My own illustration of the Sony FS5’s faulty noise reduction

[Andrew Reid]

Here’s my illustration of ghosting, after-images and edge fuzzing in 4K on the Sony FS5.

Shot on my camera with the latest firmware update (v1.1).

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[VanDaven]

I do not even dare to ask why the designers of the FS5 have included a gain / ISO switch in their plans... I remember the times I was shooting ENG material on this extremely robust Canon XF305 that was REALLY not intended for low light shooting. I bought it back in 2010, and it had a gain switch. If you'd switch the camera to +12 dB of gain you would see noise. Mainly noise. It didn't have any macro-blocking-squaredance party to put some relief on the codec in order to break the image whatsoever. It also didn't have much banding. It was using a codec very similar to the C300, 50 mbps for 25p of 1920x1080. The BBC bought lots of them if I remember correctly. When there was noise in the image, you would either leave it because it fit the situation it was shot in or you would try your best with NEAT (which often worked). 

Honestly, from deep in my heart, the FS5 is the most disappointing product I bought in a very long time, especially after reading some of its defender's statements recently. It's good enough for what I use it for, so I will keep it (as I have already sold the tools I used for those specific jobs before). Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things about it apart from the image problems (the hot topic of yesterday): Ergonomics, 

But from the rattling handle (sorry: smart grip) to the incompatibilities with certain 3rd party batteries and the "built-in fixed non-removable" noise reduction it makes the "worst camera of 2015" quite a star.

[johnnymossville]

doesn't look good, and I'd probably pass on this product if I was in the market for this kind of camera.  But, how does this flaw look in real world shooting situations?  any examples of it showing up in a normal shot?   

[Andrew Reid]

In real world shooting situations obviously you would avoid the problem by shooting at the base ISO of whatever image profile you have selected.

The whole point of a 'test' is that it shows where the weakness of a camera is most acute and therefore tells us how to avoid it!

If you do happen to be shooting at ISO 12,800 in SLOG on the FS5 then the problem will show up on a real world subject just as it would do in the test - the more of a hard edge to the subject and the bigger the contrast difference between the subject and background there is, the more it will be noticeable.

[joshjones_ctva]

This news is a tad disheartening. I hope Sony fixes some these issues soon. However, the pros of this camera are so extensive in my opinion that it's worth working around issues like this if needed. I'm confident they can make some tweaks and we'll be sitting pretty in no time. 

[Cliff Totten]

 

FS5 - New firmware fix in February! Phillip Johnston is reporting this Sony firmware update on his site: HD Warrior » Blog Archiv » Sony have admitted problems with the FS5 This is fantastic news. Thank you Sony! I do have to chuckle though, Sony was able to spot this problem in their labs while some ardent Sony defenders tried their best to state this basic concept:  "Nope, it's the camera operators fault, quit complaining, everything is normal with the FS5" Thank you Sony again. You were honest with your customers and really moved fast on this one. Bravo! CT