New Sony 4K camera teased, source describes it as 'F55 in DSLR body'

[Andrew Reid]

Last year Sony showed a prototype hybrid stills / 4K video DSLR along with a modular-looking 4K cinema camera. Now a few more clues have come around.

Some are saying the 4K DSLR will have an interchangeable lens mount for E-mount, A-mount and PL-mount. And yesterday US cinema gear rental / sales shop AbelCine teased the shot above, which may or may not be related - only confirming it's from Sony.

So what exactly do Sony have coming?

Read the full article here

[kadajawi]

Sounds exciting, but expensive.

 

2 axis stabilization would be fairly limiting. My camera has a 3 axis stabilizer, though in video mode it is only 2 axis. It certainly helps, but rotation is an issue. That should be stabilized too. Ideally one can also tilt the sensor, cause the inability to do so is quite noticeable on a 2 axis camera.

[Rungunshoot]

This would have to be mirrorless, yes?  In which case its form factor might take a nod from the A7.  I hope they can keep the body small, but if not, at least it will be ergonomic for rig-free shooters.

 

As for the IS, I'll take whatever I can get in-body.  2-axis IBIS plus any sort of external stabilizing device like a glidecam or gymbal would be a killer combo.

[Africashot]

Sorry but this story about 4k cameras threatening DSLRs because (some) people may pull still images from video sounds like a world of bull crap to me, I have yet to be in a situation as a stills photographer were a continuous 4k burst at shutterspeeds ranging between 1/50 and 1/240 would be useful, let a lone practical. And if, in all seriousness, somebody will come along and tell me that dealing with terabites of raw video frames for a still or two just not to miss the right moment is the way to go I'd have to suggest that person to find a different occupation...  

[Johnnie]

No connection between the 2 different events/products.

The picture above fits well here: http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/New-capabilities-Limitless-potential/m-p/290039#U290039

 

Thanks.

 

Johnnie

[Quirky]

This would have to be mirrorless, yes?  In which case its form factor might take a nod from the A7.  I hope they can keep the body small, but if not, at least it will be ergonomic for rig-free shooters.

 

As for the IS, I'll take whatever I can get in-body.  2-axis IBIS plus any sort of external stabilizing device like a glidecam or gymbal would be a killer combo.

 

I think it's a bit early to start guessing the spec sheet(s) of the coming new model(s) but still, if they really are to come up with a dSLR-format camera with a z-axis sensor and a hybrid mount fully compatible with all those three lens types, the body is likely to be a large-ish one. I'd think adding a 5-axis IBIS into that would be quite challenging, too.

 

But why speculate, when we know so little about the real thing(s), for now, and there's NAB, there's Photokina, etc.

Patience, young Luke, patience.  :P

 

 

Sorry but this story about 4k cameras threatening DSLRs because (some) people may pull still images from video sounds like a world of bull crap to me, I have yet to be in a situation as a stills photographer were a continuous 4k burst at shutterspeeds ranging between 1/50 and 1/240 would be useful, let a lone practical. And if, in all seriousness, somebody will come along and tell me that dealing with terabites of raw video frames for a still or two just not to miss the right moment is the way to go I'd have to suggest that person to find a different occupation...  

 

I tend to agree about the stills side in general, and the notion that stills and video shooting are two different crafts and forms of expression to begin with.

 

Nevertheless, think about all the millenials and the new breed of "geekier" shooters who have grown up, or learned the craft with all digital cameras and spray and pray shooting style. In fact, there are already quite a few people who share that sort of thinking, and therefore the notion of extracting stills from video frames may become the new norm, like it or not. I don't think it will totally replace traditional stills shooting any time soon, though. In fact, a change like that may again first start from the consumer side of things, rather than the pro/prosumer side.

 

The (kind of) camera(s) Sony apparently are up to aren't really intended for stills shooting to begin with, despite Andrew's personal views, so don't worry. Horses for courses. Sony will carry on making stills cameras next year, too, and most of this is rather premature, anyway. Speculating for the heck of it. 

 

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but don't let mere speculation upset your piece of mind.  ;)

[TJB]

I'm not sure I understand the effectiveness of the idea behind capturing a stills from video because when I'm shooting video I'm shooting at 1/50. Sure if the decisive moment (frame) on my video was recorded without blur then great but I wouldn't trust that all important shots especially anything moving - would be frozen at 1/50th. I'm not going to shoot 4K video at 1/500 of a second either unless I just wanted it for a spray and pray stills exercise.

I find the GH series SH 40 frames/ second silent mode really a great compromise. It's not video but I can certainly capture the best stills shot  in an action sequence.

[ScreensPro]

I would certainly like to pull frame grabs from my octocopter footage, that would be a dream. The GH4 is looking like my next purchase for aerial work, but if Sony can give us their 14 stops of DR in 4K, then my mind would be made up.

[Will Turner]

Wish it was GH4 competitor but I expect 1DC price.

[jim_cam]

Looks like someone stuck a 4K sticker on the side of it - I'm dubious about it

[Germy1979]

That looks like a gun.

[alexenman]

I believe this is the 4K Studio Back: http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/F55-4K-LIVE-Studio-config/td-p/115663

Nothing new here, sorry folks. Though it's a really cool studio back!!! 

[Amro Othman]

Wish it was GH4 competitor but I expect 1DC price.

 

Yep, I would love this new Sony cam to replace my little Nex-5n... but it looks like my best bet is the $1500- $2000 GH4. This Sony 4k mini F55 sounds like a 4 to 5 grand pricetag from what little info we have so far!

[Marino215]

This looks like the start of a new bridge where professional grade technology meets the consumer. There has to be a point in time where technology plateaus and all sides meet up with one another. At least in regards to 4k, how much worse do they need to make the consumer version so it won't compete with their high end professional version? As sensors improve the hardware that plays the media needs to improve. I'm not saying there won't be 500 dollar cameras and 20,000 dollar cameras I just wonder will it ever settle like 1080p? The hierarchy is evident now, still no perfect camera but when you want he best we can pretty much figure it out. The new releases coming soon should almost be as good if not better then the best right now, if it's not then why would we buy it? As sensors now can resolve an image better than our own eyes can see, I imagine the new task at hand now is to invent better processors, storage solutions and tv sets. There's a bigger difference in price than the actual image comparing the bmcc to the Alexa. I'll take the image out of the Alexa any day but for a $2000 camera, come on! I guess that's my point, still a ways away but the gap is closing quickly.

[Marino215]

Oh and that image looks like the Sony 4k fiber link for the f series cameras.

https://www.abelcine.com/store/Sony-CA-4000-4K-Live-Fiber-Adapter-for-PMW-F55/

$27000. Lol

[Amro Othman]

It does doesn't it! Good catch. What I don't get at this point is if this is positioned below or above the FS700. And the FS700, as much as I would love to have one, is out of my budget especially considering its codec. 

 

If this is meant to compete with the BMPC then that would be great. The one thing missing from the Blackmagic for me is the 50+fps

[richg101]

  if they take a similar 36x24 8k sensor as used in the d800 and a7r and do a lovely downscale to 4k.  give us S-Log as 4;2;2 xavc at sub 200mbs, straight to card this will indeed be exciting.  However, i see the pricing as being a rental only option for all except those looking to make purchases to offset their earnings to lower their tax brackets.

[Michael1]

Pulling stills from video would be great, but I see several problems:

 

1)  Slow shutter speeds, creating blur with any movement.

 

2)  Rolling shutter on cameras without a global shutter.

 

3)  Color subsampling - much more color information in a 36MP still than a 8MP video frame.

 

4)  Lower dynamic range

 

Look at a 4K video, even the demo samples from Sony and Panasonic, which look incredibly sharp when played back.  Then stop it on a frame.  Suddenly, the still images really don't look anything close to what you would get from a good still.

 

Here is an article about some guys who took 5K EPIC cameras shooting at 120 fps on a commercial video shoot of a ski movie, and pulled stills from the raw video.

 

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2012/05/15/is-it-time-to-eliminate-stills-from-your-shoot/

 

The results?  The video sensors, while amazing for video, can't match those of a good DSLR for stills.  The second factor was motion blur due to the slow shutter speeds.  The third factor was the autofocus can't match a good DSLR.

 

Could it get there at some point?  With enough engineering, yes.  That depends on how determined camera manufacturers are at producing cameras that allow the user to pull high quality stills from video.  I don't think it is on their radar yet, though.

 

Michael

[leo]

While I would like to see photographers doing something more than taking pictures for a shitload of money ( high end weddings ), and acting like they do art ( lightroom/raw/ huge DR in current dslr's, easy money ) they won't die, they have those little thingies called speedlites, that makes them impossible to kill, as a videographer you can achieve the same thing a photographer can but with a huge and expensive crew and with quality thousand W lights.

So no, 4k won't kill the wedding photographer, his importance will be diminished but not to the point of obsolete.

 

 

And to actual topic, sony wants a lot of money if they make something good, if this thing gives quality 4k and maybe even raw for external, 10000$ price, just like canon 1DC.

I don't know of anything sony makes that is price competitive with Panasonic or Canon, everything is overpriced and usually bad ( sony nex-vg series).

[Andrew Reid]

Oh and that image looks like the Sony 4k fiber link for the f series cameras.

https://www.abelcine.com/store/Sony-CA-4000-4K-Live-Fiber-Adapter-for-PMW-F55/

$27000. Lol

 

DOH! You are correct.

 

The 4K DSLR is coming at NAB though. Wait and see.