First XDCAM EX3 Review

Randy Strome · April 14th, 2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

they were pulling your leg Simon! it's VHS and one secret i heard is you can mount a film magazine on the hot shoe and record 35mm straight out of the HD-SDI. Cool huh, that's Cinealta for you!

But is the film image flipped or upright? Maybe they will need to vibrate or spin the hot shoe.

Dennis Joseph · April 14th, 2008, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

all of those are on the list i am reliably told. Also you can shoot 4K if need be and record in DVCPRO HD. Cool huh?

Very cool. This firmware update must cost 90k more and will be named "The f-900 update" Sweet! :)

Simon Wyndham · April 14th, 2008, 11:00 AM

Aha! Of course. The one feature I'm surprised that Sony haven't mentioned yet is that the shoulder mount actually extends, and then drops vertically along a post contained inside the camera to reveal a gimbal that can be attached to any current Steadicam arm.

Phil Bloom · April 14th, 2008, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Joseph

Very cool. This firmware update must cost 90k more and will be named "The f-900 update" Sweet! :)

all free and downloadable via USB, you have to buy the film mag and sdi cable yourself

Phil Bloom · April 14th, 2008, 11:05 AM

top secret this one: there will be an EX5 announced 3 months after the EX3 ships. It will have a true full auto mode where you can sit back on a deck chair with a cup of tea whilst long legs extend out of its body and it moves around and does all the filming for you. Cool huh. I understand it will be about $3000 more. Think it is still 4:2:0 though.

Simon Wyndham · April 14th, 2008, 11:09 AM

I already own one of those. I call it Student Camera Assistant Dogs Body V2.11 ;-) ;-)

Bill Ravens · April 14th, 2008, 11:14 AM

I want one if those are dancers legs.

Gabriel Soares · April 14th, 2008, 11:42 AM

I've heard that some of the new EX3 will have a bonus ticket just behind the CMOS chips...

This ticket will give a 30k us dollars credit to the lucky owners of the limited units that will ship with this feature...

I'm just thinking how this guys will pick the tickets from the inside of the camera... Maybe through the hole of the lens mount??

Sorry if i made some mistakes with the english... I'm Brazilian and now learning english to read and contribute with the forum...

Piotr Wozniacki · April 14th, 2008, 11:52 AM

All the above are joking of course, but my well informed source at Sony has just leaked that the CMOS->CCD converters are due really soon now.

Steve Kahn · April 14th, 2008, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

You make it the same price and can you imagine how many pissed off people there will be? Why is the Canon H1 more than the A1? Loads of new connections, removable lens, redesigned viewfinder. It's the bigger, more expensive model in the EX line. Simple as that.

Yes but the H1 came out BEFORE the A1. That is the difference.

Anyway this issue is moot. Phil you shoot pretty pictures and I have to compliment you on that however your shoot "3 Days in April" was more a featurette on the Letus "Ultimo" rather than the EX3 "exploitico"

It is funny that you wouldn't do your first shoot with just the bare-bones camera to see what the EX3 could do BEFORE slapping on a dof adapter.

Sorry Sony, the fun and action is over here... http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=119372

(again, the EX1 - EX3 is a good cam at many things but not great at any one thing. That, unfortunately is not good enough. In the very near future it will just be simpler, and cheaper, to get a cam dedicated to broadcast work and then another cam dedicated to indie film work if you work in both realms as many do)

Mark David Williams · April 14th, 2008, 02:25 PM

Well the EX-3 gives the same picture as the EX-1 so what would be the point? Phil was right to test and show the new features of this camera.

Daniel Alexander · April 14th, 2008, 03:05 PM

Steve, im interested to know why you think that the EX1 is'nt great at any one thing? Maybe i'm being nieve but I have found it to be great at many things.

Steve Kahn · April 14th, 2008, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel Alexander

Steve, im interested to know why you think that the EX1 is'nt great at any one thing? Maybe i'm being nieve but I have found it to be great at many things.

Well IMHO... Phil proves these points out for us - so I don't even have to.

For narrative work he doesn't use the EX without a 35mm dof adapter. That in my opinion makes it less than great for shooting shorts/features. It is good. Looks good. But don't forget the problems you may have on set with such an adapter. They are by no means bulletproof.

For broadcast work the EX1 is impossible to hand hold (Phil again tells us (only after the EX3 comes out, though). Again... less than great. For 5k you can get an EX3 which is semi shoulder mount - Again less than great.

The EX3 has offered just too little improvement to merit it's cost differential. I feel if Sony had integrated a flip down focusing screen (like an internal ND filter) which was BULLETPROOF and you could simply attach a 35mm lens which would focus on Sony's engineered internal screen - that, I believe would be a marked improvement (and have made the cam quite versatile as well)

Oyvind Stokkan · April 14th, 2008, 03:36 PM

And a different matter:

I will never give up on having Sony cameras, but the RED Scarlet seems amazing for it's price. Shooting 3K with a camera for 3000$ is really amazing..

Would love to try the Scarlet with the Letus in the woods :)

Daniel Alexander · April 14th, 2008, 03:46 PM

Oh ok, i understand your point now and when such amounts of money are being spent i cant fault your concerns. However I am someone that had been using the sony vx2100 for many many years and over which time i had become acustom to work-arounds and workflows which ensured i made the most from a tool that may not have all my requirements right infront of me as default, and so this had already shaped my mind into understanding that even if i spend £50,000 on a tool i am pretty sure i'l still end up doing/buying things extra to make life easier.

Despite the EX1 having many bugs which have been worked out along the way, I am quite happy with this camera and refuse to get caught up in the rapid release of new technology, becasue if i did i would forever be broke and forever be worried about what new camera will be out next month. The EX1 does what i need it to and if I find something that I can't achieve with it then i doubt anything else within the near price range is going to make any difference. Plus i have a set way of looking at things when it concerns video which is; if 2 cameras can produce an end result that is similar in quality then I am quite happy with either one, because thats all an audience/client is concerned with, as am I.

April 14th, 2008, 11:05 AM	#230
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	top secret this one: there will be an EX5 announced 3 months after the EX3 ships. It will have a true full auto mode where you can sit back on a deck chair with a cup of tea whilst long legs extend out of its body and it moves around and does all the filming for you. Cool huh. I understand it will be about $3000 more. Think it is still 4:2:0 though. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

April 14th, 2008, 11:42 AM	#233
Gabriel Soares New Boot Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ribeirão Preto - Brazil Posts: 12	More news... I've heard that some of the new EX3 will have a bonus ticket just behind the CMOS chips... This ticket will give a 30k us dollars credit to the lucky owners of the limited units that will ship with this feature... I'm just thinking how this guys will pick the tickets from the inside of the camera... Maybe through the hole of the lens mount?? Sorry if i made some mistakes with the english... I'm Brazilian and now learning english to read and contribute with the forum...

April 14th, 2008, 11:52 AM	#234
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	All the above are joking of course, but my well informed source at Sony has just leaked that the CMOS->CCD converters are due really soon now. __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

April 14th, 2008, 03:36 PM	#239
Oyvind Stokkan Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Grimstad, Norway Posts: 112	And a different matter: I will never give up on having Sony cameras, but the RED Scarlet seems amazing for it's price. Shooting 3K with a camera for 3000$ is really amazing.. Would love to try the Scarlet with the Letus in the woods :) __________________ PMW-EX1 and Letus Extreme user www.oyvindstokkan.no

April 14th, 2008, 11:00 AM	#228
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Aha! Of course. The one feature I'm surprised that Sony haven't mentioned yet is that the shoulder mount actually extends, and then drops vertically along a post contained inside the camera to reveal a gimbal that can be attached to any current Steadicam arm.

April 14th, 2008, 11:09 AM	#231
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	I already own one of those. I call it Student Camera Assistant Dogs Body V2.11 ;-) ;-)

April 14th, 2008, 11:14 AM	#232
Bill Ravens Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: santa fe, nm Posts: 3,264 Images: 10	I want one if those are dancers legs.

April 14th, 2008, 02:25 PM	#236
Mark David Williams Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hertfordshire UK Posts: 414	Well the EX-3 gives the same picture as the EX-1 so what would be the point? Phil was right to test and show the new features of this camera.

April 14th, 2008, 03:05 PM	#237
Daniel Alexander Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Midlands, UK Posts: 320	Steve, im interested to know why you think that the EX1 is'nt great at any one thing? Maybe i'm being nieve but I have found it to be great at many things.

April 14th, 2008, 03:46 PM	#240
Daniel Alexander Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Midlands, UK Posts: 320	Oh ok, i understand your point now and when such amounts of money are being spent i cant fault your concerns. However I am someone that had been using the sony vx2100 for many many years and over which time i had become acustom to work-arounds and workflows which ensured i made the most from a tool that may not have all my requirements right infront of me as default, and so this had already shaped my mind into understanding that even if i spend £50,000 on a tool i am pretty sure i'l still end up doing/buying things extra to make life easier. Despite the EX1 having many bugs which have been worked out along the way, I am quite happy with this camera and refuse to get caught up in the rapid release of new technology, becasue if i did i would forever be broke and forever be worried about what new camera will be out next month. The EX1 does what i need it to and if I find something that I can't achieve with it then i doubt anything else within the near price range is going to make any difference. Plus i have a set way of looking at things when it concerns video which is; if 2 cameras can produce an end result that is similar in quality then I am quite happy with either one, because thats all an audience/client is concerned with, as am I.