OK, OK, so it’s not a Sony camera. So, why am I writing about it? Well I think it’s very interesting and Sony don’t have anything quite like it.
Fujifilm have announced that they are developing a digital cinema camera that is based on their large format GFX-100II digital stills camera. They say it’s “in development” but they have been showing samples at InterBee in Japan and there are pictures of it on the Fujifilm website, so it can’t be all that far from being launched.
The sensor in the GFX-100II is a huge 43.8 x 32.9 mm large format sensor with 102MP. It’s not quite as big as some medium format cameras, but it is 1.7x larger than a full frame sensor.
The sensor is made by Sony and it’s a great shame that Sony haven’t put this into a camera, although Sony would have to come up with a new very clever lens mount system if they wanted to allow owners of existing E-Mount lenses to use them to shoot cropped.
In the GFX-100II Fujifilm do some very clever things with the sensor such as offering the ability to choose between a slower (possibly 14 bit) readout that gives increased dynamic range, a touch less noise and additional tonal information or a faster readout speed (that is probably 12 bit) with much less rolling shutter but also slightly less dynamic range. At least they give you the choice and you can switch between the readout modes depending on what each shot needs the most.
LOTS OF SCAN MODES:
You can shoot using the full sensor width at 4K or with a special 5.8K 2.35:1 scan mode and when used like this with a suitable lens such as the Fujifilm GF 55mm f1.7 the results are gorgeous. Take a look at the film below, shot with the GFX-100II.
If you want to shoot at 8K this is also possible by cropping the sensor to very slightly less than Full Frame. And then from this you could also shoot Super 35 at around 5.7K after cropping. Additionally the camera has several anamorphic shooting modes including open gate 3:2. So, that large format sensor opens up lots of possibilities, you are not limited to large format, Full Frame and Super 35 are possible and look great.
ADAPTABLE LENS MOUNT:
The GFX lens mount can easily be adapted to PL, Canon EF, Nikon, M42 and many others. Looking at the pictures the Eterna has a locking version of the GFX mount. The camera has special modes for the Fuji Premista lenses and Fujifilm say they are working on power zooms and other lenses for the Eterna.
The side of the Fujifilm Eterna Digital Cinema Camera
RECORDING CODECS
Recording codecs in the GFX-100II include internal ProRes, H265 and H264, so plenty of decent options and its even possible to output raw to an Atomos recorder at up to 8K. I would expect to see all of these same options in the Eterna and the quality of the H265 encoder is extremely good with the ability to choose between I frame only and Lon GoP at a wide range of compression ratios.
CONNECTIVITY
Looking at the pictures of the Eterna you can see that it has an SDI out, HDMI out, Ethernet, Genlock and timecode connectors. There are also lemo connectors and hirose connectors – presumably for accessory power and lens options.
The front of the Fujifilm Eterna Digital Cinema Camera
EDIT- It has been revealed that it does have a built in ND filter.
And the name – Eterna. Well that comes from one of the film stocks that Fujifilm used to make and it’s also one of the built in film look presets that the camera has.
How safe are firmware updates? In light of recent events where Sony have released firmware updates for the FX3 and FX30 and then withdrawn them only days later I decided to write this piece in attempt to help people understand what might be happening and what the risks are.
Firmware updates can never be entirely risk free. Afterall, for most cameras a firmware update means replacing the software that alters the way many of the processors function with new software. And this replacement process can sometimes in rare instances go wrong. Generally, if you precisely follow the instructions provided with the update, including checking that the file you have downloaded is valid and corruption free (usually done by comparing an MD5 checksum value against the file size) the update will go smoothly and all will be good.
Real world update failures due to a hardware or software error are very rare. If you look around the online camera user groups, while you will likely find examples of failed updates, some of these may be user error. Not following the instructions etc. But a few will be real failures. But it’s worth considering that user groups will by their very nature attract more users looking for help with issues than users that don’t have issues. So, the numbers will be skewed and may give the impression of a bigger issue than it really is. Also look at the size of the group, if you have a group like some of the FX30 groups with +35,000 users and there are 10 individuals with issues that’s 1 in 3500 or less than 0.03% of the groups membership. A very small number.
On top of this we also need to consider that the firmware that everyone downloads is the same for everyone. And, as everyone is putting this on the same camera you would expect any issue with the firmware to effect every camera in the same way. So, if there was a bug, it should affect every camera and everyone should experience the same issue, not just a very small fraction of the user base.
But, we have seen this before. There have been instances where a firmware update has led to problems when the camera is set up in a very specific and perhaps unusual way and then when a very specific change is made the camera doesn’t behave as expected. Somehow this particular combination of settings has slipped through the extensive testing that’s done leading to a bug in the firmware to go undetected. When this happens the manufacturer will typically quickly release a follow on update to fix the bug.
Following the recent release of firmware version 6.0 for the FX3 and version 5.0 for the FX30, despite the fact that the vast majority of people that did perform the update have had no issues there were a number of reports of issues with the cameras WiFi or Bluetooth networking functions. In some cases the cameras would crash or become unresponsive when the networking was turned on. Based on the number of issues reported in the user groups I don’t think the number of people affected was huge, but clearly it was enough for Sony to withdraw the firmware updates from their website to investigate.
So, what could be going on here? Why might only some people be affected while the majority are perfectly OK, afterall a true firmware bug should affect everyone?
Version 5/6 brings some big changes to the WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity with many adjustments made to help improve the stability of the connections and improve compatibility with the latest Monitor and Control app. I suspect that this new firmware is using functions within the WiFi and Bluetooth chips that were previously unused, so this firmware might be turning on parts of the chips not previously used.
It might be that some people have cameras that have faulty WiFi chips but because the part of the chip with the fault wasn’t used by the previous firmware versions they would have been completely unaware that their camera was hiding a hidden issue until the time the new firmware turned on the faulty part of the chip.
This is just a speculative theory, bit it fits what appears to be happening. Did these camera develop this fault after they were purchased or did it exist at the time of purchase? That will be difficult to prove either way unless a batch of faulty chips gets identified. I have a great deal of sympathy for those affected, it could happen to any of us.
And I guess this is one of the issues with firmware updates that add or turn on new features. There is now way to know if the fault pre-exists in the camera with earlier firmware versions as there is no way to test a feature that the firmware has yet to be written for.
It’s a tough one for any manufacturer. End users now expect, demand even, that new features are continuously added to their cameras. That necessitates a steady stream of firmware updates and the switching on of parts of the camera not previously used and this will always carry a tiny level of risk, even if it’s extremely small. One solution would be for manufacturers to refuse to provide these feature upgrades, if you want new features buy a new camera with the latest firmware.
Of course this wouldn’t go down well and I don’t see that happening. Another solution would be to avoid buying a camera until the final version of the firmware is released. But that would mean only buying a camera towards the end of its release cycle.
I suspect the reality is that if we are to continue to expect to get extra features or other improvements added to our cameras via firmware updates that very occasionally things might go wrong, that perhaps a very small percentage of users will have a problem and that’s something we need to come to terms with if we want these updates. Or you just leave the camera with the firmware it was supplied with in which case you have nothing to worry about.
Global shutter cameras are not a new thing. They have been around for a very long time. The Sony Z750 is 2.5 years old and has had a global shutter since day 1. There are also the HDC-3200 and F5500 4K global shutter cameras.
Global Shutter Sony PMW-F55
The PMW-F55 had a global shutter and CCD cameras had global shutters.
And now Sony have announced the new A9 MKIII stills camera that also has a global shutter:
Sony’s new A9 III has a global shutter.
So, given that it’s not really a new thing – why doesn’t every camera have a global shutter?
The main reason is noise – and in particular fixed pattern noise that will show up in blacks and deep shadow areas if you try to lift the shadows or use high levels of gain. With a global shutter the signal from every pixel is globally shifted into a memory cell at the end of each exposure period and then those memory cells are read out while the next frame is being capture. Each memory cell will have a slightly different very tiny signal offset and as the arrangement of the memory cells never changes these offsets get added to the signal and appear in the output as a fixed noise pattern. It can be harder to eliminate this fixed pattern noise in post production compared to random noise and it can look very ugly, not at all like film grain.
In addition the readout can be delayed by up to 1 frame more than a rolling shutter sensor as the readout from the sensor to the image processor must wait until after the frame has been captured and shifted from the pixels to the memory cells. This adds additional latency to the monitoring (not really an issue in a photo camera, but more of a problem in a video camera).
IQ IS A BALANCING ACT.
Image quality is never about one single factor. It is about the balance between noise, readout speed, DR, colour, artefacts. But when one issue, such as fixed pattern noise overwhelms any other benefits it tends to become a problem. The F55 was well know for it’s fixed pattern noise, so a good bright exposure was always desirable to avoid the noise. An under exposed F55 was ugly and generally you would always try to shoot 1 or 2 stops brighter than the cameras base ISO. Early tests of the A9 III appear to indicate that it is a bit noisier that other similar rolling shutter cameras and the limited ISO range suggests that the sensors DR is also a bit more limited – this shouldn’t really be a surprise as noise limits the shadow DR. Plus this is a single ISO camera, no dual ISO goodness with the A9 III.
So, a high end global shutter camera may well be good to have, but are you willing to give up dual ISO, exceptional low light performance or low noise? Given the A9 III sensor appears to have a native ISO of 250, what about needing to use an EI of 250 to get the best performance out of your S-Log3 or raw video camera when everything else can now be rated at 800 without issue? The F55 was 1250 ISO, but you needed to shoot at around 320-640 EI to get an image as clean as we can now get at 800EI with the newer cameras and there was no way you would want to shoot at 4000ISO/EI with an F55 but now we take for granted the ability to shoot at high ISOs without excessive noise.
I have no doubt that the A9 III is a great photo camera and that it’s global shutter can bring some benefits such as eliminating the need for a mechanical shutter and very high speed flash synchronisation. But these benefits are not essential for a video camera. In the future maybe all cameras will have global shutters, but we are not yet at the point where a global shutter doesn’t have any downsides. The extra memory cells, the extra transistors used to control the movement of the tiny signals on the sensor all add a little extra noise. The sensor might run hotter too especially if used for video. Plus the sensor is probably more expensive to make. So, while I think the A9 III is a welcome addition I don’t think it makes our rolling shutter video cameras obsolete. The majority of films shot on film had a small small amount of rolling shutter caused by the sweep of the cameras rotary shutter across the film.
I was lucky enough to have been involved with a couple of the Sony Burano demo films as technical consultant and in addition I have now shot with it myself a few times. You will find the main film I helped to shoot, shot with a pre-production Burano and mostly Cooke SP3 lenses here: https://alphauniverse-mea.com/burano/.
So I though I would take a look at what it is and who it’s for. Everything written here is based on my experience with a pre-production camera, so there may be some small differences in the final release cameras.
What is Burano?
Sony’s Burano camera is a digital cinematography camera with an 8.6K sensor. It records to 3 different codecs, 16 bit X-OCN, and 10 bit XAVC-H and XAVC-I. It’s smaller than a Sony Venice and bigger than a Sony FX6. Overall, it is a similar size to the Sony FX9 and just a touch heavier. It has a PL lens mount and behind the PL mount there is a locking Sony E-Mount. It is expected to have a list price of 25,000 Euros.
The 8.6K sensor more than likely shares the same DNA as the sensor in the 8.6K Venice camera, but it is not the same sensor as Burano includes phase detection autofocus pixels and has a little more rolling shutter than Venice. Perhaps the Burano sensor is the same sensor as used in the Sony A1 camera. It’s no secret that the Venice 8.6K sensor and the Sony A1 sensor are very closely related. The autofocus in Burano is assisted by a dedicated AI processor.
Sony Burano has an 8.6K Full Frame sensor
Burano has one of Sony’s very handy variable ND filters that smoothly goes from ¼ ND to 1/128th ND (2 to 6 stops). There is also a clear position where a clear optical flat replaces the ND.
Variable ND AND IBIS!
A first in Burano is the combination of both a variable ND filter and IBIS (In Body Stabilisation). The in body stabilisation is capable of working in conjunction with almost any lens attached to the camera including PL lenses.
CFExpress Type B.
Burano records to readily available CFExpress Type B cards, it is recommended that VPG400 cards are used but I have been able to use other fast cards not certified to the VPG400 standard (400MB/S sustained write speed). This represents a tremendous cost saving over the ultra expensive AXS cards required for Venice and while more expensive than SD cards, CFExpress cards are not crazy money. I successfully shot using 512GB Sabrent and Integral cards that cost around £150 ($200) each (the camera flashed up an unsupported media message, but I was able to record at all frame rates and resolutions including 4K 120fps and 8.6K 30fps X-OCN). The officially recommended cards are Sony’s VPG400 “tough” cards along with other brands of VPG400 cards, but these are more expensive.
Touchscreen LCD.
It is supplied with a good quality touchscreen LCD that can be used “as-is” or with a loupe attached to it. The optics in the loupe are pretty good and it uses a mirror to fold the optical path making it less long than the Loupe found on the FX9. BUT this mirror is in my opinion a very odd choice, more on that later. The LCD screen can be mounted to its mounting hardware in quite a few different ways allowing the camera to be adapted to many different shooting styles, again more details on this later.
Sony Burano LCD screen
V-Mount and 14 volts.
The camera has a V-Mount for V-Mount batteries as well as a 4 pin XLR input. No silly voltages here, it’s all industry standard 12v-16v. But one small omission is a complete lack of any DC out connectors on the camera body other than a USB-C port.
The bottom and top of the camera are completely flat, so it is very easy to add various base plates and I am sure there will be plenty of 3rd party cheese plate options etc. At IBC there were options from Vocas, Chrosziel and Tilta and I know there are accessories from Wooden Camera and Bright Tangerine in the pipelines.
Burano has an HDMI out and 2 SDI ouptuts, the top SDI is 12G, the lower SDI is 6G.
WHAT CAN IT RECORD?
8.6K Full Frame X-OCN-LT (and 8K XAVC-H + 4K & HD XAVC-I)
Burano has a few different scan sizes. The largest is an 8.6K scan of the full frame sensor at up to 30fps and this can be recorded to 16 X-OCN-LT or to the new H265 based XAVC-H codec. X-OCN is Sony’s raw codec, it takes everything the sensor captures, compresses it and records it in a very computer friendly 16 bit file.
Ungraded Burano X-OCN frame grab, click on the image to enlarge.
This is the same codec as used by the Venice cameras. On a Venice there are 3 versions, XT (eXtended quality) ST (Standard Quality) and LT (Light). Even though LT is the smallest version of X-OCN the quality remains exceptionally good and I’ve used X-OCN-LT when shooting with the Venice cameras many times because my experience is that for most types of production the difference between LT and XT is so small that LT is more than enough. Shooting at 8.6K and 30fps it is around 1.5Gb/s so you will get around 30 minutes on a 512GB card.
Sony Burano Scan modes (approximate relative sizes).
XAVC-H
XAVC-H is only for 8K recording. There are three versions of XAVC-H, all are 10 bit 4:2:2 and based on H265. XAVC-H-I-HQ is I frame only and goes up to 1200Mbps offering very high quality recordings. XAVC-H-I-SQ is the standard quality version going up to 800Mbps. Even at this bit rate the image quality remains very high, but if I wanted to shoot S-Log3 and grade, I would prefer XAVC-H-I-HQ. Shooting at XAVC-H-I-HQ you will get a little over an hour of 8K 30fps footage on a 512GB card when using the 8.6K scan mode.
In addition there is a long GoP version, however the Long GoP version only supports 16:9. XAVC-H-L has a maximum bit rate of 520Mbps and actually the image quality is exceptionally good, comparable to the XAVC-H-I-HQ. But this codec need a lot of processing power in post production so may not be suitable for complex productions or anything where you have layers of clips.
Full Frame Scan – 6K recording. Full Frame crop 6K
The next smaller scan size in what Sony rather confusingly calls Full Frame crop 6K. Unlike most other cameras the “6K” refers to the size of the recorded file, not the sensor scan. Sony haven’t publicly stated the number of pixels used, but according to my calculations it appears to be an 8K scan and the crop from Full Frame is very, very small. Only about 1.07x, less than 10%. The scan is then downsampled to 6K for recording.
For me this is a really nice option. The file sizes are half the size of the 8.6K scans, but because this is a downsample from the bayer sensor there is very little, if any, resolution loss (8K bayer resolves around 6K). I’m going to guess that this downsample to 6K is necessary to make recording X-OCN to CFExpress cards at 60 fps reliable. Recording X-OCN LT using the 6K scan mode at 30fps you will get around an hour of footage on a 512GB card.
From the FF Crop 6K mode you can also record in 4K or HD using the XAVC-I codec.
Selecting a new scan mode on Burano.
Going smaller, there is a Super35 mm 5.8K scan, recorded at either 5.8K with X-OCN or 4K or HD with XAVC-I. The image quality is not compromised in any way at any of the scan sizes, so there are no extra aliasing issues, no loss of dynamic range, no extra noise. So, this means that Burano is an excellent Super 35mm camera. At 5.8K using X-OCN LT at 30fps you will get a touch over 1 hour on a 512GB card.
In a future firmware update we are promised a 4:3 scan mode. 4:3 scan is the normally used aspect ration for classic super 35mm 2x anamorphic lenses. In addition we will get extra de-squeeze modes including 1.5x and 1.8x.
4K Scan and 120fps.
To shoot at more than 60fps we need to go down to a 4K scan. This is quite a small part of the sensor, the crop is around 2.15x from Full frame. The good side is the image quality is no different to any of the other scan modes (other than resolution). The down side is you will need some pretty wide lenses for wide shots. But, for wild life shooters this will allow you to get closer to the action when shooting at up to 120fps.
As you can see from the table above, XAVC-H is only available for the FF 8.6K scan mode. Once you drop down to the FF Crop 6K scan mode you can use XAVC-I to record in DCI 4K, UHD or HD.
Picture Quality.
Shot with a Sony Burano and Cooke SP3 lens
It’s exceptionally good. And this is the thing, despite some of the cameras limitations and oddities (more on them later) Burano produces a beautiful image. The 16 bit X-OCN gives incredible post production flexibility and this is the codec you are going to want to use if you really want to get the best out of the camera. The subtleties the camera captures when shooting faces are sublime. The colour range is staggering and the linearity, the way colours don’t change or shift with brightness allows you to capture vast amounts of colour information from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights.
Beautiful Skin tone textures from Sony Burano
The performance when shooting with XAVC-H is also very good, but you do loose some of the wonderful grading flexibility of the X-OCN.
When shooting at 8.6K with X-OCN-LT the images are almost indistinguishable from the images from a Venice 2, perhaps the only giveaway being more rolling shutter from Burano than Venice 2 (approx 16ms at 8.6k).
Burano’s sensor is a dual base ISO sensor, the base ISO’s are 800 and 3200 (the same as the 8.6K Venice 2). There is very little difference between the noise at each ISO and what noise there is very fine, almost film like. I actually like seeing the noise from Burano, it adds a subtle texture to the images that looks very nice.
Shot at using Burano’s high base ISO of 3200.
Cameras like Sony’s FX6 already produce very good images, so, other than perhaps resolution, what is different about Burano’s images that makes me prefer it over the others? Frankly not a vast amount, we are already seeing the FX3 and FX6 being used on feature films, so we know they are very good. But what Burano has over the FX6 (like Venice) is an image that for me is more organic. It looks less electronic, less processed and there is a subtle richness to the colours not there in the FX3 or FX6. It is not a night and day difference, but it is a difference that makes me want to shoot with a Burano or Venice whenever I can. I suspect some of this comes from shooting at 8.6K or 5.8K and then down sampling to 4K, the extra resolution really helps with fine textures, colour resolution is greatly improved over a 4K sensor and the noise has a fineness to it that is very organic.
Output Limitations:
One thing I discovered when using Burano to shoot X-OCN is that there are some output limitations. The camera has 2 SDI outputs, the top one is 12G and the lower one is 3G plus a 4K capable HDMI output. But when shooting using X-OCN these outputs are limited. You can’t have both SDI and HDMI at the same time and there is no way to get a 4K SDI output when shooting X-OCN. You can have 4K HDMI, but if you output 4K HDMI, you can’t have a LUT on the HDMI. In addition, if you are using the other codecs and want a LUT you can only get a LUT on the output when outputting HD. I was really surprised by these limitations.
This isn’t a cheap camera and the FX6 can output 4K and a LUT no matter how it’s setup. I had hoped that the FX9 was going to be the last camera with these sorts of restrictions, but alas no, Burano has them too. It’s very disappointing. But, I also acknowledge that not many people actually monitor on set at 4K (although 4K on a big monitor does make it much easier to see focus issues) and seeing as you have extremely high quality 16 bit internal recordings there isn’t really the need to output at 4K for an external recorder.
Better news is that even though there is no dedicated anamorphic scan mode the camera does support 2x and 1.3x monitoring De-Squeeze (with 1.5x and 1.8x to come in later firmware updates). But this is limited to when using the X-OCN codec. For anamorphic, until the 4:3 scan mode gets added via a later firmware update you should use the 8.6K FF scan modes wherever possible as this will be the correct height for super 35mm anamorphic lenses.
Even though you do need to do some cropping in post production, shooting 2x Anamorphic with a sensor that is nearly 5K tall and after cropping will be around 6K wide is absolutely fine for any type of delivery.
Cache Record, Interval Record and S&Q
Like most of Sony’s professional cameras Burano has cache record giving up to 30 seconds of pre-record cache and an interval record function. The cache can be combined with the S&Q mode (slow and quick) for slow motion and at 120fps is still a very decent 10 seconds (immediately I start thinking about shooting lightning and thunderstorms at 120fps using the cache).
And for those that don’t want to shoot X-OCN (raw) or S-Log3 Burano does have a full custom mode with S-Cinetone and Rec-709 gamma, pretty much the same as the FX6.
Ergonomics.
It’s a box, slightly smaller than the FX9. An almost square box, no weird curved base or odd shapes. Overall the camera body seems well laid out. The flat top and bottom makes mounting base plates and top plates easy. There is a V-Mount on the back, so no silly power adapters needed. On the right side of the camera there are 2 SDI connectors and HDMI connector plus connectors for genlock and timecode. You also have 2 full size XLR inputs. But there are a couple of omissions.
Right Side of the Sony Burano (not the 3rd party power breakout box between the battery and camera). Also the option arm and hand grip.
There is no DC power output other than a USB-C port. On a cinema camera you normally want a power output for accessories such as a follow focus or perhaps 3rd party monitor. But Burano has no power output. This means most will need to either use batteries with D-Taps or some sort of power module between the battery and camera. For the filming I’ve done with Burano I used a power breakout module between the battery and v-mount as this is a little bit safer than using D-Taps on a battery that you have to reconnect every time the battery has to be changed.
As an option you can buy an arm (Sony GPVR100) with a handgrip that is very similar to the arm used on the FX9. But the new arm includes a small lever that releases the arms pivot making it quick and easy to adjust the angle of the arm. This is a very big improvement over previous Sony arms. The new arm is also compatible with the FX6, but not the FX9.
Top Handle and LCD Mounting.
Sony Burano viewed for above.
The camera is supplied with a very solid all metal top handle that bolts onto either the front or rear of the top of the camera. The handle then has a 15mm rod running through it for the viewfinder mounting system.
This IS an improvement over previous similar mounting systems as now the main support bar for the viewfinder is compatible with the Nato standard rather than Sony’s unique square rod or worse still the round rods that were in the FS7. But I do feel that the viewfinder mounting and ergonomics do let the camera down a bit, especially at the target price of 25K Euro/USD. There are certainly some odd design decisions.
Burano Nato rail for the LCD
The LCD itself has two mounting points, one on it’s rear and one on the end. It attaches to a swivel joint and then the swivel attaches to the Nato rail. The swivel joint has a fixed level of tension, it’s pretty stiff, so won’t droop or sag, even with the eyepiece attached.
The combination of 2 different mounting points on the LCD screen and two different ways the swivel can be attached to the Nato rail allows you to mount the LCD on either side of the camera, either parallel with the camera body or sticking out at 90 degrees from the body.
The Burano LCD swivel attached to the back of the screen
So far, so good. By mounting the LCD on the right side of the camera it can be used by an assistant or AC much like the assistants control panel on a Venice. When you press the large “Home” button you get what Sony call the “Big 6” controls for frame rate, ISO, white balance, ND filter, shutter speed and monitoring.
Burano LCD showing the Big 6 main camera settings.
When the Big 6 are being displayed the overlays on the SDI and HDMI are reduced to minimise clutter on an external monitor. Around the screen there are 6 buttons, one for each of the big 6 oryou can touch the screen to change the settings.
I expect most users of Burano will have the LCD screen mounted on the left side of the camera. If you attach the LCD parallel with the camera body you can then attach the high quality magnifier. This incorporates a mirror to keep the viewfinder assembly nice and compact. The housing is metal and the optics are high quality which is great. But why does it have a mirror?
Shooting using the Sony Burano Loupe
You see – the LCD is a touch screen and I am sure there will be many times when you will want to use the magnifier/loupe as the screen is totally shaded from the sun so you see the correct contrast and you can see focus more easily. But with the LCD screen parallel with the camera body, when you flip the screen up, if the camera is on your shoulder, you can’t see the LCD making it impossible to use the touch functions or menus.
When you open or remove the loupe the LCD can only be seen from the side of the camera
I know a lot of people don’t like the FX9 loupe because it’s long and plastic. But at least you could flip that up and see the screen. This one doesn’t make any sense. And what’s worse is that when you attach the viewfinder magnifier the buttons for the “Big 6” functions are inside the magnifier housing so can’t be used! Instead you’ll need to use the thumbstick which is on the far side of the LCD, hidden by the loupe assembly and tricky to get at. None of this makes any sense.
The information overlays on Sony Burano are around the edge of the LCD image.
Which is such a shame, because on the LCD screen the information overlays are no longer over the image, they are around the edge of the screen and the screen itself is of reasonable quality. When used with the loupe it is a nice viewfinder and I am sure many will want to use it this way. I suspect we will see some 3rd party adapters to eliminate the mirror or allow the screen to flip out and then all these issues go away. One note is that the overlays are only around the edge of the image on the LCD screen. If outputting to an external monitor the overlays are over the main image (I believe there will be a later firmware update to allow the output of a monitoring image with the overlays around the outside of the image via the HDMI at some point).
Audio Inputs
Another oddity is that it isn’t easy to get more than 2 channels of audio into the camera. I have become used to having my external mics on channels 1 and 2 and then using the cameras internal mic on channel 3 and 4 as a backup. But with only 2 analog XLRs you only have 2 inputs! The camera does have a small scratch mic on the operators side, but there is no other microphone built in to the camera. There is a way to get more than 2 channels of audio in and it and it involves the use of the top handle from the FX9. On the top of the Burano camera there is a little cover and under the cover there is the same connector as there is on the top of the FX9. And, Burano can take the FX9 top handle instead of the suppled handle. This then gives you the ability to use the MI Shoe on the FX9’s handle to feed 2 more channels of audio into the camera. The FX9 handle can be purchased from a Sony dealer as a spare part. But I have to say, when you are spending 25K Euro/USD on a camera this is a bit disappointing. Please Sony, make a small breakout box.
Note the extra mounting points and the connector cover that allows the FX9 top handle to be used on a Sony Burano.
Variable ND and IBIS.
Burano has Sony’s Full Frame variable ND filter system. This is so easy to use and a great feature. There is a clear position and then when the ND filter comes in the minimum ND is 2 stops going all the way to 8 stops. There is a rotary dial on the left side of the camera for variable ND, or you can set the ND filter to work in 1 stop steps which can then be controlled via the Big 6 home menu or the plus and minus buttons. The variable ND can also be controlled automatically by the cameras auto exposure system which is an interesting option particularly when shooting with PL lenses. In addition when using a Sony E-Mount lens and the variable ND is engaged you can use the “Bokeh Control” function that ties the ND filter and the lenses iris together to maintain a constant image brightness. By turning the iris control you can alter the depth of field and Bokeh while the brightness stays the same.
Sony Burano ND filter wheel and buttons
IBIS One of the big surprises though is the addition of IBIS in body stabilisation because for a long time Sony said that having both together wasn’t possible. IBIS works with any lens, including unstabilised PL lenses. What’s more it’s really good. There are a couple of different levels of stabilisation including an off setting. When shooting in Full Frame you are limited to the Low setting – which works very well at removing low levels of camera shake, its great for steadying up a handheld shot. When using a PL (or other non Sony E-Mount lens) you must set the focal length of the lens manually to get the best results. Set too long a focal length setting and the image will be over stabilised, making it more jittery and wobbly. Set a shorter focal length than that of the lens and you get less stabilisation, this might be handy if you want only a very small amount of stabilisation.
Sony Burano PL Stabilisation
When shooting using the s35 5.8K scan mode and XAVC-I there is a high setting for PL and other non Sony lenses as well as an active setting for Sony E-mount lenses. This does introduce a small additional crop into the image but is very good at taking out a lot of camera shake. These modes only work when recording XAVC-H or XAVC-I, the high and active modes don’t work with X-OCN. However active mode does tend to “grab” a little bit, taking out a lot of shake and wobble until it can’t take any more out and then suddenly the image jerks a bit and then grabs a new stable position. I myself am not a big fan of the active mode, but its handy to have it in reserve for those times you are really struggling to get a stable shot, perhaps from a helicopter or boat.
One small issue with adding IBIS to a digital cinema camera is that because the sensor can move there could be small image shifts when the camera is used locked off, shut down and then restarted.
AS well as IBIS Burano has gyro sensors and the gyro data is recorded as metadata to allow footage to be stabilised in post production. To use the Gyro data IBIS should be turned off or you should use the PL Hi or E-Mount Active modes.
One note here – when you remove or refit the PL mount you MUST turn the camera off. When you turn the camera on it checks to see whether the PL Mount is fitted or not and then makes adaptations to the menu options based on whether the camera thinks you have the PL mount attached or not.
Autofocus with AI processing.
Sony Burano autofocus with AI and human tracking.
Burano has autofocus. It has Sony’s excellent fast hybrid autofocus system and we all know how good that is. It even has a new AI based processing chip to assist with the object tracking and human detection. The autofocus can be driven using the LCD touch screen, simply touch where you want the camera to focus and it will then track that object. It can be set to recognise “Humans” and will prioritise Humans over anything else in the shot, focussing on the profile of a human, even if they are not facing the camera and then when they turn towards the camear it will focus on the persons face or eyes. It works exceptionally well. It is also highly programmable with the usual settings for responsiveness and focus speed that we see in cameras like the FX6 and FX3.
I think it will be quite interesting to see whether high end film makers will, or will not, use autofocus. Burano gives Venice image quality but with the ability to use AF if you want. It might end up used on very big features for action scenes or other shots where focus is particularly challenging. It will be great for use on gimbals and stabilisers. The projects I have been involved have used gimbals and drones. Burano balances really easily, much more easily than a Venice on most drones and gimbals. And for drone work it is so much lighter than a Venice or most other 8K digital cinema cameras. I’ve even managed to get it balanced on a DJI RS3 (using the Cooke SP3 lenses).
Sony Burano balances really well on gimbals.
So, who is it for?
Burano seems to me to be the Sony F55 replacement that so many have been looking for since the F55 was discontinued. But it’s more than that. We have seen that it is possible to shoot a big budget feature film with the Sony FX3, so there really is no reason why you can’t use Burano on very high end features. Burano isn’t that much heavier than a Sony Rialto, so I can see some productions that might have had a Rialto on set swapping the Rialto for a Burano – with Burano there is no umbilical cable to worry about.
Sony Burano on a DJI Gimbal.
It will be a great camera for documentary production where you want Venice image quality but without the expense or weight. Although it is worth noting that it is bigger and heavier than an FX6 (but very slightly smaller than the FX9), so it won’t suit every production. Wildlife productions will likely be very happy to get a camera that can deliver both 8K resolution for re-framing as well as offering different crop modes for when tighter shots are needed. The ability to switch near instantly between the different crop modes will be highly beneficial as will the speed at which the camera turns on.
Assigning Crop Select to an assignable button makes switching between the different crop modes very fast on Sony Burano
A key Burano strength is its ability to shoot over sampled super 35. I think we will see a resurgence in the use of Super 35 especially for productions that need zoom lenses. There are far more lens options for Super 35 than full frame. Super 35mm lenses have been around for a very long time so there is a wealth of lenses to choose from. So, for anyone that needs a really good s35 camera Burano will be a great option. And compared to other cameras that shoot at s35, as well as the oversampling there is the dual ISO performance, Burano is great in low light. The base ISO’s are the same as Venice 2, 800 ISO at low base and 3200 ISO at high base. Even at high base the noise is minimal and quite pretty looking.
Ungraded frame grab from Burano, Click to enlarge.
Burano will be a lower cost, high quality option for anyone that needs to deliver in 8K (as long as you don’t need to go above 30fps). Although I don’t think there are many actually doing this right now and it will be some time before 8K delivery becomes common (if it ever does). I’ve had to deliver a couple of 8K productions but they are the exception, most of what I deliver is 4K and its likely to stay that way for some time yet.
I think Burano will have a very broad appeal. It is perhaps a bit on the expensive side for a lot of those that currently use the FX6 or FX9, and let’s face it, the FX6/FX9 does produce really nice pictures. I think it only has limited appeal for TV News, but for those shooting docs it will be a really nice choice.
But what about some of the negatives I have pointed out?
Well, I really wish they weren’t there and they are frustrating. But none of them are show stoppers. I really want the flexibility to shoot from 8K full frame to super 35, to record with 16 bit X-OCN at up to 120fps. I want the colour response and dynamic range. I love the idea of IBIS with PL lenses and autofocus with Sony lenses. I can live with only a HD SDI output when shooting full frame X-OCN, after all I don’t need to record externally when the internal X-OCN is so good. I’ll figure out how to get around the strange LCD/Loupe situation, I’m sure there will be some 3rd party solutions. I can perhaps live with only 2 channels of audio (unless I add the FX9 top handle). So, overall I am really am excited about doing more with Burano. It fills the gap that was left when the F5 and F55 were discontinued and will be a great option for a lot of productions looking to bridge that gap between the FX9 and Venice. For many people, myself included Venice is out of my price range, Venice is a camera I rent when I need it. Burano offers most of the same image quality but at a much more affordable price, especially when media costs are factored in (the AXS cards for needed for the 8K Venice are around £4K each). Burano’s FF Crop 6K scan modes are going to be perfect for documentary productions allowing you to benefit from the near full frame 8K scan to 6K recording, it’s oversampled while halving the file size compared to recording at 8K.
When can you get one? Originally it was going to be available very early 2024, but in the last few days this has been put back to Spring 2024 – It’s going to be a long wait, but I think well worth the wait.
When testing and evaluating a camera, whether that’s a digital photo camera, video camera or digital cinema camera it is always useful to have a test chart or 2 (or more). While printing a chart at home isn’t always the best way to go, comercial charts can be very expensive to buy. So below is a link to an ISO 12233 chart, a Zone Plate chart and a Siemens Star chart that you can download for free and print at home. You will need a good printer and good quality photo paper for the best results.
For the ISO 12233 chart I divide this into quarters, print each 1/4 and then join them back together to make a larger chart.
The zone plate and siemens charts should be printed as large as possible, but in use they would not fill the frame, perhaps only a small part of the frame depending on the resolution of the camera you are evaluating.
I have not included any color charts or grey scale charts as it will be extremely difficult to know whether the colors or shades of grey your printer produces are actually correct, making the chart invalid.
Zone plate derived from Imatest Software. Click on the image to go to full size file.Siemens 100 radial star chart – click on the image to go to the full size file.
In some regards this is now already old news. I’m under NDA so there are limits as to what I can, or what I should write. Hopefully I won’t get into too much trouble if I point out that there are already a lot of rumours circulating right now that a new camera called the FX3 might be about to be launched. The official line is that there is going to be an announcement on the 23rd of February, just a week from now. So why not just chill out for a one week as then you will be able to get the full facts about whatever it is that’s going to be added to the Cinema Line.
Your going on an overseas shoot and trying to decide whether to check in your camera or take it as carry-on on the flight. What should you do, which is best?
24.8 million checked bags went missing in 2018, so it’s not a small problem.
Europe is the worst with 7.29 bags per 1,000 passengers annually, then it’s 2.85 in North America and only 1.77 in Asia.
So if you’re in Europe and travelling with say 3 bags – camera, tripod, lights. Then statistically your going to lose a bag around around once every 45 flights (22.5 return journeys). The statistics actually fit well with my own experience of a checked in bag going missing about once every 2 years. Most of the time they do turn up eventually, but if you need the gear for a shoot this can often be too late, especially if the location is remote or a long way from an airport.
Some years back I had a huge flightcase with a complete edit system in it disappear on a flight. It didn’t show up again until a couple of years later, found by the airline quite literally on the wrong side of the planet. How you lose something that size for years is beyond me. But stuff does go missing. This case eventually found it’s way back because my name and address was inside it. And that’s an important point. Make sure your contact details are on your luggage and IN your luggage. On the outside I only put my mobile phone number as there are criminal gangs that will look for addresses on luggage knowing that there’s a higher than normal chance that your home or business property may be unattended while you are out of the country.
Another thing to think about is how tags get attached to your luggage. If the bag is a hold-all type bag with two straps, often the check-in agent will put the baggage tag around both carry handles. If a baggage handler then picks the bag up by a single handle this can cause the tag to come off. Also baggage tags also have little additional bar code on the very end of the tag. These are supposed to be stuck onto the luggage so that if the tag comes off the luggage it can still be scanned and tracked. But often the check-in agents don’t bother sticking them on to your luggage.
If you have ever worked airside at an airport, as you move around you’ll often see small piles of luggage stacked in corners from where it’s fallen off luggage belts or worse still are the bags on the outside of bends on the airport service roads, often in the rain or snow, that have fallen from luggage bins or luggage trucks. Many airports employ people just to drive around to pickup up this stuff , throw it into a truck and then dump in a central area for sorting. Most will eventually find their owners but many won’t which is why they are now many specialist auction houses that sell off lost luggage on behalf of the airlines and airports.
Also what happens if you get caught up in an IT failure or baggage handlers industrial action? You valuable kit could end up in limbo for weeks.
So, I recommend where you can you take your camera as carry-on. Also do remember any lithium batteries MUST be taken as carry on. Tripod, lights etc, that can go in the hold. If they go missing it is a complete pain, but you can probably still shoot if you have the camera a lens and couple of batteries.
So, you have decided to take the plunge and invest in a new camera. You’ve been shooting with your old camera for a couple of years or more and it’s served you well. But when you try to trade it in or sell it you find it’s really not worth a great deal. Maybe only a small fraction of what you paid for it. What do you do?
For a start a dealer won’t give you a great deal on an older camera that’s been superseded by a newer model, unless there is some kind of very special trade in deal (even then you may be able to negotiate a better discounted price from the dealer and then sell the old camera separately). I’m assuming you are buying the new one because it’s better than the old one. Dealers don’t want large numbers of older cameras sitting on shelves unless they can afford to carry the risk of them not selling. Some dealers might be willing to try to sell it for you on a commission basis and that might be one way to go. But if you can sell it privately, you’ll typically get a bit more money for it than a trade in.
Whatever you do it’s time to put your business head on, rather than allowing any emotional attachment to a camera (that may well have served you well) to influence your decision making. In a years time it’s likely the old camera will be worth even less.
Ask yourself the following question: Will keeping the camera earn me more additional profit than the money I will get from selling it, even if it is an uncomfortably low price? If the answer is no, then sell it now while it’s still worth something and don’t hang around, get rid of it while you can.
Don’t just hang on to it because you can’t bear to sell it for such a low price. This isn’t a child or loved one, it’s a tool and there is no point in having a tool that’s not going to be used, or might get used once in the next year, cluttering up your office. I’ve often made the mistake of hanging on to a much loved camera to use as a backup or B camera and never actually used it. Instead it’s sat on a shelf for a couple of years gathering dust until it eventually it gets discarded (it might impact your equipment insurance, it still needs to be insured as an insurance company can sometimes refuse to pay out if something happens and you are found to be under insured).
Remember, to be useful a B camera will also typically needs it’s own tripod, batteries and all the other support kit the main camera needs. So hanging on to a second camera may mean having to also hang on to a lot of other kit as well.
But if you are confident it will make you that extra money then keep it.
Another consideration is what could you do with the the money you can get for it? Would it allow you to invest in some new lenses to go with your new camera? Perhaps a better tripod, new lights, stuff you would use day-in day-out rather than once in a blue moon. It’s much better to have you hard earned cash working for you on a regular basis than hanging on to something “just in case”. In those once in a blue moon, just in case scenarios there are places called rental houses. And if the project that needs that once in a blue moon second camera isn’t going to pay to hire one, then why are you providing it? You are running a business not a charity aren’t you? A bit dramatic perhaps and there will always be exceptions to the rule. But that is the way you should be thinking.
If the old camera has been good for you, the emotional attachment often leads to hanging on to a piece of kit that really should be moved on to make way for new tools that will help you grow the business. If you do keep it, instead of it hanging out on a shelf, do consider hiring it out. It’s less damaging to your business if a spare or backup camera gets stolen or damaged on a rental than your main camera, so this could be a toe in the water of a sideline rental business. But do explore you insurance restrictions and limitations, plus consider whether you want strangers turning up at your home or place of business to pick up kit at all sorts of hours.
I’m definitely not saying you have to sell your older camera, just try to take any emotional attachment out of the decision and figure out what’s best for the business.
So you have just taken delivery of a brand new PXW-FX9. Turned it on and plugged it in to a 4K TV or monitor – and shock horror there are little bright dots in the image – hot pixels.
First of all, don’t be alarmed, this is not unusual, in fact I’d actually be surprised if there weren’t any, especially if the camera has travelled in any airfreight.
Video sensors have millions of pixels and they are prone to disturbance from cosmic rays. It’s not unusual for some to become out of spec. So all modern cameras incorporate various methods of recalibrating or re-mapping those pesky problem pixels. On the Sony professional cameras this is called APR. Owners of the Sony F5, F55, Venice and FX9 will see a “Perform APR” message every couple of weeks as this is a function that needs to be performed regularly to ensure you don’t get any problems.
You should always run the APR function after flying with the camera, especially on routes over the poles as cosmic rays are greater in these areas. Also if you intend to shoot at high gain levels it is worth performing an APR run before the shoot.
If your camera doesn’t have a dedicated APR function, typically found in the maintenance section of the the camera menu system, then often the black balance function will have a very similar effect. On some Sony cameras repeatedly performing a black balance will active the APR function.
If there are a lot of problem pixels then it can take several runs of the APR routine to sort them all out. But don’t worry, it is normal and it is expected. All cameras suffer from it. Even if you have 1000 dead pixels that’s still only a teeny tiny fraction of the 19 million pixels on the sensor.
APR just takes 30 seconds or so to complete. It’s also good practice to black balance at the beginning of each day to help minimise fixed pattern noise and set the cameras black level correctly. Just remember to ensure there is a cap on the lens or camera body to exclude all outside light when you do it!
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When testing and evaluating a camera, whether that’s a digital photo camera, video camera or digital cinema camera it is always useful to have a test chart or 2 (or more). While printing a chart at home isn’t always the best way to go, comercial charts can be very expensive to buy. So below is a link to an ISO 12233 chart, a Zone Plate chart and a Siemens Star chart that you can download for free and print at home. You will need a good printer and good quality photo paper for the best results. 
