The New Sensor and Recording Modes:

The new 16.6MP sensor is unique to the FX5 and is well suited for use in its open gate (3:2) configuration for shooting with anamorphic lenses.  It should be noted that the FX5 is the first Sony camera outside of the Cine Alta line (VENICE, VENICE 2, BURANO) to offer open gate recording.  The sensor features a fully stacked architecture which gives it a leg up on the designs of the FX3 and FX5 and should offer faster read out speeds. This means less rolling shutter.

The full list of recording modes has not been published yet, but already includes 5K open gate up to 60fps, 5K 16:9 up to 120fps, numerous 4K options, and HD up to 240fps.  Future firmware updates already in the works promise even more recording options, included 4K up to 240fps.

XOCN and XAVC:

The FX5 uses two well established recording options at launch. By now everyone should be familiar with the Sony XAVC codec, which has been around for almost 15 years.  The particular flavor in the FX5 is XAVC-SI which is a 10-bit 4:2:2 codec found on many of Sony’s latest cameras, including the FX3.

The other recording option announced with the camera is XOCN, which is a 16-bit RAW recording first introduced with the R7 recorder for the PXW-F5/F55 cameras, which ads a huge amount of post capability to the compact FX5 camera.  At launch the only flavor will be XOCN-LT, which is what the Burano has.  It offers 16-bits of imaging information at a data rate slightly lower than ProRes HQ 422.  Two more flavors of XOCN are promised with the first firmware update offering even smaller file sizes.

Dual Gain vs. Base ISO

Dual Gain recording expands the latitude of the recording by essentially double exposing every frame, once at a lower ISO value and once at a higher ISO value and then merging them into a single recorded frame.  This gives you more shadow and highlight details than a single gain recording can accomplish. The trade off of this recording option is slower read out speed, limiting the frame rates available, and increasing the rolling shutter.

Triple Base ISO operates in the traditional way, with a single exposure for each frame, but with three base values, giving you much higher ISO possibilities with much reduced noise characteristics.  Prior to the FX5, most of Sony’s cameras with dual base ISO had very disparate low and high base values (800 and 12800 on FX3), leaving many videographers in a conundrum when conditions meant that 800 was too low and 12800 was too high for their scenario.  With the introduction of a third base ISO of 4000, Sony has closed that gap.

XLR Top handle and 32-bit Float

The XLR top handle can be purchased bundled with the camera, or as a stand alone product (about $300 more expensive) and is essentially the same one that is offered for the FX3, FX30 and FX2 cameras, although the FX5 handle is shaped a bit different to accommodate the slightly larger body of the new camera, and will not be backward compatible with older cameras.  It’s big new feature is that it allows the FX5 to record 32-bit float audio internally.

32-bit float audio recording is all the rage these days. 32-bit compared to traditional 24-bit, gives videographers a lot more headroom on the audio tracks to handle unexpected jumps in the volume of the subject being recorded