Sony launches PXW-Z100 4K Handheld XDCAM

[Alister Chapman]

What I'm saying is that when you scale the 4K to 100% you are only seeing 1/4 of the image. This means your monitor is therefore the equivalent of 1/4 of a screen 4 times the size of your monitor. So when trying to evaluate the noise levels you should consider how big the image would be and adjust your viewing distance to match.

Consider the reverse, if you scale your HD down to just 1/4 of your screen it will appear to have a lot less noise, unless you view it very close up.

Piotr, you possibly can't export to 4K as you may not have a 4K codec installed. You cannot at the moment export XAVC from Premiere, this is supposed to come very soon.

[James Hobert]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

You cannot at the moment export XAVC from Premiere, this is supposed to come very soon.

I think it came in the October release...
Adobe Premiere Pro CC October 2013 Release

[Ron Evans]

Piotr, Vegas 12 will render to XAVC and XAVC-S. I mainly use Edius which will edit native XAVC just fine at full frame rate but not full rate for XAVC-S. Edius will mutlicam several tracks of XAVC on my PC so a lot easier on the PC than XAVC-S. I have used Vegas 12 to convert my XAVC-S files from the AX1 to XAVC and also to Canopus HQX they take a little time to convert but both files edit easily after that.

Ron Evans

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Well, even though the link provided by James indeed mentions exporting XAVC, and I'm working on a most recent version of PP CC - there is no such output format. The only 4K-capable output format is DPX sequence.

As to VP 12's capabilities of outputting both 4K and UHD (in XAVC or S-XAVC), Ron is correct.

[Alister Chapman]

Yes, Adobe talked about XAVC encoding in the press release, but it is still yet to be included in the software :-(

You can export 4K ProRes on a Mac plus DPX or H264 on both PC and Mac.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Well, actually - after much digging - I found it in PP CC, too. You must select MXF, and then in the codec tab, select one of the XAVC codec... But for S-XAVC, we still need to wait, I guess.

[Alister Chapman]

Well done Piotr!!!

I have been looking for this for ages. I did look under MXF, but only at the presets, never looked under the codec settings. Thanks!

[Ron Evans]

Alister , do you know if the HDMI output from the FDR-AX1 is 10 bit 4:2:2 like the PXW-Z100 ?

Ron Evans

[Warren Kawamoto]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

I mainly use Edius which will edit native XAVC just fine at full frame rate but not full rate for XAVC-S.
Ron Evans

Can this be edited in proxy mode, then swap?

[Ron Evans]

I have not tried proxy mode as I never use so not sure of the time Edius would take to create the proxy. Decoding XAVC-S is the issue. I have proxy turned off on my user presets. May as well convert to HQ and have a usable file. Prefer to edit native or convert to HQ. I may see the use of proxy on a laptop with limited disc space compared to a HQ file but other than that I do not think it is of much use.

Ron Evans

[Juergen Hansen]

Hi,
I would need rather urgent for an upcoming shoot your recommendation on which XQD Card to use with the PXW-Z100 recording in 4K at 25p.

On Sony's website XQD? Memory Card | Sony they present two alternatives: The pricy S-Series or the low-cost N-Series for 4K shooting.

Of course you can always go for the expensive alternative and be on the safe side. But maybe someone here has really made the test and found out, that also the N-Series cards are reliable and working in 4K.

Thank you so much.
Best, Jürgen

[Piotr Wozniacki]

For 60p at some 600 Mbps, Sony says the S-Series is "recommended" (not even "a must"). But for 25p at some 220 Mbps, I'd say the regular XQD card should suffice...

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

Well done Piotr!!!

I have been looking for this for ages. I did look under MXF, but only at the presets, never looked under the codec settings. Thanks!

Alister,

I cannot take part in the event you will be holding at Malvern, but please come back to us to sincerely and frankly report how the Z100 is doing in the noise department, basing on true 4k watching experience. So far, I learnt that the I-frame XAVC clips are easy enough to edit (in both PP CC and VP12 which I'm using) on my current PC, while the Long-GOP clip from the AX1 (S-XAVC) is a hog to decode, so - especially in VP12 - it crawls at a poor 3-4 fps:(. But unfortunately I don't have the means to actually connect a Z100 to one of those UHD Bravias that support it, and see the PQ with my own eyes...

Cant wait for your opinion!

Piotr

[Juergen Hansen]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

For 60p at some 600 Mbps, Sony says the S-Series is "recommended" (not even "a must"). But for 25p at some 220 Mbps, I'd say the regular XQD card should suffice...

Hi Piotr,
thank you very much for your reply. The "regular XQD-card" would mean, the N-Series?
There is also the H-Series (also with 125 MB/s)...
It is confusing.

Who has tested the different cards for 4K? I would also assume, that the "N-Series" (125 MB/s) will work in 4K 25p. But a confirmation by someone, who acutally used it, would be very helpful.

Piotr, where can I find Sony's recommendation which you quoted above?

Thanks a lot,
Jürgen

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Juergen Hansen

Piotr, where can I find Sony's recommendation which you quoted above?

Thanks a lot,
Jürgen

Juergen,

At this site: PXW-Z100 (PXWZ100) : Features : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

- they say (in the "Features" tab):

"* XQD cards have a write speed of up to 800Mbps. The use of S Series cards with 180MB/s writing speed is recommended"

Unfortunately, my knowledge ends here (and is purely theoretical :))...

Piotr