EX1 or NX5 - what is your opinion?

[Tim Polster]

I thought this was interesting. Taken from the verbage below the Sony SDHC adapter:

"The MEAD-SD01 Media Adapter is recommended for emergency use only".

At least they are making it available!

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Tom Hardwick

Thing to remember is that the EX has chips of twice the surface area of the NX. This means that it'll be cleaner and quieter in the dark.....

Not sure that follows Tom. The EX has chips of twice the area - but twice as many photosites as the NX, hence each photosite in each case will be the same size. Assuming the same underlying technology, I'd therefore expect comparable sensitivity. But the 2 megapixels of the EX will mean it's sharper than the 1 megapixels of the NX and/or mean less detail enhancement needs to be used.

....... and that you won't have such noticeable diffraction problems when you use the iris range. You'll also have differential focus on a lot of your shots - with the NX's tiny chips you've got to really work to get the same effect.

Yes, all true. The EX must be seen as a better camera than the NX, and I think Sony would agree with that. The real advantage the NX has is price, but personally I think the EX is worth the difference.

As far as using SDHC goes, then although I think it works well in the main it's worth adding the caveat that each card should be properly tested before "real" use, don't just open a packet and use a new card on a paying job. I believe SxS cards are individually tested before sale (same with P2) - SDHC are only batch tested, so you may get the occasional one that doesn't meet spec.

Considering the big difference in price, that's not a big issue.

[Anthony Mozora]

I didnt want to open a new thread so I will post my question here :)

I have desided to go tapeless and sell my 2xcanon xha1


my budget is 4000-4200 euro which is the price range of a new NX5 or a used EX1 ( not R)

which one do u thing is the best investment and y?

which one is easiest on editing? nx5 codec or ex1 codec?

[Heath McKnight]

In Final Cut Pro, they're both easy to edit. Now I'm not sure if any new FCP 7 updates have added better support for AVCHD, but when I worked with the NX5U last February/March, having to process the clips as ProRes 422 made the footage quite large.

I think the NX5U is a great camera; I'm always cautious when it comes to used electronics, but if you trust the seller, go for it. The EX1 is absolutely a fantastic camera; I was using it for about 2 years before I left production for a bit in April to focus on writing.

Heath

[Anthony Mozora]

Thank u Heath for the quick reply! :)

I will go for the Ex1


ps: I am using premiere cs4 for editing and now I will upgrade to cs5

[Heath McKnight]

You can't go wrong with the EX1. If I could afford it, I'd buy one but with my budget (and many others'), the NX5U is a very nice camera.

Sure, the chips are smaller so the lens is a bit wider (if I remember correctly--I was working with both cameras back in February for a couple of days) and the light sensitivity isn't quite what the EX1 has, but I really dig the NX5U.

heath

[David Morgan]

Hey,
didn't read this thread sooner because I'm just getting interested in the NX5. One thing you guys aren't focusing on enough is the codec. The EX-1 is using mpeg 2 while the NX is the advanced H.264 codec. I think this is a clear difference. On the one hand, you'd be investing in old technology with the EX and future/now technology with the NX 5. How does that factor affect your thinking?

[Tom Hardwick]

David, whatever you're thinking about 'old technology' (EX1) and 'new technology' (NX5) the clear for all to see fact is that the EX1 gives better pictures than the NX5, in all lighting conditions. But then again (you could argue) so it should as it's 25% dearer.

It didn't affect my thinking in going the NX route because of the longer zoom, my stack of NP-F batteries and LANC controller. And I have to accept the fact that the pictures are not as good - no two ways about it.

tom.

[David Morgan]

what do you mean by not as good?

After this however, I just read about the dreaded Final Cut Pro Log and Transfer issues. Of course, I'm a FC user. I was leaning toward the EX-1r myself but have been attracted to this camera's price point as I need 2 of them for my work.

[Tom Hardwick]

What do I mean by not as good? Not as sharp, not even when both have been put onto lowly DVD, and I've seen this on my 46'' LCD. Not such good dof control because of the smaller chips. AVCHD is very efficient so less gigs needed for storage but more grunt needed for processing.

[Jim Stamos]

reading the posts here on this. havent shot with the nx yet but have shot the ex, seems they would be close in pic quality in good light but ex better in lowlight. ive heard some say on here that the ex looks alot better even in good lighting. 1/2inch chips would certainly make a different in lowlight,but would the pics be closer in quality under good lighting situations?

[Heath McKnight]

I used the EX1 for 2 years and loved it. Sure the technology is "old," but the 1/2-inch chips and other imaging goodies made it a better picture than the NX5U. However, I still think the NX5U is a great camera, too.

Heath

[Shaun R Walker]

I have owned my EX-1 for a few years now and love it, but I have a client who prefers me to shoot on his NX-5 camera. In my opinion, the NX-5 is awful compared to the EX-1. The LCD viewfinder is smaller and doesn't seem as sharp, the focus has about a half second lag as does the iris, making for plenty of out of focus and under or over exposed shots because you end up pulling too far, and it just feels very plasticy. If you have the budget to go with the EX- do it.

(I have a shoot on Monday with the NX-5 and after reading what I have just written I am feeling quite depressed now!)

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by David Morgan

One thing you guys aren't focusing on enough is the codec. The EX-1 is using mpeg 2 while the NX is the advanced H.264 codec. I think this is a clear difference. On the one hand, you'd be investing in old technology with the EX and future/now technology with the NX 5. How does that factor affect your thinking?

The important thing to realise is that the only way the codec of the NX5 is more advanced is that it allows for comparable quality at a lower bitrate. How much lower depends on the actual coder - and current chips built in to cameras and working in real time are nowhere near as efficient as expensive ones or software encoding with a computer in non-real time.

So with these two cameras in mind, the coding difference is partly the codec, partly bitrate, and I'm pretty confident that the higher bitrate of the EX is far more significant than the codec difference. So not only is the front end of the EX better, the codec quality is higher, and it's far easier to edit natively than AVC-HD. In pretty well every respect the EX will outperform the NX5.

But - isn't there always a but? - the EX is more expensive, and you'll need more GB for a given length of recording.

Bitrate can be a very significant factor for something like transmission, streaming, etc and this is where H264 really shines. For acquisition, MPEG2 has a lot more going for it, bitrate issues are less important, especially if it doesn't affect the choice of physical media. (And both can be recorded to SDHC, it's not a case that 35Mbs MPEG necessitates SxS.)

[David Morgan]

Shaun,
This is the first time I've read about the lag issues in all the posts about this camera. Are you sure that there's nothing wrong with your unit?

David,
I get what your saying. One of my dilemma's is that I actually need 2 cameras. I have 2 XH-A1 Canon HDV cameras. I'm using a Focus DTE recorder with one of them but it's a hassle. I want to sell both and get into tapeless and the NX with the bolt on storage drive looks really appealing. Exactly what I need at the right price point as I primarily shoot theatre and dance shows (long duration). The EX will kill me price wise if I have to buy 2 and then the external drive is a lot of extra dough. It also seems that some people are running into periodic issues with the SD cards in the EX when not using the S x S. I don't think that Sony will stand behind any issues with these "emergency" cards either. Obviously, I can't afford to have card issues when shooting one of a kind shows......