In this episode of my 4K for $10K series, I cover the Sony PXW-FS5M2, or as it's more commonly known, the FS5 II. I focus on the camera's core features, both hardware and software, and where I see it fitting into Small to No Crew production environments.

At NAB, Sony announced a free firmware update for their popular PXW-FS5 camera that will provide Hybrid Log-Gamma and REC2020 color space recording via an additional picture profile, PP10. Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) is a clever implementation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) recording and playback that is backwards compatible with standard dynamic range displays.

I stopped by the Sony booth, where Joseph Schimizzi talked me through their recent updates. A big focus for Sony this year has been increased support for HDR, and with these updates they are making the technology much more accessible to a larger base of users, and a wider audience.

The Sony FS5 has become quite popular, and we've had a lot of requests for our custom scene files lately, so we've created looks for this camera to match our previous looks.

For sports, nature or any other application requiring an extremely long zoom range, equipment choices usually involve very large, heavy, and expensive lenses. While S35 sensor cameras brought huge improvements in sensitivity and dynamic range, the larger image circle posed several problems when looking for a portable lens with a high zoom ratio. However, it's now possible to achieve an extended zoom range in a considerably smaller package.

Sony has just announced the newest member to their large sensor 4K camera family, the PXW-FS5. Bridging the gap between the Sony NEX-FS700 and the PXW-FS7, the PXW-FS5 brings a smaller form factor while retaining many of the features of the FS7.