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Thank You Netflix! (all new cinema cameras in 2020 have had timecode)


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Yesterday the new Sony FX6 got announced (which I bet will end up becoming the #1 camera choice for many folks, replacing the dominant #1 market share position that the FS7 has had for years. As like the FS7 before it, this new FX6 hits the sweet spot for a lot of features at a very good price).


Of course a lot of discussion online is comparing the Sony FX6 with the cheaper Sony a7Smk3, but one comment in particular stood out to me just now: "this camera will most likely get Netflix certified whereas the A7sIII probably never will."  Which instantly made my mind go *click*!

 

Ohhhhhhh........... now I realize why the FX6 has Timecode I/O when the Sony FS5 (and even the stock Sony FS7) never had it! Purely so that they can get the "Netflix Certified" branding, which will do wonders for Sony's marketing. (even though for 99.999999% of us, if a camera is "Netflix Certified" or not should be meaningless. But unfortunately the reality is the Average Joe in their mind seems to make a big deal out of this when considering a new camera purchase)

I reckon, if Netflix had never made Timecode a requirement of their certification, then perhaps all these recent camera releases such as the Sony FX6/FX9 & Canon C70 etc would never have had a timecode input? (as Sony FS5/FS7 & Canon C200 etc never did)

While on the topic of Netflix preferences:

https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000897167-Production-Sound-Recommended-Practices

Quote

Preferred wireless transmitters: Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Wisycom, Sennheiser.


Weird for Audio Ltd to be missing! @Paul Isaacs, might want to lobby Netflix to tweak that & include them?
Am sure if the Sound Mixer they want to hire has Audio Ltd (or Shure Axient Digital for that matter), that won't stop them selecting that person. But still, was kinda odd  to not see those brands mentioned. 

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Well it would be nice if everyone could just use BNC for timecode on their cameras.  Playing lemo roulette whether a camera is going to be x amount of pins is pretty silly when BNC is locking and readily available.  Yes, it isn't bidirectional but come on, it's pretty much the one and only non proprietary thing on a Sony device so even they figured it out!

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It hasn't been too bad with recent camera releases, for example lately we've got these which are not BNC: ARRI Mini LF (boo!! Inventing yet another new input type for audio 😕 ), RED Ranger/Komodo, and Kinefinity Mavo/Terra series. They're all using Lemo in some form or another. 

But Sony VENICE/FX9/FX6, Canon C500/C300mk2/C70, Panasonic S1H/GH5S (these use BNC via the OEM supplied cable), Z Cam E2 series (has OEM adapter to BNC, but perhaps shouldn't be included in this list... ), & Blackmagic URSA series all are BNC for timecode. 
Plus there is the Blackmagic Pocket 4K & 6K which are not BNC, but at least their 3.5mm input is common place / cheap. 

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On 11/18/2020 at 9:22 PM, IronFilm said:

It hasn't been too bad with recent camera releases, for example lately we've got these which are not BNC: ARRI Mini LF (boo!! Inventing yet another new input type for audio 😕 ), RED Ranger/Komodo, and Kinefinity Mavo/Terra series. They're all using Lemo in some form or another. 

But Sony VENICE/FX9/FX6, Canon C500/C300mk2/C70, Panasonic S1H/GH5S (these use BNC via the OEM supplied cable), Z Cam E2 series (has OEM adapter to BNC, but perhaps shouldn't be included in this list... ), & Blackmagic URSA series all are BNC for timecode. 
Plus there is the Blackmagic Pocket 4K & 6K which are not BNC, but at least their 3.5mm input is common place / cheap. 

If the cameras are to have an esoteric timecode input the manufacturers should at least provide the proper cable so we don't have to buy it or stress about ours working.

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