Back illuminated sensors only bring a useful advantage when the pixel,size is extremely small. That's why you only see them used on small sized single sensor cameras that have a high pixel density on a small chip. It's to do with the ratio of the size of the light gathering pixel to the rest of the electronics. On bigger chips there is no appreciable sensitivity improvement.

Back illuminated sensors only bring a useful advantage when the pixel,size is extremely small. That's why you only see them used on small sized single sensor cameras that have a high pixel density on a small chip. It's to do with the ratio of the size of the light gathering pixel to the rest of the electronics. On bigger chips there is no appreciable sensitivity improvement.

Which makes it perfect for 1/3'' or 1/2'' 4K. I agree it would be pointless for BSI to be implemented on a Super35 or Full Frame camera, but if we want to go 4K while maintaining decent sensitivity on a smaller sensor, BSI is a no brainer. Current sensitivity figures would still require a 3-chip system to get decent sensitivity.

The JVC currently out there only has one part of the equation correct: the BSI sensor. The rest with poor optics completely nullifies the sensor resolving power. Even the 4 SDHC cards is a nightmare for redundancy/reliability.

Edit: Actually, there is a reason why BSI would be useful on a Super35 or Full Frame sensor: Better sensitivity for a Global Shutter sensor.

can anyone explain what is meant as a place in the camera to hold sony wireless receiver?

can anyone explain what is meant as a place in the camera to hold sony wireless receiver?
On most current shouldermount cameras there's a slot towards the rear of the camera where you can slot in a compatible wireless mic receiver. It makes for a neat arrangement, since the connector it slots into powers the receiver and connects the audio output to the camera - no having a receiver attached to the outside of the camera with trailing power/audio cables.

Slightly surprised to see the feature on a camera such as this for reasons of size etc.......

I agree but I wish there was more info on this, like will sony offer a dual channel receiver that fits in this slot and doesnt use the external xlrs, Im familiar with this set up on pmw-800

A dual channel integrated slot in receiver for a camera such as this would be a real bonus and a first, if they can keep the cost sub $1k too that will make this an ideal camera for news and sport pres.

If they can also do it like the HPX371 I have so you can assign the radio channels to tracks 1+2 but still have the XLR inputs to tracks 3+4 that would be one hell of a set-up for the money.

And hopefully they don't firmware lock it into only Sony receivers, using a Lectrosonics UHF would be nice.

BSI suffers from significantly more dark noise and crosstalk compared to normal front illumination which more than negates any sensitivity improvement if the pixel is larger than 2 microns. A 4K half inch sensor would have pixels around 1.7 microns so is would be a borderline case for BSI. In a 3 chip design the extra dark noise would be an issue. I'm not sure that a global shutter will work with BSI as the same substrate layer as the image well layer is used for the read out memory in most of the better performance sensors. The read out cell is basically an image well divided in two, one to capture light the other to store the charge and this must be on the same substrate layer.

In addition with such small pixels diffraction effects would be significant, so your useable aperture range would be small, I estimate diffraction limiting being significant from f4 so you'll only likely see a useable aperture range of 2 or 3. stops. 4K really needs a bigger sensor if you want the kind of performance and flexibility that an EX or PMW cameras offers today.

In addition with such small pixels diffraction effects would be significant, so your useable aperture range would be small, I estimate diffraction limiting being significant from f4 so you'll only likely see a useable aperture range of 2 or 3. stops.
I hadn't considered that, but of course you are absolutely correct

Alister, I earlier wondered "Move to 4k and how possible will it be to align 3 1/2" chips?" - do you have any thoughts on that? If it was feasible, it may at least lessen some of the sensitivity disadvantages that 1/2" single chip 4k would otherwise bring.
4K really needs a bigger sensor if you want the kind of performance and flexibility that an EX or PMW cameras offers today.
And really, that's probably the bottom line. It begs the question "how big?" Bearing in mind Alisters point about diffraction limiting alone, then for current HD 1/3" is barely good enough, it really needs to be 1/2", or even more.

Double the photosite count in each direction, and 2/3" for 4k is the equivalent to 1/3" for HD. Since the whole idea behind 4k is to get a "wow" factor, I'm inclined to say a fair bit bigger than 2/3" is necessary, otherwise you may just as well stay with HD.

So if 2/3" 4K isn't such a good idea, what about broadcasters looking to do such as 4K live sport? Won't the lens issues with s35 sensors tend to cause problems? Maybe not if the lenses are built with much smaller max apertures than we're currently used to. Since cameras with s35 sensors are inherently more sensitive than smaller sensors, it will probably make little overall difference to the light levels they can work under.

Back when the broadcasters such as Sony and Philips (BTS) began with HD camera's, they settled in on the 1" format.. Such cameras as the Sony HDC-300 and HDC-500 and the BTS LDK9000 used 1" lenses.. you still see some of them for sale at times.

It might just make a revival, though the bigger the chipsize goes, the bigger the lenses will have to be.. Especially for the bigtime zooms that people are used to in broadcasting..

From an auction on ebay:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/FW200/KGrHqJHJCYFB5KM7irtBQmTk3rZQ60_57.jpg
That is a HV12x10 lens next to a normal broadcast wide angle lens (Canon 9x3.8 1/2".. same in size/model as the J9ax5.2... which are not that small either)..

It might just make a revival, though the bigger the chipsize goes, the bigger the lenses will have to be.. Especially for the bigtime zooms that people are used to in broadcasting..
But as said above, that's only true if you're keeping the same maximum f stop. Reduce that and you can build bigtime zooms for bigger chips without a big size increase.

And also as said before, bigger chips means better sensitivity - combine with smaller f stops and it means the same low light performance.

Since s35 already has a lot of legacy in respect of lenses, I'd tend to go for that. I hear what you say about 1", but it means yet another lens format, and I can't believe any of the older 1" lenses will give adequate performance for 4k?

Wow, I had no idea BSI had these issues and that it can't work together with global shutter...

It's looking like 4K sensors in standard broadcast sizes have major hurdles to overcome before they make it into cameras sized like the 300 or 350.

We may see global shutter 1080 sensors in that size before 4K. Problem though is that either 4K is going to be mainstream when global shutter 1080 sensors become affordable or ignorance on the manufacturer's part means the 1080 generation remains mostly rolling shutter based.

some videos appeared a few days ago in case anyone missed it.

Sony PMW-300 Review - YouTube

Comparison of PMW-300 and PMW-EX3 - YouTube

Sony PMW-300 Testing Shoot - YouTube

As for the shoulder design, I think my EX1R with a 96Wh battery is similar when it comes to that support.

I'm very tempted, but would much rather wait for XAVC and 1080p50/60

The PMW-300 suffers from worse burnout of highlights, but at least the dynamic range is greater than the EX3. Thanks for putting this up, Brent.

The camera is much better than these clips make it appear. I suspect there is some extra clipping occurring during the encoding.

Alister, Will you in the future explain what sony mean by a internal slot in the camera for audio receiver?

I was wondering if they mean that the camera can accept a dual channel audio receiver and be able to record a stereo shotgun with its 4 channel recording capability.

Thanks

Brent

I'm very confused by the receiver slot statement because as far as I know the camera doesn't have one. None of the prototypes have had one unless I've missed something, it's not really big enough for a receiver slot.

me too, I saw this discussuion on able cine

Sony Announces the New PMW-300 | CineTechnica (http://blog.abelcine.com/2013/06/13/sony-announces-the-new-pmw-300/)

Sony PMW-300 XDCAM HD Camcorder PMW-300K1 B&H Photo Video

FYI

$7,999. Cheaper than I thought.

....My guess (and it is a guess) is that it will do 1080p50/60 with XAVC.

When I see all the nice codec and framerate options the new Sony 4K Cameras have, I wonder if there are any news about 1080p50/60 in the PMW-300 yet?

Assuming it's a must. To have 1080i only with the lower end 4K Handycams beating out the 300 is not going to fly.

Once the 200 replacement with 3 chips and XAVC comes, I'll go for it.

Sorry to ask that question again, but can anybody at IBC find out if the PMW-300 can do 1080p50/60 XAVC ?

At the Sony UK site it's not in the specs. I need at least 1080p50 full time recording (with audio), if the PMW300 can't do that I have to look for a Z100, FS700r or other cameras.

Thank you !

Also a question, which type of card should be used to record 50mb/s and above? Considering the 1080/60p with XAVC, should I always use SxS Pro+ or any cheaper solutions?

Meanwhile, is a 128G SxS Pro+ worth it?

One of the big pushes coming from Sony right now is XQD support. The Z100 uses XQD, Sony are updating the F5 and F55 to support XQD and I would expect XQD support on the PMW-300 (it's already there on the PMW-200).

I think XQD is a very viable option and it's a lot cheaper than SxS, in the last few months the cost of XQD has dropped quite a bit. The faster XQD cards can support 4K XAVC at 600Mb/s and the slower speed cards should not have any problems with XAVC-S at 100Mb/s.

According to this video:

Sony PMW-300 Review - YouTube

At 1:52 he said that we can use XQD card with adapter. I just checked the price on BH and found it's $300 for a piece of 64G, and $35 for an adapter. Much cheaper than I thought. And it's universal to most of other machines, like PXW-Z100. Nice.

Oh yes, another question for this is: is there any lens adapter that I can attach onto it to connect with Canon DSLR lens, like 70-200mm F2.8L IS II?

My understanding is that the PMW300 will use the same third party adapters as the EX3, which allow a variety of 35 mm lenses to be used. Look for them at the MTF Services website, or on B and H.

Looks like it might be this:

MTF Services Ltd Canon EF to Sony PMW-EX3 Adaptor MTCANEFEX3 B&H

Correct?

If the PMW300 is good in low light I might very well sell my XF300 and buy one.

Being an interchangeable lens camera like the EX3 is a massive advantage for me when I shoot wildlife as I could use an adaptor and Nikon lenses and utilise the crop factor.

Hey Andy, I've been trying to find information on using other lenses, I have a decent amount of full frame Nikon lenses. Do you have any more information?

If the PMW300 is good in low light I might very well sell my XF300 and buy one.

Being an interchangeable lens camera like the EX3 is a massive advantage for me when I shoot wildlife as I could use an adaptor and Nikon lenses and utilise the crop factor.


I'm very interested in this camera, since I want to replace my workhorse, Z1u.

I have two Nikon D800s that I'm phazing in. So I'm looking to get closer to them with something like the PMW-300.

Also, I'm assuming that since Sony owns Vegas, I won't have any hiccups there.

Today I just noticed that BH has changed their Date of Available from exact 'Oct 15 2013' to a fuzzy 'Oct 2013'...

Anyone have any ideas? Is this a problem of BH or Sony again?
Sony PMW-300K1 XDCAM HD Camcorder PMW-300K1 B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/983689-REG/PMW-300K1_XDCAM_HD_CAMCORDER)

I noticed that as well, but they also added all the infor and specs for the camera that wasnt there before,

maybe its a mistake or maybe they sold out of preorders or maybe Sony is running behind or maybe????

...ok I have seen that they have just changed it back to 'Oct 15 2013' again. Guess they won't miss our expectations, especially those who have pre-ordered it already. Hmph.

Does anybody know if the PMW300 will play out through SDI when playing (from the camera) clips that have been recorded? I used an EX3 over the weekend and had no such luck. Apparently the camera does output SDI live when switched on in 'camera' mode.

Also, any word on if the USB connection for the camera will be USB3? My cynical EX3 owning friend reckons he wouldn't be surprised if the camera only came with USB2 even at this late stage.

Andrew

Whoops. Just answered one of my own questions. USB2 it is (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/983689-REG/PMW-300K1_XDCAM_HD_CAMCORDER).

What was Sony thinking?

Andrew

XQD is USB 3.0 and 50Mbps capable. (SDHC isn't)

Getting a XQD USB 3.0 reader should solve this problem. I think XQD may be the best option to use with this camera (via the adapter)

Very agreed. plus it's the cheapest option. dual 64g XQD + adapters don't charge more than $800, while SxS will be far more than that.

Now it's just one day till 15th... will they ship out the things as promised?

Replying myself... No, they have dragged the date to 29th. How nice.

Now this is even funny, they directly cancelled the date of arrival...

my pmw-300 shipped today Ill Have it Friday from B&H

Ahh, good. Someone to answer the rest of our questions. :-P

Andrew

Ok just today after I have bugged their customer services for the 3rd time, the status of the order has been turned to be "In stock, order sent to warehouse". So finally... still, gotta wait for a few days to ship it out.

my pmw-300 shipped today Ill Have it Friday from B&H

Just in time for all of us to borrow it.

I got it, no thanks to UPS

So finally I got it. It was working very well and I love it. However the only unlucky thing I have got is that I have found a tiny dust inside the viewfinder lenses. I am wondering how I can clean it up, but it seems not easy, the dust is in the middle of 2 or 3 pieces of eyecup lenses, air blower can't blow into it, and I didn't find any screw to open it up. Does anyone have any clues to do this?

Meanwhile I have realized that I also need to switch to a new tripod. I am thinking about Manfrotto series since most of the other brands are much more expensive... And I have noticed the 502 and 504 heads, with the former being much cheaper than the latter, due to max load capability, does 502 work with the camera plus some accessories like white LED light, wireless mic adapter and others?

I am struggling in between due to possible upgrades could overwhelm the 502, but 504 is quite expensive. Should I go with a more expensive one so it can carry all the add-ons like lenses and accessories for later?

For telephoto, you need a good fluid head. Trying to do telephoto pans on a non-fluid head is really hard.

Look at Vinten, I have Bogen heads and Vinten is well above in quality.

Thank you very much, can you have any specific recommendations of this brand, considering the camera and accessories? Also, how do people see Manfrotto's bridge patent?

Thank you very much, can you have any specific recommendations of this brand, considering the camera and accessories? Also, how do people see Manfrotto's bridge patent?

You'll want to go according to weight, but I have had good success with them. Vinten | Vinten Camera Supports, tripods and pan and tilt heads (http://www.vinten.com/en/products) I'm going to replace another Bogen head with a vinten next year.