I’m in very early pre-production for a new TV series.
I was keen to compare the Sony F-55 against the Alexa as this new show will probably feature a lot of on camera flashes, always a problem for rolling shutters like that found on the Alexa. The global shutter of the F55 should take care of that issue, and the smaller size and apparently very wide colour gamut are also interesting.
I was also interested in testing their 4K RAW recording as well, so I set up a bit of a dynamic range test to compare them. I also threw a 4K and 2.5K Blackmagic camera into the mix.
The first thing I did was find some skin tone so thanks to my camera department volunteer Dane Howell for stepping in at the last minute.
The test was done at Panavision Sydney and was thrown together at the last minute so I had to scrape things together. I would have preferred to do this at daylight colour temperature as most sensors get the most DR at around 5000K. As it was I metered the CT at 2870K.
Lens wise I used the new Panavision V series Primos for all the cameras. The 40mm for the Alexa, F55 and 4K Blackmagic with the 27mm for the smaller sensored 2.5K bmcc.
I had a grey card along with a skin tone reference card ( both are Fotowand charts from friend Anders at The DOP Shop) plus an X-Rite passport.
Behind dane I set up a piece of poly with a 100w Dedo set to rake along it’s length. I do this as a way of creating an exposure “ramp” that goes from near white to clipping. It usually means I can compare the clipping point and it’s easy to pick what is and isn’t clipped. This clipping point will also shift along the poly as I open the exposure or close it down.
In the deep background I tried to have something that was true black and near black. Theres another piece of poly down there with some black stripes of tape on it. It’s barely reflecting back some light and next to is close to true black (in the shade)
I basically assumed the native ISO of the camera was what the manufactured recommend and started off with that as the “Zero” point. I then went up in half stop increments and down in half stop increments. So you have + and – 3 stops either side of the manufacture recommended ISO. You can extrapolate your own ideas about how to expose these cameras from looking and comparing.
So I lit Dane to be 102 Footcandles. This gives us T 8 @ 800 ISO @ 25 FPS 180 Deg shutter for the Alexa and the BMCC 2.5K
For the F55 the base exposure for zero was T 8 2/3 while the 4K blackmagic was T 5.6.
So if you want access to these files, I’ll need you to leave me an email address in the comments field to invite you with. I’m using Just Cloud and after uploading them all up there, I’ve now learned that I can’t publicly share a file over 50MB ! There are close to 40GB of files so I’m not uploading them all again to another server !
If you’re worried about spam just substitute the @ for “at”
Make sure you post back your findings too !
John, would love to take a look. Thanks for posting this for the rest of us. josiah AT fearlesspictures.com
Sent
John, would love to take a look. Thanks for posting this for the rest of us RaphealAtl678 AT gmAil.com
Sent
Great article. I love the “100w Dedo set to rake along it’s length” test. I am also grateful for your detailed lighting plans. Great work and passion. Where did you source the case for the grey and skin tone cards?
Oh and yes, can I have the link for the footage also. Thanks
Sent
It’s just a corporate style compendium. I Velcro’d the back of the cards in there.
JB
So when someone asks me where I got my custom grey-card case I will say “It’s a John Brawley signature series case”!
Sure ! Though I can’t take the credit. I think it was one of my focus pullers that came up with the idea !
jb
John, Thanks for posting. Most interesting.
Thank you for giving people access to your tests.
robert.pitman AT deakin.edu.au
Sent
Peter Mooney travel@scubapix.com
sent. Hi Peter !
jb
Yes please John, much appreciated! iain • funwithstuff.com.
sent. Hi Iain.
jb
con@fivecs.com.au
Sen. And hello Con !
jb
Pingback: Blackmagic Production Camera 4K Tested against the Sony F55, F35, Arri Alexa, BMCC and Canon 5D Mark III | wolfcrow
Hi John,
I’d like to take a look at your test.
Thanks,
Aaron
sent
Hi John,
I would love to take a look at the files.
cmajunke{at}web.de
Thank you
Clemens
sent
Hey john can your forward one to me?
Sent
Hey John!
Thanks for that testing, interested in results.
promo(at)recordmedia.ru
Sincerely,
Dmitriy!
sent
Thanks for making this available. My email is patrick(at)frame.is
Sent
Would love to see the results, thanks.
Pablo
pablinski at mac.com
Sent
Hi John.
Love to have a look at the results, blog at ryanjones.com.au.
Curious though which camera you’re now planning on using for the show?
Cheers,
Ryan
Sent. Not sure yet…still an ongoing discussion.
jb
Hi John, Joe Leih joeleih AT nimble-pictures.com thanks!
Sent.
hi John,
really pleased to have a look thanks so much
marco.adesso at gmail.com
Sent
Looking forward to it. Thanks for posting. alex AT constantframes.com.au
Sent
jstalker AT creativebaymedia DOT com
Thanks John
Sent
Thanks John
peter.chamberlain AT me.com
Sent. Thanks Pete.
sam@altervision.com.au
Thanks John
sent
Thanks John, would love to take a look
tmd AT tomdavid.com.au
sent
sam@altervision.com.au
Thanks John!
Sorry just realised I double posted!
Thanks for sharing this John. Would like to see it too.
louis at days-end . com
sent
Thanks!
Hi John, love to take a look
x1 at idonut.org
sent
thanks
Thanks for this cool test!
riccardocovino at gmail.com
sent
thanks a lot!
You should never pass up the opportunity to learn more about the nature of the cameras you’re using! I would love to see this test.
jpilgrim4499 at gmail.com
Thanks John! And thank you for all of your great posts both on your blog and on the blackmagic forums!
sent
Thanks John would love to take a butchers.
hynam.smith AT gmail.com
Cheers.
sent
Hi, I’d like to see the results. Thanks for posting this. daniel.lobo at gmail.com
sent
Hello!
I really want to see that! Thanks for doing this 🙂
jpetit5 AT icloud.com
sent
Hi john,
can I have the link for the footage? Thank you so much
albe.morlin AT gmail.com
sent
Thanks for doing the test. I’d love to see the files. I just ordered the Blackmagic 4K, and am hoping it came out of your gauntlet looking okay!
sent
They look terrific! Thanks for sharing so freely. Very glad to see the Blackmagic camera looking so good.
Hi John I would like to take a look at your tests too. joaomanuelandrade@outlook.com
Thanks
sent
John, may I please take a look at your test. Thank you for your this, and other helpful posts.
kai-kool ( a t ) hotmail.com)
Sent
Hi John,
I also would like to take a look at your tests.
esat@qcolorist.com
Thanks.
sent
Hi John, thank you for sharing the footage. Your posts are always a good insight and inspiration for me. Greetings from Germany.
patric at eigermann.com
sent
Thanks for this John.
I would like to see the footage
kmk@void.st
sent
I’d love to see your tests. Starting a feature soon and trying to see if the F55 intercuts well with the BMCC.
chun(at)cinecraft.org
sent
Hope I’m not too late! I’d love to take a look at them as well: jbcam(at)n-systems.org
Thanks a lot!
No at all. And sent.
I’d love to see your footage.
briandhallettATgmail.com
Thank you very much for taking the time to out together these test. Would love to look at what you found!
matthew.mayotte at thetallestoak.com
Cheers (from San Francisco)!
-Matt
Hello (at) lucyknox.net
Thank you so much! Love your posts.
Hi John,
Woul like to take a look . Thanks
grinleon at gmail.com
hortkind chill.de
Thx!
Just logging to ask if I may have the link to the test and thank you very much by the way. Shooting a a very low budget feature soon and need to show the producers the tests.
Oops. Forgot to say jpsendall (at) yahoo.co.uk
Have mercy.
A pow, pow, pow, pow, a pow.
maydi(at)zg.t-com.hr
Hi John,
I’d appreciate if you could send me the footage, here’s my email address.
sean (at) pathwaypictures . co . uk
Thanks.
Would like to take a look.
Thanks
Would love to see the files. norman at langproductions.com
Thank you!
shane.farr AT gmail.com
Thanks for testing, would like to see the files.
Sorry forget email address michael at hdmg.com
Many thanks! Please let me have a look.
Sent
matt at mcgeedigitalmedia dot com
sent
I would love to see them. Thanks. mlschaertl(at)msn.com
Sent
John,
I’m very interested to see the files.
Sent
Would love to see your results
dantoniuk at yahoo.com
Sent
I have been doing a lot of video of amateur rocket tests. I am shooting 1080P and am thinking of going 4K. What are your thoughts regarding studio vs field cameras. Lighting is not a problem but I would like to shoot some in high frame rate.
Also, please send me a copy of your report.
Hi. it’s not really a report. It’s the raw footage. You can download it and make up your own mind about the cameras performance. I’ve sent you a link anyway. The BM cameras aren’t known for high frame rates. The 4K camera can only do 30 FPS.
jb
Will be great to see these… video@adriaantaylor.com
Sent
richardhawkins1(at)me.com
Thanks for sharing your results John and I would luv to take a gander at the footage. Im interested as to the latitude of the BMCC 4k see where that falls.
Sent
Thank you for this. jritscher at advancedleader.com
Sent
Thanks for posting this up. I’d love a look.
d.a.schwartz at verizon.net
I would like to see the comparison especially for Alexa and Black magic offerings.
As the Alexa will be similar to the new Amira guessing the test will still have relevance.
I am developing a new project and this info would help with some of the decisions.
Thanks
Recent project is available at: http://www.aptn.ca/allourrelation/
Sorry,http://aptn.ca/allourrelations/ is the correct url.
If you don’t mind, I also would like to take a look at them. Thanks!
A very well-constructed test. I hope that someday someone does a similar comparison including the Red Epic equipped with both the Mysterium-X and the Dragon sensors. Please send the test. I will be looking forward to your comments after you have had a chance to evaluate your results and made your conclusions. stereoscope3d(at)gmail.com
Awesome work! Thanks for helping me decide what to use! Can’t wait to check out full rez images to compare!
Hi John, thanks for testing and I like to see your results.
Please send a link.
Thanks for doing this test. Very appreciated.
Hey John first off thanks for all the great post I would love to see the footage really looking into one of the Blackmagic cameras. Thanks!
aradstarATwriteme.com
John,
Thank you for taking the time to test these cameras and post the files.
I would love to take a look at them.
scott(at)f2pix.com
Sounds likes a great test. Please send a copy of the results. Thanks!
newsletters(at)shoulderhigh(dot)com
Thank you in advance! I’m excited to see the results.
GreenwoodsoundATearthlink.net
Thanks for taking the time to do the testing. I know what it takes to do it.
Mark Preston
Preston Photo Inc.
Thanks for sharing. I would like to see how they compare. greg (at) leducdesign.com. D.P.
local 600 & soc. Heading to NAB 2014, so this will be great to discuss at the show.
Thanks very much!
John,
Thanks for this offer – most kind of you. If you are still going, can you send them to me as well? l.l.anderson at leedsmet.ac.uk. Thanks so much.
Another guy from South America interested in taking a look at your test. Thanks.
Thanks for an unbiased test.
Would love to see the 4k to 2.5k comparison. Thank you.
Frank.Engineering AT gmail.com
Thanks for your offer…
Michael, Germany
Hello John and thanks for making this test available to all of us.
Our engineering department did a 4K test with the Sony F55 this past Thursday (3 days ago). I would love to give them access to the files of yours.
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Clarke L Smith
The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
New York – USA
I would love to see your test. Please send me a link. Which camera did you decide on and why?
I’d like to see the results of your comparison.
Thank you.
Don
Thank you for this test! I’m excited to see the results
greenwoodsoundATearthlink.net
Would love to check out the files John! harryjameskemp@gmail.com
Cheers.
Hi John,
can i look at your test?
My I ask to the test files? uliplank at web.de
TIA
Thanks for your diligence. I would love to see your test results as well.
kimberly@filmvideoweb.com
Thank you for doing this. tsorel@jou.ufl.edu
steve@weeepic.com
john, it’s nice to see you here and at the forefront of this testing. i’ve been following you for years, ever since i started shooting. you won’t remember this but you once sent me an AATON XTRprod t-shirt. i believe you were a fellow AATON owner.
would you mind sending the test? i’m super curious.
dlew@interport.net
thanks!
Great article and lighting scheme for the test. A great real world look at these fine cameras.
I would certainly appreciate seeing the test results as I am also considering using the Sony F55
on an upcoming shoot.
edw2260@yahoo.com
Thank you John!
A little late but hopefully you get the message:
jones.travis@gmail.com
I would also like to look at your test footage
lets take a look…
info@griffithproductions.tv
Thanks for the test. I would like to see the results. cetti(AT)aol.com
Hi John, im way late about signing up here but i’d love to take a look, currently deliberating between sony or arri camera for a short film and was recently impressed with the f5.
Thanks
jessscotthunter at gmail dot com
Leo@picturepalaceprod.com
John, would love to take a look. This would be great to explain students in my cinematography class. Thanks for posting this my address is ajmendez AT syr.edu
John, I would love to see your test results. We are also in the early stages of pre-production for a show and looking at cameras.
Would also like to have a look. Thanks
Hi John,
really interesting test, I am curious to take a look.
Best
Claudio
victor_b_harris at hotmail.com
Thanks for the tests John.
thank you for doing this.. it would be a privilege to be able see your tests
a.m.alshiblie at gmail
Excellent test that answer my own questions. Dowload links please.
Rls (at) hdtv-entertainment.com
would love to take a look as well, andrew at dustoftheground dot com
Wow John. What a great service! Just got myself an F35, and would like to use your work as a base-line. sandboxllc at gmail.com
John,
Excited to take a look at your results. Thanks for putting in the time and effort in doing this. Jderango at yahoo.com
Best,
Johnny Derango
Thanks John.
sonyaddo@gmail.com
Hi John, I would love to take a look at your tests as well. Better late then never! infoatjoshquigleyphotodotcom
Good morning. I apologize but I didn’t get around to the link until today and it must have expired. Could you please re-send? Thank you.
Hi John,
We just bought the Black Magic 4k. I’m curious to see how it compares to the other cameras. Please send the files my way. Thanks in advance.
-Josh
http://www.blackboxproductions.tv
Hi,
I have a F55, but I love the Alexa skin tones and try to match them.
I would be grateful to get access to your files.
Thank you very much
Andy
Paris / mail: andysommer@wanadoo.fr
Love to see this footage! Thanks! ironmountainfilmsatgmail.com
Trying to decide whether to return the BMCC 4k or not.
John: I sign up to see your test, but have not seen any file as of enough. Did I miss a link to see them. Tom Sullivan
Hey! Thanks in advance
StandingATalejandrorenteria.com
Sorry. I’ve had the service suspended because there was too much data going out !!!
If this is still available could I get the test files please? glenn(at)yourmoviecrew.com
Sorry. I’ve had the service suspended because there was too much data going out !!!
Please send results of the test.
Thanks
Pingback: Sony F-55…so close… | johnbrawley
If the service is back up or if there is another place you could point me to, I would appreciate it. chilimbwe.washington(at)gmail.com Thank you.
Hi. I’ve not been able to keep maintaining the cost of hosting such large files. Sorry.
JB
Hi John, Thank you for sharing! I would really appreciate to look at it. My address is:
neelpotgieter(at)me.com
Hi John, hope I haven’t missed the boat on this, please could you send a link?
Thanks patrickacum@yahoo.com
Hi John, Thanks for sharing, my address theo@witchwizard.co.za
John, please send the files to ulyssespaiva@msn.com
Thanks very much!
Thank you for sharing! I would really appreciate to look at it: jimbo7@gmx.net
mark.lafleur@me.com
A very well-designed test. Between your detailed text and your excellent drawing, I can’t think of anything that I would want to ask. Please send to me at: stereoscope3d@gmail.com
hope it is still there can u send it to me too please
avitaltzachi2@yahoo.com
Pingback: Blackmagic Production Camera 4K Tested against the Sony F55, F35, Arri Alexa, BMCC and Canon 5D Mark III - wolfcrow
John, what a great, well thought out test. I would love to have a look at the files to make a call between an Alexa and the F55. Thanks for this work and effort you put out for the rest of us!
bichomuerto AT gmail.com