New PMW-350, EX1R camcorders and SxS media announced
 

Sony : XDCAM EX, PMW-350, PMW-EX1R Reviewed : Other



New EX1R + PMW350

its nice to see the HD-SDI there and the improvement in the ergonomics.

So it's now official on Sony's site. The PMW-350 is a 2/3 inch shoulder mount camera recording to SxS cards. The supplied viewfinder is kind of a new wrinkle on the EX3 in that it lifts up, but from a line parallel to the camera body, leaving the operator with a side-view LCD screen. A smaller LCD (not color or capable of showing video) appears towards the back, giving audio and other status information.

The back of the camera looks pretty much like the back of the other 3XX series XDCAM cameras as far as i/o goes. However, this camera has the slot receiver mount built in and supports the new dual-channel digital slot receiver from Sony.

The specially designed Fujinon lens has the same auto-manual sliding focus ring as the EX series cameras. But the lens mount is not an EX style mount, it's standard Bayonet using the standard lens cable so any 2/3 glass will work on it without requiring an adapter. There's no optical stabilization with the new Fujinon lens either.

Has the new backlit EXMOR CMOS sensors for a sensitivity of F11 @ 60i and F12 @ 50i. The MSRP with lens is around $20K so expect slightly lower street prices.

That's the meat of it.

-gb-

aghh the EX1R looks really nice.. i said i wasnt going to upgrade.. but i can see myself liking those benefits.

the 350 is pretty damn cool too.

Reviews of actual units are here:

YouTube - Sony PMW-EX1R and PMW-350 review with sample footage.

does the ex1r have the new backlit chip as well?

No Ron, the the new EX1r retains the same imaging block as the original. Nothing has changed in terms of picture quality.

-gb-

Nice and comprehensive review Alister. Has the base plate been improved on the EX1R?

That's a pity - Alister mentions stronger IR (or far red) filtration, which might translate to overall lower sensitivity in low light. The backlit imagers could offset this...

Just a small point, from a wildlife shooter's point of view, the PMW 350 is probably of little interest. Presumably image quality is not that much better than the EX3, and you've got a bigger, heavier camera to lug around and you lose the extra magnification because it has a bigger chip, plus you still have the CMOS issues. I'd have thought that it would be no contest, in favour of the EX3.
But, for a lot of other people I think it ticks all the boxes that they've been asking for, nice form factor, 2/3" chips, even an AF lens, could be a big seller I think. I suppose the only omission from sensible wishlists would be 50 mb/s 422 codec.
Steve

EX1R picture quality and sensitivity is not changed. Pmw350 picture quality is noticably better than EX3. Pretty much same quality as pdw700

I thought you'd always said that the EX3 and PDW700 picture quality were virtually indistinguishable?
Great review by the way, all the info anyone could need.
Steve

Ex1r has bigger base plate.

Excellent review, Alister. Thanks.

The EX1 and EX3 are noisier than the pdw700. Resolution is very close as is highlight handling. Greens on the EX1/3 seem to look mushy, not quite as clean as the 700. The difference is very small. The PMW 350 is stunning, very low noise and clean, clear greens etc. I only had a weekend to use it, I want to look at it some more but in some respects it looked better than the 700. Not sure whether this was due to setups or the lens and CA correction. Need to do more tests to be sure.