Announced earlier in the year, Sony has now released their version 4 update for the FX6. This is a very nice upgrade for the camera adding several very useful features, some of which have been available on the FX30 and FX3 for some time.
I recommend you do this update, there is no need to go via version 3 if you are still on version 2, you can go direct to version 4.
You will find the firmware here: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/interchangeable-lens-camcorders-ilme-series/ilme-fx6v/software/00259041
Place the downloaded BODYDATA.DAT file on an SD card that you previously formatted in the camera. Do NOT put the file inside any other folder on the SD card then put the card in the lower of the cameras 2 SD card slots and from the full menu go to Maintenance/Version/Version Up. Like many of Sony’s camera firmware updates the camera will appear to stop functioning and the LCD screen will go blank during the update process, the only clue that it is actually progressing will be the flashing red LED next to the upper SD card slot. The update doesn’t take long, around 5 mins, but whatever you do don’t panic when you see the LCD go blank. Just wait for the update to complete at which point the camera will restart.
Benefits and Improvements
- Adds support for Movie file names in the Camera ID + Reel# format
- Adds a function that displays De-squeeze (2.0x, 1.3x) in the viewfinder and HDMI output
- Adds more AF frame rates during Slow & Quick Motion
- Adds support for Flexible ISO and Cine EI Quick in shooting mode:
- Allows you to record S-Log3 content with exposure settings by adjusting the ISO sensitivity
- Allows you to record at a base ISO setting the same as Cine EI, with the base ISO adjusted automatically in conjunction with EI value
- When the shooting mode is set to Flexible ISO, Cine EI, or Cine EI Quick, adds support for recording a 3D LUT file to the same memory card with the base look used during shooting as the shooting data, at the same time
FLEXIBLE ISO
Flexible ISO allows you to shoot using S-Log3 while monitoring via a LUT, but it is NOT a CineEI or Exposure Index mode. In this mode when you raise the ISO above the base ISO of 800 or 12800 you actually add digital gain to the S-Log3 recordings, making them brighter (and noisier). The camera isn’t becoming more sensitive, this is just a gain increase (alternately you can add gain in post and the result is broadly similar).
DO be aware that there can be a loss of dynamic range whenever you are shooting above the cameras base ISO. This will normally be a decrease in the highlight range. But, I would imagine that most people that are using this mode will be doing so because they don’t have enough light for 800 ISO. So, a loss of highlight range is perhaps unlikely to be an issue. As with CineEI you can monitor via a LUT and when exposing via the s709 LUT you should use the same levels as when shooting using CineEI (middle grey 44%, white card/white paper 78%, pale skin tones 60-65%).
CINE EI QUICK
This is the CineEI mode I use the most. It works the same as normal CineEI except in this mode the camera will automatically raise the base ISO to the high base ISO to 12800 ISO as you go above 2500 EI and then lower the base ISO back down to 800 ISO as you drop the EI below 3200 EI. I find this helps avoid ending up at a very high EI or very low EI (relative to the base ISO) by mistake and makes it quicker to work in changing light conditions.
EMBEDDED LUT
Enabling Embedded LUT (Full Menu/CineEI/Flex ISO Set/Embedded LUT File) allows the camera to save the LUT that you are using within the metadata on the SD card. This helps keep the footage and the LUT together in the same place which can assist post production ensure the correct LUT is used. Of course – when you do your back ups you need to make sure you copy the entire contents of the card (which is best practice anyway).
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Ever since I started with P2 and then on to XDCam I’ve copied the entire contents of the card. Setting aside the, the thumbnails and the LUT in version 4, what am I leaving behind if I only copy the clips? Thanks.
A lot of metadata that allows the footage to be logged more easily, acts as a helper file for the post production stabilisation and keeps the file structure correct for the MXF format. On some platforms if any of the expected metadata is missing the footage will be treated as generic Mpeg4 rather than XAVC with all of it’s additional optimisations. I really don’t understand why people don’t always copy the entire contents of a card, what is the saving? The sidecar files take up a tiny, tiny amount of space.
Thanks Alistair. Embedding the LUT still has the disadvantages of baking in a LUT, i.e. loss of dynamic range, correct?
The LUT is ONLY added to the metadata it is not added to the internal recordings, so you still record S-Log3 and the full DR is retained, but the LUT is now included on the card so it can be added in post production.
Thanks for the update Alistair am I correct in thinking the updated Cine EI mode is basically the same as the tweaked version of the FS7’s that eventually arrived whereby the EI changes are now baked into the finished file?
Cine EI has not changed, EI changes are not baked in. If you do bake in the gain changes then you are not using Exposure Index anymore.
CineEI quick simply switches between base the base ISOs automatically.
Flexible ISO is not Cine EI, it is S-Log3 with variable gain but this is different to the FS7’s dreadful feature that reduces the recording range making files incompatible with most LUTs along with the reduction in the dynamic range that occurs when you go below the base ISO. Flexible ISO will not allow you to go lower than the base ISO to prevent this from happening.
Hi Alistair,
Do you know will camera preset settings from v3 still work when loaded onto v4? And in general is this usually the case with Sony firmware upgrades, as menu structure and options can change between versions?
I haven’t tested this but normally they will work going UP a version but not the other way, so V3 setting should work in V4.
PRIVATE only main folder on SD cards like the CF Type A cards now.
The EI settings now seem to be baked into the S-Log3 image even in regular Cine EI mode. Previously, when you adjusted the EI, you would just be over or under exposing. It was not baked in.
How do you play back the clip in the camera and see the image without the LUT applied after v4 firmware?
When you playback from the camera it used to be that the LUT was the not applied (like it was on the monitor while shooting). But now the specific LUT seems to be associated with the clip. But, not necessarily associated with the clip in post.
Does this mean if you use multiple LUTs on the same card applied to different clips that the metadata will carrying through to post? That the specific LUT will be associated to the specific clip?
What edit software will do that?
The EI setting does not bake in the LUT, not unless you turn on the LUT for Internal Recording.
What you are probably seeing is your edit or grading software either adding the correct colourspace conversion or adding a LUT by default. S-Log3 should not look flat when it is correctly viewed, it should be rich and full of colour but because previously edit and grading software used Rec-709 to display Log it looked wrong (flat and washed out). What we are finally seeing is the post production software reading the clip metadata to determine how the footage was shot and then apply the appropriate corrections and adjustments for the type of display you are using. Exactly how this is done depends on the software you are using.