Realistic card options with the PXW-Z280?

[Doug Jensen]

Hi Paul, congratulations on the Z280, it is a great little camera.
it really depends on what codecs you'll be using. Based on my testing with the only SxS-1 card that I own (orange trim), here my recommendations:

XAVC-L HD @ all frame rates
XAVC-I HD @ all frame rates
XAVC-L 4K @ @ up to 29.97
XAVC-I 4K @ up to 29.97 (Probably will work, but there is increased risk of failure. Don't use for anything critical)

BTW, if you're not going to do any heavy grading in post or green screen, then XAVC-L will be just as good as XAVC-I, thus extending card capacity. But XAVC-I might playback smoother in post, so there are no simple answers. I recommending doing your own testing to come to your own conclusions based on your own and computer system. Good luck.

[Paul Rhys]

Many thanks Doug. I'm also taking your advice by getting the XQD adapter to take the price down a bit for those bigger codecs.

I had briefly tested and recorded XAVC-I - if the card can't handle a codec will it simply not record i.e. no red light, or will everything look fine and then it just won't be on the card (or corrupted) when you go to edit?

That's my last question before I get your masterclass instead...

[Doug Jensen]

Paul, if you don't already have a XQD to SxS adapter you probably won't find one because Sony discontinued them more than a year ago. Used ones are worth more than they cost new -- if you can find one at all. I'm friends with the host/producer of CBS's "Tough as Nails" and he's always telling me to be on the lookout for more adapters for him. They shoot the show on F55s but prefer to use XQD because they need so many cards.

If the camera gives you a "Media not Guaranteed" message when you put it in it is Sony's way of warning you that you are taking a risk using that card with the current recording format and frame rate. But that doesn't mean it won't work anyway. You are just being warned. However, just because a card begins recording for a few seconds doesn't mean it is good to go. You have to let the camera run for several minutes to see if it craps out. What I do is aim the camera at a TV screen with a show that has lots of motion for the camera to compress and hit record. If the card makes it for at least 5 minutes without stalling then it is probably okay.

The good news is that if the camera says it is recording -- it is. In 15 years of using SxS cards I've never had a problem with any Sony camera saying it is recording when it is not. If recording fails with one of your cards, you will know it immediately when an error message pops up and the tally lights start flashing rapidly.

[Paul Rhys]

Thank you very much Doug. Seriously appreciate the time you take to give guidance.

All the best,

Paul

[Simon Beer]

Apologies for reviving an old thread but hoping I can help someone out.

Visual Impact in the UK have got about 20 of the QDA-EX1 card adapters in stock, right now.

Ordered two yesterday which have just arrived!

https://www.visuals.co.uk/3459523-qdaex1.html

[Christopher Young]

Thanks for the heads up, Simon.

I've just told someone else who has been looking for a couple and he's getting in touch with Visual. Lord knows where they got them from unless they are old stock as they have been out of production for a while now. Thanks again.

Chris Youg

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by Simon Beer

Apologies for reviving an old thread but hoping I can help someone out.

Visual Impact in the UK have got about 20 of the QDA-EX1 card adapters in stock, right now.

Ordered two yesterday which have just arrived!

https://www.visuals.co.uk/3459523-qdaex1.html

Thanks Simon for the link, I received my two adapters this morning :) Just out of curiousity, the XQD card must not work in my PMW-320, it said card not reconised, it didnt allow me the format option.
Perhaps its only in the likes of the Z280 that the XQD and adapter works.

Thanks Simon again.

[Christopher Young]

That's incorrect. The PMW-320 does support the QDA-EX1 adapters. Just make sure you are running the latest firmware "PMW-320 : SxS Binary Package V1.41" which can be downloaded from here:

https://pro.sony/en_GB/support-resou...-320k/software

Also if you want to run the XQD cards and the XAVC CODEC make sure the following settings are changed. With the format change from XDCam MPEG2 to XAVC-I or XAVC-L the cards will have to be reformatted as the MPEG codec requires the cards to be formatted as UDF whereas XAVC requires the cards to be formatted as exFAT. See the following page extracts from the manual for those settings which can be found under OPERATION/FILE SYSTEM.

Good luck squire!

Chris Young

[Anthony McErlean]

Thank you Christopher, I will look into that :)

[David Anderson]

Reviving an old thread. Purchased a Z280 based on my current needs (upgrade from Z190) and am looking for media options.

I see the QDA-EX1 are no longer available and there is one on ebay for 300.00. WOW!

I see Aliexpress is selling a QDA-EX1 for 80.00. It almost makes me wonder if the same factory that made them for Sony makes these.

It seems like XQD is the best option for the long run as @Doug Jensen says they will record anything the Z280 is capable of recording and is more cost effective. I hope someone can chime in and tell me what their current experience is with media and options.

SxS Pro+ cards are ridiculously expensive and even purchasing the 300.00 adapter from Ebay will save me in the long run in cost.

Glad to be part of the group and thanks for letting me in!

Best,

David

[Christopher Young]

Seriously if you are working in daily HD broadcast situations just use XAVC-L. That's all I use in 95% of cases for broadcast. Miles more space on the cards. You can use much lower-rated cards and as Doug has said in the past visually for 99.9% of most material you won't see the difference. The only time I use XAVC-I is if I know there has to be a heavy grade done to the material or if I have some heavy-duty Green/Blue screen work to do. Most of my XAVC-I use is not for live broadcast. I use this XAVC-L workflow on any of the Sony cameras that offer me XAVC-L in probably 98% of situations.

IMHO so many people get carried away with the "If it's bigger it's got to be better" syndrome. Do you remember the groundbreaking "Top Gear" motoring show done by the BBC? That was all originally shot on XDCam 50mbps 8-bit 4:2:2 1080i which used the old MPEG-2 codec and it looked great. How the image is handled and presented is more important than sheer bitrate. I shoot live sports every week for broadcast and all our recordings are XAVC-L progressive and nobody says anything about the quality other than "Great pictures."

Check your Z280 manual page #137 for a list of formats and codecs you can shoot with. If it's only HD you need you can even use XAVC-L with SDXC cards formatted to exFAT. You would need either the MEAD-SD02 SDHC/SDXC Card Adapters from Sony or one of the other off-brand adapters for those SDXC cards. With the older SxS-1 cards you can shoot all the codecs bar the XAVC-I ones.

EDIT:
BTW. I had a look at those US$81.00 QDA-EX1 adapters selling on Ali Express and as far as I can tell they look identical to the genuine Sony ones I have. The" genuine" ones are also made in good old downtown China. A couple of those and some XQD cards and I would say you are on your way as the XQD cards will handle all the codecs the Z280 can throw at it using those QDA-EX1 adapters, as indicated on page #137 of the manual. That's exactly what I'm doing. Using XQD cards interchangeably between my XQD and SxS cameras.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/978782-REG/sony_mead_sd02_sdhc_sdxc_card_adaptor.html/overview/BI/2855/KBID/3801

Chris Young

[David Anderson]

Thanks Christopher. I'm hesitant with the AliExpress as I don't want to take a chance. If I could get the genuine Sony one and the Ali one and take them apart to confirm the circuitry is the same I'd feel better. Just 2 months ago the Sony ones sold for 30-40 bucks on ebay. Not anymore. Sigh.

I'm also curious as to why the camera has worse low light performance in 4k vs HD? Maybe Doug can shed some light on it (see what I did there?). I wonder if my Z190 would have worked better in HD vs 4K in low light.

Decisions, decisions.

Best,

David

[Anthony McErlean]

Sorry for cutting in here :)

So, do you thing these adapters should work like the original QDA-EX1 card adapters ?



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...44205660%21rec

I was lucky, I bought two QDA-EX1 adapters from Visual at that time.

[David Anderson]

I think that's the answer many on this forum would like to know. I'm tempted to buy one and take it apart and see what circuitry is inside if someone who owned an original could do the same and we could compare. I hate to spend 300.00 on the only original I can find on Ebay just to do this. If this is in fact the factory that made them for Sony then I would probably buy several.

Maybe Doug Jensen can step in and help us?

Best,

David

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

Sorry for cutting in here :)

So, do you thing these adapters should work like the original QDA-EX1 card adapters ?



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...44205660%21rec

I was lucky, I bought two QDA-EX1 adapters from Visual at that time.

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by David Anderson

I think that's the answer many on this forum would like to know. I'm tempted to buy one and take it apart and see what circuitry is inside if someone who owned an original could do the same and we could compare. I hate to spend 300.00 on the only original I can find on Ebay just to do this. If this is in fact the factory that made them for Sony then I would probably buy several.

Maybe Doug Jensen can step in and help us?

Best,

David

OK David, thank you.