DV Info Net - My PXW-Z90 mini review

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My PXW-Z90 mini review

My Z90 arrived yesterday, and I was instantly happy with it.

Notable improvements to me:

1: AF works amazingly well, and doesn't suffer the "once focus is lost focus stays lost" of the older cameras. The X70 seems to be default programmed to go to full 0.3m MACRO when focus is lost, or dim, and stays there.

2: Manual focus has been made much better. It takes 2x as many turns of the ring to go from infinity to macro in wide angle. It now takes one twist, or 3x LESS turns of the ring, to go infinity to macro in full telephoto. That is a BIG DEAL for ENG shooting.

3: Gone is the X70 "green shadow shift" issue that both my old cameras suffered. That issue was also resolved in the Z150.

4: 5GHz WiFi networking has been added, as well as the capability to stream 1280x720 25/30p 3Mbps when in a 50/60p record codec, the X70 was limited to 640x360 25/30p 1.5Mbps when in 50/60p. AVCHD live streaming now available as well, but not at all in 50/60p.

5: PP's are retained when FULL AUTO switch is engaged. You still are forced into ATW, but at least your detail, knee, black gamma, and color corrections are not turned off like on the X70. Switching to AUTO on the X70 was always problematic for that reason, as my entire color correction system would be turned off, and the picture would gain a greenish cast.

Notable disappointments to me:

1: Wide angle infinity has still not been corrected. On the X70 at wide angle, you must turn the focus ring back from infinity (mountain icon) to 19f (5m?) for anything distant to really be in focus. On the Z90, infinity is still slightly out of focus, and you must turn the ring back to 66f (20m?) for critical focus. This is just slightly less of an annoyance than the X70, because the Z90 takes twice as much rotation of the ring to achieve this correction. On the X70, it was so sensitive at wide angle, it was difficult to turn back to 19f without overshooting and being too blurry the opposite side.

2: The old X70 LOW LUX feature, where putting gain and shutter into (A) would cause shutter to drop to 1/30-1/50 when maximum gain was achieved, is now gone. there is a LOW LUX menu option, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Auto shutter is now limited to no lower than 1/50/160 depending on NTSC/PAL.

3: Also gone is the X70's ability to AGC up to 33db. The Z90, when AGC limit is set to OFF, will only gain up to 27db, and no more. This flaw was also in the X70, but only in 4K record mode. This 27db AGC limit, as well as 1/50-1/60 auto shutter limit, make the camera less capable in low light than the X70. The Z90 is not a low light camera, especially when limited to 27db 1/60.

4: DIRECT MENU...this feature exists in the large shoulder Sony cameras, and in those cameras, it is extremely useful. Well, they gave it to the Z90, but it doesn't serve any usable function. In say the PMW320, you press the direct button, and can scroll on the LCD/EVF highlighting gain, iris, WB etc, and turn the menu dial to adjust them. For WB kelvin, you could use the direct function to select WB then scroll the color temp up or down. Anyway, on the Z90, you can scroll over to AF/iris/gain/shutter/and WB, but the only thing you can do is whatever the physical camera button for each can do. This is completely useless, as this requires pushing the oddly located direct menu assign button, then using the joystick to highlight the option, then toggling and pushing and menu scrolling to change it. Useless because a SINGLE PRESS of the dedicated camera buttons for each does the same in 10 less steps. Perhaps this can be useful if the left side of the camera is physically inaccessible for some reason, or maybe there is logic to it using the remote app on a phone...don't know, but it annoys me that it is not the same as the feature in the other bigger cameras. *rant off*

As for hardware, physically, the camera body is the same save for slight ergonomic modifications, larger raised rim around REC button and such, and the MIS shoe is now silver instead of black. The lens hood, lens cap, eyecup, entire XLR handle assembly, all are X70 parts. I actually just transferred all my X70 pieces onto the Z90, handle etc. Zoom speed is identical, LCD screen looks identical. NPFV70A battery is slightly larger, but feels lighter. Same watts, but higher voltage lower mAh's...older batteries and aftermarket are working on the Z90 just FYI.

So now I have an X70 that I can manually focus, that doesn't need +1 MG in WB to look proper, doesn't hard shadow shift green in the dark, can operate on clear 5GHz WiFi at 720p instead of 2.4Ghz at 360p, and is 6db cleaner...basically, I am happy. Anyone want to buy a couple of months old 4K X70 with all new parts and accessories? :-)

Paul