Sony FS5 has technical issues with simultaneous 4K internal & external recording
This is a whopper issue if you have your heart set on buying the Sony FS5. NewsShooter.com today interviewed Jeromy Young from Atomos and he reveled that the camera has bandwidth limitations with issues so you can’t record 4K internal and use a external monitor simultaneously. You can in HD. This can be an issue if you need or want to have a back up or a smaller file while capturing ProRes to the Atomos or other recorders. Also not being able to just monitor the footage externally is not good. I use a director/producer monitor all the time and would be hard pressed to use the FS5 on shoot that require a monitor. I also use my Odyssey 7Q+ more for monitoring since the tools are fantastic and really aids me in shooting. Want to use the the FS5 for a gimbal as it’s size and weight is perfect for that? Well. In 4K you can’t monitor the image. I suppose if you can get the on board LCD off the camera and the cable is long enough you might be able to mount it on the kit but I’m not really sure it’s possible. So, is this a deal breaker? I think for some it will be and for me right now it is.
With the new firmware coming out in January the FS5 will be able to simultaneous record 4K internal and with HDMI/SDI output record and or view 4K but you wont be able to use the camera’s built-in screen & EVF. This means you cant go into the menu at all or see any of the cameras settings and on board tools. So you can’t and never will be able to have the EVF, On board monitor and an external recorder/monitor going at the same time. This is due again with the chips that Sony decided to use and those chips don’t have the bandwidth to handle it.
You now have to settle for the idea that you need to use the Sony FS5 for well it’s intended purpose of a run and gun camera and for gimbal/jib work. Yes it’s still a good value but this sure changes things.
Is this a deal breaker for you? If so whats your options if you had your heart set on the FS5?
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Filed in: Atomos • Featured Post • New Release • Sony
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“So you can’t and never will be able to have the EVF, On board monitor and an external recorder/monitor going at the same time.”
Is that really correct. Lets say you are not recording internally, but only as you describe above. Won’t that work?
I saw in a comment to this article: http://www.newsshooter.com/2015/09/11/sonys-new-baby-pxw-fs5-4k-super-camera-the-new-sub-7k-king-of-the-hill/
someone writing:
“The news angle is that we have now had confirmation of Sony’s proposed firmware fix, it won’t come until January, and it still only allows use of two out of the EVF/Monitor, SDI/HDMI and internal recording.”
If that correct. Then you should be able to have the cameras own EVF and screen and record through HDMI. Right?
God I wish I knew this two weeks ago. I bought an FS5. Finally got around to doing some testing today and when I started to test 4k, my monitor would go black. I’m thinking, you’ve got to be joking? Then I went online to find out that this is how they released it. Not a word in their literature or spec sheet.
Anyway, I’m returning it this weekend. I was warned by someone with inside info that they may not have their poop together on this one. Should have listened. After seeing noise and overall IQ worse than an A7s 1 or 2, except for the brilliant electronic ND, this camera’s officially dead to me.
It has so much going for it in terms of design, only to be crippled by codec, monitoring and overall business MO. If Sony took BMC’s philosophy which is to maximize what you can put in a small package instead of purposely hobbling a cameras potential for their market segmentation strategies (I’m looking at Canon too), they’d be number one. BMC is behind their deadlines because they’re trying to get their best tech out while Sony meets their deadlines with crippled cameras.