The Sony F5 4K Hack

Paul Ream from ExtraShot has claimed he’s managed to hack his F5 to record in 4K.

Ream says he and his fellow podcaster, Steve Adams, came up with the hack after drinking a lot of cold coffee and a hot curry. However, Ream and Adams aren’t letting on as to how they hacked their F5 as yet, they’re making sure they’ve built up enough momentum and a whole swag of new listeners/subscribers for their ExtraShot podcast. The crew have promised the big reveal in their next podcast, which will come out right before IBC next month.

We can’t imagine Sony are going to be super happy about the hack, as one of the (more expensive) F55’s major selling points is it’s 4K recording in XAVC (along with its global shutter). Although, it may sell more F5 cameras for the company, but if the hack (if it even is a hack) is easily doable, the F55 could very well drop is sales.

In the meantime, here’s a pic of ExtraShot’s F5 side panel showing the recording dimensions.

F5 side panel showing it’s current recording dimensions (image: ExtraShot).

Now, it’s entirely possible the above image has been mocked up in Photoshop, and this is a complete hoax for a bit of free publicity. Or the pair have actually managed to hack their F5.
Either way, it’s exciting to say the least! And we’ll definitely be listening to the next podcast to see how they managed it.

Sony F5 with the Vocas BP-19, 19mm balance plate

Here’s the video Reams took on the hacked F5. He says, “Obviously, Vimeo streams at HD max, so you have to download the original file (4096 x 2160) to see the 4K in all it’s glory.” 

In saying that, he hasn’t provided the original for download so we can see if it’s actually 4K or not. You can, however, download the vimeo file, whether they uploaded that in 4K or not is beside the point, as Vimeo converts all uploaded footage to its own specific requirements.

Still, it’s worth watching, but we’ll take it with a grain of salt until they tell how they’ve managed the hack and it’s been repeated by other filmmakers.