Business, cameras, Everything Else, Technology

Why Can’t I Get Third Party BP-U Batteries any more?

23 Comments

In the last month or so it has become increasingly hard to find dealers or stores with 3rd party BP-U style batteries in stock.

After a lot of digging around and talking to dealers and battery manufacturers it became apparent that Sony were asking the manufacturers of BP-U style batteries to stop making and selling them or face legal action. The reason given being that the batteries impinge on Sony’s Intellectual Property rights.

Why Is This Happening Now?

It appears that the reason for this clamp down is because it was discovered that the design of some of these 3rd party batteries was such that the battery could be inserted into the camera in a way that instead of power flowing through the power pins to the camera, power was flowing through the data pins. This will burn out the circuit boards in the camera and the camera will no longer work.

Users of these damaged cameras, unaware that the problem was caused by the battery were sending them back to Sony for repair under warranty. I can imagine that many arguments would have then followed over who was to pay for these potentially very expensive repairs or camera replacements.

So it appears that to prevent further issues Sony is trying to stop potentially damaging batteries from being manufactured and sold.

This is good and bad. Of course no one wants to use a battery that could result in the need to replace a very expensive camera with a new one (and if you were not aware it was the battery you could also damage the replacement camera). But many of us, myself included, have been using 3rd party batteries so that we can have a D-Tap power connection on the battery to power other devices such as monitors.

Only Option – BP-U60T?

Sony don’t produce batteries with D-Tap outlets. They do make a battery with a hirose connector (BP-U60T), but that’s not what we really want and compared to the 3rd party batteries it’s very expensive and the capacity isn’t all that high.

Sony BP-U60T with 4 pin hirose DC out.

So where do we go from here?

If you are going to continue to use 3rd party batteries, do be very careful about how you insert them and be warned that there is the potential for serious trouble. I don’t know how widespread the problem is.

We can hope perhaps that maybe Sony will either start to produce batteries with a D-Tap of their own. Or perhaps they can work with a range of chosen 3rd party battery manufacturers to find a way to produce safe batteries with D-Tap outputs under licence.

PXW-FX9, Workflow

DaVinci Resolve 16.1.2 Released.

7 Comments

Blackmagic Design have just released the latest update to DaVinci Resolve. If you have been experiencing crashes when using XAVC material from the PXW-FX9 I recommend you download and install this update.

If you are not a Resolve user and are struggling with grading or getting the very best from any log or raw camera, then I highly recommend you take a look at DaVinci Resolve. It’s also a very powerful edit package. The best bit is the free version supports most cameras. If you need full MXF support you will need to buy the studio version, but with a one off cost of only $299 USD it really is a bargain and gets you away from any horrid subscription services.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/davinci-resolve-and-fusion

PMW-F55, PXW, PXW-FS5, PXW-FS7, PXW-FX9, Workflow

Catalyst Browse and Prepare V2019.2 Released. Includes support for FX9 Image STABILISATION.

9 Comments

Sony have just released the latest version of their free viewing, copying  and transcoding software Catalyst Browse and the more fully featured paid software Catalyst Prepare. These new versions includes support for the PXW-FX9’s metadata based image stabilisation. Hopefully the new Mac versions are also optimised for Catalina.

You can download Browse from here: https://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/de/download/catalystbrowse

And Prepare from here: https://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/de/download/catalystprepare

cinematography, lenses, PXW-FX9

Guess The Lens! A little bit of fun and an interesting test.

3 Comments

Last week I was at O-Video in Bucharest preparing for a workshop the following day. They are a full service dealer. We had an FX9 for the workshop and they had some very nice lenses. So with their help I decided to do a very quick comparison of the lenses we had. I was actually very surprised by the results. At the end of the day I definitely had a favourite lens. But I’m not going to tell you which one yet.

The 5 lenses we tested were: Rokinon Xeen, Cooke Panchro 50mm, Leitz (lecia) Thalia, Zeiss Supreme Radiance and the Sony 28-135mm zoom that can be purchased as part of a kit with the FX9.

I included a strong backlight in the shot to see how the different lenses dealt with flare from off-axis lights. 2 of the lenses produced very pronounced flare, so for those lenses you will see two frame grabs. One with the flare and one with the back light flagged off.

I used S-Cinetone on the FX9 and set the aperture to f2.8 for all of the lenses except the Sony 28-135mm. For that lens I added 6dB of gain to normalise the exposure, you should be able to figure out which of the examples is the Sony zoom.

One of the lenses was an odd focal length compared to all the others. Some of you might be able to work out which one that is, but again I’m not going to tell you just yet.

Anyway, enjoy playing guess the lens. This isn’t intended to be an in depth test. But it’s interesting to compare lenses when you have access to them.  I’ll reveal which lens is which in a couple of weeks in the comments. You can click on each image to enlarge it.

Big thanks to everyone at O-Video Bucharest for making this happen.

Lens 1 with flare from backlight.
Lens 1 with backlight flagged to reduce the flare.
Lens 2
Lens 3
Lens 4
Lens 5 with flare from backlight
Lens 5 with backlight masked to kill the flare.
PXW-FX9, Workflow

Experimental s709 LUT Specifically for the FX9.

8 Comments

I’ve had a few people comment that they feel that the PXW-FX9 is a touch green when you shoot S-Log3 and SGamut3.cine and then add the standard Sony s709 V200 LUT in post. So I have created a slightly modified version of the s709 LUT that I have tweaked specifically for the FX9. You can download it using the like below. Do let me know what you think.

AC-s709-for-fx9_v1.2_experimental.cube

PXW-FX9

Pxw-fx9 Viewfinder Mounting

1 Comment

After playing with a number of FX9’s I have noticed that the way you arrange the viewfinder rods can alter whether the viewfinder sits level or may tilt just a tiny bit. Based on experimentation with several cameras I believe the orientation of the rods and clamps shown in the pictures here works best to ensure the VF stays level.

I believe this is the best orientation for the FX9s viewfinder support bars.
Another view of the FX9 support bars.
Arranging the FX9 support bars this way seems to minimize any VF tilt.
PXW-FX9

Broadcast safe and direct to air using S-CinEtone and the FX9

1 Comment

S-Cinetone is a combination of both a gamma curve and colour matrix. So you can mix different gammas with the S-Cinetone matrix to get the same colour palette but with different contrast and brightness ranges.

The FX9’s default gamma curve is labelled “original” in the camera’s paint settings. This gamma curve is the closest to the look that the s709 “Venice” LUT provides. One important thing to note about this gamma curve is that it records using full range, so it can exceed 100% and goes all the way up to 109%. This means that it may not be suitable for some broadcast applications where the footage will go direct to air without any grading or post production adjustment.

If you do need a broadcast safe output then you should consider using Hypergamma 1 with the S-Cinetone matrix. The look is very similar to the original matrix, but Hypergamma 1 never exceeds 100% so it is “broadcast safe”.

PXW-FX9

PXW-FX9 Things that might trip you up.

20 Comments

Using the FX9 more and more in many different configurations I do every now and again come across things that can perhaps don’t work quite as expected. So I thought I would list them here and I will add to the list as I come across anything else.

 

When using an external recorder connected via HDMI: To remotely control the record function of the external recorder you have to enable the record control via HDMI in the Project Menu. But you ALSO have to enable the HDMI timecode output in the Timecode menu. This is not obvious and took me a while to figure out. Also remember to turn off the text overlays via “Monitoring – Output Display – HDMI” if you want a clean output.

Unable to change the SDI or HDMI output format? If Picture Cache is turned on you may not be able to change the monitoring output format settings. Temporarily turn off the picture cache function to change the output settings.

Can’t access any network functions.  Before you can use any of the cameras network capabilities you must first set up a password. Until you set up a password you will not be able to access any of the other network functions.

No Hi/Lo Key Function in CineEI: Currently there is no assignable Hi/Lo Key function in CineEI  (even though the user manual suggests that there is). The workaround is to simply raise and lower the EI to see what’s going on in the highlights and shadows. So if shooting at 800EI, temporarily lowering the EI to 200 allows you to see what’s going on in the highlights. Don’t forget to put the EI back to 800 when you are done.

I Can’t Select MLUTS For Just The Viewfinder or Outputs: A limitation of the FX9 is that you cannot have MLUTs on only the outputs and VF when the main recording format is not UHD.  You can select a global MLUT by selecting MLUT ON for Internal Rec and then the LUT is applied everywhere but this is not what you typically want. The workaround is to not use the MLUTs but instead to use Viewfinder Display Gamma Assist which is the direct equivalent of the 709(800) LUT but it can only be applied to the viewfinder itself. 

As always let me know if you feel there is anything else you would like to add. I will be creating a separate page about the cameras LUT options and limitations which are somewhat confusing. 

PXW-FX9, Shooting Tips

Shooting S-Log3 on the PXW-FX9 – Do I need to expose bright?

4 Comments

Having shot quite a bit of S-Log3 content on the new Sony PXW-FX9 I thought I would comment on my exposure preferences. When shooting with an FS5, FS7 or F5, which all use the same earlier generation 4K sensor I find that to get the best results I need to expose between 1 and 2 stops brighter than the 41% for middle grey that Sony recommend. This is because I find my footage to be noisier than I would like if I don’t expose brighter. So when using CineEI on these cameras I use 800EI instead of the base 2000EI

However the FX9 uses a newer state of the art back illuminated sensor. This more sensitive sensor produces less noise so with the FX9 I no longer feel it is necessary to expose more brightly than the base exposure – at either of the base ISO’s. So if I am shooting using CineEI and 800 base, I use 800EI. When shooting at 4000 base, I use 4000 EI. 

This makes life so much easier. It also means that if you are shooting in a mode where LUT’s are not available (such as 120fps HD) then you can use the included viewfinder gamma assist function instead. Viewfinder gamma assist adds the same 709(800) look to the viewfinder as you would get from using the cameras built in 709(800) LUT.  You can use the VF gamma assist to help judge your exposure just as you would with a LUT.  Basically, if it looks right in the viewfinder, it almost certainly is right.

Testing various FX9’s against my Sekonic light meter the cameras CineEI ISO ratings seem to be spot on. So I would have no concerns if using a light meter to expose.  The camera also has a waveform scope and zebras to help guide your exposure.

VF Gamma assist is available in all modes on the FX9, including playback. Just be careful that you don’t have both a LUT on and gamma assist at the same time.

lenses, PXW-FX9

Which Lenses work well with the FX9’s Autofocus?

15 Comments

Below is a list of lenses that have been tested with the FX9’s advanced autofocus system. Generally any Sony E-mount lens will work just fine. The Sony G series lenses are good and the G Master series tend to be even better. 
For third party lenses and adapters the situation is much less clear, so I have decided to list the lenses I have tested and invite others to contribute to this list via the comments area. The list is not exhaustive at this time but I will try to keep adding to it as I am able to try more lenses and and different adapter combinations.

Inclusion of a lens on this list is not a guarantee that it will or will not work, it is simply an indication of how it worked for me or anyone else that adds information about their own experiences. I welcome updates and any further information from any lens or adapter manufacturer.

If there is a lens you have tested on an FX9 please let me know via the comments how it worked so it can be added to the list.

KNOWN TO WORK WELL:

Sony E (super 35mm) FE (full frame) lenses, G and G-Master including Zeiss ZA series. G and G Master  tend to have the best AF performance.

Tamron 28-75 f2.8 Di III RXD E-mount.

KNOWN TO WORK, BUT NOT AS GOOD AS ORIGINAL SONY:

Sigma 20mm f1.4 ART with Sigma MC11 adapter. Works, but a little slow and occasionally hunts.

KNOWN TO NOT PERFORM WELL:

Sigma 20mm f1.4 ART native E-mount (very slow AF, hunting, contrast only?).

Sigma 85mm f1.4 ART native E-mount (very slow AF, a lot of hunting).

Sigma 20mm f1.4 ART Canon EF mount on metabones, comlite or viltrox adapters. Very slow AF, not really useable.

NO GOOD, NO AF:

Tamron EF 16-300mm

Sigma EF 18-250mm