Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Been playing with the GPS information. I tried the update it said it could do, but do update and nothing I can see seems to happen.

But, is there anyway to get more info like streets? It zooms in and out, but without streets, not worth too much. BUT, with street info, it would be another great tool.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

MY CX700 came yesterday, waiting for the fog to lift to give it a good test today, the new menu was a bit of a shock, seems to have fallen in line with the NEX range but footage taken so far in 25p with cinetone is the best i have seen from Sony, this is a fantastic little camcorder, image seems to be sharper, with perhaps a little more edge sharpening than the MC50, Just put the mic from the MC50 on top and hey presto!, finally got the cam that the MC50 should have been!

Agree with Stacy's gripes, zoom rocker is very slack, and adding to the gripe list- the lens hood gets in the way of the manual control button

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

What does cinetone give you? What are folks suggestions as to which defaults to change?

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Dave, I think it's a glitch in vlc. I have the same issues, vlc stutters where windows media player in win7 plays it just fine.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Cinetone just increases the contrast and pulls up the saturation. I would say it's analogous to on a nikon slr setting to vivid mode.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

You are right about the lens hood. But its so cute :-). At least my wife says that...

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Dave,

Actually the amount of info you get now on the camera is way better than just a couple of years ago. I think it would take just too much memory to give the full street detail on the camera. I just updated my garmin gps and it like 2GB

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Only using the built-in USB. Honestly, I can do without the little cable. I find it useless and constantly have to use tehe built in extender. Now it's just one more cable I have to take with me..... Since i always carry a mini USB anyway. By the way, I also tried my transfer tests without using the extender and it was still the same. The external cable has the wrong connectors as it uses the proprietary connector on the camera end and the square USB (typa a I think) on the other end. That would just mean TWO more cables I have to take with me.... Yuk

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

I guess Cinetone is not to everyones taste, but I have always used it on the Sony's to crush the blacks a little.

Been out with the cam for a few hours this morning, mostly still 25p, tried a bit of 50p and 50i, sharpness seems to be about the same on 25p and 50p, better motion on the latter of course.

Active Steadyshot still degrades the image a little as it did on the MC50, not a problem on wide but it does zoom in on the chip quite a way at max telephoto, Seems to be the Same G lens as last year, still a bit of purple fringing at max telephoto, that's me being very picky - The overall Image is fantastic for the size and package

I have set the display to keep all the information on during shooting, in the default setting although the screen was clearer, I found the imposed zoom and record controls took up to much of the left side of the LCD and made framing difficult, apart from that the slightly smaller LCD from last year is just as easy to use

The Instant follow focus is very handy, all in all still very pleased.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Stacy, I was thinking about the size of my files on my street atlas also, but when I have 96gig flash, I would have no issue taking a few gig for street maps!!!! This would really then make this a great overall tool in one unit. Video, camera, and a usable GPS would have been great. sure would be cool again if there was some way to make it work to show streets.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Just come back from a week ski holiday with the CX700. I used it on full intelligent auto most of the time and with either a UV filter or a variable ND filter. Left the lens hood at home. I am really impressed with the image stabilizer over the XR500. I skied down next to my grandson taking video and the image is amazingly solid. Had a few instances where it wasn't quite sure of the WB but soon corrected itself. I learned to not start recording immediately in the trees with sun shining. All video was shot 60P. As noted earlier in this thread the transfer speed seems to be slower than the XR500. Transfer the holiday video of 145 clips of 11G in about 15mins. This is slow compared to the XR500 which would normally transfer twice that in less time. I will video a show next week with both cameras so will be able to do a direct comparison. Will shoot in 60i to get a direct comparison as all other cameras will be 60i anyway.

So far do not like the menu system compared to the SR11 or the XR500. Backward step for me I think. Do like the zebra, peaking, extended focus, audio display though, will be useful in the theatre.

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

So Ron, I am really stumped as to why your transfer was so much faster than mine. I was only getting about 3GB in 1.5 HOURS. I would kill for 11GB in 15 min!

Were you using PMB with the out of the box USB setting and using the nubby USB thingy in the handle.

I am seriously beginning to wonder if I have a dud.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

The menus look like "two steps back", when compared to the CX500/520/550, which all have a "my menu" option when you go to the menus, the first press brings up six things YOU decided were important - it was a good step up over the XR500, and better integrated the menu system, bummed to see the reduction in usability, you'd thing they'd have learned from the NEX3/5 fiasco, where the menus were roundly criticized for user unfriendliness.

I think they continue to refine the OIS - the XR500 was very stable for pitch and yaw, but the later CX'x managed to control "roll", which is more important IMO, because it gets away from the "seasick" feeling - just keeping the horizon level make the video much better, even if there's some side to side or up and down movement (seen all the time on "reality TV" cable series shot handheld - the pro shoulder rigs have those two handles spread out to keep that horizon level, but the CX Sonys manage to do pretty well! On a shoulder rig, darn close to Steadicam!

Glad to hear it performed well, hope you had a fun time! Will be interested in further reports on the download times. Have you checked file sizes yet? I'm thinking that when you shoot 60P you effectively double the file sizes, and that may be the cause of the additional download time. I know that shooting 60i 24Mbps on the CX550 (vs. the 16Mbps on earlier Sonys) there is a substantial increase in the file sizes (actuall almost 50% increase - 8G sticks are "too small"!! Even 16G probably won't record an hour at top rez...), though I never really paid attention to downloading times, as they are still way faster than "real time".

A quick mental caclulation would suggest that a 1 hour file on the XR500 would be around 8G, but closer to 24G in 24Mbps 1080 60p - WOW! If that's not a brain fart, that would suggest files are 3x as large?!?! So a 96G flash storage is "the same" as 32G was in the CX500V. The CX560 is looking less and less attractive, as is that "flash only" EU version of the CX700 (690). You actually will NEED that 96G memory, plus 32G Memory sticks if you're doing event work!

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

I was wondering the same thing - since you've tested on multiple machines from your description, I presume you can rule out the port speed? Depending on your system specs, you could have a bottleneck in the system bus or slow HDD performance, but I'd be surprised f that was on multiple machines.

I know fast HDD's are important. See my comments above about file sizes - they could quickly choke you if there's a bottleneck anywhere in the transfer chain - you're only as fast as your slowest component, and even 2-3 years difference in HDD technology makes a surprising amount of difference.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

My file transfers were glacially slow until I uninstalled Picture Motion Browser (PMB), the software that comes with the camera. I'm not sure, but I think it is analyzing and cataloging files as you transfer. It is looking for faces and trying to find "familiar" ones. That's my guess anyway.

I find that OIS is noticeably better than on the Panasonic TM700. The manual controls are very nice as far as they go, but are in some ways dumbed down compared with the last Sony I bought (HC-7)

There is substantial CA at full zoom for many subjects. It seems worse than the HC-7 and maybe on a par with the HC-1 (I know, that was a long time ago). The TM700 doesn't have this issue.

Curiously, I seem to get the best resolution and focus across the frame when shooting at F4.0 (fixed). I'm talking about shooting in good light. Both 60p and 24p are very nice.

I will use this for nature and landscape work, but I actually got it primarily for 60p underwater. In this setting, I won't need full telephoto, and the OIS and wide angle will be very nice. The accessories brochure that comes with it says it is compatible with the Sony SPK-HCG Sports Pack underwater housing, and Gates has expressed interest in producing a housing for this camera.

The fact that it will work with the Sony housing confirms for me that Lanc control is possible if you buy a third-party AV to lanc converter.

I'm starting to like it a lot more than when I first started testing it.

Pat

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

The full download was 57 mins and 21 sec all 60P as well as 16 times 4MB stills for a total of 10.6G. The original estimated download time was 17 mins and it actually did it a lot faster at just over 15mins. I didn't accurately time it to the sec. This was not the fastest download as it was to the desktop just for the test after you asked I checked again. This was then of course to my boot drive. If you want I will try a test to my RAID to see if it makes a difference but I think the bottleneck is the camera. This is twice as slow as the XR500 which normally transfers close to 18G in 12 mins or so after a 2 hour show. On Monday I will be shooting another show and will shoot in 60i to match the other cameras and then will have a good check on download speed for the same time and data rates.

Edius V6 properties show it to be H.264/AVC VBR 25000000 / 25999360 bps

Equivalent rates for the last show I did give
XR500 properties are H.264/AVC video VBR 16000000 / 16000000 bps for 17Mbps setting
and NX5U video H.264/AVC VBR 21500000 / 21999616 bps at 24Mbps setting with PCM audio

Ron Evans

EDIT: Having read this again I want to make it clear that the length of the video was 57min and 21secas well as 16 still images of about 4M each for a total of 10.6G and download time was about 15mins.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Pat, you can cancel the analyze function if you want and I do not count this in the download time as it can go on in the background and you can disconnect the camera and do something else even use the files. For me the Sony software is essential as I use this as my archive and for sorting and playing all the family videos. For the shows I cancel analyze and do not use the calendar or archive functions. But for the family videos I have all the video and stills from our cameras and my daughters cameras Sony still cameras, SR7, SR11, XR500 and now the CX700 so can go back by calendar view and see all the history of the grandkids and our holidays for several years searching by date or now GPS or faces.

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Thanks Ron!

Pat

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

According to the manual, in PS mode (used for 60p) the data rate is 28 Mbps (not double 24 Mbps.) This would result in approx. 12.6GB for an hour (vs 10.8GB for 24Mbps and 7.2GB for 16 Mbps.) This calculation matches the quoted recording time in the manual in PS Mode for 16GB of 75 minutes.

Sony eSupport - HDR-CX700V - Manuals / Specs / Warranty

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

An update on the CX700. Shot a 2 hour theatre show last evening. I used my NX5U, CX700, XR500 and SR11. NX and CX were at 24mbps 60i the XR500 and SR11 are of course 17mbps. NX5U and CX700 resulted in total files of 18.2G and the XR500 and SR11 were 14.8G. Transfer times to the PC were 12 mins for the FMU128 from the NX5U, 11mins for the SR11 and XR500 and 30 mins for CX700. I will do a check and see how fast I can get the same files transferred using a Class 10 SD card. I am now doing an internal copy from internal memory to the card and it says it will take 1 hour and 15 mins to do that !!!! . I may use a 32G SD card most of the time to improve transfer speed.

Impressions so far. The picture is beautiful outside in the snow or indoors. Stabilizer is amazing. Auto intelligent exposure is very good. As a point and shoot then plug into TV to watch its great. Gives the NX5U a real test for picture quality. It got fooled a little for WB in the snow but quickly stabilized to the correct value and in the theatre I set manually to indoor preset for all cameras anyway.

The operation of menus and transfer speed is many times backwards and I hope there is a firmware update to improve as for me this is a step back to before the first AVCHD cam I got , the SR7 which had far better menu operation and transfer speed.

From the little pieces of information the new small NXCam to be announced tomorrow by Sony may be based on the CX700 hopefully it has better controls and transfer speed !!!!

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Ron, unless the price is close, the quality, useability, size, and cost for the CX700 is pretty hard to beat. The boss factor is very important to me now. But, shall be interesting to see what they are tomorrow.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

The CX700 for the price has a wonderful picture and is easy to use as a point and shoot. I like it very much. All my cameras are Sony's and I have a sort of love hate relationship with Sony products !!! They seem to take 3 steps forward and 2 back each time!!! I had a V801 single chip Hi8 camcorder that had full manual control just like the 3 Chip VX3 I had as my main camera at the time. Sony still have not got to this point in their present lineup of cameras. I would love a full manual control single chip, a CX700 with real controls would be great but I will be surprised if this will be the case. Always hope !!!

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

So, any links to the pictures, info on the new NAB cameras?

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Okay Ron, is the HXR-NX70 the one to compare against the cx700? Looks very interesting. Decision while I still might be able to return my cx700

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Funny you should ask.....

Sony | Micro Site NXCAM & AVCHD

Sony | Micro Site NXCAM & AVCHD

The x70 looks substantially larger than the cx700 and I'm sure costs more.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Ouch, 3200 bucks

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Almost 3 times the price of the CX700. More a single chip competitor for the NX5U !!! For the difference one could get a true underwater housing for the CX700, expensive tripod, wireless mic system etc etc. It looks a nice unit though. Will wait to see if it has independent gain control otherwise one may as well get the 3 CX700's !!

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Ron, I agree, way over priced. If it were 2K, then I might consider. But I can go though a lot of 700's and still have money in the pocket. Now I know I am going to keep the 700, I no longer have to think about it. Wife really does not want another big camera to travel with anyways.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

droool....

Well, it may not produce better image quality than the CX700, but definitely steps up the control surfaces, reminds me of the FX7 and the A1U, brings back the 3.5" screen (WITH touch!). Looks to be a nice size, although significantly heavier than the Handycams.

Perhaps more of a competitor to the Canon XA10? Seems like that one was targeted towards the small ENG market... but wouldn't that put the price about $1K too high? Perhaps they feel that the "hardened" design is worth the extra... not sure the market will agree, that's a lot of "premium". Otherwise certainly looks like a nice design, much of what we've been waiting for, except for the price!

Wouldn't mind a "civilian" version without the XLR and "proofing", sort of like the old HC1 was to the A1U!

Weren't there supposed to be 3 cameras announced though? We have the NX70U and the FS100... is there a third one?

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Agree with both Dave's. At $1000 more than the CX700 I would have bought it in steady of the CX700 for my uses but $2000 more is too much. Be really interested to look at the manual when it appears on the Sony site and find out exactly how different it is to the CX700 in operation.

Ron

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

I have to wonder how much of the price is because it's an "NXCAM", therefore is "professionally priced"... ala the A1u and V1U.

If that were the case, and Sony follows form, perhaps we'll see a "grey" (instead of black, it's just what color plastic flows through the molds!) "high end prosumer" version at a more digestable price point, like the HC1 and FX7 (both at one point or another in their product life cycles were in the $2K range).

It's not inconceivable that you knock off the XLR handle and mic, put a less noticeable eyecup on the VF, more subtle lens hood, and perhaps cripple a few features, and you could have a "FX" or perhaps a new designation in continuation of the old "VX" and "FX" lineage, - maybe an AX7000? There is a fairly large hole in the Sony line right now with the FX7 having been resurrected after being discontinued, and now VERY long in the tooth (and still one of my all time favorite cameras for ergonomics and functionality!).

Logically, they could fill that hole with a variation of such a camera fairly easily, and there are already interested buyers lined up - hi guys, good to see ya again, howya doin'... <wink>! I think Consumers are very much interested in "ruggedized" toys, and Sony has been doing some "tough" P&S cameras at very reasonable price points. I'd replace a CX550 with an AX7000...

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

dave from the specs, it seems identical to the cx700 except for the xlr, iris/focus ring, same guts, same pic quality etc.
im wondering how good the viewfinder is on it. would be nice to see how usable it is.
will send back feeback from nab.

will probably sell for around 2500.00/ list shows at 3200
i have the cx550 which is great but need to get a main cam , was leaning to the nxcam/ex1r, but if this can hold up as well, i could save alot getting it. just wish the zoom was more

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Hi Jim -
Somehow I'm a bit reluctant to relate it to the CX700 - the genes are definitely related, but it's a significantly larger camera - While it MAY have the same sensor and general "guts", it should have better/bigger glass, and of course is ruggedized with more manual controls.

I'm in the same boat, like to get one "main" camera, this is the first one that's started to perk up my interests, though I fear I'd be taking the "small" cameras out out of habit!

The more I think about it, the more I suspect we'll see an AX7000 in the near future - Sony is a creature of habit.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Does anyone know where I might find some raw files (not Youtube-ized) directly off the CX700v? I would very much like to understand how the data looks versus EX1 files.

Many thanks...

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

For the price it should have a new lens but the spec looks to be the same. We will have to wait and see. I would like a version without the XLR or fancy eyepiece too.

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Looked a little deeper into the spec sheet, and it's still a 37mm filter size, so very well could be the same lens and imaging block...

Looks like only stereo onboard mics, but it'd be pretty easy to make a "reduced feature set" version of this camera - I really don't need the XLR's and top handle or the jutting out the back eyepiece, just show me the buttons (with better manual controls of course!)! Shouldn't be hard to bring an "AX7000" in at just around the $2k price point.

Also hope they allow VF and LCD simultaneous ala the FX7. Like the lens hood, looks a lot like the A1U hood I've got on my CX550!

I hope that the "street" price ends up a little more realistic (sorry, I just don't see it at nearly 3x the price of a CX550 or CX700) on this camera (or the AX version!), it shows promise. Has anyone seen good photos of the button configurations? I see the 3 way switch for the ring, what looks like a button for focus enhance, and the next button towards the bottom looks to be labelled "iris"... really curious as to the user interface for this camera, as it does look to have quite a few buttons scattered about!

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

The buttons along the bottom appear to be iris, extended focus, histogram. Then a door for the HDMI connector then a Display button. So the buttons for iris and focus will likely work like the NX5U. Pressing toggles between auto and manual. I hope the extended focus button still works like the CX700 and not the NX5U and it still retains the spot focus function from the touch screen. Will wait with interest for the manual to go up on the SOny site.

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

There look to be more buttons or switches on the back, plus one on the opposite side of the lens and one more maybe on that side of the body... the possibility of being able to individually turn settings on and off, and control them with a wheel like on the old TRV900 or the FX7 is certainly potentially there. All that AND a touch screen and most control freaks would probably be left with few things to whine about.

C'mon AX7000... this'd be worth upgrading a CX550!

I really hope Sony will rapidly adjust the price point - this seems like so close a competitor to the new Canon at $2K, and IIRC there's a JVC and Panasonic that hit this market segment in those price ranges. $3200 just seems a bit too optimistic. Heck, VG10's seem to be bringing around $1600 in the barely used market!

Somehow this seems like it should have come in around $750-1000 lower, but it'd be easy to make an AX version meet that on the "consumer side" of Sony.


So back to the CX700 - have you A/B'd with the XR500 for low light performance to see if it's better or worse, and cleaner or noisier? I'm talking the REALLY bad lighting condition type thing, where the 5xx series have performed quite admirably in lo lux mode.

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

On Monday evening I did a show and used both CX700 and XR500 side by side. Picture seems identical as far as I can tell. XR500 AE shift control has more range then the CX700 as this is only + or - 1.0 EV. I think the XR500 may be more useful because of this greater range control. CX700 was set at -1.0 EV and the XR500 at AE shift -3. It was nice to have zebra and peaking to check the picture though.

Ron Evans

Re: Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder
 

Hmmm, wonder whether perhaps there's 4 steps, just designated differently? Or is it just one click either way... that would be another step backwards! Even my P&S TX7 provides 6 steps each way, up to +-2 EV...

Since the CX700 supposedly uses a new sensor than the 5xx series, I'm just sort of slightly curious as performance in bad light, and lowest noise possible is something I find very important, and the 5xx series cameras are hard to beat in that respect. The new Canon lower pixel density sensor looks to come pretty close, maybe even better, but I see too much degradation in the Panasonic samples I've seen, just wondering if Sony upped the game or at least held the line.

I know that the higher pixel density sensor in the TX9 was a slight step backward over the one in the TX7, at least when it came to video - not much, but enough to "bug" a bit.