One of the main differentiators between Sony's F5 and F55 cameras is the ability for the latter to record 4k XAVC footage internally to its SxS cards, but this might all be about to change…..
Filmmaker Paul Ream has uploaded a test video to Vimeo that appears to show 4k footage recorded internally to the cheaper Sony F5 camera, a camera that can only 'officially' record up to 2k. Details on exactly how this has been achieved are sparse at the moment, but Paul promises to reveal all on the next episode of the Extrashot Podcast. I think we can safely assume that like Magic Lantern's 5D Raw hacks, this is some sort of custom firmware update.
Paul even posted several images on Twitter that clearly show the F5 recording at 4096×2160. With the price difference between the F5 and F55 being about $10,000, this not an insignificant discovery. Of course there's a few other differences between the F5 and F55, most noticeably the global shutter, but if this turns out to be a quick firmware hack it'll no doubt satisfy a number of folks who were perhaps considering the official F5->F55 upgrade that Sony are offering.
There's no details yet as to what framerates this recording mode will be capable of, or whether there are any recording time limits due to overheating problems, something that's been seen in other camera hacks over the last few years. Paul says the podcast will reveal all before IBC, and it'll also be interesting to know whether this was functionality that they truly added to the camera themselves, or whether it was something that was hidden within the camera all along that just required turning on. Perhaps Sony had always intended to enable internal 4k at some point and these guys have just beaten them to it? Whatever the details are, if it works in a reliable way then the F5 is about to become even more popular!
— Paul Ream (@paulream) August 24, 2014
What’s wrong with my F5 ??? pic.twitter.com/1EgFNtGybG
— Paul Ream (@paulream) August 24, 2014
If you want to download the original 4k footage you can head on over to the page on Vimeo and check it out for yourself since Vimeo can only stream in HD.
4K on the Sony F5 from Paul Ream on Vimeo.
Source: Cinema5D