I spoke with a Sony rep today. He was indicating to me
that the next XDCAM HD release is going to be a 50 gig dual layer
unit. I realize this may not have any place on this discussion board??

How about the current 350s & 330s being able to record less time and
having an even better lower compression recording than HQ?

I have a PDW350 with a Fuji XS17X5.5 and it will be most interesting to see how Sony (and others) are going to support/update firmware & software for the 1/2'' XDCamHD family. Blu ray DVD @ 50 Mbit/sec and XD @ 35 - will there be a simple transfer option?
And how about a modestly priced set of fixed focal length lenses - am I wishing for too much? Would it really cost too much to rebody a set of stills elements for 1/2'' video? (Dream on Godfrey!)
Best wishes to all with an interest in this camera - Godfrey

Rob,

I brought your thread over to Area 51 which is Chris' designated forum for all rumor and speculation.

regards,

-gb-

I was told a couple months ago that the new XD VTR intro'd at NAB will be able to handle the other XD formats -something the F70 DIDN'T do -I.E. in being able to upconvert from the PDW530...

Was also told that the 50 Mbit product with the MPEG 4 compression will actually surpass F900 145 MBit. Quite the claim, but this is what they are saying. Until we see specs it's hard to know for sure.

And like everyone else has speculated the release -I was told- would be September-ish.

My sources told me(some from Sony), that we won't see this camera until the
end of the year. Colorspace will be 4:2:2, 50Mbps, dual layer, according to
many people. Another source tells me to expect even higher in some area of
the above specs, but would not divulge.

CBS 60 Minutes will be using this camera, according to my Sony source. All
my sources have said to expect a $15k + price increase over the F350. Also,
DVCAM record capability would be gone and F30 and F70 decks would be unable
to play the new format specs, certainly the dual layer aspect would be a problem.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

Also, DVCAM record capability would be gone and F30 and F70 decks would be unable to play the new format specs, certainly the dual layer aspect would be a problem.

Like most technology, Sony will maintain backward compatibility, but it's not easy to create forward compatibility.

-gb-

My sources tell me that that the new XDCAM HD will be H.264 at 200mbps and that the discs will be 200 gigs. The imagers won’t be 2/3” inch CCDs but rather 1” CMOS chips. The camera will be half the weight of the F350 because some of the material was developed by NASA. You can also buy the new 40X lens that Sony developed specifically for this new XDCAM camera. Even the battery is very advanced since it can last for a little over 70 hours. The battery charger is the most impressive because its solar powered so you can either use the electricity from an outlet or you can use the sun and it takes only 3 hours to charge the battery completely.

The release date is going to be on the 1st of May for a price of only 35,000 dollars and the new 40X lens will be priced at 20,000 dollars.

Aren't you a tad late for April Fool's?

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

Sony preNAB2007 conference in Moscow:

- New XDCAM HD with new Canon 2/3-inch lens
- Production list in presentation:- F330 and new XDCAM HD
- 50-gig disc - end 2007

Thats All.
Sorry for bad english.

if it's real, that sounds pretty damn good! A 1" chip that's native 16x9 is almost exactly (1" vs. 1.08") the same size as a super35 1.78 frame. If it's 1080p or 2k, at that size chip it could have excellent low-light and noise characteristics.

Today, I'll accelerate the travel of sketchy information, and repost something I saw on another board. The writing style is either a press-release, or a trade-rag response to such:

XDCAM HD’s Movin’ On Up
Sony will give NAB attendees a sneak peek at the third generation of its XDCAM HD recording system, which offers 4:2:2 processing and increased data capture of up to 50 Mbps (from the current limit of 4:2:0 at 35 Mbps). MPEG-2 and its inherent long GOP structure will continue to be supported. A dual-layer Blu-ray disc will offer 100 minutes of record time.

This new functionality won’t be shipping until later this year or sometime next year. Sony said increasing the picture quality and making the cameras and related equipment 1080i/720p switchable is paramount to the future of the format. For the foreseeable future, the cameras will use ½-inch CCDs, but a 2/3-inch XDCAM HD camera is planned for some time in 2008. [Sony said their current ½-inch imagers use the entire surface area, making them comparable in acquisition quality to others’ 2/3-inch CCDs.]

This blurb was not attributed where I found it, other than somebody mentioned in a response that they "received the email too".

Who knows more (er, besides the people I know that can't say anything!)?

Given that the new Sony F23 super high end cine style camera with HDCAM SR recorder uses 2/3" CCD's, I'd say the chances of a 1" CMOS imager in an
XDCAM HD camcorder are as likely as the poster's other hyperbolic statements.

IMO, Sony has made a mistake not offering a large 35mm size imager in the F23
and puts it at a disadvantage with its cine style camera competitors.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

Edit: The original quote as posted by Nate came from the HDStudio email update:

'Sony will give NAB attendees a sneak peek at the third generation of its XDCAM HD recording system, which offers 4:2:2 processing and increased data capture of up to 50 Mbps (from the current limit of 4:2:0 at 35 Mbps). MPEG-2 and its inherent long GOP structure will continue to be supported. A dual-layer Blu-ray disc will offer 100 minutes of record time.

This new functionality won’t be shipping until later this year or sometime next year. Sony said increasing the picture quality and making the cameras and related equipment 1080i/720p switchable is paramount to the future of the format.'


Sony NZ has clarified that the above relates to the future 2/3" version of the camera.

That would make more sense than a 1/2 inch.

Scott's quote leaves out the information related to 1/2 camera chips. I don't know if Scott truncated the text from HDStudio or if HDStudio did that before sending it out.

Either way, we have conflicting information at this point so it's still a wait and see game.

-gb-

Scott's quote leaves out the information related to 1/2 camera chips. I don't know if Scott truncated the text from HDStudio or if HDStudio did that before sending it out.

Either way, we have conflicting information at this point so it's still a wait and see game.

-gb-

Hi Greg, I left out the 1/2" info as I felt that it confused what the actual press release is about, which is the 2/3" camera. Not a new generation of 1/2" cameras or the option to upgrade the exisiting 330/350 with 'new features' I felt the release was somewhat confusing in that way and called Sony to confirm that the release only pertained to the future 2/3" camera and not existing 1/2" or to be released 1/2" models.

Unfortunately no online link but I'm sure the news will have an online reference soon.

Full text of the HDStudio email:

Quote:
XDCAM HD’s Movin’ On Up
Sony will give NAB attendees a sneak peek at the third generation of its XDCAM HD recording system, which offers 4:2:2 processing and increased data capture of up to 50 Mbps (from the current limit of 4:2:0 at 35 Mbps). MPEG-2 and its inherent long GOP structure will continue to be supported. A dual-layer Blu-ray disc will offer 100 minutes of record time.

This new functionality won’t be shipping until later this year or sometime next year. Sony said increasing the picture quality and making the cameras and related equipment 1080i/720p switchable is paramount to the future of the format. For the foreseeable future, the cameras will use ½-inch CCDs, but a 2/3-inch XDCAM HD camera is planned for some time in 2008. [Sony said their current ½-inch imagers use the entire surface area, making them comparable in acquisition quality to others’ 2/3-inch CCDs.]

The company will also show a new NAS server, called HDXchange, that initially will only handle 25 Mbps HDV files and takes full advantage of the XDCAM HD’s proxy system, MXF files and metadata to speed up the HD production process. It also includes support for QuickTime, AVI, DVI, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files and offers built-in server applications for content management and distribution. This enables the HDXchange to work seamlessly with Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid’s Liquid and Sony’s Vegas NLE software.

The current single-layer 23 GB disc system seems to be taking hold. Sony said it has sold 21,000 XDCAM units (SD and HD) since last year and more than 6,000 XDCAM HD camcorders and playback decks alone.
End Quote

Sony will release at NAB the PDWF355 dual layer camera.
It will be amazing...

Thanks for the additional clarification on that, Scott. I do know some of what's coming but I can't speak about it.

-gb-

TAKEN FROM THE SONY SITE

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/b2b/broadcast_production/content_create_edit/release/29851.html

Adding Flash Memory Capabilities to the XDCAM Family

The planned XDCAM EX unit will expand upon Sony’s XDCAM line of tapeless acquisition technologies, using flash memory technology: the SxS™ memory card specification, with high-speed transfer technology compliant to the ExpressCard™ industry standard.

“Sony will be able to adopt an appropriate technology for each application according to the needs of our customers,” Ott said.

According to Ott, ExpressCard’s higher speed and smaller form factor will make Sony’s evolution to flash media a natural progression and open the door to a broader range of applications for tapeless production.

“The XDCAM EX camcorder will make the most sense in small production systems, where the shooter and editor is often the same person,” Ott said. “In this type of production environment, you can easily control the flash media as it cycles between shooting and feeding the NLE.”

The planned camcorder is based on MPEG-2 compression technology with three, ½-inch imagers. It will be switchable between 1080/60i and 720/60P, and be capable of recording 1080/50i/30P/25P/24P and 720/50P. The camera will also have slow and quick motion functionality.

The camera will feature two card slots, and users will be able to record approximately 120 minutes of content on two16 GB card. Sony is planning to introduce both 8GB and 16GB flash memory media initially.

“Our XDCAM series of products will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the industry and continue to offer flexible, more capable and more affordable production systems,” Ott said.

The camera will also have slow and quick motion functionality.


Amazing that the sub-$10K camera offers variable frame rate capability, but not
the 2/3" XDCAM camera, due to wanting to protect the HDCAM line. Sony needs
to keep their sites on Panasonic, not handicap their products to protect their
other products. I am happy that Sony seems to be responding to Panasonic in
some important areas though.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

Just to add to the debate, at the ProMax digital cafe tonight, the Sony rep indicated they have working lab prototypes that that double the dual layer density they announced at this NAB.

100 Gigs per recordable disc sounds pretty sweet to me - a couple of hours of field acquisition on a single disc at a reasonable high def rate (like Apple's new ProRez 422 HD codec - might break the dam of HD acquision storage data size issues and and workflow that nobody seems to be be addressing in this world of ever increasing camera resolution without enough downstream media storage to support it.

For what it's wroth