Hi Brian,

Yes, Bebob in Germany manufactures a V-Lock mount for the EX3. It's the COCO-EX3-V.

bebob COCO-EX3-V V-Mount Batterie-Adapter für Sony EX3 (http://www.bebob.de/de/product/8717.html?bebob=256e785fe4ba314fab1f232da757a5cd)

Is there somewhere, where I can see a picture of an EX3, with attached shoulder mount?

Yes, you too can look like THIS!
http://www.videokit.co.uk/cgi-bin/store1/commerce.cgi?pid=652.htm

Just kidding.

The VF Gadgets tripod plate doubles as a shoulder mount. I'll be commenting on that add on in another thread.

I believe someone else on these forums had modded their CAvision shoulder brace for the EX3 and he was managing to balance it perfectly on the shoulder.

on occasions costumers come in with faulty memory cards!

The same could be said for anything though. I've had tapes on MiniDV that were rubbish and full of dropouts. I've also had tapes go blank on me when I've left them in a (dry) cupboard for a few years.

Yes, you too can look like THIS!
http://www.videokit.co.uk/cgi-bin/st...gi?pid=652.htm

Just kidding.

That was one of my reasons to get a camera from the PDW-F3xx serie. My camera is not full HD and isn't as good as the EX1/EX3 in low light, but looking good with your camera also must be worth something. :-)

http://www.videokit.co.uk/cgi-bin/st...gi?pid=652.htm
Give him a starwars helmet and he can walk straight into the clone war…

Simon you are of course right, all kind of media have its fault, I am just more comfortable with a media that is not dependable of electric charge.

Maybe I will book a demo for an EX3. One thing for sure sometime in the near future I am in the market, for a new camera. Maybe Sony will come up with my favourite 3xx model or I will find the big wallet for a 700 or just settle with an EX3. For the moment I am not sure. A couple of bigger projects are coming up, let’s see how they develop.

My camera is not full HD -)

Of course it full HD, so's a Varicam, they just get there in different ways. The F900 is only 1440x1080, not full HD?

Steve

If the picture quality, the workflow and the VF, on the EX3 outclass the F 3xx, then it all comes down to the form factor!!
.

Don't forget the CMOS shutter, I'm yet to be convinced about it, but for others it seems to be a non-issue. I'd advise anyone going for an EX to try one first (ie shoot pics of the sort you normally shoot, get them to your post suite and look at them). But then that's sensible advice for any camera surely?
Steve

I'd thought I'd address the archival issue and EX vs F3xx.

If you look at B&H you'll see 23GB XDCAM discs ranging from about $20-$27.
The Transcend Class 6 SDHC 16GB can be had from around $25-$30.
If that's an acceptable price range for archival, those Transcend cards are not much more expensive than XDCAM disc. If space is an issue (and it is in many offices/facilities) you can certainly pack a closet with many more SDHC cards than XDCAM discs (but labeling is a bear!).

If you need to hand the client the camera master, the client is going to have NO PROBLEM finding an SDHC reader and it'll cost a lot less than a U1. BTW at a 4X copy speed you'll be able to back up that SDHC pretty fast before you hand that master over.

If long record time is your issue, pack two Sandisk Ultra II 32GB cards in that EX and you've got just nigh 4 hours. That 64GB certainly is competitive in record time to 50GB XDCAM disc. The gotcha is the 32GB cards are still pricy and at $150 a pop, aren't quite the archival bargain the 50GB disc is. I think they're many months away from being price competitive with 50GB discs though. Do keep in mind that you can buy 2 Transcend SDHC 16GB cards and have them loaded in EX camera for about the same price or less than 50GB XDCAM disc.

If you do ENG/VNR super fast turnaround that 4x SDHC copy speed is nice and nearly 8x if you use SxS, is blazing. Of course XDCAM disc has proxy files but with SDHC/SxS you copy the "master" and you're done and working at full resolution.

As to shoulder mounts, keep in mind JVC is moving to XDCAM EX codec too. The HM-700 looks to be its 200/250 replacement. It's shoulder mount and it'll record to XDCAM EX .mov which is an additional speed up for Final Cut Pro users. I don't doubt Sony will have an "EX5" which will be shoulder mount (and maybe some other nice features).

By NAB, the only big advantage of the F3xx series may be the cost of 50GB discs. There may be other smaller advantages but the EX advantages are mounting. Future EX firmware updates may unlock additional features in that series. There's good reason why Sony doesn't let local dealers, let alone users get the firmware.

By NAB, the only big advantage of the F3xx series may be the cost of 50GB discs.

Just for a point of clarification, that would be the F3x5 series. The first generation cameras can't use the dual layer discs. Nor can they be upgraded to dual layer drives.

-gb-

Yes, you too can look like THIS!
PAG ORBITOR1 (http://www.videokit.co.uk/cgi-bin/store1/commerce.cgi?pid=652.htm)

....

Frankly, that rig is a bit too much. I much rather use a F350 instead...

Thierry.

It's shoulder mount and it'll record to XDCAM EX .mov which is an additional speed up for Final Cut Pro users.

Not sure it will make any difference for most users. The only time there would be an advantage is if you edit directly from the card. Most users will copy the files from the card to the computer prior to editing which is no different to the current workflow where the MP4's are re-wrapped as they are copied.

If you do choose .mov files you could end up with an issue if you need to then pass on your project to a PC user as PC's cannot read mpeg in a .mov wrapper.

I copy BPAV to hard drive first and then rewrap.
I'd never rewrap without backing up BPAV first.
Rewrap from hard drive seems to be about 6.5x so importing a MOV would be faster.
Of course you're right about starting with MOV as opposed to a generic format.
The JVC camera does record to a generic format which JVC doesn't mention. My guess is that it's the same BPAV/MP4 that the EX uses since it's the same codec.

It seems JVC Korea has a pic of the JVC HM700 (which looks like the JVC 250) which I've posted elsewhere on DVInfo. Apparently JVC USA does not want the pic posted though for whatever reason.

Not sure it will make any difference for most users. The only time there would be an advantage is if you edit directly from the card. Most users will copy the files from the card to the computer prior to editing which is no different to the current workflow where the MP4's are re-wrapped as they are copied.

If you do choose .mov files you could end up with an issue if you need to then pass on your project to a PC user as PC's cannot read mpeg in a .mov wrapper.