Sony PMW-F5,PMW-F55 Quick Reference Manual

PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 Quick Reference Guide.

Copyright Alister Chapman 2014. www.xdcam-user.com

For On-Line Help See: http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/bd-p/large-

sensor-camera-F5-F55

For Tutorials and Tips see: http://www.xdcam-user.com.

This document has been prepared without the direct support of Sony. I have
tried to make it as accurate as possible, but cannot guarantee that there may
not be some errors or omissions. Comments and suggestions are welcome
via www.xdcam-user.com.

You can download the latest version from here:

http://www.xdcam-user.com/2014/04/pmw-f5-and-pmw-f55-quick-reference­guide/

HOW TO USE THE DOCUMENT:

Anything in italics, like this (System – Base Settings) indicates the menu
page or menu setting that you may need to change or where to look for the
settings mentioned in the text.

This document is copyright, but please feel free to copy and distribute it
without modification, keeping all copyright notices etc for not-for-profit
purposes, i.e.– you may not sell this document, but you can give it away as a
free hand-out.

There are several sections:

HELP SOMETHINGS NOT
WORKING.

If the camera doesn’t work as
expected, crashes won’t power up or
you can’t turn something on, check in
this section.

S&Q, SLOW MOTION AND CENTER
CROP.

Anything to do with S&Q motion
check here. Also information on
shooting 2K raw or using the camera
in Center Crop or Full Frame Modes.

OTHER GOTCHAS AND USEFULL
THINGS TO KNOW

Problems and issues that don’t live in
any of the other sections including
media issues, APR and Noise
Reduction.

CINE EI MODE AND LUTS

Information about using the Cine EI
Mode and LUT’s

CUSTOM MODE.

Information about using Custom
mode with some notes on Gamma
Matrix and other paint settings.

This revision: V8 5th July 2014 Firmware V4.1

PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 Quick Reference Guide.

Copyright Alister Chapman 2014. www.xdcam-user.com

HELP! SOMETHINGS NOT WORKING:

CAMERA UNRESPONSIVE

Remove battery wait a few seconds
and replace battery.
Check the (Lens Interface) settings
and turn the (Lens Interface) to OFF
unless you are using lenses with the
Arri or Cooke interface.
It’s recommended that you perform
an (All Reset) in (System) if this
occurs.
Try re-seating the WiFi Dongle, a
loose WiFi Dongle can cause the
camera to hang.

NO HDSDI OR HDMI OUTPUT

Check that the HDSDI and HDMI
outputs are enabled in the (Video –

Output On/Off AND Video – Output
Format) pages of the menu. If still no
output, perform an (System - all
reset) and re-start the camera.

R5 RAW RECORDER DOES NOT
COME ON WHEN IN CINE-EI

The R5 raw recorder will only operate
in the Cine-EI Mode. In addition you
need to set the operating mode

(System – Base Setting – Shooting
Mode) to RAW and you must set the
(Recording – Rec Control) to AXS

for raw on the R5 only or AXS + SXS
for raw plus internal SxS.

CAMERA WON’T COME ON AFTER
CHANGING LENS.

Check the (Camera - Lens Interface

- Setting) settings and turn the (Lens
Interface) to OFF unless you are

using lenses with the Arri or Cooke
interface.

OPTITEK LENS ADAPTER FOR
CANON LENSES NOT WORKING.

Check the (Lens Interface) settings
and turn the (Lens Interface) to
(TYPE C).

CAN’T SELECT 4K HDSDI OR 4K
HDMI OUTPUT.

4K HDSDI and HDMI output is only
available on the PMW-F55 and only
when the camera is recording 4K
internally on the SXS cards. If using
the R5 to record 4K you can only
record 2K/HD on the SxS cards, so
cannot get a 4K HDSDI or HDMI
output.

CAN’T ENABLE PROXY
RECORDING

Proxy recording (XAVC + Mpeg2 on
same SxS card) is only available on
the F55 and only works when the
camera is recording 4K XAVC YPbPr.

PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 Quick Reference Guide.

Copyright Alister Chapman 2014. www.xdcam-user.com

!

CAN’T SELECT SStP SR (HDCAM
SR) CODEC

You can only select the SStP SR 422
codecs when the camera is in YPbPr
mode and you can only select SStP
444 when in RGB mode. You cannot
use SStP and RAW with the R5 at the
same time. (System – Base Setting
– Main Operation – YPbPr or RGB).

WAVEFORM OR HISTOGRAM NOT
WORKING

You can only use the cameras built in
waveform and histogram options
when you the Sub SDI is enabled.
(Video – Output – SDI SUB).
In addition the waveform will only
display when the LUT settings for the
VF output and Sub SDI output are the
same, either LUT ON for both or LUT
OFF for both. (Video – Monitor LUT
– Sub&HDMI PLUS Viewfinder)

NEED TO PERFORM AN “ALL
RESET” BUT DON’T HAVE ANY
VIEWFINDER OR MONITOR
OUTPUT.

From firmware V3 onwards you
should be able to turn the SDI SUB
display overlay ON/OFF from the side
panel by pressing the “CAMERA”
button one or two times to get to the
page where SDI(Sub)Disp is shown in
the bottom left corner.

Otherwise do the following:
Turn the camera off then back on.
Press the menu button once.
Slowly turn the Sel/Set knob 11 clicks
clockwise (10 clicks for earlier
firmware versions).
Press in the Sel/Set Knob.
Turn it a further 15 clicks clockwise.
Press the Sel/Set Knob twice.
Turn it anti clockwise one click.
Pess the Sel/Set knob.
The camera should reset.
You should then have text overlays
on the SUB HDSDI output.

PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 Quick Reference Guide.

Copyright Alister Chapman 2014. www.xdcam-user.com

S&Q, SLOW MOTION AND 2K SENSOR CROP:

CAN’T SELECT S&Q, MENU
OPTION GREYED OUT.

Camera must be set to YPbPr XAVC
or RAW to record S&Q. S&Q will not
work if the camera is set to RGB,
MPEG or SStP (System – Rec

Format – Format – XAVC). (System
– Base Setting – Main Operation –
YPbPr OR RAW).
For Raw only set (Recording – Rec
Control – Setting) to AXS.

CAN’T SELECT FRAME RATE
HIGHER THAN 60FPS IN S&Q

You must turn on HFR (Camera –

S&Q Motion –High Frame Rate –
Full Scan or Center Scan). Only

choose Full Frame if you have the
optional 2K Optical Low Pass filter
installed, otherwise use Center Scan
to avoid excessive aliasing. HFR
above 60fps is limited to 2K/HD.

MY HIGH SPEED FOOTAGE HAS A
LOT OF JAGGIES, RAINBOW
PATTERNS AND DOES NOT LOOK
GOOD.

See note above. Use Center Scan
mode to avoid aliasing and moiré
without the optional 2K Low Pass
Filter.

I CAN’T GO ABOVE 150 FPS IN HFR
S&Q

You can only go above 150fps if the
camera is set to a NTSC area
frequency, so 23.98, 24, 29.29 or

59.94fps must to be used for higher
frame rates. (System – System

Setting – Frequency)

I CAN’T GO ABOVE 180 FPS IN HFR
S&Q

Internal recordings on the SxS cards
are limited to 180fps. To go up to
240fps you must use the optional R5
raw recorder and be in the Cine EI
mode (System- Base Setting –

Shooting Mode – Cine EI PLUS
Main Operation – RAW). In addition

you may need to disable SXS
recording to get above 180fps.

(Recording – Rec Control – Setting

- AXS) use AXS only for 240fps on

the R5.