Sony NAB news
 

Don't Sony usually release all their NAB news a few days before the event? I've read on another forum that there may be a press release due on what they are showing.

It's already out and pieces of it can be found all over the web.

Including our own Area 51 which is where all unofficial announcements, rumors, and speculation reside.

It now appears that the text of the announcement was sent in an NAB newsletter to those with press credentials for the show.

-gb-

Theres stuff in it that don't sound like Sony statements, such as Sony supporting 720P. They have never supported 720P before and I don't know why they would start now as Sony don't really believe 720P to be true HD.

A few of the American networks have settled on 720P 60 as their broadcast format. Never say never...<wink>

-gb-

Definitely never say never, I agree Greg. :-)

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...996#post659996

Looks like the specs are offical now.

Close, but no cigar :-)

PDWF355 dual layer camera.
I was told last Friday by Sony broadcast support
the PDWF355 will be featured at NAB and then should ship
in the fall.

I have seen the future of XDCAM HD earlier today and it is VERY SWEET! I'll be working in the XDCAM HD area of the Sony booth this week. Hope to see some fellow DVINFO folks there.

You won't believe where Sony is taking this format. (muawwaaahhhh)

-gb-

Absolutely. A certain other company wouldn't have seen what Sony is about to announce coming!

Greg, that's really cool!

Being that the 330L & the 350L have lasers that record at
about a max speed of 70 mbps are there going to be any
future updates to allow them to record at a less compressed rate
better than 35 mbps HQ option?

Greg,

any idea when Sony are going to be formally announcing?

It usually happens on Sunday (today) at a press conference. That's what happened last year anyway, Some things have already had the lid come off the jar. The stand-alone XDCAM drive, for example. It is the PDW-U1. Looks a lot like the Maxtor One-Touch cases with a black front. However, I must add that the brochure I am looking at right now say 'preliminary' at the bottom so specs could change. This is a read-only unit, made as an inexpensive way for post houses and such to ingest XDCAM material.

Gotta run....

-gb-

Read only on the drive! That's harsh I was hoping it would replace a deck.

It isn't read only. PDZ-1 will support write to the U1 later in the year. All will be clearer in Sonys address.

To be honest the decks are not that expensive, but it is a shame that it's read only. Having said that I would imagine that most will be mastering to something other than XDCAM..... Hang on cross that out..... 50Mb 4:2:2 XDCAM is probably as good as or even better than HDCAM.

It is read only FOR NOW. That's the point I wanted to make.

-gb-

PDWF355 is dual layer, but only 35Mbps and 1/2" chips.

PDW-U1 is described on Sony site as being read/write. Supports single and dual layer.

I was thinking about that back when the drive was shown at IBC...to make the drive cheap they have to offload proxy generation to the host computer. Which is then a function of the Xfer software.

So anyone got any more info on XDCAM HD422, the 2/3" XDCAM models coming along later in the year? I know they were announced at NAB but not much more than that.

Holy Cow! The XDCam EX Camcorder!!!! everything a 350 does all the framerates at formats recording to solid state! A baby 350 for £4000.

Yes, but when? The press release states a "Memorandum of Understanding"
to develop SxS memory card specifications between Sony and SanDisk. The
XDCAM EX camcorder does not have a model number. I hope somebody at NAB will tell us what Sony is saying about delivery time.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

4th Qtr 2007.

2/3rd-Inch XDCAM HD CAMCORDER
 

2/3rd-Inch XDCAM HD CAMCORDER

Has anyone from Sony mentioned the estimated price
for this new camera?

Nope, but considering the 350 costs 25,000 at B&H I would guess that it is in the 32,000-35,000 range.

Nigel Cooper lists a 'New full-size shoulder-mounted large 276 minute cassette HDV camcorder' among Sony's new offerings but doesn't mention its name. Does anyone know what it's called ?

I'll add to the list of questions.........Has there been any word about what current XDCam HD F350 or F330 owners might expect regarding any feature upgrades, firmware releases, etc.? I have not seen any news about this on-line. The three new cameras sound great, but is Sony enhancing the original camera line-up at all?

Sony will always update firmware with new features on the older cameras. They are still doing with with the SD cameras too.

Ray, I have been asking around the same question.
I believe the 350/330's laser write speed is fast
enough to record a little bit higher quality than the
current best quality setting: HQ 35 mbps.

I hope there will be an upgrade for the current cameras...

There is no name yet, because there isn't build one. Below is taken from the Sony site.

There isn’t too much I can say about the camcorder just yet, which hasn’t even got a name. What’s on the stand is a showcase that provides an indication of what the product may look like. But, unlike some of the concept cars that are shown at car shows, this is far more than a concept, and we expect to be able to ship a shoulder-mounted camcorder in early 2008. So in less than 12 months time, we should have real product in the hands of users.

No, it isn't as simple as that. For one thing the 35Mbps is VBR, so a lot of that faster than realtime write speed is taken advantage of by the VBR (if it was only realtime speed the VBR wouldn't be possible), and there are also other overheads like creating the proxy files etc.

With the 2/3" camera it is the 4:2:2 colour sampling that takes the daterate up, not the compression harshness.

Don't obsess about the numbers. Results are what counts.

Got my hands on an XDCAM HD EX
 

Had a chance to handle the little guy earlier today for about 10 minutes. Very well balanced. The side grip is able to rotate to a comfortable position that relieves wrist strain. Flip out screen is nice and viewable in bright light. The viewfinder was fairly nice (color, not B/W). The iris ring, zoom, and focus all work like a professional lens should. IIRC, it's 81.5mm at full tele.

Haven't had much time to post as I was fortunate enough to be working in the Sony booth this year and teaching a class Monday-Wednesday. Sitting in the airport lounge now and reflecting back on what a good NAB this was. I can say that lots of folks saw the beauty of XDCAM HD after we explained it and I fully expect much higher market penetration of the format this year.

-gb-

Greg, well said, well done!

So this one on display was functional? I was hoping it was just a clay or wooden model as there are still a few things that need changing:

1: Drop the stereo mic and replace with two more XLR inputs for 4 channels of live audio. Who is going to buy this camera and want such a mic, maybe 0.5% of buyers.

2: Open the lens to f/1.2

3: Add physical attachments for standard Fujinon manual lens controls (focus, zoom & iris)

4: Change the lens hood to include the lens cover (aka like Z1).

5: Change to V-Mount battery on the rear & move the audio selectors etc to under the SxS (pronounced 'sex'? ;-), ie "Sony Sex Slot") slots or below the Assign buttons

6: Include some simple way to sync multiple cameras clocks (wireless would be great). Not sure if the clock accuracy is good enough but if it is that would keep multiple cameras pretty well synced for at least a few hours.

Thats about it for me, oh. maybe a rear shoe mount for an wireless reciever to mount on (eg Sony UWP series) if the front is in use and why keep limiting the Gain and White balance to a 3 position switch, I also feel I need one or two more positions, especially the gain switch (off, 3, 6, 9, 12).

The problem is if they don't do it for this one it will probably be a few years before we see a replacement...

So this one on display was functional? I was hoping it was just a clay or wooden model as there are still a few things that need changing:

1: Drop the stereo mic and replace with two more XLR inputs for 4 channels of live audio. Who is going to buy this camera and want such a mic, maybe 0.5% of buyers.

That could be. I would want to see an onboard mic like the PDX10 with XLR connection.

2: Open the lens to f/1.2

A cost consideration. Faster lenses are always more expensive. This lens is no exception.

3: Add physical attachments for standard Fujinon manual lens controls (focus, zoom & iris)

This lens has manual control for zoom, focus, and iris. All three have barrel markings and physical stops. They are indeed direct coupled rings. Just like the big lenses, there is a manual/servo switch for the zoom rocker that engages gear teeth. There is an auto/manual iris button and there is manual/auto focus.

4: Change the lens hood to include the lens cover (aka like Z1).

It does, the toggle is behind the hood on the left side

5: Change to V-Mount battery on the rear & move the audio selectors etc to under the SxS (pronounced 'sex'? ;-), ie "Sony Sex Slot") slots or below the Assign buttons

6: Include some simple way to sync multiple cameras clocks (wireless would be great). Not sure if the clock accuracy is good enough but if it is that would keep multiple cameras pretty well synced for at least a few hours.

Can't remember if I saw a t/c jack or not. I was scrambling to take in as much as my brain would allow in a brief time.

...why keep limiting the Gain and White balance to a 3 position switch, I also feel I need one or two more positions, especially the gain switch (off, 3, 6, 9, 12).

Three position gain switches are the norm on larger full size professional cameras. This is keeping a tradition which 'feels' right to those who have been using the larger cameras for a long time

I didn't answer a couple of those points cause I have no information or opinion one way or the other.

-gb-

Greg, I think Guy was referring to connections for rear lens controllers. Is focus and zoom controlled by LANC or is there a standard Fujinon remote port for zoom?

Also, someone else in another thread asked this and it's a good question. Does the lens have Steadyshot? I don't see any markings on the camera saying it does.

As for f/1.2 and V-mount batteries, I don't think those are practical on a camera this size. The optics would have to be much bigger and heavier for f/1.2. Most ENG lenses (which are a lot bigger than this lens) only go down to f/1.4 and a V-mount battery would be almost as big as the camera!

[QUOTE=Greg Boston;663861]So this one on display was functional?

2: Open the lens to f/1.2

A cost consideration. Faster lenses are always more expensive. This lens is no exception.

I realise that but it adds a lot of light, even if there are issues with the lens that open. My bog standard lens on both my relatively cheap SD cameras go open much more than 1.9.
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3: Add physical attachments for standard Fujinon manual lens controls (focus, zoom & iris)

This lens has manual control for zoom, focus, and iris. All three have barrel markings and physical stops. They are indeed direct coupled rings. Just like the big lenses, there is a manual/servo switch for the zoom rocker that engages gear teeth. There is an auto/manual iris button and there is manual/auto focus.

I know the lens is a manual lens but does this mean you can attach remote controllers such as the JVC HZ-ZS13U Rear Servo Zoom Control for Canon and Fujinon Lenses (does it have the proper connector?) There certainly doesn't appear to be any cogs for a remote focus controller (eg JVC HZ-FM13U or 15U Rear Manual Focus Control).
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...why keep limiting the Gain and White balance to a 3 position switch, I also feel I need one or two more positions, especially the gain switch (off, 3, 6, 9, 12).

Three position gain switches are the norm on larger full size professional cameras. This is keeping a tradition which 'feels' right to those who have been using the larger cameras for a long time

3 is a poor limit though and I am sure pro's can adopt to an extra position or two, many may appreciate it. It's certainly no reason not to improve on a design (the camera is hardely ENG format, liberties have been taken...).

"Greg, I think Guy was referring to connections for rear lens controllers. Is focus and zoom controlled by LANC or is there a standard Fujinon remote port for zoom?"

Indeed
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"Also, someone else in another thread asked this and it's a good question. Does the lens have Steadyshot? I don't see any markings on the camera saying it does."

Great question. Integrated lens can certainly have OIS.
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"As for f/1.2 and V-mount batteries, I don't think those are practical on a camera this size. The optics would have to be much bigger and heavier for f/1.2. Most ENG lenses (which are a lot bigger than this lens) only go down to f/1.4 and a V-mount battery would be almost as big as the camera!"

on the appature I dissagree. My PD150 sized JVC DV301 goes out to at least f/1.4 and my cheap lens on my JVC DV500 goes out to f/1.2.

On the VMount, while I agree size is an issue, I can see this camera with 1/2" sensors & high powered MPEG2 encoders will suck power. Maybe even if they get IDX to make an adaptor like JVC did with the JVC HD100 series.