Just wrapped a project with the F55. Good camera. Pity this place has basicaly become a selling list for it.

Question

I bought a used F55 3 months ago for a doc project where I needed a global shutter camera and didn't want to put up with the Blackmagics. I paid 15k for it. I just sold it again for the same 15K, so basically it was a free rental. The camera was perfect for the project. The global shutter really made a difference and it is small enough for some run and gun. All together it's a very good camera. Not even close to the drag that is using a FS7.Although the F55 is not a camera I would say makes cinematic images like the Alexa or F35 and if I was shooting a narrative project I would proabably not go with it, for this project I couldn't have choosen a better camera. For anything else other than narrative I would have no problem using it again. It is very very flexible. It's a  real pity that this forum has become basically a selling list selling F5s, F55s and recorder instead of discussing how to get the best out of these cameras. If not a for sale post it's generally some rant or complain about what Sony is not doing. The camera is great. Enough said.

Answer 1

ghupka wrote:
..not to mention that the whole concept of buying a camera for a single shoot and reselling it is more of a producer/accountant approach. Most of us who buy cameras want to use them for multiple projects over a longer term, and/or get supplemental rentals from them.  It's that environment where the F-55 shines - You want 4K raw files?  Sure.  You want HD MPEG 422/50?  No problem.  Etc. etc.  One camera that can shoot anything from a feature film to a news story.
Even though I have my share of things I would like to see improved, I've said before that the F-55 earned its purchase price back faster than any other camera I've owned.What if the whole concept of buying a camera for a single shoot and reselling it is more of a producer/accountant approach? How is that a problem? The reason I sold the F55 again is because I don't need it! This was a special project where it's abilities made everything easier. But for the record I also used a F3 mixed with the F55 for some shots where the rolling shutter was no problem and it cuts just fine too. If I had enough jobs that would use the F55 and no other camera would do I would have kept it. But to be honest I don't. Even this docu is being finished in HD and 4K was never even brought up. The global shutter and real pro features is what brought me to the F55 for this. But leaving it sitting in a closet till the next eventual job that would need it didn't make sense. By the way I couldn't care less if people are selling their F55. Yes, this ****** massive selling trend is what allowed me to get a very good deal on a F55 with LCD viewfinder for only 15K. From a person who wanted to get rid of it to buy an Amira. Good for me, yes. My complain is not about people selling. Is about people using this forum as a selling list. Use Ebay or a forum that has a classifieds section instead of polluting this forum with your for sale adds. Every other thread is a for sale. Just in the first page now we have 8 for sale threads! This forum is to discuss the camera. When I got the F55 it was an annoyance to look through threads for tips with every other thread being somebody pimping the camera sale. Sony, please open a classified forum and prohibit people from advertising on the normal forums, like every other civilized camera forums does. Keep things much more clean and organized.