Every time I get to play with a Convergent Design Odyssey I am impressed. It a really nice piece of kit, first off it’s a fantastic OLED monitor with excellent tools such as waveforms and some very sophisticated focus aids. But in addition it’s recording capabilities are second to none. For Sony’s FS700 the Odyssey 7Q is in my opinion a far more elegant and practical solution for 4K and 2K recording than Sony’s IFR5/R5 raw option. In addition I’m excited about being able to record 2K raw at 240fps using the 7Q.

The 7Q has always been competitively priced, but it’s still not what you would regard as a cheap device, at least not compared to the many cheap compressed HD recorders out their now. But don’t forget this is a 4K capable recorder and the monitor is as good as it gets.  You are getting some cutting edge technology and that’s never cheap.  Convergent Design have been listening to FS700 owners and in an attempt to make the 7Q not only the best, but also the cheapest way to get a 4K recorder they have re-assed their pricing. Previously, you had to have multiple options if you had several different Sony cameras and wanted the Odyssey to work with them all, the separate options for the Sony F3 + FS700 were each $1,495 USD.

Now though there is just one single option for Sony cameras that will support both the F3 and FS700, and it will be only $795 (US)

In addition Convergent Design will be reducing the SSD prices while increasing their capacity.

The 240 GB SSD, was $595, will be priced at $395 and will be 256 GB.

The 480 GB SSD, was $1,195, will be priced at $895, and will be 512 GB.

So this means that the Odyssey7Q ($2,295) + Sony Option ($795) + two 256 GB SSD’s ($395 each) + Thunderbolt Reader ($99) will total $3,979 which is an absolute bargain compared to the cost of a Sony IFR5/R5, 1x AXS card and the Sony CR1 reader which comes to around $9k. It’s also a much tidier device to rig.

I also think that for many FS700 users, compressed 4K will be easier to work with than 4K raw.

Just a reminder to everyone that I am a DoP, DiT and Instructor and that I am available for hire! What’s more my rates are very reasonable, I don’t cost the earth and I can bring 20 years of experience to your project, shoot or workshop. I also have a range of cameras, lights and support equipment that I can provide. So next time your crewing up a project, drop me an email using the contact form and I’d be glad to give you a quote.

Sony have just released an update to Content Browser. The new version (2.1) now has a 30 day trial period before a licence key is required. From version 2.0 Content Browser has included support for XAVC as well as XDCAM and NXCAM, so just one unified content management tool is required for the majority of the Sony professional camera range.

You can download version 2.1 from here: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/contentbrowser

Other improvements in version 2.1 include

• Enhancement of CIFS connection (for XDCAM devices)
  • PMW-1000 and XDCAM Station v2.3 support
  • Browse clips on Professional Disc and SxS memory card via CIFS connection

Well I’ve just got back from what was meant to be a one week trip to Broadcast Asia, that turned into a 2 week trip that included a visit to the Movie Production for Digital Migration event in Manila. This was an inspiring event, led by a group of like minded individuals keen to see the Filipino movie industry take a giant leap forwards by embracing the latest digital production methods combined with digital distribution and presentation. I think that for smaller economies with limited budgets, digital movie production could be a real enabler. But, with so few people with real world experience and technical skills in these areas, education will be crucial to making it work. I wish them luck and hope to get back soon to see how they are getting on.

One surprise in my inbox was a rumour that Sony are about to launch a new smart phone that has a built in 20MP camera that can shoot 4K video! At first I though this had to be a joke, how would you store the files? But then I discovered the phone can take what I assume must be Micro SD cards up to 64GB. I’m not convinced that this is really a practical use of 4K, but an interesting development none the less. Below is the rumoured specification:

Sony Xperia “One”

Specification :

*SCREEN = 5″ Triluminous LCD Display (Used in 2013 Bravia TVs with quantum dots over regular RGB) with X-Reality filter & White Magic technology (Use of white pixel with regular RGB) : Overall better saturation , contrast & viewing angles !

*HARDWARE = 2.3GHZ Qualcomm Snapdraggon 800 CPU chip , Adreno 330 GPU , 2GB Ram & 16/32GB Internal Memory with SD card upto 64GB expansion.

*BATTERY = 3000 Mah with Stamina Mode

*CAMERA = Camera 20 megapixel 1/1, 5 inch Exmor R (Same as Sony REX II), 4K Video Recording , Bionz Image Processor Mobile , Integrated Lens G lens , F2.0 aperture , SteadyShot Image Stabilization , ISO 50-12800 , Cybershot UI with Multiple features.

*SOUND = Separate audio processor chip , such as Walkman S-Master MX , 5.1 Support , Stereo speakers magnet technology Bravia liquid (Still in rumour stage , to be confirmed).

*BUILD = Waterproof , Dustproof with IP58 certification , 9mm thickness , uses Aluminium , Glass & Iron frame!

SOFTWARE = All new interface , new set of features , updated Sony Media apps & new Augmented reality.

The workshops I ran at Broadcast Asia went down very well with all of them ending up as standing room only. There was a lot of interest in Sony’s new PMW-300 camcorder and the FS700 was seen working with the R5 raw recorder and Convergent Design Odyssey. The FS700 raw is almost indistinguishable from the PMW-F55’s raw. There was lots of discussion with various people about running some large scale digital film making and documentary production workshops in Asia later in the year, possibly centred around Singapore.

If you are in Asia and you would like to attend a workshop do let me know. If there is enough demand and I can show that demand, then I can look for sponsors to bring the workshops to your country.

As things quieten down after the very busy Broadcast Asia show in Singapore and while I kill some time before flying to Manilla tomorrow, I decided to look at some raw clips I shot with the Sony FS700 and R5 recorder. On the Sony booth there was a PMW-F55 with a 50mm f2 Sony PL lens next to an FS700 with the 18-200mm Sony servo zoom and this was attached to the IFR5/AXS-R5 combination for raw recording. This gave me the opportunity to grab some almost side by side raw comparison footage from both cameras. Now this is hardly a fair contest. The F55 had one of Sony’s great PL mount lenses and the FS700 had the low cost zoom. The cameras were at least shooting the same scene, a reasonably contrasty set with about a few shiny highlights and with strong colours. Despite the vastly different lenses the results were quite surprisingly close.

I didn’t really expect to see much of a difference, after all these are both cameras shooting raw with very similar sensors (the FS700 quite possibly uses the same sensor as the PMW-F5). The F55 sensor has a wider colour gamut and the raw output is 16bit while the FS700 is 12bit. So how does this translate into real world footage? Although I have included a couple of frame grabs from the raw footage converted to SLog2, DO NOT USE THESE TO LOOK CLOSELY AT THE IMAGE QUALITY. They are 8 bit jpeg frame grabs, so they do not have the amazing flexibility or grade-ability of the original 12bit and 16bit raw files.

To compare the clips I used Sony’s raw viewer software as well as Adobe Premiere CC with the Sony raw plug-in (see bottom of post for links to the apps). I tried to use Resolve, but it won’t open the FS700 raw clips at this time, full FS700 raw support will be included in Resolve 10. I have uploaded a couple of very short raw segments from the clips for download from here: www.alisterchapman.com/samples/fs700-f55-raw-samples.zip As always I ask that if you do download the files (380MB) and find them useful that you make a small donation to help cover my hosting costs. I suggest a $5 donation per download, but any donation, no matter how small is gratefully appreciated.

So what do I see? Frankly there really is very little difference between the two. The 18-200mm zoom exhibits a bit more flare on highlights, but otherwise does a pretty good job. One thing that did surprise me was to see the native ISO of the FS700 marked as 500ISO in the raw viewer. I don’t know whether this is normal or whether I had the camera set in some odd mode, but I had expected to see a higher native ISO. I need to learn more about the FS700’s raw mode and do some further tests! You can see the wider colour gamut of the F55. The colours are not just richer but also deeper. By that I mean that there is greater colour contrast between some of the very deep and strong reds in the scene. In addition the F55 material can be manipulated just a little harder before the image degrades, but this is still only a small difference and you really can push both very hard. Perhaps a scene with a greater dynamic range and the exposure pushed more towards it’s limits would show a greater difference, but for this scene the differences are small. The 12 bit raw shadows are grainier and noisier than the 16bit and this may be down to the lack of data in 12 bit raw. Looking at the highlights and reflections on the wooden chair I suspect the dynamic range of both cameras is about the same.

The FS700 in raw mode clearly punches above it’s price point and it begs the question: Why by an F5 or F55 when the FS700 is almost as good? Well, not everyone is going to shoot raw all of the time. The F5 and F55 have the ability to shoot 10 bit compressed internally using XAVC or SStP (The HDCAM SR codec – coming soon in a free update). You can also shoot 8 bit XDCAM with the F5 and F55 to create a proxy file to the raw for editing, although admittedly you can shoot using AVCHD at the same time as raw with the FS700. The F5 and F55 are far better ergonomically and have a multitude of outputs for monitoring. Adding the IFR5 and R5 recorder to the FS700 does create a somewhat clumsy camcorder with either the recorder mounted on rails behind the camera or kept separate and used as a portable recorder. The F5/F55 with R5 docked to the camera is a beautifully elegant design. Don’t forget as well that the F55 also has Frame Image Scan which completely eliminates rolling shutter artefacts. But these features and ergonomics will deprive you of more of your hard earned cash. In pure “bang for you buck” terms the FS700 and IFR5/R5 is a very powerful combination.

I have an FS700 and I’m trying to decide whether to get the IFR5 so I can use it with my R5. I don’t think I’m going to bother, instead I’ll wait for the Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q. 2K raw at 240fps will be very nice to have and 4K compressed will also be useful as an alternative to the F5 and 4K raw. The Odyssey 7Q is a much neater solution with the FS700 and works out cheaper than the IFR5/R5. As well as being a raw recorder it is also a first class OLED monitor, so has many uses beyond the FS700 adding to it’s value.

It’s a great time to be a cinematographer on a budget. If you want 4K raw, only the IFR5/R5 can record this with the FS700 (it’s a shame that Convergent Design are not allowed to record 4K raw on the Odyssey, it could do if Sony would let them). The image quality from the FS700/R5 is incredible and there is no reason why you could not shoot a Hollywood blockbuster with it. I do much prefer the ergonomics and recording flexibility of the F5/R5 but it is quite a bit more expensive, the FS700 is a fantastic camera that just became a whole bunch better.

Sony raw plugin V1.2 for Premiere CC Mac.

Sony raw plugin V1.2 for Premiere CC PC.

Sony raw viewer V1.1 mac.

Sony raw viewer V1.1 PC.

Sony recently released a set of 4 cube LUT’s (Look Up Tables) for use with SLog2. You can download those LUT’s here: DaVinciResolveCubeFiles. In addition there are many other LUT’s that you can use with SLog2 to help create different looks. Most LUT’s designed for SLog and Arri LogC also work reasonably well with S-Log2. In this article I’m going to look at how you can use these both on set and in DaVinci Resolve. Currently on set you cannot upload LUT’s to the F55/F5 or FS700, so if you want to use the LUT’s to alter your monitor output you need to use some additional hardware. One of the most affordable solutions is the Black Magic Design HDLink Pro. This $500 box has HDSDI inputs and outputs as well as other output options including DisplayPort to which you can connect either a DVI or HDMI monitor with the appropriate adapter.

By placing the HDLink between the cameras HDSDI out and your monitor you can apply a LUT by connecting a computer to the HDLink via USB and using the HDLink software utility to import the LUT to the Black Magic box. If you don’t have a LUT you can use the HDLink software to adjust many parameters of the picture to create your desired look live on set. There is one limitation however, without a LUT, you cannot adjust the overall saturation of the image, so when shooting with SLog2 and SGamut the pictures will not have the full saturation (colour) of your final graded output. To compensate for this you can always turn up the saturation on the monitor, just remember to restore the saturation control back to normal before you put the monitor away at the end of the shoot! When using a 3D LUT like the cube LUT’s linked above you do get a full correction including saturation. The computer (which can of course be a laptop) does not need to remain connected to the HDLink. Once you have uploaded the LUT to the box and are happy with your look you can disconnect the computer. The HDLink will remember the LUT and setting. Whenever you use it, it’s always a good idea to plug a computer back in from time to time to check how it is set especially if your making exposure adjustments using the LUT’d output.

If the plan is to use the same LUT both on set and in the grade then you must set up the camera to output correctly. Most LUT’s are designed for use with Log recording, so this means that in the majority of cases the camera will need to be set to output SLog2 (Slog with the PMW-F3). If you are shooting raw using the Sony AXS-R5 recorder then you can take the AUX out from the R5 and use that to feed the HDLink box. This output is a real-time de-bayer of the raw recording with SLog2 applied. By using this output you can still use the F5 and F55’s built in LUT’s if you needed as the built in LUT’s are not applied to the R5’s AUX output. If you do use EI Gain then this will have an impact on your LUT as the recordings (and AUX output) will most likely be exposed brighter, but the result should be similar for both the on-set view via the HDLink and in post production. For FS700 users shooting raw with the R5 the additional AUX output is the only way to feed HDSDI to the HDLink as the cameras HDSDI is used to feed the raw data to the R5.

After the shoot, to use the LUT in DaVinci Resolve, first you must place the LUT or LUT’s, in the correct library folder before opening Resolve. The LUT’s must be saved in the .CUBE format to the Cinespace folder or a new sub directory in:

Mac:

System Drive/Library/Application Support/Black Magic Design/DaVinci Resolve/LUT/

PC:

C:/ProgramData/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/Support/LUT/

On a PC the folder may be hidden, if so go to windows explorer and select “organize” then “view” and click “show hidden folders”.

Once you have installed your LUT’s you can then open Resolve and import your SLog2 footage. If you are shooting raw with the AXS-R5 then you need to open the project settings and ensure that the raw files are being correctly displayed using SLog2 and SGamut. I do this by going to the “camera raw” page and set “Decode Using” to “Project” and then change the Gamut to “SGamut” and gamma to “SLog2”. This ensures all Sony raw clips will be treated as SLog2 even if you did use an internal camera LUT.

Next select the clip or clips that you wish to apply the LUT to and right click on the clip and select “3D LUT” and go to the “Cinespace” folder or the folder you created. There you should see your LUT’s listed. Simply choose the LUT you wish to use. You may need to add some gain or lift adjustment to tweak your images, but they should look as they did via the HDLink box.

You can also use Resolve to create a .cube LUT for use on set. Simply shoot some test Slog2 clips and grade them as you wish the final image to look. Then once your happy with your look, right click on the clip and “Export LUT”. Resolve will then create a .cube LUT that you can use with the HDLink.

Although this is really aimed at those shooting using log, this process will work with almost any camera and any gamma curve. The key thing to remember is to always use the same camera settings with LUT’s tailored to those particular settings. So for example you could use this with a PMW-200 using a Hypergamma or a Canon C300 using C-log or a DSLR. Provided the LUT was created to work with the way the camera is set up, it should work correctly. Just don’t expect a LUT designed for Log to work with a non Log camera.

Here are some better quality images of the PMW-300, including it’s base where there are 2x 1/4″ mounting threads plus the lever for adjusting the shoulder brace.

Here you can see the thumbscrew that attaches the viewfinder mounting bracket to the camera body. There is some side to side adjustment at this point. The viewfinder also slides off the end of the fore-aft adjustment rail by pulling out a small pin.

Adobe released Premiere CC today. This includes Media Encoder CC and both packages have support for Sony’s XAVC codec. It’s a major update so can be installed alongside Premiere 6 to allow for easy migration from one to the other.

Here are some pictures of the new PMW-300 taken at Broadcast Asia. I should be able to get some higher quality images after the show, when it’s no longer in the box. Good news is that the viewfinder is detachable. There are 2 HDSDI outs plus HDMI and dual RCA audio.