Sony PMW F3 IN 2021 4K

I really can't say enough good things about the Sony F3 Camera. Its still going so strong and I will continue to shoot with it for many years to come. It is the easiest camera system I've ever dealt with, its seriously a point and shoot camera. I shot this in 422 color space and did a very simple resolve grade. For those who are still thinking about getting this camera, go for it.

[@arturomarinho_dp]

OMG my beloved F3 444 a true beast!!! .I´m trhilled with it images after eleven years shooting . Astonishing skin tones render texture and creamy roll off hghlights! manye thanks for video!

[@xavierdegreeves]

Hey man, you are absolutely right the F3 is such a beauty. It’s very point and shoot and hard to make it look terrible. I love to see so many people who appreciate this camera as much as I do.

[@snsetscollective1269]

Best F3 footage I've seen. In the age of Minis, Im still Happy to pull mine out of the case in over three years, shooting with it next Tuesday.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks a ton for your compliment. I am happy to hear you will Be pulling this baby out and using it. I hope you enjoy it and create something spectacular with it. The minis aren’t on the same level for sure and I’m willing to put my F3 up against any form of mini.

[@snsetscollective1269]

@@xavierdegreeves Did you use false color to monitor your black levels? This grade looks top notch. Was this at -3db?

[@xavierdegreeves]

-3db and yes I always use false color to monitor exposure on all digital sensors. This camera also has a neat feature called “LOW LIGHT & HIGH LIGHT” it’s built into the LCD screen and it’s fantastic and can totally be trusted.

[@stofsound]

Amazing as always Xavier, thank you for giving this camera all the love it deserves.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks a lot, I’m still so in love with it in fact today I’m thinking on going out with it. How’s it working out for you?

[@stofsound]

@@xavierdegreeves I'm in love with it, just as you are. Here is one video where I really felt the camera was just what I was looking for: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5KYpYivh6yokKM

[@stofsound]

@@xavierdegreeves and this was the first time I used it and I was like 🤯 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKScgZqAqLCEn7M

[@xavierdegreeves]

@@stofsound beautiful work my friend, love it in the atmospheres you use it in looks very cinematic. Keep going!

[@alain7634]

Very nice Xavier, I really enjoy watching your videos! The camera definitely helps a lot but I also think you have a talent in creating those dreamy ambiences, in the way you work with light, textures, sounds, motion cadence of the camera, editing tempo... thank you for creating this small community around the F3 thanks to your work. You wrote I think in other posts that you will be doing a special video about how you colour grade. I hope you will share it with us soon. Cheers.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Appreciate your support so much and your kind words rendered a smile. I still very much so want to do that tutorial and will soon for sure. Yes other aspects certainly help in creating the visual landscape. You still want to choose a good framing and (most importantly) the meaning of the framing going in, with that the work is already more then half way done. To be it’s a spiritual process, when I’m behind the camera I focus on my breathing and I get very very calm and light in my body in order to focus on what I’m saying. Filmmaking itself can be filled with so much technology and big pieces of equipment that things can make one feel like less of an artist, so breathing and taking your time somehow brings me back to earth where I can place my camera with love and attention to details. Where the F3 comes into play is that after I give such power to what I’m shooting the F3 always gives me the same energy back. It always just looks good as if it somehow went through the same process as I did. It’s a funny thing as not to many camera are willing to replicate what you want exactly without lots of post work, and that means (with those cameras) I’ll have to do the work for it and my creative work all at the same time. This is why I choose the F3. Cheers

[@aashkar]

@@xavierdegreeves I agree Xavier with all what you said, and yes I forgot framing! I feel the same with my F3. It has this organic, a bit nostalgique but still modern rendition of colors, which I prefer, rather than high resolution with no soul image! When I grade I just do tilt gamma gain, reduce sat and maybe play with contrast that's it. I can't upsacle to 4k in resolve because I have the free version. When I shoot, I try both underexposed and correctly exposed shots. I honestly can't see the difference in post, maybe a less contrasty shadows when grading the under exposed image? I also noticed that when I underexpose, especially in dark situations, bringing back the shadows, bring also lot of digital grain to the image. Talking about grain, applying film grain is another challenge. I find it heard to blend it in the image without feeling it's fake. Anyway I would love to see how you proceed!

[@xavierdegreeves]

@@aashkar wow I cant believe I'm just now seeing your comment. I love experimenting with underexposure myself, I find the camera works best that way. The f3 has a natural grain but film convert has a nice grain structure as well. i agree I find you don't need to do much in post to the f3 just let the color science do the work.

[@sixofsix]

Definitely a great example of someone who has talent and has chosen a tool that compliments it.

[@JLCUT]

Amazed every time. Great work, my friend.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks man always appreciate the feedback.

[@watcher1138]

Another beautiful F3 capture, thank you for this Xavier! 🎬💥👍

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks so much 🙏🏽

[@kamikaze1213]

Looks fantastic. I have an FS700R but would love to get one of these.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks mate! Get one I’m sure you will love all this camera has to offer.

[@jamisonfaulkner799]

so good

[@xavierdegreeves]

Appreciate it

[@PrentisRyanSnead]

Love every one of your Sony F3 videos, Xavier! There’s something about the way this camera renders motion. Every frame is beautiful. I’m actually looking into purchasing one in the near future, and I wanted to get a feel for how the SLog 422 footage grades. Would it be possible for you to upload a few clips for me to download and mess with in Resolve? Thank you in advance! Really appreciate you.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Hey there, Thanks for seeing my work and finding interest in it. The motion cadence on the F3 is certainly recognizable its one of the features i love most about it. When you get this camera you will have a great time with it, its full of amazing surprises and it expands your mind as it can see the way you see things. I delete everything i shoot on these tests videos so don't have any of the footage anymore. I will shoot some things again very soon and will send some your way to play with. I can tell you that this camera is the easiest to grade in the world. I've graded and I currently own many high end camera systems all of which need lots of work to fall into a sweet spot. The F3 and F35 are the only cameras that need the least amount of work.

[@PrentisRyanSnead]

@@xavierdegreeves That would be awesome! I've heard it's a joy to grade, but coming from 8-bit and Sony's mirrorless color science, I feel that I need some tactile experience with the F3 so I can see for myself. The ease of getting a workable image is appealing, but I'm also interested in how much pushing and pulling can be done as well. Shooting with a couple of cameras that do 12-bit RAW has me a bit spoiled, but at the end of the day it's not 100% about specs. Sometimes something just feels right.

[@Pibetoons]

Hello Xavier! What lenses are you using here?

[@kevosi]

amazing! so are you recording on an external recorder or internal? if so what are you using for your external recorder thanks!

[@xavierdegreeves]

I never use the internal on the F3 I always use an external recorder. I love the black magic assist monitor and it’s what I always use on the F3

[@kevosi]

@@xavierdegreeves nice! just got that - what SD cards are you using - just ordered some and had some problems with them being read, so just looked at Blackmagic's approved card list - but tough to find some of the approved ones online

[@xavierdegreeves]

@@kevosi get them from b&h photo these aren’t the cheap ones they are about 97 dollars a card SANDISK EXTREAM PRO 300MB/s 64GB www.google.com/amp/s/www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1275619-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpk_064g_ancin_extreme_pro_uhs_ii_64gb.html/amp

[@kevosi]

@@xavierdegreeves thanks! you're the F3 guru lol

[@xavierdegreeves]

@@kevosi haha! Just love to help anyone who considers the F3 because no one does unless they truly care about the look of their images. Good luck on your journey.

[@eumesmo8006]

Whats lenses?

[@homoomnivorous2138]

hello. so lovely footage, thank you. may I ask? I see there’s higher res that 1080, but i read thats F3 only full hd, ist some type of neural engine upscale on computer or its some tricks on camera?

[@xavierdegreeves]

Thanks so much for your words. You are right. The Sony F3 only shoots in 1080. I make the footage 4K inside of DaVinci resolve using their upscale feature. After this the footage is now 4k and I upload it here to KZbin.

What is your export setting from resolve...I get so much blocking in my footage.

[@xavierdegreeves]

Do you upscale your footage to 4k in resolve? After I do that I make sure to export in a very high quality like prores or dnxhd the file sizes are huge but it helps with KZbins nasty compression

@@xavierdegreeves Yeah, I do superscale, and yeah I do export it in 422HQ still.

[@xavierdegreeves]

@ ahh man I don’t know what’s up then, is this happening only on dark scenes? Because it could be in your exposure that’s causing the macroblocking. Do you put your data levels to Full in resolve? Lastly are you exposing with false color?