XDCAM HD New Releases / NAB?

[Rob Stiff]

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?

[Godfrey Kirby]

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

[Greg Boston]

Rob,

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

regards,

-gb-

[Joe Torrie]

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.

[Jeff Regan]

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

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Jeff Regan

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-

[Paulo Teixeira]

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.

[Jeff Regan]

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

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
www.ssv.com

[Grigory Volovich]

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.

[Jaron Berman]

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.

[Nate Weaver]

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!)?

[Jeff Regan]

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

[Scott Webster]

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.

[Steve Connor]

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

[Greg Boston]

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-