One of the big advantages of the Sony F55 is its ability to record both RAW and HD at the same time (this is true of the F5 as well). When paired with the Sony AXS-R5 recorder, the F5/F55 can record 16-bit RAW data to AXS media cards, and HD video (MPEG2 or XAVC) to SxS cards. This gives you an easy-to-use offline editing format as well as an extremely high quality online Raw format at the same time.

With every new camera, come many new questions about workflow. The term "workflow" can be fairly broad, but today I am looking at importing Sony F5/F55 footage into various non-linear editing systems (NLEs). Both the F5 & F55 can record in MPEG2 (XDCAM), XAVC and HDCAM SR formats internally. With the addition of the AXS-R5 recorder, they can also record in Sony Raw. This article is focused on MPEG2 and XAVC, but be sure to keep an eye out for future blogs on working with Sony Raw and HDCAM SR.

The Sony F5 & F55 cameras are shipping in quantity now, and we've gotten a lot of requests for some custom scene files. I've put together five files in our usual flavors. They are designed both to change the cameras' look and make matching the two cameras easier.The cameras handle colors very differently due to their different Color Filter Arrays (to learn more, read Mitch's article on CFAs), so you'll see some obvious differences in the files. My focus on these files was to match skin tones and give a nice overall look.

ARRI has greatly expanded its range of Professional Camera Accessories (PCA) and now makes kits designed to fit other manufacturers' cameras. Their newest PCA kit is designed specifically for the Sony PMW-F5 & PMW-F55 cameras. All ARRI products are notable for both the quality of their construction and the elegance of their design, both of which take into consideration the way working camera people really use their tools.

Rare is the camera kit that has no accessories hanging off it. Monitor, lens controller, wireless transmitter, signal converter, timecode clock, focus rangefinder -- sometimes the camera can barely be seen under the accessories. These devices need power, and often the cameras themselves do not have enough outputs available. Switronix has created several versions of the JetPack, a battery mount (Anton Bauer or V-lock) with multiple power outputs in a variety of useful voltages.

Sony's new PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 cameras build upon the popular PMW-F3, and feature a Super-35mm size sensor with 2K and 4K recording options. Both the F5 and F55 are suitable for many different styles of production and can be customized with lenses and accessories to make them even more versatile solutions. Some of the existing accessories for the F3 are interchangeable with the F5 and F55, but the new form factor means some support accessories will be unique. In this article, we present the many different lenses and accessories that can be used with the cameras.

Sony has just started shipping their new F5 and F55 cameras, so I thought the timing was perfect for an At the Bench video. The cameras are so packed full of features that I opted for two 15-minute videos to cover the camera system. The first video goes over the F55's form, function and IO capabilities, while the second covers its menu system, various recording modes and output options.

In the descriptions of the new PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 cameras, Sony notes that the F55 sensor shares the same CFA as its big brother, the F65. Some people may confuse this to mean that the F55 shares the same sensor as the F65, but that is not the case. So what is a CFA and how does it differ between the F5 and F55?