Sony officially raised the curtain on its F65 CineAlta digital motion picture camera system.
Before a select audience of American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) members, press and high-profile industry professionals, Sony screened new F65 footage shot by leading DPs, demonstrated new features and announced its roll-out plan for the camera, including availability and a price of just $65,000 (with viewfinder).
The F65 derives 4K resolution - and beyond - at the point of image capture. "4K" resolution is 4096 x 2160, which is more than four times greater than the full HD (1920x1080) spec. Sony claims that the camera's 8K image sensor, with approximately 20 total megapixels, offers higher image fidelity than any other digital cinema production camera. With 16-bit Linear RAW File output capability, the F65 creates the gateway to an end-to-end 4K file-based mastering workflow.
Sony first announced the F65 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in April.
With its latest enhancements and features, the F65's capabilities now include:
- 14 stops High Dynamic Range with much wider color gamut
- Rotary shutter model (F65RS) to remove motion artifacts; four ND Filter built-in with rotary shutter.
- Wi-fi operation for remote control operation from tablet devices (including the Android-based Sony Tablet S and Apple iPad)
- HD-SDI output with viewing LUT for on-set monitoring with focus assist zoom
- 60 Minutes of 16 bit Linear RAW file recording onto a 1TB SRMemory card at 24FPS
Sony also introduced a dockable SRMemory recorder - model SR-R4 - which attaches to the camera to record directly to an SRMemory card of 256 GB, 512 GB or 1TB capacity with data security and sustained throughput of 5.5 Gbps.
Sony is also unveiling a new capability for the F65/SR-R4 combination - the ability to switch recording between 16-bit linear RAW File and MPEG-4 SStP File modes. Users can configure the camera on a project-by-project basis, selecting either 16-bit linear RAW File for ultimate quality acquisition or high speed operation at up to 120FPS, or MPEG-4 SStP File (HDCAM SR native) for quality HD recording. MPEG-4 SStP File also provides full compatibility for viewing, offline and post production using either the free Sony PC or MAC viewer or products using the new Sony Software Development Kit.
Sony is now taking orders for the the F65 digital motion picture camera. The complete product lineup is scheduled to be available in January direct from Sony: The F65, with viewfinder for $65,000; the F65RS (Built in Rotary Shutter Model), with viewfinder for $77,000; and SR-R4 dockable recorder for $20,000.