Press release:
Sony introduces the PMW-300 semi-shoulder mount camcorder ? bringing a new workhorse to Broadcast, Productions & Corporate Events. : Presse : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.de/pro/press/pr-pmw-300-camcorder?SM=FB1&src=120613_post_PMW300_)

Better photo:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/980608_10151425280067014_264816081_o.jpg

Sony has now announced the successor to the EX3, the PMW-300:

Sony introduces the PMW-300 semi-shoulder mount camcorder ? bringing a new workhorse to Broadcast, Productions & Corporate Events. : Press : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.se/pro/press/pr-pmw-300-camcorder?SM=FB1&src=120613_post_PMW300_)

On sale in October, two Sony lens options will be offered and it will be upgradable to XAVC recording!

We knew this was coming! Really nice!

At last! Just bought a rMBP this morning - now with this news I'll probably have to start saving up yet again!

Hopefully the XAVC mode forthcoming supports 1080p60 and 1080p50. If not, it would be behind Panasonic and AVC Ultra by the time 1080p60 shoulder cams come out.

Also, very nice to see the rotary hand grip making a comeback.

Given, hooray, that it has the same lens mount as the EX3 (and others) I'll be interested to see what stock lenses are offered. The Fujinon on my EX3 is too short for most of my needs.

Ron

Hopefully the XAVC mode forthcoming supports 1080p60 and 1080p50. If not, it would be behind Panasonic and AVC Ultra by the time 1080p60 shoulder cams come out.

Also, very nice to see the rotary hand grip making a comeback.

Panasonic already announced an AVC-Ultra 1080/60P shoulder cam - the PX5000. But it's going to cost a lot more than this camera, around $27,000 - without a lens. The cheaper HPX600 won't be able to upgrade to 60P, as far as I know. If you're waiting on a cheaper Panny shoulder-mount 60P camera, it may not happen.
I don 't know if giving the 300 the XAVC codec will make it 60P capable.

And technically, the rotating hand grip never went away, at least not on the EX3/ PMW-300s.

I see the PMW-300 as a very versatile, do-all camera. True broadcast codec using the popular XDCAM & XAVC, small size, 1/2" sensors, Wifi, HD/SDI, HDMI, timecode - all the professional connections you'd need. Semi shoulder is sort of meh, but it's not a show stopper.

I was seriously looking at the HPX600, but now I might have to wait until the price of this one comes out. I'm guessing around $8,200, if Sony follows its practice of pricing the new cameras about the same as the cameras they're replacing. ex- the PMW-200 is priced about the same as the EX1R.

Given, hooray, that it has the same lens mount as the EX3 (and others) I'll be interested to see what stock lenses are offered. The Fujinon on my EX3 is too short for most of my needs.

Ron

Stock is 14x, with a 16x as an option. A more expensive option, I'm guessing.
Yes, same lens mount.

Which leaves a missing link in the chain - when will we see the PMW320 get the "50Mbs makeover"? It's happened to the PMW350 (the 400), the EX1 (the 200) and now the EX3. So when an upgraded 320?

I bought a PMW320 last year and at the price I wanted to pay, then at the time it was easily the best choice for me - still is. Only comparable competition that was a serious rival was the HPX370 - but the 1/2" v 1/3" chip size made all the difference.

That said, the one advantage the 370 had is undeniably a full broadcast spec codec. To me, that's far less of an issue than the chip size differences, but without question a PMW320 with 50Mbs recording would have been even more attractive.

Interesting, David, as you know the codec is far more important to me over chip size. I picked the Canon XF305 over the EX1R because of that reason.
This camera has both, win-win overall.

The new EX3.. PMW300.. looks like another winner.. and a decent VF at last..

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 see that the rotating grip lives on apparently due to popular demand: "Based on customer feedback the PMW-300 features an innovative semi-shoulder design that has a rotary hand grip, allowing comfortable recording over long periods of time."

This is excellent news!

I see that the rotating grip lives on apparently due to popular demand: "Based on customer feedback the PMW-300 features an innovative semi-shoulder design that has a rotary hand grip, allowing comfortable recording over long periods of time."

If they really listened to customer feedback, they'd have made it a full shoulder design.

There are so many little details...

16x - it makes a difference in conferences

iPad control - swoon, that's going to be wonderful

24 bit audio - yay! (capture a far wider dynamic range)

Planning Metadata - guys, we're getting there at last!

Quick-rec - yes!

It even brings back iLink - may seem silly, but this was a great trick for capturing stuff in an emergency.

It will be interesting to see how one can pack that viewfinder down to fit it into carry-on. EX3s could be a little bit of a nightmare in packing down or packing away. Yes, it could sit in its own box, but would it go in an overhead bin in Europe?

If I were to be starting again, I'd be going PMW300 over PMW200 - the EX3's wide is awesome, and I really like the idea of having some B4 glass for conference records. It just comes across as another 5+ year camera.

If they really listened to customer feedback, they'd have made it a full shoulder design.

Actually they did. The eyepiece is designed to move up and down to accomodate shoulder braces.

Actually they did. The eyepiece is designed to move up and down to accomodate shoulder braces.

??
Explain, please. I see the eyepiece is movable, but so is the one on the EX3, to a small extent.

??
Explain, please. I see the eyepiece is movable, but so is the one on the EX3, to a small extent.

According to this: The Sony PMW-300, the EX3 replacement has finally arrived! XDCAM 422 and XAVC! | XDCAM-USER.COM (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2013/06/the-sony-pmw-300-the-ex3-replacement-has-finally-arrived-xdcam-422-and-xavc/)

"The viewfinder design is new, it has a higher resolution panel than the one in the original EX3 and is closer in design to the PMW-350 or PMW-F5 LCD viewfinder. It’s mounted to the body with a rotating arm, that allows about 4″ of forward, backward and height adjustment so adapting the camera for use with a full shoulder mount should be quite straightforward."

Anyone whose put a handycam form factor camera like the XF300 or EX1R onto a shoulder mount realizes it raises the LCD and the EVF up too high. The PMW-300 sounds like it harkens back to the XL-1 with the flip down chest pad as well.

That sounds like you have to attach the camera to an after market shoulder mount, is that correct?

EDIT- I see it has a flip down shoulder/chest pad, nice! And thanks for the link, Les.

You're right, Matt - it looks like it's a camera that can be used for many years. Especially since it will be upgradeable to the XAVC codec.

The Sony PMW-300, the EX3 replacement has finally arrived! XDCAM 422 and XAVC! | XDCAM-USER.COM (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2013/06/the-sony-pmw-300-the-ex3-replacement-has-finally-arrived-xdcam-422-and-xavc/)

If they really listened to customer feedback, they'd have made it a full shoulder design.
But surely that's a different camera? A case of as well as, not instead of?

What you're thinking about sounds more like the 50Mbs upgraded PMW320?

I agree with what you're saying about the full shoulder design - it's why I went for the PMW320 rather than the EX3 at the time - but there's no question that the EX3 (now PMW300) may be a better choice for some. If you did a lot of travelling and wanted to be as lightweight as possible, but wanted something better than the pure handicam design of the EX1/HPX250/XF300, for example? To say nothing of things like interchangeable lenses.

I was wondering why they didn't just announce the PMW200, 300, 400 all in one go, but thinking about it I suppose the drip, drip of new products may be pretty good strategy, keeps them in the news?

If an upgraded PMW320 does come along, the question now has to be what will they call it? :-) Sounds like it's got to be between 300 and 400, but 350 has already been taken! Maybe the "PMW325" would be most logical!?

1080p60 with a data rate that supports that (100? MBits/second) would convince me to upgrade from an EX1 as I typically use 720p60 .

You're right, Matt - it looks like it's a camera that can be used for many years. Especially since it will be upgradeable to the XAVC codec.

The Sony PMW-300, the EX3 replacement has finally arrived! XDCAM 422 and XAVC! | XDCAM-USER.COM (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2013/06/the-sony-pmw-300-the-ex3-replacement-has-finally-arrived-xdcam-422-and-xavc/)
Question really for Alister, as the above link is to his site. I'm interested to hear him say:
Next year you’ll be able to add the new XAVC codec as an option. This will be the Long GoP version of the codec announced at NAB and also coming as an option to the PMW-400.
and I just wonder why it's the long-GOP version? I was assuming it to be more likely to be 100Mbs I-frame only, 10 bit 4:2:2 - which is certainly one of the profiles.

Compared to XDCAM 50Mbs, the DISADVANTAGES to that are going to be twice the bitrate and extra edit workload - but obviously there will be advantages as well. But long-GOP may mean bitrate savings without quality compromise - but ..... for a codec designed to come into it's own in a couple of years time, will that matter as much, given the rate of year on year price drops per GB?

Compared to 100Mbs, there's still a lot to be said for 50Mbs at the moment, but the cheaper memory gets, the less of an issue it becomes?

1080p60 with a data rate that supports that (100? MBits/second) would convince me to upgrade from an EX1 as I typically use 720p60 .
Ahhhh.. a bit speculative, but I was commenting about what Alister Chapman says in his website about it
Next year you’ll be able to add the new XAVC codec as an option. This will be the Long GoP version of the codec announced at NAB and also coming as an option to the PMW-400.
My thoughts were "why the long-GOP version?" Higher frame rates may answer that question. If a given system was 100Mbs I-frame only for 1080p/25, then for comparable quality a move to 1080p/50 means doubling the bitrate - 200Mbs. (This is the case for the latest Panasonic announcements. To get 1080p/50 with AVC-Intra, they need 200 Mbs.)

Use long-GOP and it's not the case. You keep the I-frames the same *time interval* apart, but double the number of frames (difference frames) between them. Since they are far smaller than I-frames in terms of bitrate, it means that you can double the framerate, keep the same quality, yet only need to increase the bitrate a small amount relative to 25p.

And ... I hope the audio limiter can be disabled or programmed, even with presets.

Absolutely not a bigger shoulder camera - this will be a great camera - just missing 1080-50p on this and the PMW-400..

Agreed. Not pulling the trigger on a camera that is still limited to 1080 30p or 25p. I don't want S35 to get broadcast compliant 1080 60p. (AVCHD 2.0 is nowhere near broadcast compliant)

...........this will be a great camera - just missing 1080-50p on this and the PMW-400..
But is it really missing it - or is it just waiting for the XAVC upgrade promised next year?

You won't get 50p with XDCAM 50Mbs, it's not in the spec, so no 50p at the moment. But it may come next year as XAVC is perfectly capable of it, together with 10bit working.

From this photo, https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/980608_10151425280067014_264816081_o.jpg
it looks suspiciously like the viewfinder is removable too! Would be awesome if it was, the one on the EX3 can be a pain to deal with when trying to pack it.

I must say I'm really pleased at this announcement.

My trusty EX3 is almost exactly 5 years old and has served me extremely well in the type of work I do - and still does. It's been more recently complemented by a Canon C100 which is also a great cam with all my Canon glass. Both, of course, have their idosyncracies/excel in different ways - but when each is used to their strengths they are terrific. My Canon 7D is mainly on stills only duty now - but at least it got me into buying some great glass now being used on the C100.

If and when my EX3 dies (it's been 100% rock solid so far - touch wood...) I'll be looking hard at getting this PMW-300. I'm already pretty sure on that even with just a picture and an announcement to go on.

However, I really do hope they have thought about a way of collapsing down or even removing part of the EVF/LCD assembly - as mentioned by others above. Thanks for that picture Bryce - I hope you're right! The EX3 was ALWAYS a bit awkward for the European airline travel I had to do with the cam - I always managed to get it in the cabin with me in a Petrol bag (with the Sony Mic Clamp unscrewed/removed) but it was a bit of a tight squeeze. Yeah, I know, a PMW-200 would be easier to pack - but that's not the cam I want as my EX3 successor, this is. The C100 is a breeze for this type of travel, of course.

Rotating handgrip - check. They should never have removed that feature from cams of this weight/level like they did with the PMW-200. Looks like they have indeed been listening.

If 1080p50/60 comes along down the road with XAVC it'll make the PMW-300 a superbly versatile cam and totally irresistable... If I can squeeze 1 more year out of my EX3 before it goes to "the great camera heaven in the sky" that should dovetail in nicely...

I certainly agree with Matt's comment that this is "another 5-year + camera" and for that reason alone it will be high on my list for future purchase.

I can already hear my wife now... "WHAT? ANOTHER CAMERA!"

:-)

Interesting note.. looks like 4 ND filter positions to me. Same as the PMW150.. Wish my PMW200 had this.

Good observation about the NDs on the PMW-300 picture Joe - hope that's true!

Oh, and please Mr Sony, can we have the Media access door in BLACK, not in silver....

Also, I found this good summary by Sony about their implementation of XAVC - might be worth a read for some of you.

http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/XAVC-Sonys-implementation-of-Advanced-Video-Coding/td-p/36571

I wonder how will it compare with an EX3 with a nanoFlash?

Ron

Good observation about the NDs on the PMW-300 picture Joe - hope that's true!
It is true: Clear, 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64.

I wonder how will it compare with an EX3 with a nanoFlash?

Ron

It'll be a lot less bulkier.
Since the sensors are nearly identical, the picture should be very close, although the 300 should have a cleaner image in lower light.

But the point of the 300 is that you will no longer need external recorders.

But if you're happy with an EX3, with or without a Nano, it's still a very good camera. No reason to switch if the EX3 is still making you money.

I have been looking on the filter switch too - My guess is that it will do Infrared ;)

Yes, 4 ND filter positions. Clear, 1/4, 1/16, 1/64

Sony are a little vague over the XAVC codec options. One will possibly be 35Mb/s 10 bit 422 XAVC Long GoP. This has been a request from several broadcasters that want a codec that will fit in a small pipe for network editing etc in news rooms. It may well also get the 100Mb/s (25p) I frame codec. From what I can tell it shares the same encoder and DSP as the PMW-400. IF it will be able to do 1080p50 then that may also be somewhere where Long GoP will be useful as this would avoid having to use SxS Pro+ cards to handle the 200Mb/s bit rate. My guess (and it is a guess) is that it will do 1080p50/60 with XAVC.

I wonder how will it compare with an EX3 with a nanoFlash?

Ron

The new NR circuits will make the noise characteristics more different. If there is no 1080p60, 280mbps I-frame on the Nano may still get better recording quality. (not image quality)

Alister, here's hoping that the 400 and 300 have XAVC 50p/60p support. May wait until that option comes standard to get either the 300 or a 200 replacement. (250 I guess?)

Believe it or not the I-Link firewire is still significant to me. I have a lot of corporate conferences we shoot in HD but still deliver standard DVDs too. I have a Sony Anycast I have used since they were first released. They are being phased out now. Mine has paid for itself countless times. I am hoping the I-link is hot while all the other formats are in use? I would love that! The Anycast is a multi source switcher and HDD recorder (among other things). The firewire inputs are my first choice even though it has others.

Also, don’t throw away your Adobe On-Location disk. A great program for field shooting. My main use for it was not even the HDD recording it will do. I used it for all of its useful tools like waveform monitor, vector scope, and others. Then set the zebras where you want (shadow and highlight), put the monitor in full screen and away you go with a half way decent firewire field monitor.

One word of caution. I have absolutely no faith in Sony when it comes to “future upgrades, to be released”. If the camera works for you out of the box then buy it. If your betting on the come you could end up waiting much much longer than you think. I have been burned by Sony rushing broadcast line products to market to generate this kind of excitement, when the product was far from ready for release.

Steve

I want more pictures geeezzz

I'm trying to find out about XAVC 50/60p support.

Hypergammas instead of Cinegammas. WiFi is not built in but via the CBK-WA01 adapter, Magnesium alloy body not plastic like the PMW-200.

So far only 3 pictures have been released, all show the camera from the same angle, just with different microphones.

I suspect the street price will be about 10-20% higher than the EX3 with the 14x zoom and quite a bit more with the 16x.

What's the difference between hypergammas and cinegammas? Which is preferable?

A 10-20% price increase is still very reasonable, for what you're getting. This is a workhorse camera.

Not a lot of difference, in fact Hypergamma 4 is the same as Cinegamma 1 and HG2 is the same as CG 2.

It's just good that Sony are standardising on HG across almost all of the range now which makes setting up cameras to match much simpler.

Here's an article that says the 14x lens version will be under $10K:

Sony’s Sub-$10,000 PMW-300 Is the EX3′s Successor | Studio Daily (http://www.studiodaily.com/2013/06/sonys-sub-10000-pmw-300-is-the-ex3-successor/)

Some PMW-300 specification information now on this Sony UK site:

PMW-300K1 (PMW300K1) : Features : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/product/xdcamcamcorders/pmw-300k1/features#features)

The XAVC codec and recording details for both the PMW-300 and PMW-400 will be announced at IBC in September, so we'll have to wait till then to hear about 50/60p.

Thanks Alister. I have to say that if no 1080p/50, then what's the point of the XAVC option now it's got a fully approved codec with XDCAM 50Mbs anyway?

AFAIK, what XAVC brings to the table that XDCAM can't is the ability to do higher resolutions (ie 4k), higher framerates (like 50p) and 10 bit. OK, nobody's expecting 4k here, but if the only benefit is 10bit acquisition, is the XAVC upgrade really going to be worth it?

Combine it with 1080p/50 and there's a lot more point.

David is spot on. Sony better make sure 1080p50/60 is part of the 2014 XAVC update for the PMW-300. And I'm sure they will.