Absolutely NOTHING to do with the camera. I've delivered some SD product that has looked stellar.

I love the EX1.
1)My only problem with it is the small controls and the record button being near the hand grip release.
I have missed a few very good shots by trying to push on the wrong button. My mistake, not the camera..
Lots of control, there may be too many menu items.
Like the manual focus and iris. A must for any serious shooting.
I looked at the EX3, but i only ever once changed lenses on my Betacam, so i thought if i ever needed something else, I would rent it.
BTW the EX1/EX3 make wonderful 2K still cameras, great screenshots.
2)The EX1 has the same lens, and same quality, the EX3 has genlock , better viewfinder, and the feel of a bigger camera.

John have you actually used the EX1?

Quality of the footage. I really thought HDV was great, until I came across this footage. It just doesn't compare.

I can't make money with Nikon/Mark II. With EX1 yes definitely. Imagine your client engage you for a video project and you pull out a Mark II to shoot? Will the client call you again?

Gotta agree about the screen grabs.. look better than my digital camera!!

http://www.angelfire.com/al/metalalien/video/mario1.jpg

John,

Surely that depends on the type client and the quality of the end product. Some clients only really want to see you turn up with a big camera (I still have a DSR500 for such eventualities), others just want great results and it doesn't matter how you got there. Also a fully tricked out 5dmkII rig can look quite professional especially to the uninitiated, have a look here Introducing DSLR Cinematography on Vimeo

Dan

The DSLR's have big skew issues. Perhaps in the future we will be using them, but right now there is nothing to compare with the EX1/EX3. An EX3 with a Matte Box and rails looks every bit as professional as a DSR500.

EX1 + Matte box + Hood-Pro and away you go. I shoot using HDCAM 730 with HD 2/3 lenses on some jobs with EX1 as B Roll. Now use EX1 more and more as it is lighter, clients totally happy, can't tell the difference most of the time. EX1 or EX3 is the way to go even more so now with Kensington/Transcend/Sandisk recording costs (thanks to this forum).

Don't think these are silly questions at all...

The Nikon and Canon are interesting, but don't make it on my professional video radar. The images are gorgeous, but I'm concerned about the audio, ergonomics, constraints on shot length, focus pulling, handholding and editing.

Red's new cameras are interesting, but the higher data rates and heftier editing requirements are going to upset my established workflows and client expectations. The idea of having to colour balance and 'light' the footage in order to use is great for Narrative, but a burden to corporate and fast turnaround stuff. Think SxS is expensive? Check out the RED CF cards, bearing in mind the shorter 'load' time.

I am so-o happy with my EX1 - not much bigger than a Z1 (important for my kind of work) and image quality as good, if not a little better than, a DSR-570.

The EX1 'ecosystem' with SDHC, hood loupe, 35mm adaptors, wangles, et al, combined with 1/2" chips and great paint facilities, suits me just fine. The 720p format is quick and easy to edit for SD, I can do interlaced PAL/NTSC if I need to, I've made my peace with the audio and power systems. Life is sweet.

Man, that's the tough one.

For me, the fact I can sling the EX1 and an entire shoot kit and edit suite in a backpack, and be shooting in seconds of ditching the backpack means that the EX1 tips the balance. But secretly I want an EX3 to be the main camera when I'm not shooting on the run. And I need two cameras for my main money-spinner.

My head needs an EX1, my heart needs an EX3. I'd have to sell the EX1 to afford what the EX3 really deserves - a really good Wide Angle zoom. If I didn't really hanker after that, an EX3 would be just an EX1 with an expensive aftermarket body kit to me.

Alister, it all depends again on the perceptions of your client. I had my fully tricked out EX3 with KH20, Matte box and V-lock battery system out the other day when our reporters came to visit my apartment. He saw it and then saw my DSR500 lying to one side and pointed at it saying 'oh look. you've even got a REAL TV camera'. It depends on context, an EX3 in isolation may look good to a client, if you are in a row of shooters using big DVCAM, HDCAM and P2 rigs in Downing St then you may struggle to taken seriously by a government minister.

Some will think a 5DmkII with a Zacuto rig is 'professional' , some will think an EX1 on its own is professional, others an EX3, others a DSR450 or 500, and still others will only work with you if you are touting a HDCAM or a RED.

So my point is this, the argument that the EX3 can be good enough for clients is actually kind of the same argument that any smaller than full size camera can be good enough.

So, If you can prove the EX3 end results are good enough then some clients will accept it. Others won't.

If you can prove the 5DmkII end results are good enough then some clients will accept it. Others won't.

And ultimately -

If you can prove next year's super whizzo camera phone end results are good enough then some clients will accept it. Others won't.

Hi John,

Good questions. Lets go back say 20 years. I was happy with my first camera purchase. I made a living from that investment. It did what I required from it back then. After some time, I upgraded and again and again and again as technology and client requirements advanced.

So, my trading in my DXC-D50W?DRS1 DVCAM camcorder a few months ago for my EX3 was the very best decision I made. I am making money from the EX technology. However, when I bought my D50/DSR at the end of 2003, I was over the moon about it at the time. It cost me 3 times what I paid for my EX3, which give far superior pictures to the D50/DSR.

Now, ask yourself how much business can you make today with a RED Scarlet compared with an EX3? NONE! Why? Because it does not exist. The EX3 is now, it is superb and it makes me money NOW.

Does other camera technology that is available now concern me? Not in the least. Why? Because I chose a camera technology to use and I thankfully have clients that enjoy me and my work and they love my videos. So I chose the EX3 over other current technologies and I love it.

Whatever technology YOU decide on, it will be to suit YOUR requirements at the time. The EX3 suits my requirements NOW and for the foreseeable future. When the camera technology and need deems it necessary to change/move on, I will do so and choose one camera technology that suits MY requirements at the time. The only thing I trust is that Sony will keep going forward with for the generations to come with SxS cards. Yes, they cost a bucketload of money up front, so as I move forward to the next camera, I would expect that Sony will keep with SxS technology as well.

I have a Nikon D90 with an 8Gb SC card. Love the photos. Never tried the 5 min HD video capability. Not interested in it. Personal choice.

If I needed to buy another EX3 camera now, yes, I would do so without batting an eyelid. Superb value for money, even with say 4 x 32Gb SxS cards.

As for the DVDs that I create from shooting with my EX3, they are very nice indeed. I work with Apple ProRez 422 HQ codec in Media 100 and let Apple Compressor downconvert to MPEG2. No problems.

Remember that camera technology is evolving on an almost daily basis (well it certainly seems that way at times) and once the next camera comes out, then there will be talk of the next one and the next one and so on. Choose a camera that suits you now and go make money with it, EX3, P2, HDV, HDCAM or even an SD format and above all, ENJOY!!!

Best wishes
David Issko

Hi John,

1. We bought the EX1 in may, and we are very happy with the results. We used it on a videoclip set a week after we got it, so it was pretty exiting, but footage turned out great. I have some pictures here, that are just screen captures in lower quality from quicktime. But you get the idea.
Red makes great camera's and I LOVE their company, but Scarlet is more then a year away, and it's still waiting to see how much the accessoires will cost. In a year, we'll see, now we are shooting with our EX1. Like others said: need a camera now? Go for what's available now. If Scarlet is on the market, you can still decide what you'll do.
The Nikon and Canon's are DSL's, not videocamera's. I'm sure they can give you great footage sometimes, but they are not optimazed for a film- or video set. There is no comparison between both in usability, and if you have a crew waiting, a deadline, etc. ... you don't wanna be trying to get a good moving picture, that is hard to get because of all the ergonomics.

2. The EX3. For us it wasn't neccessary the upgrade price, but that was depending on our limited budget, we just bought the EX1, we didn't need the interchangible lens system, etc. ... for others, it's a different case.
Yes, we are very happy with our purchase. I really have fallen in love with the solid state workflow too.

I don't really the Sony ergonomics much, that is the only disadvantage that I have for the camera. Should be a little bit better on the EX3 then on the EX1.

Some pictures from that pretty low budget videoclip we made, new to the camera.

Too early to tell about DSLRs for video?
 

I've seen beautiful work done with the Canon Mk 5 and Nikon D90, but the limitations are very real and abundant, and who knows yet how the OEM will treat a warranty claim when a sensor is toasted after someone tried to shoot video all day with one and it failed from heat? Or how the client will accept the heat-induced noise after the shots are over and into post?

I've heard some chatter about how a video-capable DSLR would make a good tool for wedding or corporate photogs to offer clients not originally wanting to pay for two vendors (for both stills and video) at their event.

I believe the one-size-fits-all approach has too many limitations. Canon and Nikon have added good video capabilities to their DSLR still cameras, but they lack enough features and capabilities that we take for granted to qualify as a true "video camera."

And I love my EX1, although I agree with Philip Bloom that the EX3 is the EX1 done right. What I'd really like to see is the EX3 control features and interchangeable lens in an EX1 form factor, no viewfinder, and the ability to pop the EX3 viewfinder attachment onto the swingout LCD of the EX1.

And of course, a properly sized damn power switch!!