The Sony FX5 has landed to arguably the warmest reception a compact cinema digicam has loved in years, however no digicam is ideal, and the remark sections show it. From the absent inner ND filter to the lacking photograph mode and the lengthy look ahead to firmware model 2, we wish to know: which omission issues most to you?

When Sony unveiled the FX5, it delivered a outstanding quantity of what the group had been asking for because the authentic FX3: a newly developed 16.6MP totally stacked full-frame sensor, 5K open gate recording, inner 16-bit X-OCN RAW in three flavors, three base ISOs, and body charges as much as 4K 240p, all lined in depth in our Sony FX5 announcement article and in Johnnie’s full evaluation from Kyoto. But inside hours of the announcement, the dialog in our feedback, in our Focus Verify podcast particular with Philip Bloom, and throughout the broader filmmaking group shifted from what the digicam does to what it doesn’t. So let’s take inventory of probably the most requested lacking options, after which it’s your flip to vote.

The interior ND filter elephant within the room

By a large margin, probably the most cited omission is a built-in digital variable ND filter. The Sony FX6 spoiled a complete technology of documentary and run-and-gun shooters with its stepless 1/4 to 1/128 variable ND, and lots of hoped the FX5 would lastly convey that comfort to a smaller physique. It didn’t occur. Sony explicitly retains the digital variable ND as one of many FX6’s distinctive promoting factors, alongside SDI and its box-style kind issue, and the sliding filter mechanism of the bigger digicam merely has no room in a 750g / 1.65lb physique that’s barely larger than an FX3A. Comprehensible from an engineering standpoint, maybe, however for anybody capturing fast-changing exteriors, screw-on filters and matte packing containers stay a part of the each day routine.

No photographs, for now

This one caught many individuals off guard. Whereas the FX3 was by no means a stills powerhouse, it may at the very least seize photographs when wanted, and loads of hybrid shooters relied on that for fast location scouts, continuity references, or BTS frames. The FX5, in distinction, launches with no photograph performance in any respect. Once we sat down with the FX5’s product planner Ryoji Yamada-san in Yokohama, he defined that Sony wished to make an ideal Cinema Line household digicam this time, which is why the FX5 adopts a brand new VENICE-style menu, and that menu doesn’t embody a nonetheless operate. Due to that, the corporate determined to rethink from zero how a nonetheless operate ought to work for cinematography. Based on Yamada-san, this was technically onerous and took extra time, however it is going to are available in a future replace. You possibly can learn the total dialog in our Sony FX5 interview. So stills are on the roadmap, however anybody who wants them on day one should wait.

SDI and Genlock keep upstairs

Broadcast and multi-camera operators shortly seen that the FX5 provides a full-size HDMI Kind A output and Ethernet, however no SDI and no Genlock. Timecode synchronization is at the very least addressed via the brand new TC cable accent, which permits the FX5 to sync with FX6 models and different cameras in a fleet. Nonetheless, for stay manufacturing environments constructed round SDI infrastructure, the FX5 stays a digicam that wants converters and workarounds, which once more is exactly how Sony needs to maintain the FX6 related.

One port, two equipment

The elective OLED viewfinder connects via a brand new proprietary connector on the highest of the digicam, and the XLR deal with unit covers precisely that connector as soon as connected. In observe, this implies it’s a must to select between the tilting EVF and the deal with with its 32-bit float audio recording; utilizing each on the identical time is just not doable. For solo documentary shooters who would love skilled audio and an eyepiece on the identical rig, this compromise stings, and it was one other level we raised with Sony’s product planners in our interview.

The lengthy street to firmware model 2

A number of the FX5’s most fun headline specs will not be really accessible at launch. The 5K open gate at 120p, open gate recording in XAVC, full-frame 5K RAW at as much as 120p, and the flagship 4K 240p mode all arrive with firmware model 2, and Yamada-san confirmed on digicam that this replace is scheduled for August 2027 or later. Sony’s monitor document of delivering on its FX6 and BURANO firmware roadmaps evokes confidence, however a wait of a yr or extra for marketed options is a professional frustration, particularly for patrons planning productions round excessive body charges.

Smaller grievances that add up

Past the massive 5, a number of recurring needs seem within the feedback. The Tremendous 35 crop mode tops out at 3.2K, so there is no such thing as a true 4K Tremendous 35 possibility for shooters with S35 glass. There is no such thing as a recording to exterior SSDs through USB-C, a workflow that competing compact cinema cameras have embraced. And we are able to verify from our personal time with the digicam that boot up occasions when switching between decision or body fee settings take remarkably lengthy, in contrast to with different cameras from different producers on this class, which slows down fast-paced capturing. None of those are dealbreakers on their very own, however they form the each day expertise of working with the digicam.

Solid your vote

So right here is the query we’re placing to the CineD group.