Thinking of getting an EX3, time running out.
 

The price is going up, again. aahhhhh what to do. EX1 or EX3.
The EX1 is cheaper but I want the EX3. I'm used to a shoulder mount DSR390 camera and the EX3 would suite me better.
I haven't seen any EX3 footage but from what I read I wont be disappointed.
My DSR 390 is down to something like .5 lux How does the EX3 compare to that.
Only thing is, I need to act quick to get a good deal from a supplier.

Whats the advice from you guys.

(sorry, I think I posted this in the wrong place originally)

Thanks

Anthony I had a DSR-300 for 10 years and I've switched over first to a EX1 (lasted for a few weeks) and then an EX3. If you do a lot of shoulder work (that is not tripod work, like me) the EX1 is not for you. Even with the various supports out there the EX1 is a hand held camera.

The EX3 is much better. However I had to buy the VF gadget tripod base mount so that it mimics a sort of shoulder support. I found it very good. I also fitted the EX3 with a Bebob V-lock mount and bought a 210 WHr battery so that the extra 1.5Kg weight of this battery counterbalances the EX3 on the shoulder. It is still not a true shoulder mounted camera like the DSR-300 series but after sometime you get used to it and would not notice.

I too was afraid of the difference in low light capabilities. Theoretically the difference between the EX1 and DSR-300 series is half a stop. Practically I couldn't detect any differences, even though I had a Canon 1.4 lens before and now a Fuji 1.9 lens.

There is absolutely no comparison of the SD footage of the DSR-300 with the HD footage of the EX3. However if you intend to compare the SD footage of the DSR-300 with the downconverted HD-SD footage from the EX3 you are in for a surprise. I know there are many others who do not agree with this but the SD footage from my 10 year old DSR-300 is absolutely stunning when compared to the EX3's downconverted footage whether by Sony's XDCAM EX software or by the camera or by Premiere Pro CS3.

The EX3 needs some third party accessories to become like a DSR-300 series - namely a good shot gun mic, a V-lock (or AB) battery adaptor having a d-tap outlet, and a tripod plate.

One thing that you will never have is the auto on-board light switch on when you press the rec button. The light has to be switched on manually.

Is there something you want us to compare for you? If you're asking is the EX3 better than the EX1- well yes if you have a desire for interchangeable glass. Otherwise it's very similar. Is it a good camera- sure. Is it the last camera you'll ever need, probably not but what is this days?

-Noah

This 75 minute video won't answer all your questions, but a lot of people have written to tell me that it helped them make a decision as to which camera to get.

What's So Great about XDCAM EX?

Give it a few seconds to load, it's not really set up for streaming properly right now.

I wonder if there aren't better ways though, to downconvert. Especially hardware based. Maybe someone knows?

I used to shoot with DSR390 also, now I have EX1, I'd say there is a half stop difference in low light, but other than that EX is a winner,
EX1 or EX3, there is no performance improvement from 1 to 3, but if you really need interchangeable lenses go for EX3, otherwise pay a few thousand $ for a shutter knob and some I/O ports missing from EX1 is a bit too much, none of them is shoulder mounted, but either could be converted to with a proper shoulder support system; as soon as EX3 came out I wanted to upgrade, but as soon as I tried it I left that idea alone,
you'll get the same awesome image with any of two, it's just a features set and form factor,
try them both and check your bank account, or maybe vice versa,
:)

Thanks all for you thoughts. I had a DSR 300 then the 390, and I think your right Brian about the downconverted footage from the EX3 compared to the DSR300.

Noah, it was just your thoughts in general about the cameras.

Doug, thanks for the link.

Brian, you said "One thing that you will never have is the auto on-board light switch on when you press the rec button. The light has to be switched on manually."

I'll miss that if i go the EX3 route.

Thanks Buba, just read your post.

What do you mean "the price is going up again"?

When I inquired about the EX3 today from two suppliers I was told there is going to be another price increase soon.

The current price is about $8,300. What was it before? I don't remember it being lower than that.

The price I got today was from £6990.00 to £7187.00 inc vat before the coming price increase

Oh you are spcifically speaking in Europe. I don't remember a price change in the U.S.

Yes, buying from here.

Most electronic equipment had a 5-10% price hike around new year in parts of Europe due to weaker currencies

Yes, I was told there was an increase then too.

Hopefully the price does not change since I have decided to sell my ex-1 and upgrade to the ex-3.

Could I ask, what are you looking for in the EX3 that you dont get in the EX1

Thanks

GenLock, Timecode in/out, fantastic viewfinder. Semi Shoulder form.

Other than that, it has the same exact image.

Another vote for the DSR 300 for SD work. Since most of my work is ultimately still ends up as SD, I find myself not going into the field with the EX1 very much. We use our EX1s in the studio. I'm using HD-SDI out and downconverting on the fly through a PDW F75 to DVCAM. That seems to work better in terms of quality. I also have to say, the when I white-balanced the DSR next to my EX1, the DSR was more accurate.
There were no EX3s when I purchased. I would have purchased them because I'm using the cameras in a studio configuration. But I've been surprised just how well the cameras match up without genlock or an RCU to remotely shade the cameras. So for my purposes the extra gear and extra cost of studio configured EX3s would probably have been wasted money.

Thanks for all that advice and info. I have to make my mind up by tomorrow if I'm buying an EX3 or not. I know my DSR300 and 390 are excellent cameras and will be hard to beat. I haven't even seen an EX3 in reality.

Does the EX3 have an D-tap socket for my IDX light. If not, how do you get round this.
Thanks.

EX3 anton bauer adapter.... dtap and dionic 90... very nice !!!!

good luck

You can use SWIT S-8U62 replacement for Sony BP-U60 Battery:
Li-ion Battery S-8U62 - it has a D-tap socket..

Zacuto have some solutions as well.

If you already have V-lock batteries go for Bebob EX3 - very solidly built with x2 D-tap connectors and x4 Hirose connectors - more than enough for any future expansion such as an on-board light, 2 cordless mic receivers (operating on a 12 V supply) and a possible XDR / Nano recorder......The D-tap outputs up to 50 watt power supply. I have connected a Zylight 90 (a massive 30 watt consumption) on it with no problem.

Thanks all for the advice. Yes, I have V-lock batteries. Whats the cheapest solution for now, I would like to be able to use my IDX light.

I think you should go for Bebob or any other V-mount adaptor. Although Bebob is slightly more expensive than one Swit battery, you will have the possibility of using your more powerful and heavy duty batteries - apart from having more shoulder stability with the added weight.

Is this what I need. BEBOB COCO-EX3-V
BEBOB COCO-EX3-V1

Will it let me use my IDX (D-Tap) light and my Vmount batteries.
Thanks

Yes that is the Bebob for the EX3. It has 2 D-tap outlets so there should not be any problems in connecting the IDX via a D-tap. It will also accept any size and power of V-lock batteries. It also has a piece of metal at the side to act as a cordless mic receiver attachment. You can see more photos of it here:

bebob COCO-EX3-V V-Mount Battery-Adapter for Sony EX3.

With the Bebob attached you can also attach the VF Gadgets EX3 Heavy Duty Base Plate with Back Plate:

EX3 Heavy Duty Base Plate System | VFGadgets.com

The supplied long screws will attach both items together at the base of the EX3. Neither Bebob nor VF Gadgets could confirm this prior to ordering the base plate - so I felt that I should share this piece of info with everyone who might be interested. The back plate will stabilize further the EX3 when placed on the shoulder.

Thanks Brian for the advice, I forgot to mention that I also need a solution for my cordless mic receiver, the bebob looks like it fits the bill. How does the Bebob work, like, it connects to the camera and there must be a power lead from it to the power in, on the camera. What if you have to connect the power mains lead to the camera to, how does this work. Is that a silly question :)

Once you order the Bebob, you are supplied with a short wire with a Hirose connector at one end (which attaches to one of the 4 Hirose outputs of the Bebob) and an EX3 dc plug at the other end which inserts into the camera.

I'm not sure what you are actually asking but if I'm understanding rightly, you can, if you desire, remove this wire (from the bebob to the EX3) and attach the EX3 to the mains adaptor to power the camera via AC. You can still hook up a V-lock battery on the Bebob at the same time to power up the accessories (IDX and cordless mics). However I cannot see why you need to do this. A 140 WHr or a 210 WHr will power the camera for many hours even with accessories on board.

By the way when you attach the Bebob to the EX3 with the supplied lead you will still retain the battery voltage gauge in the viewfinder, i.e you will see the actual battery voltage reading (just like the DSR-300 cameras).

With a 210 WHr Blueshape V-lock battery and a 20 watt halogen lamp I am able to film an entire wedding lasting many hours whilst using about 25% only of the battery!

Thank you again Brian for your detailed answer, just what I wanted to know. Yes, I did wonder that if I removed the wire from the Bebob and plugged in the mains lead, for whatever reason, would I still be able to power the IDX light, glad to see it will work.
(I have 2 DSMs and 2 IDX batteries btw)

So Brian, your not one bit disappointed with the EX3 compared to the DSR300, the 300 was a greatttt camera. In my case I'm moving from the 390 and I also know how good a camera is too.

Thanks again.

Anthony I would not have changed my DSR-300 if it were not for the fact that it had been in operation for 10 whole years and it records in 4:3 only. Otherwise there is nothing at all to fault in that camera! The SD picture coming out of a 10 year old camera is still amazing.

However, now that I've starting to master the EX3 (after 6 months of use and adaptations) I will not go back to the DSR-300 for the following main reasons:

- the HD picture is awesome (not the SD unfortunately - only when compared to the DSR as otherwise the SD downconverted footage looks good on its own)
- the tapeless workflow (I never had problems with tapes but cards are so much easier to work with)
- the large colour viewfinder of the EX3 takes out the guesswork out of white balancing
- the instant palyback of previous footage

What I've lost....

- the auto switching of the on-board light on pressing the rec button (I still cannot get used to this severe loss)
- the better ergonomics of the DSR range
- the fall back system of a relative decent AWB (I rarely if ever used it but it used to work on the DSR but is abysmal on the EX3)
- the automatic audio level controls (I know auto audio levels are frowned upon but in run' gun filming it is essential - in the EX3 I've found that auto audio is disastrous so it has to be in manual mode with proper trimming levels. Having said this I'm happy to say that now I'm achieving much better audio than the DSR-300 thanks to buying the Sony 678 shotgun)
- the care free filming attitude! With the DSR-300 I've never had a problem about focusing or exposure. With the EX3 you have to be pin-point focused all the time and you have to watch out very careful not to overexpose. I never had one single overexposed shot with the 300!

So overall, no...I'm definetely not disappointed with the switch over to the EX3. As I said I surely miss the auto switch for the on-board light - that was the main loss which can never be obtained with any third party accessories unfortunately. ....however I do not think that this camera will serve me for 10 years like the 300 since its overall build is much more flimsier than the armour plated 300! But then again in 10 years time we will not be talking of 1080 - this will look like VHS..........

Thanks again Brian, a lot of information there and a good comparison between the two cameras. just the detail I need. I wouldn't have known about the difference in the automatic audio level controls. I use this all the time in my DSRs and couldn't work without it. (I'm a one man band) The EX3 has it but you think its not as good. I have the sennheiser K6/ME66 BTW.

I too never had any bother with overexposure, never, so the EX3 will take a bit of getting used to in that department too.

Thanks for everything Brian.

Just another thought, what about my 4pin XLR power adapter used for my 390, I suppose theres no 4pin XLR socket on the EX3, or is there.
Thanks again.

This is really important guys and starting to panic, how will I know if the EX3 I ordered will let me use the cheaper Transcend SDHC 16GB Class 6 Cards. Thats the reason I bought it.
Thanks.

No need to panic; all EX3's support this to date (with the use of a compatible adapter).

George/

Thanks George, as i said I was starting to pan cake :)

Panic over then.