Well, according to the preliminary info on the Sony Europe site:

"The handheld camcorder is supplied with an interchangeable HD Carl Zeiss lens with 1/3” bayonet joint mechanism, allowing the flexibility of attaching existing 2/3” or 1/2” lenses with a standard lens adaptor. Lenses from the popular Digital SLR – a System from Sony can also be used with a special adaptor."

So you can use even 2/3" lens with it!

Using a lens which creates an image circle larger than intended for the camera's image sensor (i.e., a 2/3rd-inch lens and a 1/3rd-inch sensor) will result in a crop factor which increases the effective field of view of that lens. Which is fine if you need a longer focal length, but problematic if you want a wide field of view.

I get your point, Chris - but since the same possibility is planned for the real pro, shoulder-mount "brother", I guess the move has been deeply thought through by Sony engineers.

Aside from enabling choice among third- and half-inch lenses, lens interchangeability also makes possible DOF adapters with simpler relay lenses, which I assume, would reduce light loss.

Very cool cameras...can't wait!

Scott

The Z1u has been around for over 2 1/2 years now. I could see this camera replacing both it and the V1u.

heath

Hi there

this camera has answered a number of issues for me...and also answers a question I asked on here a year or so back....when and HD DSR 250?
What does it offer me?
1) I prefer the shoulder format. The Z1 is a heavy & unbalanced beast made worse by matte box and mic. Shoulder support only goes part way to helping.
2) As its HDV my current editing set up will handle it.
3) While I like the form of the new tapeless Xdcam EX..it raises a number of issues I'm not sure I'lm ready for just yet..ie. a)lack of compatibility with (my) NLE system, In fact I'm already struggling to handle HDV on my Pc's... b)Need for large capacity back up hard drives (already I have a hard job managing the large files, I've 2To's of HD already) c) also the cost and small capacity of the SxS cards. 16go is small and expensive .. prices will come down.. but...
4) Large format looks more professional... a problem with the Z1 is people often don't take it seriously.. this does count with clients as many will have found.
5) Better connectivity...
6) Interchangeable lenses is an optional..
7) For the time being HDV is more than enough resolution... SD is not dead yet and it will be a few years before your average user has any regular HD set up...
So while the Xdcam looks superb.. I really don't want another handycam.. I guess this is the bottom line. I can't affiord a full size Xdcam, and have been forced to by a Z1 for my needs. The DSR250 would have been a choice but lack of 16:9 and no HDV made it a non starter...

It has to be said that while we are now going to be swamped with choice of format and form over the last two years the choice has been very limited for the entry pro market, for me the Z1 was the only viable choice...

cheers

Gareth

Both of these cameras are labelled as "Professional HDV." Does that refer to any changes in the codec, or just to things like interchangeable lenses and XLR inputs?

Also, I see the 25p frame rate, but no mention of 30p or 24p. Are these cams PAL only?

Any idea on size/weight of the handycam?

Just marketing speak. The same way that Apple says iMovie has "professional quality" transitions.


-A

I'll be curious to see the image quality and low-light sensitivity of a 3-chip 1/3" CMOS camera. Have we seen multiple 1/3" CMOS chips before? Is it fair to assume that this camera's image quality will be better than the V1, but poorer than the XDCAM EX?

I'm also going to be curious about size and weight of the handycam. It looks nice and compact, but I can't tell how big that lens is. Wouldn't one of these babies and an HDMI version of Convergent Designs Flash XDR be a nice pairing?

It seems like Sony is slicing their prosumer market into mighty narrow segments.

A thought: are these the last two tape-based cameras Sony will ever produce (at least in this market segment)?

Bigger sensors always give better signal-to-noise ratio, so the EX is a plus. But the interchangeable lenses are exciting! I also wonder about these being the last tape-based cameras; we certainly are moving towards HDD, DVD (SD, Blu-Ray, etc.), Flash, etc.

heath

Somewhere, I saw a zoom in picture of this camera with a 6 Megapixel label near the lens. That's kinda weird on a camera in this market segment because the photosites are smaller. So, unless we see Sony literature reading "three 1/3 sensors", we should just wait. I'll assume its one RGB Bayer sensor.

What I'd like to see is one of those DSLR sensors in a camcorder.

I think you may be confusing these new cameras mentioned on the European site
http://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/Show...site=biz_en_GB
With this camera
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=102492
which looks like a repackaged HC7 in shoulder mount which of course would have a 6Megapixel still feature.

Ron Evans

That has non-interchangeable lens.

Just some idle speculation / Friday afternoon time-wasting:

I guess it starts when Sony says "HDMI output – uncompressed HD signal and embedded audio can be output to HDMI-compatible devices." I wonder what that really means?

Thoughts anyone?

It would be great to connect this to one of the much anticipated Convergent Design Flash XDR recorders (yes, I know the 1.0 version is SDI only, but there is a $400 adapter).

Wouldn't it be wonderful If Sony would sell just the Body, so you could combine it with a good quality compact 35mm adapter, one with flip and minimal light loss like the Mini35 or even the new Letus Extreme for the more budget conscious. I hear that only takes half a stop.

Lens-wise, one of the new RED cine zooms would be nice (or both) or some used cine primes or even just some manual 35mm still lenses.

Combine this with a moderately-priced set of rails, a FF and mattebox from someone like Cavision.

To me this would be a really great cinema-look set-up

1. The uncomprssed feed from the Sony body. Probably looking at $4,500
2. Great storage option from Convergent, admittedly @ $5,400
3. $1,200 - $5,500 for a good 35MM adapter
4. $6,500 for the 18-50mm RED zoom, as an example, as it is the least $.
5. $1,500 for rails, MB and FF

Should be a really high quality, compact and reliable rig. I've used 35mm adapters before, and struggled with the overall length, back focus etc. I'd like something I could really 'run and gun' with cinema-style, like it was one of those shoulder-mounted 35mm Arris.

Not intended to be a budget system, and it will come it at about the cost of a RED body.

Thoughts on whether this would be a tempting set-up, or are there other combos out ther that would deliver the same or better for less $$$.

Maybe the pocket RED will fill this gap