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Sony PMW-F3 with 2500 hours on it. Should I buy it?


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20 hours ago, Josue Nunez said:

Do you think an Ursa Mini 4.6k is a good alternative now. I've seen prices go as low as 2K in my area (New York). 


The URSA Mini Pro is so much better in numerous ways, not least having built in NDs, and better QC. 

Although personally, the FS7 is very close in pricing to a UMP, and you'd get far more work to pay off the FS7 than if you got a UMP, so I'd recommend a secondhand FS7 instead. 

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35 minutes ago, IronFilm said:


The URSA Mini Pro is so much better in numerous ways, not least having built in NDs, and better QC. 

Although personally, the FS7 is very close in pricing to a UMP, and you'd get far more work to pay off the FS7 than if you got a UMP, so I'd recommend a secondhand FS7 instead. 

Yea, I was considering an Fs7 too. They are starting to go down in price as well and that camera its a workhorse. Also, Im sure that when the fx6 comes out it will force fs7 and fs5 sellers to lower their prices even more. 

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On 9/21/2020 at 12:59 PM, Geoff CB said:

Prores 444 Slog out of SDI A port at 3200 iso with a PIX-E7. Nikon 24-70 at 70mm with a Tiffen Supermist Black 1/8 filter. 

Lights in background heart were tungsten. But fill and spotlight on stage was gelled LED. 

Beautiful image! So do you think 422 would come close to the quality of a 444 recording with the F3? The GH5 records beautifully gradeable and then beautiful looking colour! Do you mind to show us the beautiful video too? We all love that F3 look for a nicely illumnated setting! Would be awesome if you could show us some bits of that footage in motion! cheers

What I love about the F3 is the locking FZ mount and the quality of adapters, super sturdy and pro quality! Emount on Fs700 or Fs5 is like from a DSLM. Still great cameras. A silly thing on my F3 is the on/off slider, which works fine though but still is very flimsy, super filmsy. It doesnt ooze confidence. Other than that, the outlook of filming thick and perfect HD with it, once I got my BMVA 5inch, is a joy I am looking forward to.

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On 9/27/2020 at 3:31 AM, Josue Nunez said:

Yea, I was considering an Fs7 too. They are starting to go down in price as well and that camera its a workhorse. Also, Im sure that when the fx6 comes out it will force fs7 and fs5 sellers to lower their prices even more. 

Yeah, FS5 for 1500-1600 USD would be some adequate way to spend some money on, I must say. 🙂

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On 9/27/2020 at 1:43 AM, IronFilm said:

Yeah I remember that time period too. 
Was very seriously considering a 2nd Sony F3 myself. 
But was always just a little too slow on pouncing on the $450 deals, thus was just waiting for one to happen for me. (rather than "overspending" and getting one for say $600) Plus I was on the fence if perhaps it was better to spend a little more for a FS700, as the FS700 was headed down to under $1K itself. 

Now? It's going to be a long time until we'll see an F3 for $450 again. At least it makes the decision easier vs a FS700! (of course now the FS5 is soon going to become as cheap as a FS700 was a couple of years ago....)

I picked up a FS5 (with the raw upgrade, which wasn't even mentioned in the ad) for £1200 a few weeks ago - that's cheaper than I got the FS700 for back in 2016.

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6 hours ago, Tim Sewell said:

I picked up a FS5 (with the raw upgrade, which wasn't even mentioned in the ad) for £1200 a few weeks ago - that's cheaper than I got the FS700 for back in 2016.

That’s amazing. I Heard of someone who got a fs700 with the raw upgrade for 450$ a few months ago. I need to keep my eyes extra open lol 

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  • 2 weeks later...

What are your thoughs on the pmw F5 ? I've seen some for sale online at around 4000/5000€ and im curious about it.

I see it can do 4K internally with a small hack and 16bit raw, but i've not seen any very good footage like the F3.

Does it have the same sensor (same color science and all) as the F3 or is it completely different ? 

 

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20 hours ago, Antoin e said:

What are your thoughs on the pmw F5 ? I've seen some for sale online at around 4000/5000€ and im curious about it.

I see it can do 4K internally with a small hack and 16bit raw, but i've not seen any very good footage like the F3.

Does it have the same sensor (same color science and all) as the F3 or is it completely different ? 

 

Honestly once you get to that price point I think the FS7 is a better buy. 

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On 10/19/2020 at 9:44 AM, Antoin e said:

What are your thoughs on the pmw F5 ? I've seen some for sale online at around 4000/5000€ and im curious about it.

I see it can do 4K internally with a small hack and 16bit raw, but i've not seen any very good footage like the F3.

Does it have the same sensor (same color science and all) as the F3 or is it completely different ? 

 

No, it's the same sensor as the F55 with a lower end CFA array, slightly different color science, and no global shutter. A really nice image and good workhorse, but the price puts it out of casual purchase territory. As a business investment, it's a little long in the tooth to make your ROI back in a timely manner. Personally, I would reach for other Sony bodies.

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3 hours ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

No, it's the same sensor as the F55 with a lower end CFA array, slightly different color science, and no global shutter. A really nice image and good workhorse, but the price puts it out of casual purchase territory. As a business investment, it's a little long in the tooth to make your ROI back in a timely manner. Personally, I would reach for other Sony bodies.

I was told it was the same sensor as the FS7? I guess they were misinformed. 

I kinda think something like a C300 Mk2 Or C200 might make sense at that price point. (Unless you want all the high speed stuff.) 

I haven’t seen another model of Sony camera that has the magical quality of the F3, besides the F35. 

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6 hours ago, BenEricson said:

I was told it was the same sensor as the FS7? I guess they were misinformed. 

I kinda think something like a C300 Mk2 Or C200 might make sense at that price point. (Unless you want all the high speed stuff.) 

I haven’t seen another model of Sony camera that has the magical quality of the F3, besides the F35. 

It's unclear if the FS7 sensor is a stripped down version of the F5 sensor or an updated version of the FS700's, but either way it doesn't offer any unique look or capabilities. 

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On 10/20/2020 at 2:44 AM, Antoin e said:

What are your thoughs on the pmw F5 ? I've seen some for sale online at around 4000/5000€ and im curious about it.

As soon as the FS7mk1 got released, that killed the resale value of the F5. 

Made many F5 owners pissed.

 

On 10/20/2020 at 2:44 AM, Antoin e said:

I see it can do 4K internally with a small hack

Have done that hack myself!

But would be a rare and unusual F5 for sale that hasn't had the normal paid update to do 4K. 

 

On 10/20/2020 at 11:37 PM, Geoff CB said:

Honestly once you get to that price point I think the FS7 is a better buy. 

Yes, but no, depends on how much a person wants E Mount and lighter weight. 

In most other regards the F5 is better than the FS7.

On 10/23/2020 at 1:51 PM, TheRenaissanceMan said:

A really nice image and good workhorse, but the price puts it out of casual purchase territory. As a business investment, it's a little long in the tooth to make your ROI back in a timely manner.

At US$4K-ish secondhand, if you're a working professional in the right market segment to move up to an F5, then it could still be a good ROI for you.
(although yeah, the far more popular FS7 would likely do a better ROI for you)

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2 hours ago, Josue Nunez said:

I did it guys. I went back to the Sony F3! Finally found a descent deal on it. 2.1k for all this. Since I don't need the 4k I was between this, a canon c300, c100, Sony fs5 and fs700. 

The F3 with 444 has 850hrs and the pix e5 came with 960gbs of storage. 

IMG_5742.JPG

Congrats! Great setup for the price!

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6 hours ago, Josue Nunez said:

I did it guys. I went back to the Sony F3! Finally found a descent deal on it. 2.1k for all this. Since I don't need the 4k I was between this, a canon c300, c100, Sony fs5 and fs700. 

The F3 with 444 has 850hrs and the pix e5 came with 960gbs of storage. 

IMG_5742.JPG

Awesome. That’s a great deal. You made the best choice. This looks a lot like my old setup, same batteries powering the recorder and everything. 

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On 10/29/2020 at 9:07 AM, Josue Nunez said:

I did it guys. I went back to the Sony F3! Finally found a descent deal on it. 2.1k for all this. Since I don't need the 4k I was between this, a canon c300, c100, Sony fs5 and fs700. 

The F3 with 444 has 850hrs and the pix e5 came with 960gbs of storage. 

That price seems far too high, but... you got it with a PIX-E5! That makes it a good deal (in this time of higher than usual F3 prices)

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