The SonyCine team has announced Firmware Version 2.0 for their popular FX9 with major upgrades to the camera’s shooting and recording capabilities.  This free upgrade comes one month earlier than anticipated and adds many new features.  Several new image scan modes are now available including FF 6K, FFcrop 5K, or S35 4K, and Video Format can now be set to 4096×2160.  User 3D LUT support has also been added with a CUBE file for a 17-point or 33-point 3D LUT creation using RAW Viewer or DaVinci Resolve which can now be loaded into the camera.

The camera now also offers a 16 bit RAW output from the RAW OUT connector of an XDCA-FX9 (option) attached to the camcorder.  HDR support has been improved with Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) to enable shooting with expanded dynamic range.
Two types of HLG are available, “Natural”: Characteristics conforming to ITU-R, BT.2100(HLG) and “Live”: Characteristics conforming to ITU-R with BT.2100(HLG) that delivers improved HDR performance.  (When HDR is selected, the color space is expanded to ITU-R BT.2020 equivalent.)

The upgrade also offers an expansion of the ISO/Gain configurable range up to the maximum ISO 102400 for the Dual Gain High Base setting and 12800 for the Low Base setting.  When the gain setting mode is set to dB, values up to 27dB can be configured.  Focus Assist functions have also been improved with newly added “Eye AF” focusing now supported, so in addition to face detection, a subject’s eyes can be detected and tracked.  Or when the Focus Area is set to Flexible Spot or Zone, the focus area frame can now be moved using touch operation.  AF transition speed and AF subject shift sensitivity can now be programmed to assignable buttons.

Other new features include: