I love a good firmware update. Sony have just released a small firmware update for their FS7 and FS7 II (FS7MK2) cameras. This is not a big update, but it is an incredibly useful Firmware Upgrade for CINE-EI on your FS7 or FS7mk2.
If you usually shoot Custom Mode on your FS7, keep walking, this firmware upgrade is not for you.
You can now change ISO in CINE EI Mode. Woah. Seriously. Finally. ISO changes. The most rudimentary of all changes, is finally here.
Before this upgrade Sony FS7 users were stuck on ISO2000 in Cine EI mode. The reason being: to get the full 14 stops that the sensor allows, Sony jammed CINE EI mode to ISO 2000. This wasn’t a huge issue for me. It makes total sense, and I got used to using the camera in this way. Gluing the camera to the native ISO 2000 took out another variable, and it reminded me of shooting on film. However. Sometimes you just need to bump that ISO in the moment and not have to explain it to your editor or colourist why you shot under or overexposed.
Paired with the CINE EI Noise Reduction that Sony implemented with a previous update, we are now getting closer to being able to shoot with the flexibility you get in Custom Mode, but with the nicer, more filmic images and better skin tones of CINE EI.
What I would love to see next is the ability to minutely CHANGE WHITE BALANCE in CINE EI MODE, come on Sony, I am begging you!
Below are the links for the firmware updates for the FS7 and FS7 II (FS7MK2) do not get these confused as they will only work on the correct camera!
