. Dynamic range is not just about highlights, it is both highlight and shadow range. Changing the EI does not alter the way the camera records in any way, so the cameras dynamic range does not change. The only thing that gets changed is the brightness of the LUT, which then makes the operator open or close the iris to compensate. The net result is you are letting in more (or less) light, the dynamic range does not change, just the ratio of signal (light) to noise.
      If you are doing it correctly and use 1000EI instead of the native 2000ISO you will indeed loose one stop of headroom, but you will also gain one stop of shadow range. Your entire range is one stop (6db) brighter, so when you then normalise the levels in post by reducing the overall gain by 6db then you will have 6db less noise too.

      Yes you are giving up one stop of headroom to gain that one top of noise and shadow improvement. But when you have a 14 stop camera with a very gentle highlight roll off you are rarely going to have a problem with highlights, it is going to be image noise, or more crucially the signal to noise ratio that will determine how much you can grade your footage.

      The more I talk with colorists (proper professional colorists), the more I hear them complain about footage that could be so much better if it was exposed brighter. With narrow dynamic range, conventional rec-709 cameras we had it drummed into us for decades never to over expose because the way those cameras overexpose is ugly and distracting, plus the amount of grading that could be done was extremely limited. These new 14 stop log or raw cameras handle highlights in a very different way that is much more natural and closer to how we see the world. As a result any over exposure is far less distracting. Furthermore it’s likely that any overexposure is going to be limited to very small areas of the image such as specular highlights or bright reflections.

      Baking a look in is a perfectly good workflow where you don’t need a great deal of post production flexibility. I use this method for fast turnaround projects. But it does limit what you can do in post. Adding the same LUT that you are baking in only takes a few mouse clicks in post, it’s hardly a time consuming process in most cases and you retain the ability to change your mind about the look. There are pro’s and con’s to both.

  4. Hi Alister,
    Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I agree with you on most of your points, but still have one niggle I’m not so sure about.

    I come from a film background, so I am more familiar with film response than video, and my comments may not take into account any “video only” issues… But when shooting film, I would always expose AT LEAST one stop above the rated EI, and sometimes more, after numerous experiences of my seeing unwanted noise in shadow areas during the telecine of scenes that were exposed “perfectly” by the book. (Yes, I owned several light meters and they were calibrated regularly, and the film was processed at state-of-the-art labs).

    I used to think that Kodak artificially boosted their rated EI to make the stocks seem “newer” or better. I never had much trouble with clipping of highlights – it was always the darkest shadow areas (dark brown/black hair was a major pain if we wanted to pull out more detail) that would be problematic, until I started rating the film lower as a general practice.

    I know that with video, it was almost the opposite – and the rule was you never wanted to clip your highlights – so you had to be more vigilant about the highs as well as lows.

    I look at the new sensors the same way as film stocks… and I do believe that manufacturers might “boost” their sensitivity ratings to make them seem even more amazing. But I tend to want the cleanest, best looking picture overall – and don’t care so much if every tiny highlight holds detail or texture. So I am right there with you about rating the camera at 1000 or maybe even 500EI in Cine EI mode.

    What I am either not clear about – or maybe do not agree with you about? – is the idea that Cine EI mode is a “magic bullet” that somehow gives you extended dynamic range when all other modes can not. In exposing anything, whether film, video or raw, it seems you are making choices as to how to best use your limited “bucket” of lights and darks, keeping in mind that you may not be able to hold all of them. Even if you were baking in a LUT (or even shooting in Custom mode), you might choose to rate your EI lower to gain better shadow response at the expense of some highlight details, no? (Of course, this is assuming you have enough light for the T-stop and EI that you want.) Isn’t it still the same old problem of trying to cram 10 pounds of sh– into the proverbial 5 lb bag?

    In the end, until we have better TV’s and broadcast systems with greater contrast range, we are still confined to cramming everything into a 5-6 stop range for broadcast, so having 12 or 13 stops of dynamic range to play with during capture seems like cake! I remember for many years the Kodak golden-rule for exposing negative film (written on the ASA sheet inside every can of film stock) was: 2 & 2/3 stops overexposure until you hit blown-out White, and 2 and 1/2 stops underexposure until you hit no-detail Black (or was it the other way round?) — and there were times on some of my earlier paid exterior location shoots when I would be sweating bullets, double-checking everything in the scene with my spotmeter and trying to appear calm and confident – while knowing deep down that it all couldn’t possibly fit! 🙂

    Even though nowadays we’re talking about 12 or 14 stops instead of 5 or 6, it seems to me that not THAT much has changed, except you don’t have to spend any sleepless nights before you’ll know for sure 🙂

    1. EI does not add to the dynamic range but it shifts the mid point up or down to allow you to make the best use of the available range in just the same way as pushing film.

  5. Hey Alistair,
    I am a waveform fan, coming from a c300.
    I am trying to wrap my head around all this and finding it tough.
    My gut says just shoot CineI, with no monitor lut (which Im used to) and just make sure highlights dont get close to 100% – am I blowing it ?
    Thanks

  6. Hello Alister.
    I am about to buy the FS-7.
    I own the PMW-300.
    I was told by some agents that my Sony BP-U90 batteries will not work with FS-7.
    Is that so? all the websites (including B&H) state full compatibility.
    Do you know anything about that?

    Cheers.
    Arbel.

  7. Hello Alister,

    we just acquired a Sony FS7. The whole thing of working with LUTS and REC 709 is still all new to us. How do you install LUTS on the FS7? Do you need an external recorder to see the LUTS? How could we get the REC709? Do I have to install it on the camera? If yes, how should i proceed? or is it like a software we should set up on our FCPX? I must be honest setting up the REC709 and the LUTS are the ones that bug nme the most…How do I install the LUTS on FCPX?

    I did read through all your manuals, which have been very helpful, but still sounded foreign to me, unfortunately. We are very keen to learn more from you.

    Kenny

  8. We are waiting for delivery of our FS-7, right now. We ordered the “K” package. I understood the SEL28135 is the only lens available which is fully functional with the camera´s handgrip. Anyway 28mm at the widest is far to long for my everyday work. I will always have to carry a 2nd lens. I´ve been working more than 20 years with 2/3 inch B4 broadcast cameras and I´m pretty sure working with this type of cameras will be a good part of my activity in the future, too. My biggest concern in working with Super 35 mm cameras is ergonomics and lenses. Photographic lenses may be less expensive but they are not a decent tool for “film” production. My “main” lens is the Canon HJ 14×4,3, right now. I don´t think there will be something comparable for the Super 35 mm market in 10 years (if ever). I am talking about wide angle, zoom range, aperture and MOD. To make this for a Super 35mm camera will need a lot of glass, strong motors and price & weight will be unaceptable.
    I am thinking about getting a “MTF B4 2/3″ to Sony E-mount Package”. The camera will be very front heavy with the 14×4,3, additional rigging will be inevitable. To use the zoom function I will have to make an adapter to D-Tap. Where can I get the right plug for the lens, and where do I find a plan for the pin allocation? Has anyone rigged up the FS-7 with such a heavy lens (photos?). What type of rig is the best for this use (Chrosziel?). Will a zoom rocker (Bebop, Manfrotto) work?
    Thanks,
    Klaus

    1. Using a 2/3″ lens on a s35 camera is full of compromises. It will give you a big zoom range,but your pictures will look no different to those from a 2/3″ camera so you won’t really see the benefits that large sensors normally bring. The HJ 14×4.3 is a soft lens even on a 2/3″ camera and when you add in the adapters etc it certainly won’t be any better. To be honest if you really need a big zoom range I think you’d be better off selling your lens and spending the money on something like a PXW-200 rather than buying all the adapters and other stuff you will need to make it a useable system.

      Most people using 2/3″ lenses use V-Mount batteries to balance out the camera. Vocas (and others) make base plates where you can attach real rods and a V-Mount plate. You will most likely want to add an additional lens support as the E-Mount is not really designed to take such long and heavy lenses without additional support. You will need a Canon zoom control if you want remote zoom control. MTF can supply a D-Tap to 12 pin hirose power cable to power the zoom.

      But, I think you will be disappointed as the pictures won’t look any different to what your getting on your 2/3″ camera.

  9. Alister,
    I am dealing entirely in the “Custom” shooting mode, and trying to come up with scene files for various circumstances. Thanks for providing your set, which I use as a baseline with further enhancements that I make. One variable that I can’t seem to get a handle on, because I can’t find any discussion or definitions on the matter, is the “Preset Matrix.” “Standard,” Cinema,”F55 709 Like,”etc.” — what are these things and how do they fit into the broader set of Paint adjustments? I can figure out by the title what “FL Light” and “High Sat” are, but what do the others mean and do? And how do they affect picture in relation to the User Matrix, Level, etc.? I haven’t been able to find a discussion of the various Preset Matrices anywhere? Thanks.
    David

    1. I haven’t seen any specific tests. But I have not heard of any issues, it appears to have the updated version as fitted to the latest F5 cameras and is largely immune to some of the issues some of the early OLPF had.

  10. Hi,

    can u help me?
    I’m shooting with sony fs7 and an external drive, Odyssey.
    I can’t “slave” the external drive to put the same the metadata clip name.
    So i have the same clip names into diferent reel cards

    How can i put the same metadata clip name ?

    Thanks a lot

    1. Unfortunately it’s not possible to transfer the clip name or metadate from the FS7 to the Odyssey.

  11. Hi Alistar,

    Thanks for sharing to all of us!

    I have a thought on whether one could use Canon J11 ENG signals to FS7 through your B4 mount adapter via an external cable. That way you get access to all the camera’s automatic functions to the lens. If I am correctly informed, Canon use voltage between 0-8 volts to control focus, iris and zoom. What I do not know is how the FS7 is compatible with this kind of voltage. Maybe a small interface in between?

    Who knows, It can be rainy days between Christmas and New Year and … 🙂

    Cheers
    Peter

    1. Very few B4 ENG lenses have any form of electronic focus control, that’s normally done with a cable drive and those that do have motors will not be fast enough for autofocus. The FS7 uses a serial digital interface. So someone would have to 1: Interpret the Sony protocol. 2: design and programme a digital to analoge interface. 3 Design the hardware.

      It could be done, but I doubt the market is there to recover the high R&D costs (and many ENG lenses are made by other manufacturers such as Fujinon or Angenieux with different control systems) and how many people would be prepared to pay +$4k just to get aperture control from the camera body when it is easily controlled manually. For zoom control you can power the lens with a D-Tap adapter cable and then use either the zoom rocker on the lens or any of the commonly available remote zoom controls for these lenses which includes hand grips, pan bar grips and many other options.

  12. Hi
    I am planning to buy the new FS5
    Does anyone has the experience using third party lenses (Tokina 11-16mm with Sony mount) on his FS7? Auto focus and iris are dealing well with the canera?
    Even if FS5 is a new camera, your experience will help me because bothcameras have e mount
    I would like to get ONLY third party lenses with my new camera. Metabone adapter is not at all working well in these cameras(movie mode)

    1. Why won’t you use Sony lenses? They are normally very good and it is the only way to get guaranteed compatibility. Autofocus is questionable at best with 3rd party lenses.

  13. FS7 shooting S-log2… I’m considering buying some of the following & My thinking behind my lens choices are that I need as much available light as possible & hoping for a fleet of lenses that could go on any camera in the future… …Canon Cine EF lenses 50 & 85 T1.3, 24mm & 35mm T1.5, 14 T3.1 & possibly some combination of the Canon 15.5-47 & 30-105 T2.8, Zeiss 15-30, 28-80 & 70-200 T2.9…… 2 questions – how wrong is it to put these lenses through a £350 metabones speedbooster (mainly to avoid crop) and how much extra grief could it cause a Colourist if mixing Zeiss and Canon lenses on the same subject matter? Any thoughts or comments much appreciated.

    1. I would get both a speed booster and a straight through adapter. That will allow many of the lenses to be used for different fields of view. The speed booster is a useful adapter but it can introduce some additional CA in highlights. If you were to mix Canon and Zeiss lenses with the same scene that could be quite a challenge to get them to match. But keep them for different scenes and I doubt it will be an issue.

  14. Hi Alister.
    I’m thinking in buying a camera like the sony fs5 or fs7, but in the long term i think that the fs7 is better due to the fact that it has 422 10bits 4k 60p and 1080 180p. It holds the standards of 1080 and 4k for broadcast or other work. Do you agree?

    Other question, Do you think using the fs7 to do events, weddings or documentary is too much? or adequate?

    And finally, Does it make sense to buy an fs7 or wait for a fs8? eh eh

    1. The FS7 can produce a better quality image than the FS5 and you are right that the XAVC-I codec of the FS7 meets the minimum standards that have been set for 4K production. Overall the FS7 is a much more capable camera, but a bigger, heavier, more complex camera. The FS7 is a great camera for corporate and events, provided you can manage the extra weight, larger tripod requirements etc.

      You could wait for an FS8 etc, I’m sure it will be a better camera whenever it appears (and no I have no idea but I would guess at some time in late 2017 based on current product cycles), but if you are going to wait for the FS8 why not wait for the FS9 or FS10? At the end of the day whatever you buy now will become outdated in the future, so the question you must ask is: “Will it make me money and pay for itself before I have to replace it”? When the FS7 replacement eventually arrives it won’t make the FS7 suddenly become a different camera. The FS7 will still do all the great things it does now and if that’s what pleases your clients why bother with the next model?

  15. I keep reading about a LUT for the FS7 which mimics the Arri 709 look, called
    LC709-A. I can’t find a pre-made LUT available online and it’s not built into the
    camera. Is there one out there that everyone is using, or is it a LUT people are
    making on their own?

    Also, I am finding the FS7 EVF cable to be a bit too short. When I mount my camera on a Zacuto VCT plate and move the camera back to achieve good balance with a heavier lens, I can’t adjust the camera back far enough because the EVF cable is stretched all the way out. I have not been able to find an EVF extension cable available commercially. Does anyone know of one? I might have to buy the parts and have someone custom manufacture the extension. Too bad Sony didn’t add 4 or 6 more inches to the cable!

  16. The Arri look LUT is called LC-709 TypeA and is in the 3D LUT’s selection in the camera and in the standard Sony LUT package. Although it should be pointed out that all this LUT does is mimic the way the Arri Alexa looks when it is set to Rec-709. You would almost never ever see footage that looks like this on TV as the vast majority of Alexa projects are shot using raw or log-C and even stuff shot in 709 would almost certainly be graded.

    http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/Release-version-3DLUT-s-for-S-Gamut3-Cine-S-Log3/m-p/287847#U287847

    There is no extension cable that I know of for the FS7 VF.

    1. Thanks Alister, I will make a contribution to your coffee fund! No using it at the pub! It’s for coffee.
      I finally found the LC-709typeA “LUT” in my camera. It’s in the Look Profiles section of the monitor LUT menu, not in the 3D-LUT menu. It appears to only be usable as an SDI1 and Internal Rec setting, so cannot be used as an MLUT per se, but only as a baked in recording setup. There are no pre-installed 3D LUT’s in my camera- Firmware V3, in the VIDEO Menu MONITOR LUT section; there are only empty User-3D-LUT memory positions.

      However, in the File menu, in the MONITOR LUT section, stored in the internal memory, I have 6 copies of the 709(800%) LUT, and in the Monitor 3D LUT section, I have 4 copies of the LC-709 LUT. Since this LC-709 LUT does not show up in the VIDEO Menu MONITOR LUT section, how does one use this 3D LUT which is stored in the internal memory, according to the FILE Menu? It’s rather confusing.
      So the ony built-in MLUTs available to me for viewing, but not recording, built into the camera, are P1: 709(800%), P2: HG8009G40, P3: HG8009G33, P4: S-Log2 (Grayed out in S-Log3), and P5: S-Log3.

      Sorry, I’m a new FS7 owner and I don’t want to get flamed for asking a dumb question, as happens on the Sony Forum.
      I’m not trying to record the LC709typeA look onto the cards. I am just trying to find a better looking MLUT to use on set; better looking than the REC709(800%). I know that Arri Alexa projects are usually graded, as I am an Arri Amira owner myself. That’s exactly why I would like to be able to use the Arri look MLUT as an MLUT, not baking it into the recording, but that is not available.
      I guess I will have to make my own MLUT using LUTCALC.

      All my best! Enjoy that coffee!

      1. Thanks for the coffee. The LUT can be used on any of the outputs inc the VF, SDI2, HDMI and SD1, but as with all the LUT’s there are limitations on which outputs can be used depending on the way the camera is setup. For example when outputting 4K LUT’s are either all on or all off, but when outputting HD then it’s possible to have LUT’s on only HDMI or SDI2 plus the VF while having no LUT on SDI1 or the internal recordings. So te first step is to sort out appropriate output settings to enable independent LUT selection (HD out only, no S&Q, no edge crop for DCI 4K).

        Any LUT’s you see listed by name in the file menu reside on the SD card not the cameras LUT memory. Once in the cameras 4 internal memories you can no longer see the name of the LUT. User LUT’s must first be copied from the SD card into the cameras 4 internal LUT memories before they can be accessed.

        1. I’m starting to think my camera is faulty, and was faulty right out of the box. Not only are all settings changing when I switch scene files, the MLUT functions are locking out when they shouldn’t.
          Switching a scene file should not cause all the user assign buttons to be reassigned to defaults.
          I’m also having a recurring problem in which MLUTs which should be available are grayed out in the VIDEO menu.
          I have to do a complete system reset, and then restore all the settings I had in the camera in order to be able to use the MLUTs. Is this normal? I don’t see how it could be, but please let me know if everyone has to do system reset often! Probably time for a service call… Or is the firmware really this buggy?

  17. Trying to decide between the fs7 and fs5, both are great. Wondering if there would be any hope that the fs7 would be upgraded to include the new clear zoom and variable ND that the fs5 has? The vari ND is an amazing feature in particular. Thanks for your insight?

    1. Like the ND filter, clear image zoom would need a hardware update to the FS7 as this is done by a dedicated processing chip. I therefore think it extremely unlikely to ever be retro fitted to the FS7. Don’t consider the FS5 as a shrunk down FS7 because it is not. The FS7 is a much more capable camera than the FS5 and can produce better quality images. But the FS5 is convenient and simple.

  18. OK thanks Alister, I will check out the settings and see if MLUT capability returns
    to the 3DLut and Look Profile settings.
    Currently I have the camera set on CineEI mode in HD, and the use of the 3D LUTs and Look Profiles as MLUTs is not allowed. They can only be baked in.

    Thanks again

  19. Alister, I finally sorted out the difficulties I was having with MLUT’s not being available. I re-installed firmware V3, did a system reset, and wrote over a scene file and an ALL file which were saved a few days ago. Then I reset the camera preferences which I had lost. And voila- now my camera is behaving properly.
    Somehow, the original firmware F3 installation was not completely right. Perhaps I installed it with the handgrip electronics detached, which could certainly lead to problems with the firmware installation.
    A word to the wise- attach your handgrip before installing firmware!

    1. I very much doubt the handgrip has anything to do with your problems, it’s just a LANC controller, nothing more. I would suspect that it was your ALL file or scene file. It’s advised that you should delete all scene/all files from previous versions as it is known that this can cause issues.

      1. Finally, after working with the camera on a few jobs and with different lenses, I have isolated the MLUT lockout problem to the Sony SELP 18-105 G OSS lens.
        If this lens is mounted, and distortion compensation is active, the MLUTs are not available on SDI 2 and the EVF. If swapping to a different lens without turning off distortion compensation, the MLUTs remain locked out. You have to remount the 18-105, turn off distortion compensation, and then switch lenses. MLUTs will now be available. Currently I have an active 3D User LUT and this does seem to work with the distortion compensation turned on, although the zoom lens can behave rather oddly at times.

        Based on this experience, I would not recommend this lens for the FS7. With distortion compensation on and attempting to get the LUTs on, the zoom motor would zoom in a little and then back out, rather than responding to my commands. This was rectified by turning the camera off and then back on again, but really a bad situation to be in if shooting a cinema verite scene, which is what I bought the lens for. In addition, the “fly by wire” focus on this lens is nearly impossible to work with manually. It’s ok in autofocus, but I can’t work that way. The amount of rotation of the focus ring required to make a small adjustment in focus is very unpredictable.

  20. Yes, I first suspected a scene file and then an ALL FILE . But the ALL file was new, not from the previous firmware. And the scene files from Abel Cine are behaving just fine now. Maybe it wasn’t the handgrip, but I do think there was something wrong with my firmware installation, because now the ALL files are working just as they should.
    It’s one of those illnesses which the doctor will never figure out the origin of, but the treatment was effective and the patient is now fine.

  21. I have earlier today filmed on my Sony FS7 using a QD-G128A card to record on to. When I returned to my office, I noticed that I was unable to transfer this material for viewing and editing purposes. I have used this card using exactly the same process on a number of occasions without any problems. I can view the material in the camera in the thumbnail mode and it plays fine. However there appears to be a BIM file aspect of the data missing when I compare it with previous transfers on my hard disk. I have copied the material from the card on to a hard disk. As I can see the material on the camera, can you offer a solution as to how to get this material transferred and to be able to view and edit it. I am using FCP as my editing tool. Also I am concerned that this problem could occur again. Is anybody able to to offer a solution. As I am hoping to film in the next few days, this could become quite a serious issue. Any constructive suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Did you use Catalyst Browse to do the transfer (I recommend that you should)? Are you able to view the clips in Browse? It may be a clip spanned across 2 cards, in which case you need both cards and must use Catalyst to transfer the files.

  22. Were you recording in XAVC-I? Or prores? I had exactly the same problem with a couple of quicktime Prores files on my Arri Amira. Probably, the files were not “closed” properly, for some unknown reason. It’s a little scary.

    There probably are applications that can repair a file like this. The quick solution I used, was to play the file out of the camera SDI out, and record onto my Atomos Shogun in Prores. Not ideal, but I was able to quickly give the clip to the editor, and for the type of video they were doing, a miniscule amount of degradation was not going to be a problem.
    If Alister’s suggestion is right, that it was a spanned file, you should be able to fix it very easily.

  23. Alister thank you so much for your information on Sony FS7. I purchased this camera just recently. A week ago actually. I have what I think is a stupid question. Again I’m new to this camera, actually new to Sony products and the menu is somewhat challenging. Was wondering why my thumbnail option is greyed out. We shot a few minutes of footage and went to review it but thumbnail was unavailable to us. We set up camera via your ten chapters on the camera. So I’m not sure what features we enabled or disabled to cause this. Can you please help? I’m sure it’s something very simple but escaping me. Thank You.

    1. I have not done this yet, but if you use the Cinegammas on the FS5 matched to the Hypergamma on the FS7 they will be very close.

  24. I’m wondering if the MTF B4 adaptor will look any better on the FS7 in the center crop mode, without engaging the lens doubler. I’m shooting a car build show and it sure would be nice to have a par focal servo zoom. Right now I’m using a Metabones Speedbooster and Canon DSLR lenses which look great but step when you iris.

    1. Remember that in crop mode you are only using 1920 of bayer pixels, so the resolution after de-bayer will be sub HD. I’d try the Sony 18-105 lens.

  25. Hello Alister,

    I am in the process of looking for a 4K camera to upgrade to from my existing C300. I have an FS-7 on longer term loan and wanted to thank you for your excellent getting started videos. They are clear and easy to follow. I do not claim huge expertise across the board, only knowing what I know. What your videos have done is save me time and help me get to shooting more quickly. For this I thank you and will be buying you a beverage.

    With best regards,

    Ross

  26. Do you intend to write about the FS7 ii? Do you intend to update your FS7 “original” advice and LUTS for the ii?

    Are there some specific areas where taking your advice for the original FS7 would create problems with the ii?

    Thanks.

    1. There’s very little difference between the FS7 and FS7 II. The original advice is still valid for both.

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.