Jump to content

Sony F5/55 and Gen 2


Tammy Jones

Recommended Posts

  • Premium Members

Is the only way to get an image out from the Sony F5 or F55 to the Gen 2 by using a Decimator or AJA? Is there a setting in the camera to make it compatible? Anyone know when the next firmware upgrade will be? The Gen 1 works with this camera. Thank you for any help.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

In order:

 

Technically No.

Technically Yes.

God Knows.

Correct.

You're welcome. ;)

 

Down converting or cross converting are the easiest options, so a Decimator or AJA is your best bet. The output settings on the camera are locked to the recording format, the only non-PSF recording formats are at 25 and 50 FPS. You can get an image that way, but if the distribution is US obviously this won't be an option. The list of output options is in the manual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

From looking at the F55 Manual it looks like there is a setting to get a 1920X1080 23.98p output from the HDMI connector on the camera. While most sleds do not have internal HDMI through the post, one could run a cable directly to the monitor. Am I wrong about this setting?

 

link to manual: http://community.sony.com/sony/attachments/sony/large-sensor-camera-F5-F55/981/1/F5_F55.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Good catch, I know I looked at the HDMI output the first time I had the problem and had no luck, so I ignored it thereafter. Maybe I missed something on the day? There's actually a P output for every FPS over HDMI, except when shooting 25 or 29.97 at lower than 2048x1080.

 

Also, it turns out I provided the wrong info above. It's actually 50 and 59.94 FPS that allow P outputs (25 is still PSF), which probably explains why my Gen2 works on an F800 recording at 59.94.

 

I love that the heading for that section of the manual is "Formats and Limitations of Outputs"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

I have successfully used the Gen2 and F55 using hdmi out from the decimator2. It was not fun but I did it. Like lawrence said check your decimator2 output settings I had a tech savy friend set it up so i can't provide the specific details. Shout out to Michael Desidero!

Edited by Michael Hauer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Thanks for the replies. I will just use the Gen 1. There is a signal from other monitors. I think an HDMI cable would be a bit cumbersome. I'm sure a decimator would work but the cameraman does not have on in his kit.

cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Hi all,

I too have an upcoming job with an f55, so this post has been of interest.

 

Naturally I've done no work with the f55 and know little about it and I wouldn't be asking these questions, I expect that next week I will be in at Panavision to find out some answers.

 

With regard to monitoring, you all have mentioned the decimator 2, some have talked about HDMI, some about PSF.

 

I have an old decimator 1 so I expect that I will need to upgrade for the job.

 

So looking at the redbyte/decimator products I was looking at the "MD Cross", is this a better option than the decemator 2 as it has hdmi in to sdi output?

They don't mention the weight of this init but it's pretty big and offcourse it will be a pain in the ass.

DIMENSIONS

79.5mm x 123mm x 29.5mm (3.1” x 4.8” x 1.2”

http://www.decimator.com/Products/MD-CROSS/MD-CROSS.html

MD-CROSS

HDMI / SDI CROSS CONVERTER
with Scaling and Frame Rate Conversion

MSRP US$695

• Features the following four modes:
1. HDMI to SDI while simultaneously converting SDI to HDMI
2. HDMI to HDMI while simultaneously converting SDI to SDI
3. HDMI to SDI and HDMI
4. SDI to SDI and HDMI

 

Could I use this converter to take in the HDMI output from the camera and feed SDI to the SDI line in the sled to my monitor?

 

Am I foolish to think that the HDMI output will be consistant from the camera no matter what recording format is chosen (2K, 4K, psf, frame rates etc)?

 

Does HDMI follow the PSF format or can it be set to Progressive no matter what the other output settings are?

 

Is there any latency produced by the camera converting what ever recording format to HDMI?

 

Look forward to your comments.

Geoff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Premium Members

Hey Geoff,

 

One other glitchy thing when working with Panavision's F55's is that they are not compatible with Preston's Run/Stop cables. This issue is only with the early F55's that Panavision took delivery of and was sorted out on later bodies. Preston is working on new cables for these cameras which should be a few weeks away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

I have a job with a Sony F5 in two weeks. I have a Decimator 2 but I've never been able to get HDMI signal in my monitor, neither from 5d/7d DSLR cameras, Hyperdeck Shutle 2 or Pix 240 recorder. So I'm not very optimistic with the F5 and Decimator 2.

When I wrote Chris about it just over a year ago he wrote back: "The hdmi can be a bit tricky, since sometimes the output uses copy protection, or a resolution which isnt in the resolution list."

Do you guys get signal with HDMI with any of these cameras/recorders? I've never tried with the decimator 2, but is there any setting I have to change in the decimator for the HDMI output to work with gen2?

Is the first time I work with a Sony, and is just one day, so I don't want to spend any money in making it work, if it's not working, I will either use the Hyperdeck Shuttle to convert from HDMI to SDI or the Small HD I have as a back up, but I'd prefer to work with the Cinetronic.

Thank you for any input in advance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...