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Sony F55


brooksrobinson

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Is it a firmware issue, or a hardware issue?

 

Hey Alan,

 

I believe it has something to do with Amimon's base firmware, though I dont know how far along they are. Our engineers are speaking with them again tomorrow so hopefully ill get a better idea. Again, this only affects our 1st gen Bolt 2000 and no other device.

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This was an issue with the 1st generation Bolt 2000. After testing today I can now say that it is not an issue with the latest generation Bolt 2000 (with dual input and LCD screen). Now image is fine with SDI output. My apologies if I misled anyone. I was only using HDMI input on the new one prior to today.

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Thanks for clearing this up guys. I don't want to get too off topic here since this was a thread about the F-55, but I hooked up my new 2000 at Panavision yesterday (to a film camera with an HD tap because that is what I'll be using on this job) and took a stroll around the building with my recover attached to a handheld monitor. The results were pretty extraordinary as the image was perfect through a surprising number of walls.

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Thanks for all of the solid advice. I have one last question. Is the 4 pin XLR power cable the same one (wiring etc) as an old school 12V Arriflex camera (Arri 3, SR2, BL etc)? I'm sure I'll want to fly the camera with an on-board battery, but it would be nice to also have it power from the rig so the on-board battery can be switched out without losing power to the camera. I just want to make sure the wiring is the same before plugging one into the camera. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to contribute.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brooks Robinson

 

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Hey Brooks,

 

I'm using the F55 for the first time. It is much lighter than the Alexa, so a Boxx, battery, sandbag, etc... on the back is helpful. Panavision has made a nice dovetail top and bottom, so that is helpful. With all the cabling on any digital camera, I just fly it upside down for low mode. I can switch in 3 minutes, which would never happen going old school. Our DIT has an AJA flip box which corrects all the monitors when I'm flying the camera upside down.

 

Although Panavision modified the viewfinder bracket, the actual viewfinder panel is horrible. Don't plan on being much help to your AC with focus when operating conventionally. I have a 2nd 5" TV Logic on board for me, so I can have a better image to view when setting up a shot, even though I'm almost always in the eyepiece when rolling.

 

The power in is a standard 4pin xlr. The bodies we have, the xlr comes out the dump side near the rear of the camera. I operate with the camera on my left, so the power outlet would point right into my shoulder. Even with a 90 degree connector at the camera, it would still be in the way. Putting a battery on the back would fix this. If you wanted to power the camera from your sled all the time, I'd suggest an Anton Bauer plate that is gold mount to 4 pin. I have one of these plates and the camera thinks there is a battery on the back, but it's really getting power from the sled. This camera is probably too light for that setup. With a battery on the back, we use the side xlr for shore power from a block when docked.

 

I did have one vibration problem. The camera does not have lightweight rod attachments in the front like an Alexa. I initially set up my Preston motors using my lightweight 15mm rods coming from an XCS plate. There was a ton of movement when the motor was turning (we have some stiff Primos). We really didn't have time to fully diagnose the problem. We fixed it by screwing a short 15mm rod into the Panavision cheese plate on top, so the motor was mounted directly to the camera. I'm still curious why there was so much play.

 

PM me if you have any further questions.

 

Fly safe,

Mark

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Hi everyone

I was told from one of my clients he puts this warning with his camera when dry hiring it out . Be ware when changing cables .

 

Warning Warning Warning

When using the Remote Record trigger plugs on the F5/55 and a Digital BFD system.

Re the Hirose power out/record trigger plugs: Like all Sony's NEVER plug into or pull out of the Hirose when the camera is Powered up, it can Blow the board very easily.

Here's the catch with the F55……. The SDI output drivers are on the same board as the Hirose plugs, so if you blow the Hirose, you can blow up the SDI output drivers as well!!! Luckily the F55 has 4 SDI outs, so you have some alternatives, but not an ideal outcome.

Along the same lines, there have been some instances of camera's having blown SDI drivers by being hot swapped into the SDI plugs!

The SDI drivers can be damaged if there is a (negative) voltage spike on the SDI ground circuit. The instances where this has happened have been with SmallHD DP6 and TV Logic 5.6 monitors.

Sony are looking at how to address this, but to be safe don't plug into or unplug from the either the Hirose or SDI plugs with either the camera or monitor powered up.

Warning Warning Warning

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Thanks to everyone who responded to this topic both on the forum and off. I had my prep at Panavision yesterday and all of the information discussed in this thread was very helpful leading up to it.

 

I traded in my Bolt 2000 (version 1) for the newer version 2 which is able to transmit a PSF signal (the Sony puts out only PSF I believe). I did not know there was an issue with the original 2000 until I read about it here. I did not do a test with the new 2000 to compare distance/signal strength to my old unit, but it did work as it should in the prep room, and it was nice that the RX now shows when it is receiving a signal.

 

I was happy to see that my SmallHD DP7 Pro High Bright worked fine with the PSF signal and did not have any issues. I have not seen it outside so I am not sure about the viewability in the sun, but I was happy to be able to navigate the menus to set up my custom framelines and crosshair and get a signal to the monitor without issue. I am not sure about the weight of the monitor (or lack thereof), but it seemed to balance once I figured what to do with the dovetail plates (mentioned below).

 

I purchased on/off cables for the F55 from Preston, which sadly did not work. In talking with the prep techs at Panavision, this is not the first time this has happened with Preston F55 cables despite several conversations with Preston. The cable tech was able to take my new cables and modify them to work with the camera, and I was glad to have discovered the issue in Los Angeles before shipping the gear out of town.

 

The Panavision plates on the top and bottom of the camera are great and solid. We are using the new Panavision 15-40mm (not the Angenieux) and 27-75mm, which are quite heavy compared to their Angenieux counterparts. Because the camera (which is very light) was now very front heavy due to the zoom lenses, it would not balance front to back with the Panavision bottom dovetail plate. I had to remove it (about 8 screws) and put my XCS plate on in a more forward position. The Panavision plate is used to anchor several other brackets, and I questioned whether I should swap it with mine, but losing the Panavision dovetail did not seem to affect the rigidity of things too much and I felt okay switching to mine. I could have simply screwed my XCS plate onto the bottom Panavision dovetail, but that would have raised the camera more than I would have liked in standard mode.

 

I was thinking of running an onboard battery on the camera in addition to the ARRI 12v 4-pin XLR power cable (for added weight), but the lenses were heavy enough that it seemed to balance without additional weight needed for ballast. Maybe I will re-think that when I get to the set and get some shots under my belt with it, but it seemed okay yesterday.

 

Speaking of power, if you are running the Panavision F55 through your sled, you need to run your 4-pin XLR into the rear 4-pin connector. The front one will power the camera, but none of the accessories, and I was initially worried when I did not get a video signal to my monitor, Bolt TX, or power to the Cinetape. Plugging into the rear 4-pin XLR solved the issue and powered the camera.

 

I was very cautious about plugging things into the body after having seen the post Louis made regarding plugging in cables with the body powered up. I asked our tech about it, and he said the body was fairly robust, and I did not have anything to worry about. I am not sure if Panavision had modified things so that issues with off the shelf F55s are not issues with theirs, but I am planning on playing it safe and taking Louis's advice.

 

Thanks again to everyone for contributing to the discussion. I would not have been prepared at all had I not read all of the informative posts on the forum.

 

Brooks

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