Pxw x500 or Z450?

[Charlie Harvey]

Hi all.

Just after opinions on this? ( I have bothered Doug Jensen on a different board already) but just want to dig a bit deeper.

Have a PMW500 that has taken its last breath a week ago and I need to replace it asap.

Timeframe does not allow me to wait for the z750 so will need to make a decision this week.

Do any of you run a z450? Seem to be like aliens. They may exist and some people have seen them but not many have been close enough to touch it.

Obviously x500 is a direct replacement and a workhorse. The client I work for mostly is Australian based and they only went HD a few years ago so still have a good 6-8 year lifespan on HD before reinvesting I would think.

The z450 intrigues me thou. Same body and form factor but with the single sensor and 4k? Do any of you actually use it in a day to day news current affairs environment? Any major issues with flashbanding or rolling shutter?

The z450 is 2k more than the x500 now so just after real world advise.

I have a fully rigged FS7 for 4K work so that ticks a box on that front.

And finally the Sony Oled viewfinders. Yes or no? Worth the extra cost?

Cheers

Charlie

[Charlie Harvey]

Seems like one of the few that has used the z450 is Doug Jensen. Doug can I ask have you experienced and rolling shutter or flashbanding? I looked at your clip reel of the camera again ag I see the helicopter blades looked good. Thoughts?

[Doug Jensen]

I have nothing but positive things to say about the Z450. I don't own one myself, but on the many occasions that I have used them, particularly during the 2018 Winter Olympics, they performed flawlessly in every way. I've been demoing a pre-production Z750 for the past week (gotta send it back to Sony on Friday) and I don't think I can tell the difference between them. The Z750 is supposed to have better low-light capability and has global shutter but I think I'd need to have them side-by-side before those differences would ever be visible. I have never seen any rolling shutter of any kind on the Z450. You might see flash-banding on the Z450 but who cares? Flash banding is so common now it looks normal to most viewers.

For what it is worth, there is no way that I would invest any money in any camera that can't do 4K today, so the X500 wouldn't even on my radar if I had to buy a 2/3" camera right now.

I hope that helps.

[Doug Jensen]

In case anyone is interested, here's some Z450 footage I shot after NAB 2017 when Sony let me take the camera off the show floor for a couple of weeks on my way home from Vegas.

Sony PXW-Z450 4K Demo Reel on Vimeo

[Charlie Harvey]

Thanks Doug. Appreciate the info as always. Good to know about the rolling shutter and the fact you shot at the winter Olympics with it. I'm guessing you had a lot of fast action to film?
Some of the colours in the Z450 reel you posted are fantastic (I realise you graded it as well). I note you set up a scene file. Any chance you could share? Unless of course you have a book coming out? ;-)

[Doug Jensen]

I don't know all my Z450 Scene File settings off the top of my head because I have them saved on an SD card as an ALL file. But, i think these are the major settings that make a visible difference:

Gamma: HG4
Matrix: ITU-709
Master Black: -4
Adaptive Matrix: On
Aperture: On and set for +20
Knee: All knee settings turned off

[Charlie Harvey]

Thanks Doug.

Going to hire in a z450 for a week as a trial. But as you said earlier if they were used for the Winter Olympics then they must be pretty good.

Cheers