Presentation of the Sony F65 in Madrid

Yesterday, June 13th, the Sony F65 digital cinematography camera was presented at the Sala Berlanga in Madrid. Ovide and VM Broadcast were in charge of taking the units that were available for testing by the attendees of the event.

In this room, several short test films were screened and commented by Richard Lewis, European cinematography specialist, and Philippe Ros, French director of photography who carried out some of these tests.

While Philippe shared his practical experience with the camera, Richard clarified all the technical concepts related to it: real 4K resolution (with an 8K sensor), altered bayer matrix for better use of the sensor surface, possibility of recording in two Raw and three HDCAM SR codecs, being able to be used in different workflows both HDTV and digital cinematography, mechanical shutter to avoid the usual rolling shutter problems of CMOS sensors, recording on its own solid state cards, the possibility of working up to 120 FPS (with the update available from summer) and the possibility of working in log or ACES color spaces (you can read more about this space in this article) and a long etcetera with which the camera counts.

Unfortunately, although post-production workflows were discussed, it was in a rather general way. I liked that Philippe emphasized three points: the first is that when deciding the workflow (and of course the camera to shoot with) you have to go from the end to the front. First think about the final product (DCP, photochemical, HDTV, internet, etc) and then look at the simplest post-production needed depending on the camera/s you can work with. All of you who know me know that this is what I almost obsessively say in order to avoid problems in postproduction. In the end all cameras record the same (just press a button) but the different workflows can vary a lot, it is of VITAL importance to decide and TEST the COMPLETE workflow (even projection if necessary) before starting production, and this is what camera and postproduction must be involved from the beginning.

And here comes the second and third point that Philippe highlighted. DoP and colorist in today’s times go hand in hand (metaphorically it is understood) in fact in Philippe’s short film they are also together in the credits. As much as the director of photography knows about post-production and color correction (which he should know) and as much as he is the final responsible for the image (which he is), it is the colorists who have hours of flight in a color and mastering room. And as much as both disciplines share their theoretical basis, color grading is a post-production process, and has its own technical and artistic processes. Simply by working as a team you will get a better result (or as they say, four eyes see more than two).

Finally, along the same lines, Philippe remarked on the necessary collaboration between the camera rental house and the labs or post-production companies. Again to produce the best and simplest workflow possible.

So, if all this sounds like common sense, why is it that on so many occasions and at so many levels it is not fulfilled? Multiple and varied answers that would have to do with our industry and idiosyncrasy.

Returning to the technical subject of post-production of the F65, the only thing that became clear is that there are currently workflows with Baselight, YoYo or Colorfront. But more economical or mundane solutions were vaguely sketched in Richard’s words: Adobe or Avid are also collaborating with us. Sony has a viewer program but it can only export files smaller than 4K in DPX (so for dailies a bit of a pain).

I have to say that I was expecting more information about workflows from Sony, maybe a station with software installed (it is true that VM Broadcast brought a DIT station equipped in a van) and more information in this regard. Anyway, as always we’ll just go for broke and try out the workflows ourselves. As I have some camera files lying around, I’ll see how Avid, DaVinci and these more homebrew stuff eats them up, I’ll keep you posted.

In case anyone is interested, in the course programmed by 709 DIT taught by Rafa Roche we will have one of these F65 thanks to the courtesy of Ovide.