Sony F3 - Love these features

Sony F3 - Love these features

Andy Shipsides at Abel Cine made this great video outlining the physical layout of the upcoming Sony PMW-F3. 

Give it a watch >>>

Without even getting into all the other features; between the small size, PL mount, and the potential for 444 RGB output over Dual Link; the F3 is going to be a heavy hitter for sure. One feature Andy's video pointed out that I wasn't aware of is this "Spare" Connector which will allow you to slave two F3's together and control them with one Paint Box. PERFECT for Stereoscopic 3D applications. Another feature that's fantastic is the ability to output S LOG over SDI to a recorder meanwhile recording normal, full contrast (linear with gamma) images to on-board SxS cards. With this functionality you can paint dailies right in the camera while simultaneously capturing the full, uncompressed sensor output externally. Awesome. Cannot wait to start working with these. 

Given that the lens mount can be adapted, one cool feature I'd like to see implemented would be some kind of sensor windowing. For S3D, selective focus through shallow depth of field isn't always desirable. Imagine being able to window this Super 35 sized sensor down to a 2/3" size and then adapting the lens mount to a B4. Now you can shoot 3D on a smaller imager with the correct lenses for the format. This would offer even more flexibility in one small package. I'd imagine something like this could be implemented with firmware at some point just like expansion of SDI output options will be. These days with motion picture cameras, it's all about adaptability and modularity and Sony seems to have embraced it.