The Falcon. PXW-FS5 short film.

Filmed and edited in 2 day as part of the PXW-FS5 launch event in Dubai this short film shows off some of the features of the FS5. Many shots make use of the Supers Slow Motion mode, shooting at 240fps. Others take advantage of the cameras lightweight where we mounted the camera on a DJI Romin M gimbal. The time-lapse shots were done using S&Q motion shooting at 1fps, often with a 1 second shutter. I used a mix of Cinegamma 3 and S-Log2 for the shoot depending on the required dynamic range. Lenses used include Zeiss Loxia 35mm and 50mm. A sigma 18-250mm (canon mount), the Sony 18-105mm and a Sigma 18-35mm Art lens on a cheap Fotga E-Mount to Canon tilt adapter. I will follow this up with a behind the scenes video in a week or so.

40 thoughts on “The Falcon. PXW-FS5 short film.”

    1. Possibly too front heavy. With short lenses and a BPU-60 battery the camera is far enough forwards to only hit the rear of the ronin m at extremes. You can just about get away with the Sony 18-105mm lens and what’s nice is that that lens doesn’t telescope when you zoom so the balance remains useable at different focal lengths and you can control the focus zoom and aperture remotely by extending the handgrip cable.

  1. Very nice indeed! I’ve just bought an FS5, it’s a fab little camera. Can I ask, the shot of the ‘fast moving’ cars through the underpass, was that also 1fps, 1 second shutter?

  2. Hello Alister! I just picked one up today. Wondering what you thought of the SONY 28-135mm Zoom CINE LENS ? Those ZEISS LOXIA lenses are amazing with this camera. Also did you uprez the 240fps shots in post?
    Which EF to E mount was used, Metabones Mark IV or Metabones Booster?
    Thanks!

    1. The 28-135mm is a great lens, but I prefer the 18-105 on this camera. It’s a great handheld camera and a wide lens that is compact works better for me. It was all uprezzed to 4K in post. I used a CommLite E to EF adapter for the 18-250mm sigma and a Fotga tilt adapter for the Sigma 18-35mm.

  3. Hi Alister,
    Great short with nice camera work, but as far as showcasing the FS5 goes, the footage doesn’t seem to pop! I’m viewing on a top end Mac with broadcast monitor and the images just don’t seem sharp, certainly not translatable to good broadcast quality.
    Is this intentional for effect or is it a limitation of the camera?
    Thanks,
    Drew.

    1. We were looking for a softer film like look. In addition the super slow mo mode does produce very slightly soft pictures due to the way the sensor is read. In 4K (the later timelapse shots) the camera is pin sharp. In HD the camera produces a great, sharp, image if that’s what you want. We had all sharpening and detail correction turned off. I would not worry about this camera and broadcast specs for HD.

      1. That’s actually a relief Alister,
        If that was a look, then it explains it. It’s not that we want overtly razor sharp resolution for broadcast (why am I telling YOU this!!!) but likewise warm and fuzzy just don’t cut it 🙂
        I’ve read, from your pen too, that the stock lens isn’t the best so, after seeing your sequence, wondered if that was a result.
        Thanks for clarifying,
        Drew.

        1. The stock lens is not the best, but it does actually work quite well with the FS5. It can produce a really sharp image and the power zoom is quite useful. Manual focus is a bit fiddly though. I would recommend that people do get it as a general purpose lens.

  4. Hi Alister, great to see more footage from the FS5 and some test shots in the sun! There’s not much of that here in the UK right now.

    I wanted to ask what lenses you were using when shooting with the Ronin M? I’m interested to see that you managed to make this setup work. I too have just bought the FS5 and own a Ronin M. I’m waiting for a BP-U60 battery coming to see how that affects positioning of the camera to achieve better balance but as most of my lenses are canon zooms I’ll likely be investing in some sort of glass that helps fly the FS5 with the Ronin. My FS5 is body only but I’ll likely pick up the kit lens separately too.

    Looking forward to the BTS for this video…

    Thanks
    Dave

    1. I used the Loxia 35mm on the Ronin for the film, but we did also use the Sony 18-105mm kit lens with a BPU-60 batt on the camera during the workshop and it was OK. It does hit the back of the Ronin at large tilt angles but for most shots this shouldn’t be an issue. Nice thing about the 18-105 is that it doesn’t telescope so the balance stays acceptable even when using the zoom.

  5. Amazing video, thanks for sharing 🙂

    One question – How good is the camera in lowlight when not using s-logs? How high can you go on the iso? (without any post noise-reduction)

    1. It goes up to 32,000 ISO! It’s very good in low light, with minimal noise however it is applying a lot of noise reduction in camera and you start to get a bit of image smear above 8,000 ISO. At 6,000 ISO it produces a pretty good image.

      1. As the FS5 has begun to get into the hands of users, I’ve noticed people complaining about two things- noise and detail. I mostly attribute these complaints to user error for the most part, such as when people set the profile to S-Log 3 for a low light shoot and then complain about noisy footage. As for detail, a guy did a comparison between the FS5 and the Samsung NX1 and posted it on Vimeo. According to the reviewer, the same lens was used on both cameras (via adapters) and similar settings were used. The FS5 footage appears very soft while the NX1 is looks over sharpened but definitely more detailed. I’m pretty sure something is wrong with either his testing method or the FS5 lens adapter. Could you take a look at the video and give your assessment? Here is the link….

        1. When shooting log you have no in camera sharpening or noise reducion, so it will look soft and a little noisy as it is expected that if needed any sharpening or NR is done in post after you have made your contrast corrections as contrast effects sharpness and noise.

          NX1 is very over sharpened, look at all the jaggies on the bridge arches and also notice that the focus is totally different between the two cameras. Look at the foreground branches in both shots. Totally blurred in FS5 shots, sharp in NX1 shots. Not a useful test, too many variables, especially focus and contrast.

    1. A lot of the desert footage used PP5 with cinegamma 3 and the pro matrix as it was not high dynamic range due to the unusually overcast sky. I used S-Log2 with S-Gamut3.cine for the city shots in the sun.

        1. Because S-log3 does not make use of the full recording range. S-Log2 is better matched to limited data ranges and video sensor response, with 8bit and the very limited data range you really want to use all of it.

  6. Some wonderful shooting here. I really like the shots of the falcon, the slo-mo looks super, but the thing I was most interested in was how you achieved such clean images in the city night shots. Do you recall the lenses and cam settings you used?
    We’re still waiting for the fs5 to arrive here, and I have one on order. When it arrives I hope to get some time to head out to the west Texas desert for some shooting. Showing what the camera can do in this video really encourages me. Also, many of us are really excited about your presentation in Austin at Omega Broadcast.

    1. The camera is very sensitive and also low noise. The night shots used the 18-105 kit lens, S&Q motion 1 fps with shutter set to 1 second. Picture Profile 5 with cinegamma 3.

  7. Hi Alister

    Thanks for all you do and in particular this video. I recently got my FS5, I like it a lot, but I’m concerned about the reports that it will not be able to record 4K and drive the onboard and external SDI/HDMI outputs simultaneously. I know you mentioned at least once in the Vocas FS5 video that it would be fixed in the first firmware update but other people and organizations are reporting that because of the limited processing power of the FS5, it will not be able to record 4K and drive the internal LCD/EVF and the HDMI/SDI output, can you shed some additional light on this issue? Regards, -Keith Moreau http://www.techmovepodcast.com

    1. The camera can output a total of 2 signals. One of which drives EITHER the LCD viewfinder OR the OLED EVF. The other output is currently limited to HD only on EITHER the SDI or HDMI. My understanding is that the firmware update will address the lack of 4K HDMI when recording and enable an output on the HDMI while recording in 4K alongside the EVF OR LCD.

  8. Great opening shot…
    The kit 18-105 lens seems to coming under a lot of fire by those who have begun to use it lately. Manual focus seems to be the most common complaint. Is it really that bad and is the auto focus on the fs5 also pretty slow and indecisive? Its no C100 but is it really mediocre?
    Thanks,
    Ajit

    1. Manual focus on the kit lens is fiddly and not the best. I tend to focus manually and then use the one push auto to finalise the focus. Auto focus is a bit slow, but it doesn’t tend to hunt. Not really a fan of autofocus on any video camera myself.

  9. Hi Alister,

    Would ou have any time in looking into baking in a look like the FS7’s LC-709TypeA (Alexa look)

    I must say the cinegamma 3 with the pro matrix looked nice.

  10. Beautiful shots, especially the falcon, lovely bokeh. Looking forward to me info.

    I recently picked up the FS5, love it’s portability and the ability to break it down and just shoot bare bones using just the OLED EVF. I found your Vocas talk really useful, you mentioned that the slides or the gamma graphs are available on your website. Could you point me in that direction?

    Thanks

  11. Hello Alister,

    I’m an owner of an FS700 – thankfully with an Odyssey 7Q with Sony RAW option that eliminates most of the weak spots of this remarkable camera. One thing that still hampers me with this setup, and shooting slow motion, is being limited to the record button on the top/back of the camera. It is nearly impossible to reach when the camera is on-shoulder and challenging when on a gimbal. Does the FS5 have any similar limitation on triggering slow motion capture? I truly hope you can trigger it from the grip.

    Thank you so much for all the information on this camera.

    ~Sjon

    1. You can trigger it from the handgrip, from the top handle and from the button on the side of the camera.

      1. Wonderful!

        Sony owes you a commission when I buy this camera, your presentation at Vocas evangelized me on the FS5.

  12. Hi Alister,

    Thanks for being so generous with your time, your web site is an incredible resource.

    Quick question – how did you achieve the day to night timelapse. Can the ND be set to auto?

    Many thanks

    1. The timelpase was done using the Sony kit lens and auto iris. At the moment the ND cannot be set to auto, but a future firmware update should allow this.

  13. What is the correct ISO settings while using S&Q at 1fps at 1 sec shutter for night timelapse? I keep getting grains even at ISO 3200.

  14. looking for some primes for my fs5. How do you like the Loxia’s with it? A little worried about not having stabilization as I shoot a lot of handheld, but wondering your thoughts on them.

    1. The Loxias are very nice. I’d love a set, but they are too expensive for me. I have the Samyangs which I’m very happy with.

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