Sony launches PXW-Z100 4K Handheld XDCAM

[Andrew Clark]

4:2:2 10bit vs. 4:2:0 8bit ... that's why "I would think that".

Yes, I realize there are a variety of other factors ... than just Color Sampling alone ... that affects the outcome of an image BUT ...

...since I have not utilized or even seen this camera in person, I am only going by the camera's specs (4:2:2 / 10bit, Cinema 4K) which I thought would be able to pull a clean key without a problem ... hence my inquiry to Robert about his findings.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Andrew Clark

4:2:2 10bit vs. 4:2:0 8bit ... that's why "I would think that".

Yes, I realize there are a variety of other factors ... than just Color Sampling alone ... that affects the outcome of an image BUT ...

...since I have not utilized or even seen this camera in person, I am only going by the camera's specs (4:2:2 / 10bit, Cinema 4K) which I thought would be able to pull a clean key without a problem ... hence my inquiry to Robert about his findings.

Yes I understand. We may see a better result from the 1" sensor of the FDR-AX100 if we get a more Pro version.

Ron Evans

[Mark OConnell]

Maybe someone can help me with this, I don't usually use the thumbnail screen to review clips. The camera is happy to play back on the lcd clips shot at 60p but will not play back clips shot at 30p. The 30p clips have a little warning icon on them that looks a bit like a Do Not Enter symbol. A red circle with a line through it. Why might this be?

[Michael Warren]

Originally Posted by Mark OConnell

Maybe someone can help me with this, I don't usually use the thumbnail screen to review clips. The camera is happy to play back on the lcd clips shot at 60p but will not play back clips shot at 30p. The 30p clips have a little warning icon on them that looks a bit like a Do Not Enter symbol. A red circle with a line through it. Why might this be?

Some cameras will not playback clips shot in a different frame rate to the currently set one. It may be that the Z100 does this. Try setting it to 30p mode.

[Mark OConnell]

Bingo. Thanks Michael! That was driving me crazy.

[Robert Turchick]

Originally Posted by Andrew Clark

4:2:2 10bit vs. 4:2:0 8bit ... that's why "I would think that".

Yes, I realize there are a variety of other factors ... than just Color Sampling alone ... that affects the outcome of an image BUT ...

...since I have not utilized or even seen this camera in person, I am only going by the camera's specs (4:2:2 / 10bit, Cinema 4K) which I thought would be able to pull a clean key without a problem ... hence my inquiry to Robert about his findings.

Well, this just shows how wrong I was about reading specs alone to choose a camera! On paper the Z100 should have been a monster. I mean why would they put such a high-performance codec with 4:2:2 10 bit to the super high speed media, and put SDI and TC connectors and a G-lens?? That all says "Pro Camera" to me. The small sensor was the one area I didn't really pay attention to! Lesson learned!

And to add a bit to my earlier statement, the DSLR's really only have one issue when pulling a key. The aliasing shows up. So you get jagged edges on anything with an smooth line or curve. Now, shrinking it from 1080p to 720p helps but it's still not as nice as the true video cameras. BTW, the C100/Ninja 2 using the 220mbps Pro Res HQ off the Ninja 2 is stunningly good.

[Pavel Sedlak]

I saw this camera yesterday along with NX3.

Z100 has really good LCD, with magnification I can focus in 4K (camera was output to 4K monitor for control). The lens of Z100 is visibly better (sharper) than lens of NX3 (I hope that I did the change of Z100 mode from 4K to HD .-) ), also the change from focus to defocus is smoother (focus ring works better). The lens has a little CA on wide angle, but nothing big. The gain is usable to +12dB, at +15db is noise in 4K more visible, this mean that in dark areas you can't use the whole 20x zoom, picture is too dark. Also HD mode is nice (4K is a little wider direct from the chip). You can shot in 4K and at the same time see the HDMI output in HD on monitor.

Z100 is a very good camera with the exception of a lower sensitivity, with better lens than NX3. I didn't look for some NR in menu, so this can help with noise if this exist.

[Phil Goetz]

Updated link!!!!! Sorry!!!!!!

Sony PXW-Z100

Originally Posted by Phil Goetz

Alister Chapman took the PXW-Z100 for a spin while in town for our workshop. The card had 25GB of footage but I deleted some of the files and left eight clips. I zipped it up and put it on media fire for you to download and try out in your own system. The video is of downtown Austin. Last weekend was winter. Yes. Winter only lasts one weekend here. This is it. Go to this page and scroll down. Download time depends on how fast your connection is. This file is 2.5GB.

Omega - Sales - PXW-Z100

I posted this in a different thread but saw there was a lot of conversation here too.

[Hans Stephan]

rumors ..*g*.. free of charge firmware upgrade rund up 30th October

The version 3 will include:
XAVC Long GOP* 4K(QFHD)/HD recording capability with max.150 Mbps on XQD media card
TC output from HDMI

*XAVC-L (long GOP) is a codec with MXF file wrapper, in QFHD is 4:2:0 with 8bit, in HD is 4:2:2 with 10bit.

The next firmware version should include AVCHD recording and will be available in January 2015.
The Direct Copy function sony plan to update in first half of 2015.

http://666kb.com/i/csnz7ikj1elr6godi.jpg

[Jack Zhang]

Can you please put that image on Imgur? I don't trust a site with a URL like that.

[Monday Isa]

Here's the image from the link.

[Ron Evans]

I have a FDR-AX1 the consumer version of the PXW-Z100. The physical differences are mainly, in typical Sony fashion, SDi and timecode interfaces. The PXW-Z100 is 422 10bit XAVC and the FDR-AX1 420 8 bit XAVC-S. When they came out there were. and still are things that do not work and were promised in a summer 2014 firmware update. There are USB and SD card slots that do not work, data code button that does nothing etc. In this promised update there was also to be included AVCHD and for the PXW-Z100 Long GOP. In this release it looks like they will give the Z100 the long GOP wrapped in MXF that is already in the FDR-AX1 as mp4 !!! As a long time Sony owner I am suspicious that the firmware is the same for both these camcorders just a matter of what is enabled for marketing !!! Just like the differences between the NX5U and the HDR-AX2000. The HD codec is also in the X70, X160 and X180. No mention of any of the interfaces that do not work !! I think the team may have been re assigned to get the X160/180 and the X70 out the door.

Ron Evans

[Jack Zhang]

Still puzzled as to the 4:2:0 for Long-GOP in 4K. This essentially makes it XAVC-S. But I guess you get more audio flexibility in the real XAVC format rather than XAVC-S.

Are the XAVC Long-GOP modes on the F55 also 4:2:0? If not, that's a hardware limitation.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

But I guess you get more audio flexibility in the real XAVC format rather than XAVC-S..

I think audio is the same for either format just whether it is mp4 or mxf wrapper.

Ron Evans

[Jack Zhang]

I believe XAVC-S MP4 is locked to 2 channel 16bit and XAVC MXF is up to 8 channels 24bit audio, unless I'm wrong.