I have a PXW-X70 (not upgraded to record 4K; I'm sticking with HD). I record my footage to either 1080p30 or 1080p60, and always at 50 Mbps XAVC-L (10-bit 4:2:2)

Overall, extremely pleased with the footage. It took a while to get Apple/Sony to update things to work with such footage in Final Cut, but I can natively edit XAVC-L or create optimized media (ProRes 422) should I choose to.

My workflow is typically ingest the raw footage, possibly transcode to ProRes 422, light grading/editing, then export to H.264 (Blu-ray and web consumption).

I'm now researching using an external recorder to capture directly to ProRes (most likely 422, but some things HQ).

My question is will I really notice any video quality improvements? I have failed to find any real-world analysis. What I shoot will vary greatly (indoor, outdoor, low-light, high-action, interviews with very little motion, etc.) So perhaps a jump in quality of certain types of captured footage would be more obvious than others?

Thank you.

Other details... If going with an external recorder, I'm torn between a BMD Video Assist and Atomos Ninja 2. I like the BMD since I can record up to 60p and it would allow me to connect to the SDI connection. If anyone is using an external recorder with their PXW-X70, would love to hear how that's working out.

I don't have an X70, but I do have a Z150, FS5, FS7, F55, etc. and I can pretty much guarantee that will not be able to see any difference between XAVC-L and ProRes. Maybe a slight difference with ProResHQ, but you'd have to look very, very, closely with just the right type of footage to see any difference. My FS7 can record ProRes internally, but I don't use it. I have an Odyssety 7Q+ that I can hookup to any of the cameras if I choose to, but I don't use it either. I've done the A vs. B testing and, in my opinion, there is really no reason to bother with the hassle and expense of an external recorder. My advice is to just enjoy the convenience and cost-effectiveness of XAVC and don't look back.

Also, I don't understand why you transcode everything to ProRes? I edit native XAVC on MacBook Pros and have no issues with Premiere. I assume FCPX would be just as good. Have you tried working with XAVC natively? If so, what was the problem that made you go to ProRes?

Doug, thank you very much for this info!

Regarding sometimes transcoding to ProRes, that was out of habit mostly as well as to conduct different file-size computations if I went that route.

I can indeed edit XAVC-L natively within Final Cut Pro (I'm on version 10.2.3). It took a while to get there (earlier versions of OS X and Final Cut were unable to work that specific flavor of XAVC-L that the X70 used).

Along with not having to spend money on an external recorder, the budget for my next computer will be lower as well since I can spend less on storage. For every 1 TB of storage, I can now store at least 14 hours of footage. That's to hold the original files plus a backup, and the final output I give to clients plus a backup. ProRes 422 would allow for only 6 hours, and ProRes HQ only 4.5 hours.

I assume light grading means you add some saturation, maybe tweak the contrast, and at the very most nudge a color wheel from time to time? You won't see any difference if that's the case.

Gary, correct. I try to get as close as possible in-camera and just sweeten a bit in post.