You know the guy who keeps changing lanes in traffic to jockey for a better position but actually just keep getting further behind everyone else? Man, I hope that's not me.

I cancelled my B&H order yesterday.

They were no longer expecting their shipment yesterday (latest), they were now saying by August 1st. They said mine should ship by the 5th and I should get it by the 11th.

I called TapeworksTexas. They have tracking on a shipment from Sony due to arrive on the 29th. They plan to ship mine on the same day, or the next if the order comes in too late. I should receive it on August 1st, same day B&H gets theirs.

As of closing time yesterday, TapeworksTexas still had more unsold EX3's coming in. If you are on a waiting list, you might want to give them a call. Ask for Scott.

Camera price is $8320, same as B&H.

Almost forgot to mention...

Scott says he has a backpack-style bag that he thinks works well for the camera. He's test-fit it and thinks that it support and protects the viewfinder well. He was great to work with, very personable.

And now, I can't wait for my EX3... again.

Sounds logical that shipment to Tapeworks is on the way because my dealer told me that Sony was shipping to them as well but they did not at the moment have the tracking number.

I almost forgot to mention it - free shipping!!

Ted I think you made the right decision. I heard that B & H may not get sufficient stock to fill their orders anyway - so you could have got an even later delivery date.

Ted what was the backpack that you mentioned? Any brand name that I can check myself? I have 5 or 6 bags and pelikan cases, but nothing that fits my EX-3, which is annoying but I guess not surprising.

In stock at B&H
 

According to the B&H Website, the PMW-EX3's are in stock, so there must be enough to fulfill orders. Hopefully I'll have mine by the end of the week.

Heard from Tapeworks today. They got their shipment in and mine shipped out today. Hope to have it by the end of the week!

Tapeworks Texas Inc has received our inventory of PMWEX3's!
We have filled backorders and we do have extra inventory for sales!
Please contact us toll free 866-827-3489 and speak to one of our Sony XL specialists!

Best Regards,
Scott Cantrell
Tapeworks Texas Inc - HDVinfo Sponser
tapeworksscott@sbcglobal.net

Shipped
 

Ordered EX3 from B&H Friday. Shipped today. Should have it by Friday. I do worry about the sxs card being included though as it doesn't state one's included on the B&H website. I don't see why not though.

Tapeworks Texas has been AWESOME to work with. I'd have still gotten my camera at about the same time if I'd left my order with B&H, but I'd have missed on on working with Scott Cantrell which was really a pleasure.

Even though it was practically a fire alarm for them, they got their stock checked in, paperwork done, and orders shipped out the same afternoon. Mine is due by Friday!

Jon,

The bag that Scott thought worked pretty well with the EX3 was, I believe, the TravelMate Handy 1 (hope the link works - not all showing up correctly):

http://camrade.com/index.php?tpl=pro...0&locale=en_US

(Scott, correct me if I'm wrong)

If you call Scott, I'm sure he'll hook you up with the right one. Now, he did say that it was not a perfect fit, but the the camera fit in the middle section and the viewfinder would ride on top of the side section, supported and protected, so it seemed to work pretty well.

There might be other options as well, but I wanted to try a back pack bag this time.

Christmas is in the air!

Sorry guys,

Looks like the truck leaving Tapeworks Texas had a bit of a mishap - there may be a delay.


(Aw, just kidding)

The stork has almost arrived!
Congratulations on your EX-3's arriving this week.

My EX-3 is almost 2 weeks old now and I am still adding bits to the package. New Miller sticks just arrived. Placing an order for the 60G drive this week and extra cards. This is such a great way to spend money...and the fastest!

Ted - I have my bag on it's way - I went with the Kata BP-502 Backpack. The one you mention looks good, but the laptop compartment sitting inside on top of the camera worries me. I also like the vivid yellow interiors of Kata bags - I often shoot in twilight on mountains, and seeing your gear easily is important. I will report on the compatibility with the EX-3 hopefully this week.

Jon,

I totally agree with you about the yellow interior. Also, I forgot to mention, as soon as Tapeworks Texas showed me that bag, I told that that I guess I wouldn't be putting a notebook computer in it. They agreed that a notebook on the camera/viewfinder was a no go. Sorry, should have mentioned it.

I looked at the Kata bag - looks nice, I'll be interested to learn how the camera fits. I love the wheels! I may end up upgrading if the EX3 fits well!

Two weeks old? Watch what you say, man! My nerves are shot and I'm completely on edge in anticipation of the new camera. If you say the wrong thing, I could go cameraman (like going postal, but viewers got a full recording of it).

Note from Tokyo ...
 

Looks like Tokyo pro shops get the EX3 sometime in mid-August according to the Sony rep at an EX3 demonstration in Akihabara last Saturday. He was surprised to learn that folks in the UK and America were getting theirs now!

Jon,
What 60G drive will you order?

Marius, it is the Sony PHU-60k. It is available now, priced at $995.
It gives you an approximate recording time of 200 minutes in 35 Mbps in High Quality setting. It takes up one slot - in the other slot, I will still use my 8G card for when I need to shoot slo and fast motion, which the 60G willnot handle.

I shoot in tough locations, and even though I have my laptop, its not feasible to drag this around for a full day of shooting. I usually unload my footage back at the hotel in the evening. Also I do not want to spend $3,000 on cards and worry about losing one!

Ted - my Kata backpack is arriving today, so I wll get back to you asap on the fit with my EX-3. I do not think it includes the trolley wheels - but I already have these.

Ted - I just posted about the back pack - one word - superb!

Getting mine on the 5th of August
 

I just placed an order for the EX3 on B&H over the phone today. They have 9 left at the moment and I will get it Tuesday. I just sold my two XH-A1's today to help pay for it. Pretty exciting stuff!!

Larry

After weeks of waiting, the last two excruciating weeks of wondering when will it finally arrive after stock ran out on the first batch, a post like this just isn't fair. :-)

(My wife laughed at ME when I read your post to her.)

Oh, well. Congrats on the new camera - hope you can handle waiting a few days for it.

Ahh that's a bummer Ted. Did you finally receive the camera? Yeah I am super stoked to get it next week. My only concern is the 25 minutes of HQ record time. I may need to buy another card soon. The 16GB card seems like the best deal at $849.00 US. That would give me 24 GB on the camera. I also need to buy the USB reader as I don't have a laptop with the express slot. Mo and Mo money!

Any hour now...

I've been following my cameras trek from Houston, TX. It's first stop was New Orleans - I've never even been to New Orleans but now my camera has. I hope it tried the gumbo and flashed for beads. Next, yesterday, it made it to Jacksonville, FL. I haven't been there in quite a few years. Last night it left Jacsonville and headed south. I don't know what time it hit Tampa, but as of 5:43 AM it was "Out for Delivery" somewhere in the area.

A friend of mine suggested I put together a welcome basket and a banner.

I may need to see a therapist once this wait is over. I could go now, but I think a couple's therapist is more in order, so I'll have to wait until the EX3 arrives.

Here in Wales we are on the edge of our seats with anticipation.

My EX3 arrived this AM! Thanks to Scott at Tapeworks for all his help. And I just got my new Mac Octo, 4TB MaxxDigital Raid and a bunch of other new stuff yesterday. So my next few days will be busy! (Now if I can just keep the kids out of my hair)

Guess What?

Thanks, Scott at Tapeworks Texas!

(I was too excited to take a steady picture!)

Heheheh,

This is getting quite wierd ! Pretty funny though.

Rick and Ted, Thank you very much for using Tapeworks Texas Inc for your purchase of Sony XDCAM products. Glad that you both received your camcorders in a timely manner and I am glad that I was able to assist with your purchases!

Tapeworks Texas Inc does still have inventory available on the PMWEX3
We also have the PMWEX1 in stock!
Anyone else looking for pricing and availability, please contact Tapeworks Texas Inc toll free 866-827-3489 and one of our XL specialists can customize a quotation to meet your specifications.

Please note that Tapeworks Texas Inc is a Sony Authorized XDCAM dealer for the US only.

If anyone is in our territory, we do have the PMWEX3 here available for product demonstration.

Best Regards,
Scott Cantrell
Tapeworks Texas Inc - HDVinfo Sponser
tapeworksscott@sbcglobal.net

Ted, did you ever receive your EX3? Were there beads in the box? : ) If you have it, whatcha think about it?

Larry

Ted, I just saw your above post....that is the funniest sh** I've ever seen! You took a picture of the UPS driver....now I HAVE seen everything! ...hmm UPS shows tomorrow- maybe we could start a trend here!

Larry,

Surprisingly, no beads. I suspect my EX3 played it a little demurely and didn't earn any. Unless, of course, New Orleans has swiched to intricately cut and folded cardboard - if that's the case, than it was "EX3's Gone Wild" last week!

It's larger than I anticipated. This is not good or bad, just an observation. It's sturdy, feature-laden, high-quality and I was going to shoot a short with it today, but was rained out.

Identifying the best case/bag for it has been a dilemma, but I think I've settled on this one:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=127008

Today I programmed several Picture Profiles to prepare for shooting. I'll get more involved and develop my own recipes later, but for now I'm just borrowing from some in the forums.

The balance, IMHO, is a little off on the camera. Too light in the back and too heavy on the left side. I'm building an attachment that will fit into the battery slot and connect to a plate that will hold the Anton-Bauer Dionic 90 and a wireless receiver offset to the right of the camera. In testing, this fixed all balance concerns and made it much more comfortable to hold.

I'm very happy with the purchase and am thrilled with what Sony has done. Unexpectedly, now that it is in my hands, I have even more appreciation for the EX1 and might consider purchasing one of those also. Don't get me wrong - I think I prefer the EX3 form factor. I had just never been around either cam and I really appreciate what these cameras can do.

Oh, and though it does fine in low light, better than the competition, I am still left wanting much more. Perhaps a film camera would suffice!

Have fun with your camera tomorrow!

Out For Delivery!

The EX3 arrived and I have already recorded my lawn sprinklers in 720/60p. Now I need to figure out how to import into FCP. I may post another thread on that. Moving from the XH-A1 to the EX3 is a pretty serious upgrade and I am glad I made the decision. I already LOVE the tapeless functions and the Fujinon lens is finally a lens I can use without struggle. I will report more later, as I want to import some 60p footage now and see the results. I am super stoked. It's hard to believe I went to Sony after my long years of Canon, but I feel it's my new found friend.

unboxing the EX3
 

Some pics to share the excitement of my big upgrade!

Congratulations, Larry. Have fun shooting with your new toy!

Congratulations to you too, Ted, from across the Bay in St. Pete. I'd love to get together some time and see that camera.

dave

Well, when I first got the EX-1 I recorded my wife ironing shirts at 1 fps. She wishes that were real time.

In years to come the test pictures shot on EX1 and EX3 cameras will be seen as an important social record. There will be retrospective programmes and exhibitions celebrating the social activities and the environment of this era, rivers,streams,deserts, in fact anything that's out there.... must go now ... off to shoot plants in a typical English garden (EX1).

first slow mo test
 

I know this might belong in another thread, but I just wanted to show a clip I shot in 720p 60 and slowed down to 15% in FCP.


http://web.me.com/tlhvideosound/TLH_.../60p_test.html

It's my first try at 60p on day 1.

I am working with the EX3 tomorrow; I love my EX1.

heath