Sony announces the XDCAM EX

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Peter Jefferson

IMO THIS is what weve been waiting for... no more whinging abotu HDV formats and compression, no more complaining about low light inabilities, no more complaining about what we CANT do...
Now we have a tool which can virtually let us do anything we want in virtually any environment.

Indeed, if the price is right and this camera lives up to the teaser info presented here, it could be THE answer to what many of us have been wanting since affordable HD cameras were introduced. Even if the price is somewhat higher than an HVX200 that could be balanced out by not having to pay P2 memory prices.

Can anyone provide a link to more details?

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

I've been hunting around for more info, and even Sony isn't saying a price, imaging sensor types (CMOS or CCD) or any other information. There's even speculation it's a prototype right now, like the next generation of XDCAM HD.

Sounds like what we've seen several times now in recent years: some sort of announcement at NAB followed by more details over the next few months with early shipments toward the end of the year and volume shipments in 2008. Time to start saving up...

[Heath McKnight]

Kevin,

You NAILED that! Makes me think mostly of the DVX and the HVX, to be honest. And now RED and the SI 2k camera.

heath

[Paulo Teixeira]

Originally Posted by Kevin Shaw

Indeed, if the price is right and this camera lives up to the teaser info presented here, it could be THE answer to what many of us have been wanting since affordable HD cameras were introduced. Even if the price is somewhat higher than an HVX200 that could be balanced out by not having to pay P2 memory prices.

Panasonic announced the list price of the 16 gig P2 cards at 900 dollars

[Paulo Teixeira]

I really hope this thing is around the weight of the Z1u or less.

[Peter Jefferson]

curious.. does it still have a tape transport? lol

[Alex Leith]

Originally Posted by Kevin Shaw

Can anyone provide a link to more details?

The press release http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_ro...ase/29851.html refers to it as the "planned" XDCAM EX unit. Does anyone else think that sounds a bit vague?

[Glenn Krawczyk]

Originally Posted by Alex Leith

The press release http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_ro...ase/29851.html refers to it as the "planned" XDCAM EX unit. Does anyone else think that sounds a bit vague?

What it sounds like to me it that Sony are so terrified of losing all their potential customers to RED that they've mocked up something in a hurry just so it looks like they've got something new to offer.

Their press release it so low on detail it might as well be blank!

P.S. I hope I'm wrong. The XDCAM EX could be a great camera.... but it will have to be very competitively priced if it's going to compete with RED and the Panasonic HPX500 which offers the use of 2/3" interchangeable HD lenses and/or cine lenses.

[Paulo Teixeira]

Originally Posted by Glenn Krawczyk

P.S. I hope I'm wrong. The XDCAM EX could be a great camera.... but it will have to be very competitively priced if it's going to compete with RED and the Panasonic HPX500 which offers the use of 2/3" interchangeable HD lenses and/or cine lenses.

This XDCAM EX is not made to compete against much larger cameras. It may have ½ inch imagers but its main competition is the Panasonic HVX200.

[Glenn Krawczyk]

Originally Posted by Paulo Teixeira

This XDCAM EX is not made to compete against much larger cameras. It may have ½ inch imagers but its main competition is the Panasonic HVX200.

All I'm saying is that unless it's priced competitively, why wouldn't you spend a few of thousand dollars more and get a pro camera that's capable of shooting material for anything up to a feature film? It if does turn out to be priced to compete with the HVX200, Sony will have a winner on their hands. If it's much more than that, it won't be.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Peter Jefferson

curious.. does it still have a tape transport? lol

Ummm, that would be a no. (grin)

[Peter Jefferson]

Glen, to be honest i dont think Red and the HPX is the target market for this unit..

to be honest, i think its targetted at those high end XLH1 and HVX users.. If it wasnt targeted at THESE users, then the formfactor itself would write it off as the formfactor alone can either make or break it..

To be honest, i think this is an "entry level" camcorder into XDCam workflow...

considering there is no XDCam disc drive, it has a fixed lens and looks to still use the Z1 batteries.. i dont see how this can be considered a fair competitor to these other cameras.. If anything, i would say that its competing against the JVC, HVX, and H1.. shooting each of tehir respective formats..

I also think the CCD/CMOS is of this size, simply because of the consistant issues people are having with 1/3 chip size and HDV
IMO, i think Sonys answer to low light performance is to increase the chip size. Pretty simple concept, and more than likely, this is the case.

Just becuase its a 1/2 size chip, doesnt mean for it to be on the level of competing with 1/2 ENG cameras.. theres no saying that it cant compete, but its not a substitue

[Glenn Krawczyk]

Hi Peter,

I hear what you're saying... and basically I agree. But Sony still have to price the HDCAM EX accordingly, otherwise the gap between pro cameras and prosumer cameras will become so small that all aspiring indy filmmakers will go straight for the "high-powered" hardware.

The price of the HPX500 already threatens to make the Canon XL-1 obsolete I'd say.

Cheers
Glenn

[Peter Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Glenn Krawczyk

All I'm saying is that unless it's priced competitively, why wouldn't you spend a few of thousand dollars more and get a pro camera that's capable of shooting material for anything up to a feature film? It if does turn out to be priced to compete with the HVX200, Sony will have a winner on their hands. If it's much more than that, it won't be.

Why wouldnt you? well there are many reasons.. I for one prefer its discreete form factor. Big enough for people to take notice, but not so big as to break my back. For events this is ideal. As is the price to the market i am targeting..
As for price, it WILL be more expensive.. no doubt, but the XDCam workflow is already in place.. the transition is much easier for most as opposed to DVCproHD which required copious amounts of grunt and storage space...
Again, why??? Well maybe the ENG formfactor isnt for your needs?
I know most of my wedding clients hire me becuase i DONT use an ENG type camera..
And finally, why shoot HDV with an H1 when you can shoot XDCam with this? Why lug around a laptop to capture uncompressed from yoru H1 when XDCam is perfectly acceptable?

Each camera has its uses.. no matter how old or new. no matter what size the imager may be.. no matter what teh price may be..

if the camera works for you good stuff.. if not, look elsewhere.. Sony dont need to sell these units... the units will sell themselves..

For me, the spec and form factor are enough for me to hold off on buying the A1 and an XLH1..
HDV never did it for me, which is why i ditched my Z1's.
The slow pace of P2 acceptance in windows basd NLE's such as premiere and vegas, and the convoluted way it works with FCP and Avid, defeated the purpose of direct media editing. That and the capacity issues of the cards themselves for the format in which is being recorded (dvcproHD@1080p)pretty much forced me away from the HVX. If cards were cheaper and bigger.. then it wouldnt have ben an issue.. but this seems to be what i need.. considering i can get an hour or so of footage on one card without sneezing.. and transfer that footage from card to laptop in under 20 minutes.. 4-5 times faster than realtime is a good enough transfer rate for me (Expresscard xfer vs PCMCIA )

[Peter Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Glenn Krawczyk

Hi Peter,

I hear what you're saying... and basically I agree. But Sony still have to price the HDCAM EX accordingly, otherwise the gap between pro cameras and prosumer cameras will become so small that all aspiring indy filmmakers will go straight for the "high-powered" hardware.

The price of the HPX500 already threatens to make the Canon XL-1 obsolete I'd say.

Cheers
Glenn

The cost of P2 and the slow arrival of advantageous capacities will always keep the HPX above or "away" any HDV tape based unit when it comes to "bang for the buck"..

HPX cost in itself for storage and camera doesnt allow for the 2 to be compared.. Yes they can all be used, however you choose.. but theyre different beasts..

for Indy, fine, choose your weapon, but in the end, cameras have to pay themselves off..
Thats what it all comes down to.. and the HPX for indy work just doesnt cut it IMO simply due to the high price of acquisition, storage and NLE requirements. Its going to be an interesting year and those people like myself who stated that HDV was an interim "teething" format are being proven right as new and improved HD formats are being offered..

we saw it with DVCPRoHD and we saw JVC take on HDV itself.. we saw XDCam in disc format and its proven a workable solution and step from Digibeta. This is just another step in that evolution.

Im sure we'll also see newer cams using AVCHD soon enough as well.. but HDV has shown what it can and cannot do.
Now we are seeing solutions to that HDV "problem"