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First time with the F65


Brad Grimmett

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Hey guys, I have a pilot coming up with an F65 and since I've never flown one I thought I would ask for any tips and advice anyone has regarding the camera, for steadicam, handheld and conventional operating. Can you use onboard batteries? What power and run/stop cables do I need?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

Brad Grimmett

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I didn't do the build up but our hand held set up was 55lbs. brutal and inhumane. The stripped down steadicam setup was in the range of an arricam so not bad. sorry didn't weigh it. It's big and there isn't a lot of surfaces to mount things to, so get a prep day if you can. There is also not a lot of clearance at the rear of the mounting plate which make ballancing and low mode tricky. Eat your wheaties.

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I didn't do the build up but our hand held set up was 55lbs. brutal and inhumane. The stripped down steadicam setup was in the range of an arricam so not bad. sorry didn't weigh it. It's big and there isn't a lot of surfaces to mount things to, so get a prep day if you can. There is also not a lot of clearance at the rear of the mounting plate which make ballancing and low mode tricky. Eat your wheaties.

 

 

Holy crap that sucks

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Brad,

 

The camera actually flies quite nice, however, due to its size I noticed that it necessitates the sled be held a little further from one's midline than other cams. The claims of power draw are, from what I experienced, very exaggerated; For comparison, I swap batteries out on Alexa setups much more frequently than on the F65.

 

My setup:

 

Cam: F65 w / mechanical shutter and w/ recorder and Camwave mounted to body

Sled: Pro w/ Gen III Battery Hanger

Powered: Off sled using y-cable for F35/Genesis

Batteries on sled: 2 Dionic HC's.

Run-Stop (Preston): Arriflex/Moviecam 3-pin. Part # 4521

Lenses: Cooke S4

Remote Motors: 2 DM2's

Mattebox: LMB-5 w/ eyebrow

 

I used the short PRO Arri cheeseplate. This allowed me to use the cheese-plate-mounted PRO iris rods (long plate put the motors out of the reach of the lens).

 

The only real problem that I encountered was that the setup as described was quite back-heavy and to balance the rig I was having to lose about 3/4" of contact of the cheeseplate with the d-box. I solved this by having the machinist drill a couple of slots into a piece of flat steel bar that I secured under the LMB_5's eyebrow screws. Worked like a charm and I had full-contact with the d-box.

 

Below is a pic of the rig at the camera house.

 

photo8.jpg

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Thanks for the info guys. In a surprise last minute twist the decision was made to shoot with Alexas, so I won't have to deal with this quite yet.

If anyone else has anything to add, please do. I'm sure I'll need the info eventually and it will probably be helpful to others as well.

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Can't wait till this puppy comes out. Hopefully it's good and reliable. Most things Sony are, so here's hoping.

Seems like a grat alternative to the big brother 65

 

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-highend/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-show-highend-F55.shtml

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Can't wait till this puppy comes out. Hopefully it's good and reliable. Most things Sony are, so here's hoping.

Seems like a grat alternative to the big brother 65

 

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-highend/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-show-highend-F55.shtml

 

I'm eager to see how the images intercut with the F65. Perhaps this could be a good lightweight body for use on F65 shows for handheld/steadi/aerial/underwater/etc/bacon? Is this the same sensor as in the F65 with diagonal photosites?

 

Also, I think this is the first camera I've seen to record 4K to "cards".

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Luckily it will probably be one of the last jobs you'll have to do with it. No One is buying them, hence the F5 and F55.

 

JA

 

It's funny john it like that camera is both head of it's time and stuck in the past. The Image quality is outstanding better than anything else out there, BUT there is no where to record, process/exhibit the true 8K. And the camera body design is something that a production designer from the 80's would have drawn up based on the motion picture cameras of the time.

So I think we will see more of it, but hopefully in a package closer to the Alexa.

 

Eric - it did suck especially the 12 hours of hand held followed by a 1 1/2 page oner to end the 14+ hour day.

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Can't wait till this puppy comes out. Hopefully it's good and reliable. Most things Sony are, so here's hoping.

Seems like a grat alternative to the big brother 65

 

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-highend/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-show-highend-F55.shtml

 

I'm eager to see how the images intercut with the F65. Perhaps this could be a good lightweight body for use on F65 shows for handheld/steadi/aerial/underwater/etc/bacon? Is this the same sensor as in the F65 with diagonal photosites?

 

Also, I think this is the first camera I've seen to record 4K to "cards".

 

 

Its not the same sensor, but has the same color filter array...explained here: http://blog.abelcine.com/2012/11/01/sonys-pmw-f5-and-f55-defining-cfa/

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