Christopher

Just tested the new version...can confirm - no bueno (or non buono since Sony prefers Italian).

The Sony Venice 2 should be the dominant Sony cinema camera by now but the Venice 1 continues to dominate over it. Why? 8k+ origination is often not desirable. The Venice 2 would find itself on more sets with downsampled modes to X-OCN. We know it is possible thanks to the Burano, which has three oversampled / downsampled recording modes: FFc 6K 16:9 FFc 6K 17:9 S35c 4K 17:9 At the least - the Venice 2 should inherit these modes (so they can match up in Multicam shoots) if Sony wants to put in the least amount of effort for this highest priced camera. Ideally the Venice 2 would also receive a downsampled 6k open gate mode as well as a 4.3k 17x9 full width mode. The Venice 2 hasn't received the development support over firmware that it deserves.

Catalyst Browse does not support any flavor of X-OCN recorded by the Venice 2. It will play sound but no picture. Just for fun, Sony raw viewer supports Venice 2 X-OCN video...but no sound.

Sony VENICE 2 X-OCN files are not supported in Catalyst (it doesn't matter if it is LT, ST or XT). Catalyst Browse will play the audio from these files only. The only viable alternative is Sony Raw viewer. This software will play the files...but without audio. So that makes reviewing selects for transcoding fun. Since the Venice 2 doesn't generate proxies (unlike every other Sony camera of the last 5 years - including the Burano with the same sensor), software to review & transcode becomes fairly necessary. Aside from the audio issue, Raw viewer has poor performance for Mac users - it's clearly not Apple Silicon native. Transcoding is slow. Gyro stabilization not possible.

1 Catalyst software doesn't support Venice 2 X-OCN. When will Sony software be supporting their most expensive camera? There is no way to stabilize clips using gyro data from the Venice 2 extension system. 2 Proxy recording is needed. Every current Sony camera....except the $70k+ Venice 2 supports proxy recording. With 8.6k recording...proxies are pretty important. 3 Reduced resolution / Oversampled recording. Your Sony a1 with the same sensors capable of downsampling. It can output 16-bit 4.3k raw full frame mode. It also supports oversampled FF 8k and s35 4k. An oversampled 4.3k FF mode would be incredibly useful for when one needs to use the full image sensor but needs lower data rates / resolution to fit on those small, overpriced AxS cards. 4.3k FF X-OCN options would allow for the camera go out on more jobs. There should also be a reduced resolution 120 FPS option in full frame mode (your a1 camera with the same sensor can do it at a fraction of the weight, power and money). An open-gate 4.3k ProRes mode would also be of great use. 4 Support X-OCN. Sony please support your format in NLEs with full metadata parameter control in Premiere, FCP and Avid. Please release a first party plug-in for these NLEs. If a small company like red can do it...you can too.

X-OCN is barely supported by Sony. Catalyst browse does not support Sony Venice 2 X-OCN. Purchased the $20k extension system 2 in the hopes of using the gyro data for stabilization? Well Sony doesn't care -> no support for reading the files in their own software. Want to adjust the raw settings in your NLE? Resolve supports it...and that's it. Premiere can read the files but without metadata raw adjustments. There is no way to use the files in FCP. Sony doesn't care about supporting their top-end users beyond milking them for every penny they can (see: AxS66 capacity: cost ratio; Venice licensing, et al.).

Thank you for sharing this. It's disappointing that the Venice 2 is too weak to generate proxies unlike every other Sony camera. It doesn't help that Sony barely supports X-OCN. Since you wrote this, how did it work out for you?