Update out V3

[Mike Griffiths]

B+H 4K upgrade works in Thailand I bought it from B+H at $250, shipped to me in Chiang Mai Thailand, paid duty everythingwent well- ECSpert gave me an install key instantly but then it went pearshaped. ''No install key' said the camera.Lots of emails to ECspert and to a specialist Sony guy in the States to no avail. Took it into the Sony service centre in Chiang Mai, they hadn't seen the camera before but spent many hours on the phone to a technician in Bangkok. 6 hours later it's working!!
So to summarise
The B+H at $250 can be made to work on cameras outside the US
Costs: Upgrade $250
Shipping $38
Customs duty $60
Sony service $73 TOTAL $421 ( £290)
Best to get somone in the US to accept the small package and then copy or snap the purchase key and email it, faster and will save $98.
Be prepared for problems- know where you nearest Sony service centre is and expect to pay a little more if it goes wrong.
If anyone else has success,please let us all know

[Ray Paula]

I updated to version 3.00 without any problems using Windows 10. I'd like to add, I printed off the directions and followed them exactly as instructed. I also used my AC adapter with a fully charged battery installed as well. I.M.O. there are too many steps that need to be taken, but it's all straight forward. All I can suggest is follow through with each step correctly and you should be good to go. Ray

[Danilo Sindoni]

All this sound a little strange to me: the new iPhones records in 4K and we have to pay a lot of money with a professional camera (that cost more for this reason) to have the 4K? Yes, I know, the image quality of the camera is better respect to an smartphone but in my opinion this kind of marketing is really strange in 2016. In my opinion something has to change a lot in the next future.

[David Dixon]

Well, there are cameras that cost a LOT more than the X70 that do not have 4K and will never have the option to upgrade to it. If you don't need 4K, you can get the X70 cheaper without it. There is really nothing else that offers the power, features, convenience, size, and quality of the X70 in its price range - and remember that it has now been out for over a year and a half. I wish they would introduce an X70 mk2 or something - same camera with the better sensor, built-in 4K, and 120/100 fps of the Z150 (and maybe S-Log and even a slightly faster lens). But that probably won't happen as then there would not be any reason to get the Z150 :-)

[Mark Goodsell]

Is there a 'visual' difference between the 60mb/s and the 100mb/s? What's lost in the 60mb/s (color info?)

Thanks

[Paul Anderegg]

You will see more compression artifacts in things like quick moving edges, dark areas etc.

Paul

[Noa Put]

I use lower 4K bitrates all the time when I"m shooting scenes with little movement like interviews or a ceremony, visually I cannot see any difference but I can fit more on a card and it's less demanding for the pc or to edit.

[Mark Goodsell]

Thanks, guys. I got everything updated to V3.0 and 4K (probably the 'last' guy to get 4k on his x70!). Feels good -- I took advantage of the $250 B&H sale. Look forward to trying out the 4k as soon as my fast cards arrive (hopefully tomorrow). Let me ask you this: when the camcorder reverts to shooting at 60 mb/s because the card can't handle higher speeds, will it do so automatically w/o any notification to the operator?

Also, does slow-panning distant landscapes (like mountains) on a tripod ...or even using a slow panning device like a Radian, does that qualify as a candidate for 100 mb/s or can a guy get away with using 60mb/s w/o noticable noise?

Thanks,

[John Mitchell]

Funnily enough slow panning involves a much tougher test. Because just about every pixel changes every frame (except maybe when you have a blue sky or something). When you pan quickly you introduce motion blur which is much harder to pick compression errors.

[Roger Averdahl]

I tried to update my ver 2.0.0 camera to ver 3.0.0. I came to "Run the update" and when it was done the Firmware Updater software got back to "Connect the camera and computer" and then it wanted to "Reset the camera" again, and again, and again.

The camera is dead right now and when i attach the power supply the only thing that happens is that the Power light is green but i cannot start the camera. The LCD is black.