What is the Opening on the side of the XDCAM EX for?

[Daniel Epstein]

I was looking at the new Sony XDCAM Ex at Abel here in NY and one of the guys pointed out the opening on the left side of the camera behind the lens portion and before the card slots. Someone at Abel thought it was for cooling. I am worried it will collect dirt and dust (I had been working on a construction site the day before) as there isn't any filter in front of it. Maybe a cover was missing?
As for the camera itself I also don't like the TV remote looking top handle, The rotating zoom grip seems to be very comfortable for holding the camera.
Since they didn't have it powered up I can't say much more about it.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Yes, this is the cooling intake/otulet indeed - what's worse, the camera even has a fan! They say it's silent, but I'm afraid - apart from the dust and dirt thing - it will get noisy and prone to malfunctioning with time, which is shame as the lack of tape mechanism could mean a dead-sillent machine, free from any mechanical wear...

[Michael Mann]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

...what's worse, the camera even has a fan! ...

A heatpipe instead would have been ideal! Poor design (in that respect).

[Jason Bodnar]

If this is indeed a cooling intake or heat outlet.... it should have a filter at the very least for keeping unwated particles from making it into the sensative areas of the camera.This will not be good at all for any type of dusty conditions and such. I hope there will be some clarification on how suseptable this actual is.

[Kyle Self]

All of this despair over a fan. Doesn't the 330/350 have a fan? Red has fans. The Infinity has fans.

It'll be ok

K

[Serena Steuart]

The opening goes right through the camera body behind the lens block, not just on one side. However this doesn't mean that air flows through the works, since heat exchange may be via cooling fins.
You'll have read in the manual that the camera should not be covered because of the risk of over-heating, so I'm wondering how it will cope under a shower cover. I've used one with my Z1 when shooting in rain and on the water and will need to do the same with the EX.

[Thomas Smet]

Of all the things to nit pick on a camera. Really are you people ever happy with anything or are all of you cursed to always find something wrong with everything?

[Daniel Epstein]

Overheating is not nitpicking if it leads to failure or poor performance. Nor is worrying about dirt mixing with optics and electronics nitpicking. Maybe Sony can show us the tests where the camera is used under dirty or dusty conditions and see how clean the slot stays. What about moisture getting in.
I can't think of any other portable piece of electronics which has as large an opening as this camera without some kind of filter. It makes you wonder why. Maybe the answer is great.
On the otherhand I can remember a few formats and cameras which needed to be modified after getting into real world situations which exposed design flaws which were significant and needed to be addressed before widespread release.
Just because something has new technology and is the next greatest thing doesn't mean there aren't valid concerns to be expressed by users who are evaluating the item for use and purchase.
By the way I believe Red has had overheating issues delaying deliveries in quantity and Infinity has been taking a very long time to get to market so I wouldn't say they are sparkling examples of the use of fans for portable electronics yet.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Daniel Epstein

Overheating is not nitpicking if it leads to failure or poor performance.

Not to worry -- the camera has a fan to prevent this.

RED's heating issue was related to pre-production prototypes only; it was solved in a day (as in, one day) and their delivery schedules most certainly were *not* affected.

Folks, this is getting pretty silly.

Please try to avoid a "sky is falling" mentality on this web site. Thanks in advance,

[Kyle Self]

I don't think the whole delay for Red was the over heating, and Infinity went through a number of design changes, including brand new chips.

There is one simple solution for ya. Just buy something else if your so worried.

K

[Steven Thomas]

Originally Posted by Daniel Epstein

I was looking at the new Sony XDCAM Ex at Abel here in NY camera.
Since they didn't have it powered up I can't say much more about it.

Do they have stock for sell?

[Bob Grant]

Everything seems to have fans, Red, Infinity and all the high end Sony cameras. Heatpipes just move heat, you've still got to get rid of it. Dump it onto the camera body sounds good but if the body is in direct sunlight down here you'll not be radiating much heat! Sensors don't like heat, as the temperature goes up so does the noise.
We are now asking cameras to process so much data and at faster speeds the only answer to the problem will be advances in silicon.
No camera is dust tight, we had a Z1 and a DSC do a tour of duty in the Australian outback. Bull dust got into everything, lenses, transports, viewfinders, the Z1s lens flaps jammed from it. It all had to be stripped and cleaned but it survived.
As I see it if you want to take any camera into a hostile environment you have to think through measures to protect it or else factor into your costs that you might trash the camera.

[Serena Steuart]

Originally Posted by Thomas Smet

Of all the things to nit pick on a camera. Really are you people ever happy with anything or are all of you cursed to always find something wrong with everything?

Guess it seems that way but people who have experience using cameras in the field know the sort of problems that have to be dealt with. You might have read about the problems the US Army is having keeping stuff (like trucks and laptops) working in Iraq -dust gets into everything and wears it out or clogs it up. On the Moon the Appollo guys had trouble with dust getting into everything. So you have to look ahead and anticipate difficulties and foresee solutions.

Now Sony may have devised camera cooling without ingesting dust, or at least not letting it get to where it will cause damage. One doesn't want to send in the camera for a service after every field trip. The EX isn't advertised as a studio only camera. I note that the manual tells about removing dust from the exterior and viewfinder, so Sony doesn't expect operation only in a cleanroom.

But the manual does emphasise that the camera is not to be covered:
p115 "Important Notes" "Do not cover the unit while operating. Putting a cloth, for example, over the unit can cause excessive internal heat build up".

We also know that the camera isn't water resistant, which was of concern to the guys used to shooting news items in the rain with their 2/3 inch broadcast gear. They also disliked the small buttons which they regarded as fragile. Those were some of their worries. So the normal thing do protect a camera that isn't weather proof is to put it in a rain-coat. Will there be enough circulation inside that to prevent overheating? We're going to find out.

[Bennis Hahn]

I do believe the F350 has fan(s) in it. I have never-ever heard them if they are there.

[Christopher Witz]

I would like to think that the fan only kicks on when overcranking with 60p and thus not causing any issues with sound.

able new York tells me that ex's ship to early preorders after thanksgiving.