New Sony PXW-Z150

[Jim Stamos]

After talking extensively to the Sony guy at nab, none of the cameras below the fs7,including the fs5, will have 4k 60p.Besides the heat factor requiring a fan,which would increase the purchase price,he said fewer would buy the fs7 and would get the lower priced z150 or fs5 if they had 60p

[Ron Evans]

Well maybe that is confirmation that the reason is purely marketing not technology. Sony do not have a competitor for the DVX200 or the new AG-UX180 in a very cost competitive segment. They would clearly loose some sales to one product but pick them up in another. Silly marketing. More likely is the fact they do not want to record 50/60P at 150Mbps to SD cards as that would hit their sales of XQD cards. Wonder when they will discontinue the PXW-Z100 and the FDR-AX1 which are the closest competitors but with small sensors that do not compete in low light. I think the Panasonic HCX1000 uses the same Sony sensor as the FDR-AX1 and would not be surprised if the new AG-UX180/150 use a Sony 1" sensor too !!

Ron Evans

[Chris Clifton]

I just picked up a couple of these cams for a week long project, opting to NOT take two interchangeable lens and somewhat unwieldy/quirky cameras like FS5's or 7's. The z150 was a pleasure to work with and if you are not afraid of popping in 3db or even 6 db (which is often the case with raising ISO on the FS5 & 7 as well with t4 lenses) shallow DOF is easily achieved. I found the same issue with the DVX200--it ramps up just as quickly from 2.8 to 4+. But it's very clean on both cams, no perceptible noise. We only saw grain at 9db and it was actually a pleasant grain. Gorgeous image, and no tricky loss of focal length when switching between HD and UHD (as happens with DVX200). 30p in UHD is fine for 100% of my corporate projects, which also don't require sLog. The camera ops loved the ease of use, lightweight, and small footprint, in our very small locations. An uncomplicated camera is a welcome respite from the 30+codec/lut/look/framerate options on the FS series cams, which I also have. The smooth 120 slo-mo is just a plus over the FS5's 8 second burst--for $3100, it's really hard to beat and fun to use the z150. It's a great backup to the FS cams, in a pinch, it can grab a shot much faster. And the clear scan lens zoom lens really stacks up a long shot beautifully. I also like the DVX200, but for a thousand more bucks for Log that I'll never use, this was a no brainer.

[Thomas Arthur]

Where did you get the camera? B&H says it's not available until September now...

[Chris Clifton]

MicroSearch in Houston.

[Rick Miller]

I'm interested in the cam too. I've read where delays are due to the earthquakes in Japan, but as of now, B & H shows availability on 6/28.

[Cliff Totten]

I have read that Sony has shifted some of it's sensor production to it's other factories to assist with shortages. So, maybe they can get some Z150's back to the market pretty soon?

It's my guess that things will be limited until Sony's Kumamoto plant is fully online again.

I would also guess that the higher profit margin products would get the highest priority on sensor stock first?

CT

[Chris Clifton]

You guys are correct, the sensor factory earthquake slowed production and Sony sent out a handful to its reps--I just happened to be at the top of the waiting list with my dealer. Hopefully more releasing soon.

[Doug Jensen]

Here's some test footage I shot with my Z150 last week.

Sony PXW-Z150 4K Test Footage on Vimeo

[Cliff Totten]

Doug, what are your thoughts on the Z150?

For me, I'm pretty shocked at how muck I like it. That new stacked 1inch-type sensor with onboard RAM seems to perform better than the X70's previous generation chip. That, or Sony's noise reduction processing has improved on the Z150. Hard to say.

For what it's designed for and the low price point it sits at, I actually think it over delivers.

I'm anxious to do some lab testing between the X70 and Z150 next weekend.

CT

[John Nantz]

Yesterday I came across this Z150 review

Review - New Sony PXW Z150 - YouTube

where it was compared with the EX1 HD cam from 2008. After the comparison I was very disappointed because this was under serious consideration for adding to my kit to keep company with the AX100 and the AX53.

The other cam I’ve been considering is the JVC LS300 because of it’s interchangeable lens capability and the option to use prime glass which is a real plus. With the intro of the Z150 which has a power zoom lens and the 1” sensor, and given how well the AX100 has worked out, I thought this would be a logical way to go but now I’m not so sure.

My guess is the AX100 will probably be replaced with a new model within the next half year.

Curious what others think about the review.

[Cliff Totten]

I own an EX1r, FS5, Z150, X70 and A7S-II. It's true, the lens on the EX1r is spectacular. f1.9 all the way through? How can the Z150 beat that in full zoom in low light?

Really, it's tough to compare these twe models. However, let's also be honest here and state that the Z150 does 4k that allows a powerful 1080 pan/crop window option. (shoot wide and re frame the shot in post...LOVE this about 4k. It's like having two 1080 cameras on the shoot.) The Z150 has 10bit on board and does full HD 120p and has a FAR better and modern h.264 CODEC. Sadly, all of this is WAY beyond the EX1r.

Now, I strongly suspect that Sony is not done with this body. I'm betting that a constant aperture lens model is on the horizon and this model will sit above the Z150. The Z150 body has active cooling fans today,...Sony "might" go as far as to give this new model 4k 60p? (IBC in November?)

EX1r vs. Z150 is not a fair comparison. The EX1r's Fujinon lens is it's strength. But the Z150's CODECs, frame rates, 4k resolution and LCD monitor quality are FAR better than the EX1r. And,....lets face it, at only +3db, the EX1r is already a noisy camera by today's standards. It has a very old noise reduction circuit.

But, yeah...I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the EX1r...hehe.

CT

[Jack Zhang]

Originally Posted by Jim Stamos

After talking extensively to the Sony guy at nab, none of the cameras below the fs7,including the fs5, will have 4k 60p.Besides the heat factor requiring a fan,which would increase the purchase price,he said fewer would buy the fs7 and would get the lower priced z150 or fs5 if they had 60p

This is absolutely stupid. They honestly don't expect the FS7 to be their new flagship EX1, do they?

The real reason is a combination of their claim about heat, and the fact the cheap ASICs currently in mass production are all 4K 30p. They go for cost cutting for mass production of as many of these things as possible, then combine it with their marketing BS to not undercut the FS7.

They know Micro 4/3rds and 1'' is their main competition, so they don't want to give them the chance, while Panasonic is giving those formats the chance to evolve.

If only they offered 10bit 4:2:2 on the UX180, then I wouldn't have hesitated at all. All formats on the UX180 are 8bit 4:2:0 I believe.

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

For me, I'm pretty shocked at how muck I like it. That new stacked 1inch-type sensor with onboard RAM seems to perform better than the X70's previous generation chip. That, or Sony's noise reduction processing has improved on the Z150. Hard to say.

It's the noise reduction. The sensors don't change unless they explicitly market it.

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

Now, I strongly suspect that Sony is not done with this body. I'm betting that a constant aperture lens model is on the horizon and this model will sit above the Z150. The Z150 body has active cooling fans today,...Sony "might" go as far as to give this new model 4k 60p? (IBC in November?)

Remember that the UX180 releases in November too. The big thing right now is no one has made an ASIC or FPGA fast enough to encode XAVC-L 4K 10bit 4:2:2 yet. (The closest is the yet to be released Ambarella 4K 60p HEVC chip, the H2, which would do 8bit 4:2:0 4K at 120fps) All the long GOP offerings are 8bit 4:2:0, which is not future proof for HLG delivery.

Originally Posted by John Nantz

Curious what others think about the review.

It's using a Sony G series lens which will inherently have a 2 stop loss over it's zoom range. The Fujinon only loses 0.9 stops at full, and it's already F1.9. The sensor, although good, still has rolling shutter issues. If Sony integrated their deep trenched pixel tech from their iPhone sensors in a 1'' sensor, that can help a lot. They also soon have a 4096x2160 1'' sensor with global shutter for machine vision, but I almost have a feeling their machine vision and consumer smartphone sensor and professional sensor divisions are separate, cause we see barely any crossover.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

Doug, what are your thoughts on the Z150?

I'm very impressed with the Z150 so far and I think it is fantastic bargain at $3200. I also agree with almost everything you have said about the EX1 in post #27.

I was (and still am) a big fan of the EX1 and I still own my original EX1 from 2007, but I must say that the Z150 beats it on almost every count except for the speed of the lens. No comparison at all in my opinion. Just the quality of the viewfinder alone is huge. The EX1 will probably go up for sale now if it is still worth anything on the used market.

I also think there are a lot of people who are struggling with cameras like the FS5 who would be much better served with a camera like this. It is exactly the right tool for the kinds of shooting some people are unsuccessfully trying to adapt an FS5 or FS7 for. Seriously, the Z150 will now be my go-to camera for run & gun shooting. This is a super easy camera to shoot with on full manual and still get great results no matter how experienced you are. After the FS7, I think the Z150 offers the most bang for the buck of any camera I've shot with. I just wish it was part of the XDCAM family instead of NEX so we'd have all the professional menus and features of the EX1, X200, etc.

[Jack Zhang]

Yeah, the other difference of the Z150 not being in the XDCAM family is it doesn't use BP-U. It uses L series batteries. L-series has no push button level check like BP-U batteries.