Boy to Man shot on Sony F55
Outdoor adventure series
SYDNEY, 1 February 2017 – In the Boy to Man series adventurer and filmmaker Tim Noonan embarks on a solo journey of self-discovery to worlds beyond his imagination to try and unlock the mysteries of what it means to be the ultimate man. Throughout this epic series, Noonan first has to earn the trust of some of the world’s least known tribes. With just the clothes on his back and a Sony F55 camera, he is put through rituals, initiations and gruelling tests to man-up and prove himself worthy of their respect.
Noonan explained why his choice of camera was so critical for the unique series, “Moving to the Sony F55 was my first real foray into Sony’s top end cameras. For years as a reporter-cameraman on Seven's Sunday Night programme, I was wedded to the Sony F3 so the F55 was a natural progression on my series Boy to Man.”
It was nearly two years ago that Noonan embarked on this worldwide quest to film the most extreme coming of age rituals in some of the most brutal and remote locations on the planet. He knew this was always going to be tough but he also knew he didn't just want to film the rites of passage, he wanted to put himself through them too.
He continued, “I needed a camera to match the challenge and the Sony F55 is a resilient, bullet-proof weapon that can withstand the harshest conditions while still delivering blue-chip pictures. Because the camera could be stripped down, I could run, hunt for days and take it virtually anywhere without being too precious or it breaking my back with weight. At the same time, when I wanted to kit it out for bigger and more complex shoots, I had the choice.”
As there were no limits on Noonan’s quest the F55 survived the most extreme conditions imaginable including heat, salt, mud, dust and dirt.
Noonan added, “You name it we went through it together. In the heat of an initiation, the last thing I wanted to worry about was my camera. I travel with only one offsider, my best mate and long-time editor, Jimmy Hamilton, who had only ever seen the inside of an edit suite for 25 years! So when I had to be in front of the F55, I’d set up the sticks, frame-up and hand over the controls to him. If a guy with no camera experience was able to navigate the basics of the F55 fast, in my eyes it’s a testament to just how user-friendly and forgiving this camera really is.”
As Noonan is shooting the series himself he can’t afford for gear to fail or the whole project comes to a grinding halt. In such remote locations, he’s often days away from medical help, and for his camera, weeks away from any servicing centre should any issues arise.
Noonan explained, “After months on the road, I would return to Sydney, recoup for a few weeks before heading back on the road again while my camera was being serviced by the Sony gang in Sydney who, thankfully, were always brilliant and fast. Despite its quality and the pictures it pumps out, it’s a no-fuss camera which is what I like most, so I can focus on what’s most important, storytelling and getting out alive! I love the way so much can be customised on the F55 from the viewfinder to the buttons and fast menus. Shifting between 25fps and slow-mo is always a custom button away and when you’re shooting once in a lifetime scenes that can never be repeated again, I’m ever-grateful I can capture the moment whatever the frame-rate. Focus peaking is perhaps the greatest attribute of this camera. There is nothing worse than soft pictures because you couldn’t find focus in the heat of a moment. Finding focus is rarely an issue with the F55 and it’s almost impossible to get it wrong.”
With that said quality and reliability for a filmmaker like Noonan are key. On a series such as Boy to Man these two qualities are absolutely critical as Noonan explained, “The pictures straight out of the camera barely needed grading. For convenience I didn’t shoot flat images or use SLOG, preferring to create my own scene files in camera. This freed up my online editor to focus more on effects and polish the films rather than design the colour palette from scratch. This wouldn’t suit every production, but I knew the colours I wanted and the post team was ever thankful for the results. I love the capability to shoot 4K and the XAVC codec is incredibly stable and never failed me. On Boy to Man, I used the camera almost everyday for nearly 18 months. I like to mix up my shooting-style depending on the scene – the camera worked as well off the shoulder as it did on the tripod. I shot the series with a mixture of PL and EF lenses and the ability to shift between them is surprisingly easy and fast. The mounts never failed and allowed me ultimate flexibility to use whatever glass I wanted.”
Noonan has put his F55 in some wild places with no access to conventional rigging. He has abseiled with it in Thailand, strapped it with crude roping to the bonnets of countless trucks and cars and had it in the middle of violent horse games in Kyrgyzstan.
The camera’s ruggedness is something Noonan praises highly, “The Sony F55 is my fifth limb and seen more of the world that most people! It’s endured -40C in Siberia, the oppressive heat in Africa, the humidity in the Amazon, the salt of the South Pacific and torrential mud and rain in Venezuela. For me, I’ve flirted with other brands and cameras but no other camera or set-up seems to get the balance right for my needs. The SXS cards are extremely solid and reliable – every night I would transfer the clips using Sony’s Content Browser and in my experience, corrupt files with this camera are non-existent.”
It’s fair to say Tim Noonan is a big fan of the Sony F55 and that the camera has helped him out of many a tricky situation. With one eye on his next adventure he concluded, “I can take the F55 anywhere, any time, any place with confidence that it will deliver unbelievable pictures and not fail, no matter the conditions. In two intense years filming non-stop, I can put my hand on my heart and say I’ve never had any random errors or unexplained tech problems in the field with the camera. Was I pleased with the images? Let’s just say I’m not swapping the F55 anytime soon! In fact, I’m busting to get my hands dirty with the next incarnation.”