It's like a really pimped out PMW-400, with an OLED EVF option. :-D

PXW-X400 (PXWX400) : Product Overview : United Kingdom : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/product/broadcast-products-camcorders-xdcam/pxw-x400/overview/#overview)

Sony just announced the CBK-Z450UK 4K UHD upgrade "kit" for the PXW-X400. I would assume this must include a new CMOS sensor block, because the X400 has 1920x1080 sensors. Sony says that this kit converts the PXW-X400 into a PXW-Z450 4K 2160 60p UHD camcorder.

Paul

Yes, that is correct. With the paid 4K upgrade (available next winter) you can send your X400 back to Sony and they will swap out the three HD 2/3" CMOS sensors with a single 4K 2/3" CMOS sensor. The rest of the camera is already built for 4K.

After the upgrade, your X400 will essentially be identical in every way to the announced Z450 camcorder which will also be available next winter. So with the X400 you get HD now and the option of upgrading to 4K later.

BTW, Sony has not announced a price for either the X400 upgrade or the Z450.

I've experienced a 2/3 single CMOS shoulder camera before, the HPX600......it was a pathetic piece of garbage.

I'll be the first to admit the Z450 didn't knock my socks off at NAB, but it was a protoype and even Sony said it was a work in progress and didn't represent what the production camera would look like. I hope to get my hands on one next winter to test drive for them.

Correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking Doug. If the 450 has a single sensor QFHD/4K conventional type Bayer CMOS sensor once it's de-bayered it's going to have a resolution of around 3.2K... correct? Like Paul mentioned with the Panny 600, it was battling to deliver 1.6K in 1920 x 1080.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

B4 lenses do not work well on single chip cameras......the HPX600 even with CAC HA16 lens had the left third of the screen focus point different from center and right of frame......ugh.

B4 lenses do not work well on single chip cameras......the HPX600 even with CAC HA16 lens had the left third of the screen focus point different from center and right of frame......ugh.

Sounds like something else was out of whack... Either the lens mount or a skewed element within the lens. I've had good results using a 22x B4 eng lens with mounting adapter on an F55 in center crop mode. Not something I'd do unless I needed the zoom range, but field of focus was consistent across the frame.

Chris,

If the camera can deliver a 3840x2160 file then it is fair to call it a 4K camera. How it arrives at that 4K resolution may not be up to someone standards, but the same could be said of the vast majority of the "4K" cameras on the market that do the same thing. In fact, you might as well question if a lot of the single sensor HD cameras are truly Full HD or not. I am in the camp that says we should classify a camera by it's output codec resolution and not the way the signal was captured because that is a whole different can of worms.

True, that's how I understand it, that none of the Bayer pattern sensor 4K cameras are 'true' 4k in the sense of resolution. So yes I agree that it's output is what defines it as '4K.' It's the only way of looking at it from a production point of view I guess.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Yikes! I'm seeing OK results with the PX5000. It's a CMOS 2/3" cam but it has 3 of them. If I'm not mistaken, 2/3" lenses are designed for CCD with prism block right? CMOS sensor doesn't have this and they may have to artificially introduce it to make it work. Personally, the HPX-3100 with its 3-CCD has a warmer and more pleasing look than the cold and sterile PX5000 CMOS look.

I have a client who wants to do a multicam shoot with HPX-610. Based on your review, I think it's not looking favorable. Can you explain in details why it's not looking good on the HPX600? What are the problems?

B4 lenses do not work well on single chip cameras......the HPX600 even with CAC HA16 lens had the left third of the screen focus point different from center and right of frame......ugh.

Everything looks great but I don't think I can afford another $25-$35K for the UHD lenses from Fujinon or Canon. I guess I can use HD lenses but afraid it will be soft at corners and full of chroma aberrations.

It's like a really pimped out PMW-400, with an OLED EVF option. :-D

PXW-X400 (PXWX400) : Product Overview : United Kingdom : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/product/broadcast-products-camcorders-xdcam/pxw-x400/overview/#overview)

This is the performance of the HPX600 using Fujinon HA16x7.6BERM CAC enabled broadcast lens, in amazing 100Mbps AVC Intra........enjoy.......and see why i returned that camera the following day.

https://youtu.be/-PEMifRrDHI

Any questions?

My understanding is that 2/3 B4 lenses are designed with the intention of spraying different wavelengths of light at different focal points through the prism, and when you remove that, the colors arrive in what can best be described as the "fist light" problem the Hubble space telescope had. It's an uncorrectable form of Chromatic Aberration.

Paul

I see major halo, plenty of chromatic aberrations, and contrast handling problems on the license plate. Overall it doesn't like high contrasty scenes (day or night) That's just not acceptable for DTV broadcast. The HA Premiere series should be pretty decent vs the economical XA series and ZA. Many people said they couldn't discern between HA and ZA in optical quality. So that leaves to the subpar camera imaging section on the HPX-600's single CMOS and other electronic enhancements, particularly DRS.


This is the performance of the HPX600 using Fujinon HA16x7.6BERM CAC enabled broadcast lens, in amazing 100Mbps AVC Intra........enjoy.......and see why i returned that camera the following day.

https://youtu.be/-PEMifRrDHI

Any questions?

Even though in Panasonic's case they specifically state, quote:

"The HPX610 accepts lenses designed for three chip cameras, even though it features a single MOS sensor, and does not use a prism. As 2/3" ENG-style lenses are designed taking into account the prism, and normally require an adapter to work with single sensor cameras, Panasonic has set the sensor depth of on this camera to compensate for the lack of a prism."

Obviously it's not working as intended in Paul's case. I guess Sony will have their own way of compensating for theses issues. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out but knowing that the smaller the sensor the more critical the convergence and RGB registration has to be I think we will find that the best performance is going to come from the most expensive UHD lenses that have the latest version of ALAC. Those lenses having lens files that can be called up and registered by the lens file function in the camera where the appropriate correction algorithms can be applied to the signal.

All of this becoming available from your friendly local Sony / Fujinon / Canon dealers at premium pricing of course.))

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

No DRS in play here. I tested black stretch, but it looked horrible, and the damn new Panny's have NO MATRIX adjustments, you can boost saturation and maybe phase I think. Just a terrible camera, unbelievable they charge $13000+ for these NEW.

Paul

Coming back OT.... Has anyone used a PXW-X400 for say, any ENG work at all... yet? Just wondering how you're finding it (assuming someone's trialed even a demo unit)...

The local CBS affiliate in San Diego, KFMB CBS8, uses the PXW-X500 with the new Canon HJ18 lenses...I would say the X400 would look similar...they shoot stock settings, so the $40+ package looks pretty ugly, with weird Sony green/yellow hue...very sharp though.

Paul

Hmmmm...1" sensor 4K camera with B4 mount from Panny...