Hi all.

Just after opinions on this? ( I have bothered Doug Jensen on a different board already) but just want to dig a bit deeper.

Have a PMW500 that has taken its last breath a week ago and I need to replace it asap.

Timeframe does not allow me to wait for the z750 so will need to make a decision this week.

Do any of you run a z450? Seem to be like aliens. They may exist and some people have seen them but not many have been close enough to touch it.

Obviously x500 is a direct replacement and a workhorse. The client I work for mostly is Australian based and they only went HD a few years ago so still have a good 6-8 year lifespan on HD before reinvesting I would think.

The z450 intrigues me thou. Same body and form factor but with the single sensor and 4k? Do any of you actually use it in a day to day news current affairs environment? Any major issues with flashbanding or rolling shutter?

The z450 is 2k more than the x500 now so just after real world advise.

I have a fully rigged FS7 for 4K work so that ticks a box on that front.

And finally the Sony Oled viewfinders. Yes or no? Worth the extra cost?

Cheers

Charlie

Seems like one of the few that has used the z450 is Doug Jensen. Doug can I ask have you experienced and rolling shutter or flashbanding? I looked at your clip reel of the camera again ag I see the helicopter blades looked good. Thoughts?

I have nothing but positive things to say about the Z450. I don't own one myself, but on the many occasions that I have used them, particularly during the 2018 Winter Olympics, they performed flawlessly in every way. I've been demoing a pre-production Z750 for the past week (gotta send it back to Sony on Friday) and I don't think I can tell the difference between them. The Z750 is supposed to have better low-light capability and has global shutter but I think I'd need to have them side-by-side before those differences would ever be visible. I have never seen any rolling shutter of any kind on the Z450. You might see flash-banding on the Z450 but who cares? Flash banding is so common now it looks normal to most viewers.

For what it is worth, there is no way that I would invest any money in any camera that can't do 4K today, so the X500 wouldn't even on my radar if I had to buy a 2/3" camera right now.

I hope that helps.

In case anyone is interested, here's some Z450 footage I shot after NAB 2017 when Sony let me take the camera off the show floor for a couple of weeks on my way home from Vegas.

Sony PXW-Z450 4K Demo Reel on Vimeo

Thanks Doug. Appreciate the info as always. Good to know about the rolling shutter and the fact you shot at the winter Olympics with it. I'm guessing you had a lot of fast action to film?
Some of the colours in the Z450 reel you posted are fantastic (I realise you graded it as well). I note you set up a scene file. Any chance you could share? Unless of course you have a book coming out? ;-)

I don't know all my Z450 Scene File settings off the top of my head because I have them saved on an SD card as an ALL file. But, i think these are the major settings that make a visible difference:

Gamma: HG4
Matrix: ITU-709
Master Black: -4
Adaptive Matrix: On
Aperture: On and set for +20
Knee: All knee settings turned off

Thanks Doug.

Going to hire in a z450 for a week as a trial. But as you said earlier if they were used for the Winter Olympics then they must be pretty good.

Cheers