Honestly, the Sony FS5 II wasn’t the expected upgrade that most videographers were eager to see back at NAB 2018 when the successor of the original model was officially announced. Besides the new color science designed to improve the already existing picture profiles alongside the new 4K/120fps 4-second burst mode, there weren’t indeed many other significant updates that the FS5 II owners could brag about.
Nevertheless, with its Super 35-Sized CMOS sensor, UHD at 24/30fps, HD up to 240fps capabilities, XAVC Long, AVCHD recording codecs, superb variable ND filter, and compact form factor, the Sony FS5 II is still one of the most preferred camcorders on the market. Considering this, here are five reasons that should be taken into account the next time you plan to rent out the camera for a filmmaking project.
As Carl Yates of ProAV TV points out, one of the most essential aspects of the camcorder that could be hardly overlooked is its small and lightweight form factor, especially when it comes to handheld shooting.
In fact, it’s super easy to strip down the camera body itself to the bare minimum by removing the top handle and the side grip, thus making it extremely convenient for using the camera in conjunction with a gimbal or any other similar device where the compact and lightweight form factor is paramount.
The built-in Variable ND Filter is another noteworthy feature that makes the FS5 II so useful and practical device to shoot with in the field. It really gives users the extreme fine control to nail down the right exposure when filming outside in harsh sunlight or virtually in any other difficult to cope with lighting situation.
You can even utilize the available ND auto mode and let the camera control the exposure levels for you, which sometimes could be a pretty handy feature to rely on, especially when you are in a pinch.
Beyond that, the FS5 MKII is one of the most capable and versatile cameras when it comes to slow-motion capabilities. You can do up to whopping 960fps in burst mode or 120fps continuously in different resolutions.
Due to the fact that you have the freedom to switch between multiple slow-motion modes makes it one of the most flexible camera packages out there, not to mention the fact that you can also take advantage of the end trigger mode.
In essence, it allows you to record in super slow motion and capture a certain moment in time without having to waste disk space and having to edit through loads of junk footage.
Another essential consideration that keeps the cost down for the entire camera system and makes the Sony FS5 MKII so appealing to content creators is the fact that it uses much more affordable SD cards as its primary media.
The camera sports two SD card slots, plus each SDXC card will set you back a quarter of the price of let’s say an XQD card, that the bigger brother Sony FS7 uses and way less than SxS cards which are utilized on some other high-end Sony cameras.
Last but not least, the FS5 MKII provides some striking RAW SDI output capabilities. In a nutshell, this option enables users to record the maximum image quality captured by the camera sensor to an external recorder without applying any internal compression to the signal whatsoever.
You can record up to 4K 60fps video in real-time or 120 fps in burst mode alongside continuous 240 fps in 2K Raw when used with a compatible third-party external recorder such as the Atomos Shogun Inferno or Convergent Design Odyssey7Q+.
So, with all that being said, what’s your favorite Sony FS5 MKII feature? Let us know in the comments below.
[source: ProAV TV]
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Sony PXW-FS5M2 4K XDCAM Super 35mm Compact Camcorder (B&H, Amazon)
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