Sony launches PXW-Z100 4K Handheld XDCAM

[Monday Isa]

Full press release, photos located at:

Sony Launches Professional PXW-Z100 4K XDCAM Camcorder at DV Info Net

Official Sony UK product overview page located at:

PXW-Z100 (PXWZ100) : Product Overview : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

[Buba Kastorski]

well, this one will definitely replace my EX1 :)))
can't wait!

[Chris Hurd]

Monday's post has been edited to include pics plus a link to the official Sony UK press release (with more pics) as published on DVi. Once again that link is:

Sony Launches Professional PXW-Z100 4K XDCAM Camcorder at DV Info Net

[Les Wilson]

Unlike Panny and JVC, looks like Sony stuck with the PMW-200/100 LCD flip that interferes with the shoe. But they seem to take the criticism of the periscope mic mount ant returned to the previous design.

[Darren Levine]

well, it'll be interesting to see what SNR they pull out of this one, it's a .42" sensor with 8 million pixels, vs an ex1/pmw200 which has 2 million pixels with a .5" sensor. but they did throw in another big long bone with that 20x zoom. claims a 29.5mm equivalant wide, meaning it goes to a FF 590mm long end equivalent. if that's a constant aperture of 1.9 like he prior cameras, then hells yes sony.

[Matt Davis]

Yes, the other one is nice, but this is the one you want:

Unboxing the PXW-Z100 on Vimeo

It's a little bit of history repeating. We heard about the FX-7 until the Z1 stole the show. The Z1 is dead - long live the 4K Z100.

I've been really lucky to play with a prototype of the Z100, and just by what I learned by unboxing it, I think you'll love what it does. A more in-depth report is being created...

PXW-Z100 (PXWZ100) : Product Overview : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

[Chris Hurd]

Matt's unboxing video post has been merged into our existing Z100 announcement thread...

[Ron Evans]

The differences between the AX1 and Z100 seem a lot more than AX2000 and the NX5U that I have now. I like the idea of simultaneously recording AVCHD as well as 4K.

Ron Evans

[Jack Zhang]

Again, I'm not really happy that the NXCAM design has been ported to XDCAM. Everything is servo on a G lens, so say goodbye to mechanical iris and zoom.

However, GPS support for XDCAM XAVC would be cool.

But the bitrate selection and 4:2:2 is a winner in my books! You will need 128GB XQD cards, but they're totally the right bitrates.

Now if only the body design went back to supporting BP-U.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

well, it'll be interesting to see what SNR they pull out of this one, it's a .42" sensor with 8 million pixels, vs an ex1/pmw200 which has 2 million pixels with a .5" sensor. ......

That's not all of it - it's single chip so unlike the EX1 a lot of light gets lost in the filtration as well.

Not sure what to make of it. Codec options are pretty impressive in one way, the Z100 seems to have similar XAVC support to the F55 - but why no XDCAM option for 1080? (As with the F55.)

Yes, XAVC is better in many respects but Sony themselves thought XDCAM had a place for quite a while to come - much easier processed than XAVC for one thing. From an owners perspective there may be one reason for getting this (4k!) but some clients may well still ask for XDCAM for very good reasons. Why have to have two cameras to satisfy both?

[Jack Zhang]

InfoLithium L is the biggest gripe for me. I just invested in BP-U with the EX1R, so I'd expect a body design similar to the 200.

[Matt Davis]

Not wishing to pre-empt anything, but...

XAVC seems to be the way forward - XDCAM is a venerable format and all that, but not as efficient as the newer codecs thanks to its MPEG2 backbone. I think we're going to see 4:2:0 and 8 bit being left behind and seeing 4:2:2 at 10 bit being the norm, with a lot more flexibility of choice in how we spend our bitrate budget.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Matt Davis

Not wishing to pre-empt anything, but...

XAVC seems to be the way forward - XDCAM is a venerable format and all that, but not as efficient as the newer codecs thanks to its MPEG2 backbone.

Not as efficient in terms of quality for bitrate - but currently much more manageable as far as a lot of computers are concerned. And if a client is currently using XDCAM and asks for you to use it as well, he is not going to be impressed by you pointing out the efficiencies of XAVC.

Yes, I don't dispute that XAVC will be the way forward, and for some aspects it's essential - 1080 at higher frame rates, and such as 4k resolutions - but it's not going to or intended to replace XDCAM 422 overnight. I certainly wouldn't argue for XDCAM 422 INSTEAD of XAVC for 1080, but I do think it should be there AS WELL. The reasons were actually promoted by Sony for other models where they've done exactly that - PMW200, PMW300 etc - allowing a newer camera to integrate with older models on a multi-camera shoot.

[Matt Davis]

I really can't be specific at the moment, but I think we're okay about this. XDCAM is in the DNA of the camera. Ahem.

After all (lawyers, take note, it's on the video and on the photos) there's a ruddy great 'XDCAM' logo on the side of the camera too. LOL.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

well, it'll be interesting to see what SNR they pull out of this one, it's a .42" sensor with 8 million pixels, vs an ex1/pmw200 which has 2 million pixels with a .5" sensor.

The press release is pitching this differently : The PXW-Z100 professional 4K handheld XDCAM camcorder features a 1/2.33-inch Exmor R CMOS sensor with 16 million pixels.

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

if that's a constant aperture of 1.9 like he prior cameras, then hells yes sony.

Which lenses were constant aperture throughout the zoom range? I would be very happy with less zoom, or at least a function that would allow one of the zoom controls to be programmed with limits on the zoom range.