PDW EX1 brochure discussion
 

This discussion has been split out from Vaughn's Wood initial post at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....65&postcount=1

Vaughan, I'd be interested to hear your take on this unit if you intend to buy it, as our event market here in Australia is very different, I'm still tossing up the justifications of this unit for event work in comparison to XL H1 / XH A1 image quality vs. the money we make.

Personally I've almost been burnt with HDV and the format in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired, however with the price, I can easily purchase two A1's or one EX...

Sony's going to sell a boatload of these. Absolutely a new standard setter. Maybe when blu ray or hddvd become popular with the average person, this camera will be only 2 thousand bucks or so. I'm preparing myself now for the sticker shock coming soon.

Wow, very impressive camera. A couple of highlights:

• Native 1920 x 1080 "Exmor" CMOS chips recording up to 1920 x 1080 long GOP. Exmor is also the newly branded chips for the new Sony A700 DSLR.
• 2 channels uncompressed audio.
• 14X wide Fujinon lens has optical image stabilization.
• In 720P, frame rates can be adjusted 1-60 fps in 1 fps increments. In 1080P, it's 1-30 fps.
• Slow shutter up to 64 frames accumulation period.
• Four types of gamma curves, same as CineAlta.
• Interval and frame record functions.
• Depth of field and histogram indicators.
• Sensitivity is F10 at 2000 lx. S/N ratio 54 dB. Seems like similar specs to the big cameras.
• No LANC. Not sure if lens servo can be controlled with standard Fujinon controllers. If not, guess you need external FIZ motors.
• The 3.5" LCD is 640 x 480 resolution! That's 921,000 dots (not pixels). This is like the same very nice screen on the new Nikon D3 and D300 DSLRs. Finally, a high resolution LCD!!

Camera is a little heavy though: 6.2 lbs ready to go.

The live histogram in itself is something most of us have been waiting for.

Also the focus ring itself is movable back and forth to absolute manual or semi/full auto

Focus peaking functions are a direct take from the JVC with colour options this time..

It looks like they've listened to people this time..

Thanks
 

Just read most of it starting with the specs... printed first :)

.14 Lux? even at 18db that is swwweeeett. Am I nuts or is this really good low light capability?

Mike

Peter, Sony has had the colored peaking for awhile...at least since the Z1.

Mike, that's the absolute minimum illumination spec with the the longest slow shutter (64 frames accumulation) enabled. In normal shooting, that slow of a shutter would blur moving objects too much. So the .14 lx isn't really a realistic number (unless you wanted that effect) but technically that is apparently the minimum illumination. The slow shutter would seem to come in handy for the time lapse function.

That would require an 8-pin jack, and I didn't see one on the camcorder.

Notice they said effective resolution of 1920x1080. I believe they are doing diagonal pixels on this camera a la the V1.

The sensitivity is slightly better than the big cameras owing to CMOS. The large cameras are rated F9, this camera is rated F10.

It's a nice little camera for sure.

-gb-

Low light has always been my sore point in any camera. I suggest that you ignore the stated 0.14lux and take in consideration the sensitivity. For the EX1 it is stated as f10 at 2000lux. I think this should be quite good. Just to give you an idea, my faithful very low light DSR-300 is f11 at 2000 lux yet rated as 0.5lux. The XDCAM 330 is rated as f9 at 2000 lux and some guys say that they would have liked it to be slightly better for low light. So all in all I guess that we should be able to continue working with little or no lights with this fantastic piece of equipment.

My only concerns on this camera are the following:

1)slightly on the heavy side at 3kg with 2 cards and the extra capacity battery
2)slightly power hungry at 13w with the monitor switched off (so I'll assume it will be about 15w in total)
3)no D-tap to power an on-board light - hence the need for a battery attached to the belt and dangling wires......agghhhh

Otherwise, from specs alone, this camera is a bomb!

Brian

You better believe it does! You should see some of the night sky timelapes I've done with the bigger camera. All free of noise courtesy of slow shutter.

-gb-

Looks like a winner! I was thinking about this as an upgrade from my Z1 for months, then I decided to hold off on getting a new camera and invest in audio gear instead. Now it's got me interested again!

Hmmm....so my source was right about the 1920x1080 chips. Hopefully he's right about the $6000 price point as well....
:-)

I think it might be 1920 x 1080 for real this time (unless you know something else, Greg). These camera specs often state effective pixels versus actual pixels, the difference being the pixels not used along the sensor's border. On the HVR-V1U, Sony states 960 x 1080 effective pixels (1,037,000). But on the EX1, they state 1920 (horizontal) x 1080 (vertical) and there is no mention of rotated pixels voodoo in the brochure.

Sony is also claiming 1000 lines of horizontal resolution in 1920 x 1080i mode. Wow.

With 'HDV' out via iEEE, this camera should complement my Z1U nicely!

Can't wait to see how much I have to 'pony up' to own one. Plus the new PDW-U1 external XDCam drive for archiving.

Now to see how it works with my Redrock M2...

Exmor
 

Interestingly, the new Sony D-SLR A700 has also an exmor branded sensor. More about it here: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/SonyDSLRA700/page2.asp

I wonder what part of exmor technology the two sensors share.

Martin

Fantastic!! thanks for that Vaughan.

Well done to Sony for not holding back with 1080P as well as 1080i....they could have left it for a second version of the cam later.

It future proofs this camera for quiet a few years to come cause unless you got contract to supply city advertising screen advertisements I'd say 1080P will do the job for quiet some time.

Not saying it is theeee killer feature for me.

The tapeless idea caught my interest, cost of the media drew me in and the SP mode with 70 mins of a 16g card is good enough to make me want one.

Fantastic specs so far and will be interesting to see the Official Launch and details on the actual street price, cards,extras etc.

Coolest feature for me was the over-cranking. I was looking forward to getting real slow motion of 1080p footage but the slowest motion you can get is 30p! That's not even over-cranked for NTSC customers.

720p over-cranked to 60 frames a second is cool but I don't see the point in shooting at 720 unless I was going to convert it to SD.

That's with 64-frame frame accumulation. Basically one frame per two seconds shutter speed at 60i.

Great camera for sure.

1. I'm personally a bit disappointed with the weigth, though (almost 2x that of my V1!).

2. What do you think about the LCD resolution: in the text it's mentioned as 1920x480 and in the specs as a more reasonable 640x480? Definitely a typo in the text (just like the "sharrow" DOF...)

3. It seems like the firewire output only works with the 25Mbps stream, right? But this would mean the camera should be compatible with the DR60 disk, otherwise how could it easily "mix" with HDV? I mean it'd be nice to extend the recording times by using the cards for HQ only and use the DR60 for SP...Or record SP to both for that extra protection from failure. But will DR60 write MP4s, or M2ts? Or is the i.LINK outpt (which is marked HDV on the cam) actually outputting m2t? What with uncompressed audio? And finally, will it allow to record to the DR60 only (e.g. with cards full, or absent)?

4. Greatest omission seen so far: no LANC! There are zooming and push AF functions on the IR commander, but that's a joke!

Compared to Z1
 

I thought it might be too heavy for me to glide with as well.... I really hope not but with the big batt and a receiver it will likely get very close to 8lbs for my usual rig. The H1 is that heavy.

No lanc? Can't use my handy manfrotto lanc controller while on the pod.

So is it better in low light than the Z1?

Mike

John,

I may be wrong here, but I don't think 1080p at 60 frames a second is possible on very many if any cameras right now.

Its my understanding the larger XDCAMs go to a lower resolution when over cranking in 1080p mode.

Thanks for posting this Vaughan!

I like the specs and output choices.

Any idea about the lack of LANC or 8 pin on the lens?

I don't understand why zoom control would be left off of a camera.

This has been a standard feature for a long time.

I will be bummed as I see this as essential to good camera work..

I must agree that the lack of a standard interface for external zoom control (either LANC or Fuji 8-pin) is incredibly disheartening. Not an issue for handheld use, but a very big deal for anyone working from a tripod.

Agreed, I just started getting loving to use my newly purcahse servo zoom controller on my JVC DV500. This really puts a lump in my throat about rushing into an EX now.... JVC cut me short on my DV300 in the same way, I never thought I would see Sony do this.

Yeah... almost unbelievable! I've got two Manfrotto controllers, working great on both my 503/525 tripod and the Pag Orbitor shoulder support. Can't imagine shooting without them any more!

Speaking of zoom: can the the zoom ring also be detached from the servo motor, for that quick zooms that can only be done by hand? There is no hardware switch for that (like the two positions of the focus ring), but perhaps it can be chosen in the menu and hopefully assigned to a button. Wishful thinking?

No HDMI
 

Strang there is no HDMI output. Sure it has SDI, but for most HDMI would be of great benefit...

It what they leave off that boggles the mind sometimes...

Notice the "Expanded Focus" feature. nice in theory but have they learnt from the Z1 and allow you to use it while recording?

Can anyone explain the reference to "MP4" data files on page 5 of the brochure? Is this going to be MPEG2 data in an MP4 wrapper, and if so what does that mean for capturing and editing purposes?

Agreed that lack of a LANC input would be a terrible oversight for this camera, unless that's a typo or there's some other new alternative present. I shoot most of my footage on tripods or monopods using LANC controllers and can't see giving that up - are we supposed to hand-hold all of our footage now?!?

I believe that with the layout of the camera, and its shear size, i would say its safe to say that they would be assuming that most tripod shooters will be using the LCD as an EVF.

Being that the user will be "hugging" the camera as they would if they were shooting with an ENG. In these cases, LANCs aren't used (for the majority) The issue however does raise a few concerns for those using this cam for feature film work, being that the focus puller wont have a remote means of control. I guess the old fashioned way will have to suffice.

A thought on zoom controller:

Notice on page 11 there is a remote control. I can't see all the buttons clearly but there is a ZOOM button set with W & T so perhaps there will be a wireless version of a LANC connection.

I won't hold my breath but short of anything else it might be the only option...

Still criminal to leave such a basic pro feature off (8pin or even LANC) yet bundle all these electronic tricks such as Depth of Field indicator...

Side: On page 6 you can see a photo from the side of the camera, at the very bottom you can see a "Zoom Servo/Manual" screen printed text. Behind it is a 'bulge'. This could well be a selection switch for proper manual zoom control.

If it is, perhaps there is also a hidden 8pin port. Is there any other photos of that section of the camera? Every shot of the right side has the handle hiding everything (a handle that rotates as well which is kinda cool).

Guy, your first point only confirms what I noticed a couple of posts above; the IR commander even has the Push AF button, but it's a joke to have your hand occupied with the IR thing, instead of the proper controller such as the Manfrotto 523Pro integrated handle...

As to the seconf point - yes, there IS the hardware switch for the zoom ring detachment from the servo motor; thanks!

MP4 proxies are a standard part of how XDCAM works.
Drag proxies onto T/L, edit and then conform, basically saves you having to download all the data off the disk. Probably of more use with the BD disk versions than the EX line, unless you were backing upto DB disks first.

Version 8 of Vegas will support partial download in FAM mode.

Oh, also you can make a DVD with the mp4 proxies and a viewer for the client to preview, very nice feature of XDCAM.

This is a review by Alistair Chapman on the Sony Site, I think in another post he said he would post link too. Seems like there is an interface for zoom controller.
http://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/Show...=1187079500753


Ron Evans

Ron, I went through the article but couldn't find any indication of any sort of controller interface existing! Where exactly is it said?

Next to the article is a rotating camera viewpoint.

If you look at the camera, there is writing called "lens remote" on the front of the servo handle.

Underneath is a port of some kind, might be an 8 pin that is recessed instead of sticking out.

So there is something to control the lens externally.

This is the link to the 360 view
http://assets.sonybiz.net/Flash/XDCA..._ex/index.html

Alistair does mention the remote in the text. I will read again and point out. But on this 360 view it is easy to see the lettering "Lens Remote"

Ron Evans

The comment is on page two of the review in a paragraph next to the picture of the train.

Ron Evans

Great, now there are no excuses, I have to buy one or two! :)

When I shoot on a tripod I like to be able to stand back and maneuver/control everything from the tripod handle, using the LCD to frame the shot as I would with a larger remote monitor. If I had to physically hug the camera to shoot that would be really awkward and somewhat defeat the point of using a tripod in the first place - which for me includes being more comfortable. In any case, it sounds like there is definitely a zoom controller and hopefully other remote camera controls as well.

Yep, I found it. I'd prefer the lanc, though (if only for my upgrade path being cheaper, as I already have two:)).