New PMW-350, EX1R camcorders and SxS media announced

[Bob Grant]

No update to the EX3, interesting.

Personally the EX3 never made a lot of sense to me. The ability to change lenses was an option exercised by very few, this makes more sense with a camera at the 350's pricepoint. On the downside the ergonomics of the EX3 never sat right with me, those buttons on the back of the viewfinder were a pain to use.

As a long time EX1 owner the upgrade is great. There's nothing in it that saddens me about my original purchase. Those that don't really need the new features should be able to buy the original EX1 from those that do want to upgrade at a sensible discount as well. If the market behaves sensibly it's should be a win/win for everyone.

[Enrique Orozco Robles]

glad I have the EX3... no update because it was a very updated concept from the original EX1 ... many of the EX1r updates are already on the EX3... just the ergonomics, excelent viewfinder, s/q button AND for me the use of my AB dionic battery on its back, makes it the best choice for me .... and 10K more for the 350 maybe it-s too much right now... by the way... WHY is the 350 SO BIG .... it is a tapeless and diskless camera.... WHY the same old BIG FORM FACTOR from the past ... I was expecting something more different, maybe JVC 110/700 style..... well, I have to test it maybe closer...

kind regards

[Alister Chapman]

As far as I know there are no plans to change or replace the EX3.

[David Heath]

I was wondering about the EX3. Slightly strange that it didn't get a similar upgrade to the EX1 at the same time. As it is it leaves it with some advantages over the new EX1R, but in other ways it's at a disadvantage. (Cache record, no native SD etc etc)

The more I look, the more I come across. "Copy all clips" mode, for instance. This now makes it feasible to shoot on SxS, then dump to SDHC in camera for a medium term backup for an extra degree of safety (or as a copy to give to a third party).

And has anyone commented on the PMW-350 power consumption? 15 watts, 18 watts whilst recording. That's astonishingly good!! A lot lower than the HPX301, in spite of the 2/3" chips. With an 11watt LED headlight that's only 29watts recording with a light on.

And the radio mic receiver slot. Will take the old style OR the new Sony digital receivers.

[Tom Roper]

Is it going to be easier to obtain a smooth, shakeless camera holding from an EX1R with optical image stabilization, or from a large format PMW350 properly balanced on the shoulder?

[Lance Librandi]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

SD is an option that will be available from launch.

Hi Alister,
SD is something that I have had great issues with on the EX3. The quality from the down convertor is absolute rubbish. I purchased a NanoFlash recorder to give me a better quality SD image from the EX3. How would you compare the quality of the PMW30 SD DVCAM to that of the NanoFlash recorded from the EX3 via SDI?
Has Sony rectified the IR contamination issue of the EX1 &EX3 with the release PMW30 & EX1R ?

[Bob Grant]

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

Is it going to be easier to obtain a smooth, shakeless camera holding from an EX1R with optical image stabilization, or from a large format PMW350 properly balanced on the shoulder?

Shoulder mount cameras win hands down. Not only is the weight transferred directly to your skeleton the mass is balanced. Plus the camera comes with a power tap for a light and mounting a wireless mic receiver is a piece of cake.

[Gints Klimanis]

"Greens on the EX1/3 seem to look mushy, not quite as clean as the 700."

Alister, is this during your comparison of native footage from the EX1 and the 350/700? Does the Nanoflash improve the EX1 in that respect ?

[David Issko]

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

I noticed the audio is listed as 16bit for the PMW-350.

I wonder if using a Nanoflash, if the audio signal would be uncompressed out of the HDSDI to get true 24bit recording?

Thanks

Oh yes, you bet it is 24 bit. Damn fine recorder too!!! Love it.
Cheers

[Tim Polster]

Thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify, if the same event was recorded via SxS and a Nanoflash simultaneously, the Nanoflash audio would sound better?

As it is true 24bit out of the HDSDI?

The Nano audio would not be 16bit audio recorded at 24bit?

[Alister Chapman]

Gints: The NanoFlash makes no difference to the mushy greens. I beleive it is down to the sensor or optics. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking for perfection here. The EX1 and EX3 pictures are still very good in my book, it's just the PDW-700 and PMW-350 are better.

[Bo Skelmose]

Guess I will never be satisfied. The 350 certainly is a great camera - sadly it miss overcranking - the PMW-EX1R update with a buttom that switches the hole camera over to the prefered system setting, when overcranking, is great. I would have loved the 350 camera in DVCam with 300 fps. - or still just 720- 60P variable. Still the PMW-350 will be my next camera, but it will not outdate the PMW-EX3 - yet.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Lance Librandi

SD is something that I have had great issues with on the EX3. The quality from the down convertor is absolute rubbish.

Then I'd say you shouldn't get too excited about the EX1-R's DVCAM mode. The chips are full raster so the down-conversion has to happen somewhere - either from the card to the computer or from the chips to the card.

It's the latter that the EX1-R will be doing in DVCAM mode, and the cheap 'n' cheerful in-built down-converter won't be a match for far more expensive, power hungry and physically bigger and heavier NLE solutions.

tom.

[Alister Chapman]

EX1R frame grabs:
XDCAM-USER.com • View topic - PMW-EX1R HD/SD Frame Grabs

and a PMW-350 Grab
XDCAM-USER.com • View topic - PMW-350 Frame grabs

I'll try to add more when I get decent internet access.

[Lance Librandi]

Thanks Tom.