I know nothing but there have been reports on other threads and I thought this would be place to discuss it until there's something official.

Just what is BIG TBA on Oct 20, 2009 regarding XDCAM from Sony?
(just got the email....)
The EX1 replacement?
Another model with interchangeable lenses?
Anyone?

I just received an email from Sony stating that "Something BIG is Coming from Sony 10.20.09".

This will be announced on the Sony XDCAM EX website, so I assume it will be a new XDCAM EX product. You can register to be emailed the BIG announcement here: Sony | Micro Site - XDCAM EX (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/?XID=E:xdcamextease_preeblast101609:microsite)

Who knows what it will be?

I just got the email too. I'm guessing a big camera with 2/3 chips that records EX cam style to cards. And maybe an EX-1 version 2 as a side note - not big enough to be big on it's own.

Second guess is an EX-1 style camera that seamlessly takes Sony SLR lenses and maybe has a sensor out of it's topline DSLR. That's more wishful thinking than expecting. And wondering if they would beat Canon to the punch. Canon has a rumored announcement that day as well - it's the 50th anniversary of the Canon SLR. But it's expected to be a new topline DSLR.

You'll have to wait until the 20th.

Maybe they'll announce full compatibility with Snow Leopard? he he he :-)

My guess is a shoulder mounted EX

Since they're teasing with "something big," my guess is a full-size shoulder mount EX camera as well.

Or it is the opposite and something like a dockable or portable xdcam disc drive

If Sony was able to combine their video camera technology with their DSLR technology it would indeed be earth shattering in our business. A 2/3" EX would not.
Everyone has been waiting for Canon to do this but why not Sony.

Where are the leaks?

Unfortunately, all of the good Sony Alpha lenses do not have an aperture ring so they are rather useless for most types of video. I am a former Alpha shooter and would have loved to use my lenses for video. Their Carl Zeiss 24-70 is just sickening beautiful. And their CZ 135/1.8 and 135 STF(best bokeh lens ever) are the best of any manufacturer. However, the one major problem with them is longitudinal CA at larger apertures. The other problem with Sony DSLRs and lenses is the IS/VR is built into the camera/sensor so their lenses don't provide any stability.

What would be awesome is if they made an A900s and built IS into the video sensor OR made a smaller EX1 style cam with a single large sensor. I think this would blow away the Canon models.

Why wouldn't they have done this at IBC?
Apple doesn't make their big announcements at trade shows anymore either.
Apple always makes their big announcements on Tuesdays.
Oct. 20th is a Tuesday.
I've heard Apple might be updating their Mac Mini's and iMacs.

Hey, I've got it. It's going to be an iMac with a big EX iSight camera built in!
. . . but it still won't be Snow Leopard compatible!

Since they're teasing with "something big," my guess is a full-size shoulder mount EX camera as well.
I think that makes sense. I certainly hope so - it's an obvious thing for them to make, and something a lot of people are asking for. Now that there is a definate announcement on the official Sony website, should this be lifted fom Area 51?

I guess it's possible that it may not turn out to be so big after all. But I can't really see that happening. If it did turn out to be for a fairly minor product, it's likely to go down like the boy who called wolf. It would give Sony a brief marketing kick in the short term, but be bad in the long term.

There's a big gap in their range between the EX cameras and the PDW800, which the 3xx series barely fill and are getting a bit long in the tooth. My money is on an SxS replacement for those, but the big question may be 1/2" or dare we hope for a 2/3" SxS camera?

I tried the link but it looks like it is for USA customers only, so obviously the supply voltage and frequency is critical. However, I am sure there will be plenty of gossip on these pages....

something to compete with the canon eos 5d mark 2 would be special.
frankly, our ex1 is hard to knock already.
maybe a greater zoom with a f 1.6 to a true f2.0 at the long end.
add 1080/60p

not too much to ask.

since it's on the xdcam site i'm sure it's not a dslr. Is making such a bold statement such as "SOMETHING BIG IS COMING" something sony usually does? IF not I'm thinking it will be something like a 2/3 cam that is in the ex1 price range.. to me nothing else would be worth such pomp and circumstance.

a 2/3 in about the same size as the EX1 would have me on line this christmas
i wonder though if a new zeiss lens is in store.

:-)

The next camera in the EX line I think, a step up from EX3.

Very likely to be the EX1R, EX1 replacement. Just wondering how can they make it better if not for a larger sensor like 2/3"? Unless they manage to shrink the EX1 and drop the price?

Could be interesting

HD has brought the lower end products very close in many ways to the upper end products.

These large companies can continue to make $6,000 to $8,000 cameras or $30,000 cameras and hope the sales are there or...

They can realize the curtain has been pulled back a bit and they need to offer more in the middle to get people to buy.

When Panasonic stated the 1/3" chip HPX-300 was geared for local news affiliates (or a lot were purchased) I thought this was a very negative sign for the state of their business.

When news organizations buy $8,000 cameras, the market for $30,000 cameras looks to be in trouble.

Along with the VDSLRs, maybe the market is in a place it can not go back from?

To me it is not what they offer but at what price they offer it at.

Very likely to be the EX1R, EX1 replacement. Just wondering how can they make it better if not for a larger sensor like 2/3"? Unless they manage to shrink the EX1 and drop the price?

I can think of a ton of ways to make it better...

1. Increase the data rate to 50Mbps
2. Give us a faster lens
3. Allow us to record to both slots at once
4. Improve the resolution of the viewfinder
5. Give us 1080/60p
6. Improve the bus speed to allow SDHC to overcrank fully
7. Rework the camera to give a decent handle for handholding
8. Add HDMI for those who don't want to monitor with HD-SDI and make them both hot
9. Give us some real connectors for goodness sakes
10. Ditch the amateur hour on-off-media power switch.
11. Allow HDV over firewire without requiring that to be recorded to on-board cards.


I could go on, but all of these would be excellent revisions.

sony is making a big announcement on tues at 2pm. regarding the ex1 line. im hoping it will be a better ergonomically designed ex1 replacement or a shouldmount version.
go to this link below to register for an email from sony that day with all the details

Sony | Micro Site - XDCAM EX (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/support.form.bbsccms-support-XDCAMEXNewProd102009.shtml?XID=E:xdcamextease_preeblast101609:announcement)

Sony were not at IBC this year. Instead they are attending several smaller events across europe as well as running a mobile roadshow and lots of workshops and master classes. If your in Europe you can sign up to attend these events at the link below.

Sony have a very large stand at Satis in Paris. The show starts on the morning of Tuesday the 20th. So Europe will get to hear the news first.

Sony - Power of Images (http://response.pro.sony.eu/?elqPURLPage=7)

I expect Sony to take the threat from Red the most seriously of any camera maker simply b/c Red is amied most directly at their buisness. An XL-H1 or a Variacam is not an F23 or 35.

I think Chris called it right:

a full-size, shoulder mount, EX3 upgrade/bigger brother, with 2/3" chips and 4" transflective pop-up panel.

"Big" is good...

sounds like the rumoured EXR1

Hi Jim,

I'll be very surprised if any new model or EX1/3 revision doesn't include a BBC HD-compliant 50Mb/s+ recording option. Hopefully, this could also be enabled through firmware update for existing users.

My wish list:

integrated far red fix,
jellovision software/hardware fix,
removable viewfinder,
fast Wi-Fi connectivity for future wireless digital mics, remote lens/camera control, multi-cam sync, wireless A/V monitoring
telescopic body (small for transporting extending to shoulder-mount form-factor for handheld)
a cherry ontop

Think about the wording again: Something BIG is coming.... I think the clue is in the title. It isn't something important, or something significant, it is something BIG. For me that means a 2/3 chip. Maybe it wouldn't be too tricky to put the chip from the PDW-700 into the body of an EX1? You would need a new lens I guess, or at least new markings on it. That's where I put my money; a bigger chip.

The optical block from a PDW-700 won't fit in an EX1, it's much too big, too heavy, it also requires a lot of power and generates a fair bit of heat. CCD's are very power hungry compared to CMOS. In the EX1 one of the clever tricks used in the optical block is to have no light reflections in the red channel, two reflections in the green and only one in the blue. This means that the blue channel is mirrored compared to the other 2. You can't do that with CCD's as CCD's can only be read out one way. CMOS on the other hand can be read any way you want, so on the EX the blue channel is read back-to-front to compensate. This makes the Prism smaller and less complex to produce. It's tricks like this with CMOS that made putting 1/2" sensors in a small, low power, low cost camera possible. You just can't do that with HD CCD's.

Sony are at the Satis Technology event in Paris on Tuesday so maybe there will be an announcement there.

Cancel the cherry - give me cache-record instead.

5. Give us 1080/60p

There is now a pool of drool all over my desk...

Hi Jim,

I'll be very surprised if any new model or EX1/3 revision doesn't include a BBC HD-compliant 50Mb/s+ recording option. Hopefully, this could also be enabled through firmware update for existing users.


Paul,

Aren't they after 4.2.2 recording as well?
Solved a while ago with the nanoFlash recorder.

Good luck with all of your wish list items.

Cheers

Hi David,

You're absolutely right. I'll whack-it on the list.

4.2.2 please.

... and USB 3 (with "Light Peak")

Thanks

A Polish Sony reseller told me a few days ago about the changes. It will be almost the same EX1, with a smaller LCD (2,5"), and there will be an HDMI output in place of the Sony's A/V output. He told me that the new EX1 is going to replace the old one (just like it was with the pd170 and pd150), and that the price is going to be the same.

I don't know if any of this is truth, i just repeat what iv'e been told.

That doesn't sound BIG. It sounds like a little tinkering.

Could well be the EX5 shoulder mount version replacing the PDW-700?

I have the privilege of advanced knowledge of what's coming. I can't say anything of course due to NDA, but it will surprise a lot of people.

Just keep an ear to the ground on the 20th.


regards,

-gb-

The Softwares Download link of Sony XDCAM EX in Canada list all Softwares as 0 or No Softwares Available for Download.

SONY XDCAM EX (http://www.sony.ca/xdcamex/support.htm)

Maybe we will get Updated XDCAM EX Line-Up with Softwares Updated for Snow Leopard.

You just have to click on any option to download a specific software and you reach a page with the number 0.

Let hope Sony surprize us with both products updates and softwares updated too for Snow Leopard.

I have the privilege of advanced knowledge of what's coming. I can't say anything of course due to NDA, but it will surprise a lot of people.

Just keep an ear to the ground on the 20th.





You just gave the game away, now we know it is a set of stereo speakers hidden in the users shoes. Very clever :-)

You just gave the game away, now we know it is a set of stereo speakers hidden in the users shoes. Very clever :-)

Well hold on now, Vince. I could have just as easily been referring to a micro-miniature type of EX that sits on the ground and gives a "worm's eye view" shot. Keeping your ear to the ground would be the only way to look in the viewfinder. (hehe)

But you'll just have to wait and see on the 20th!

-gb-

2/3" chips
1080p60
Not $30,000, more like $10-$12,000 body only

Would be "big"

Does Sony give us a discount if we get close?

Other things not mentioned:
3 seconds or more record cache
90 or 120FPS overcrank (so SDHC would go to 60fps and SxS would be up to 120fps).
Record to either or both SxS/SDHC and XDCAM disc.

I think whatever it is it'll be shoulder mount and somewhere in the price range of the F335 and F355 because these is where the EX is eating their own market internally. Sony needs a compelling reason for people to spend more. Keep in mind they may be announcing more than one camera.

It could be EX5 and EX7 to "replace" F335 and F355.

I would be happy with a BIG price reduction in cost of SxS cards.

no need for big or shoulder mount, no sports shooter here.
the form factor and ergo of the EX1 is already ideal for us.
for nearly 2 years...

1080/60p and maybe a greater and faster zoom would be fabulous.
f1.4 or f1.6 down to f2.0 on the long end.....
interchangeable lens just gets us cleaning the sensor more than we like.
still, love to mount a nikkor 85 1.4 or zeiss manual 1.4 of the same on the EX2 or EX4

hopeful from queens.....
paul

I think a more realistic guess would be an EX5. A shoulder mounted EX with 1/2" chips and interchangeable lenses, and otherwise not much different from the 1 or 3. I'm guessing it will cost at least $10,000, but probably more. Unlike the 3XXs, it won't do DV-CAM which will be annoying for those of us who still have SD customers. It won't do XD disks either.

Read CCDs would be nice though.

it will surprise a lot of people.
-gb-

Well that eliminates EVERYTHING we've been speculating because none of it would surprise me (or us) since this is what we expect might happen.

Now I have to take a different tact. What would surprise us?

Sony buying JVC

Discontinuing the entire EX line and instead making the equivalent to EX1 and EX3 with XDCAM disc which would end this whole SxS/SDHC stuff and put Sony in control of the media.

Discontinuing the aforementioned and replacing it with a DSLR still camera with video recording that's better than the 5D.

Making all the above tape based cameras by introducing the XDCAM equivalent of BetaSX tape.

A shoulder mount EX camera with some of the previously mentioned features does not surprise me (us?) at all so it has to be "something completely different."

Very likely to be the EX1R, EX1 replacement. Just wondering how can they make it better if not for a larger sensor like 2/3"? Use the Exmor R 'backlit' sensor. That, for one thing, would make it amazingly good in low light, even compared to how it is now.

Hi Craig,

Interesting theory. Perhaps, as you suggest, Sony will surprise us by abandoning SxS cards. High Capacity SSDs might be a viable alternative.

Is there a prize for guessing correctly?

... but it will surprise a lot of people.


In a good way?

Yes, I think it will be a nice surprise. But that's just me. YMMV of course.

-gb-

I'm sure what's coming will surprise almost everyone ;0) but I'll be in a lot of trouble I say anything more, probably said too much already.