Sony announces HXR-NX3 professional HD camcorder

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Michael Warren

To me, that suggests that in this situation, the camera operator must be using the viewfinder.

Nope - it's crazy. You flip the LCD over and the operator then cannot see the LCD, nor anything through the viewfinder because the LCD is active. So the operator is staring at the back of the camera not knowing what the hell is being recorded. WTF??? Moronic! Someone at Sony needs a bloody slapping.

Will certainly get some 50p native test shots up very shortly.

[Ron Evans]

VF power selection is there in my FDR-AX1 just like the NX5U. But both these new camcorders miss smooth gain switching . Maybe Sony feel no one switches gain while recording !!!

Ron Evans

Originally Posted by John Knight

1 big annoyance at this stage, similar to the NX-70, there is no option to have the Viewfinder AND the LCD active at the same time! grrrrrrr!!!

Well, that's a deal breaker! I was all set to order an NX3, but I don't think I will now. I always run my NX5U with both the LCD panel and the viewfinder active with both displaying everything, it's just the way I'm used to working.
You couldn't even use a 7" monitor from the HDMI port as an alternative because you can't send peaking and zebra out HDMI (you can with all other display functions though).

Why would Sony do this? It does seem stupid.

[Tony Maceo]

Originally Posted by John Knight

My NX3 arrived today!! Woohoo. All looking good so far.

1 big annoyance at this stage, similar to the NX-70, there is no option to have the Viewfinder AND the LCD active at the same time! grrrrrrr!!!

That's unfortunate, hopefully you won't discover any other negative "surprises". What other cameras do you have access to that you can compare it to? I'd like to see something to download that shows the effective performance of the 21-40x Clear Image Zoom. This camera still high on my list unless there is a serious NAB announcement in this price range from Panasonic or Canon.

Originally Posted by Tony Maceo

This camera still high on my list unless there is a serious NAB announcement in this price range from Panasonic or Canon.

Personally, I'm hoping for something great from Canon, but I don't know if it will happen.

[John Knight]

Here's some raw files I took just on sunset last night. All shot at 1080/50p, Outdoor WB, slightly tweaked Picture Profile, LPCM audio. Totally unscientific - fairly much out of the box and waving it around - testing AUTO / vs MANUAL in low light, gain/noise etc.

https://mega.co.nz/#!eFkkUIoY!Yf3M-q...j2x_PS6wyWm0M8

https://mega.co.nz/#!3U01xAjb!JcouiG...RJcecxrsm_D-FU

https://mega.co.nz/#!eJ9AkKpS!GPfEu3...L2Zr64uIWmZQyQ

https://mega.co.nz/#!bYsm2YjK!xKTYZQ...XT6B1ft7lPcx8I

https://mega.co.nz/#!LckXAT5a!Yo1Mg8...gJZqaGpOSkC_5U

https://mega.co.nz/#!bF9kHQqY!I8XXhb...rgBsqoWICGvORo

https://mega.co.nz/#!zYVgHTSK!KEJR9G...m5RUE8xj0xikDw

https://mega.co.nz/#!DBt2QCYL!Rl2Pnb...lUg6j8yYw2Yvbg

https://mega.co.nz/#!2Jch1ZjK!Ainw9X...CbPc4HUljNtFGg

[Michael Warren]

Thanks John. Downloading now...

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Tony Maceo

That's unfortunate, hopefully you won't discover any other negative "surprises". What other cameras do you have access to that you can compare it to? I'd like to see something to download that shows the effective performance of the 21-40x Clear Image Zoom.

Hi Tony, I'm upgrading from the Sony Z7 which is HDV and been using since 2008. Similar form factor. The 40x zoom is very impressive. For event purposes no client would ever notice any digital artifacts. Pixel peepers would, but I'm very impressed. 20x is enough for me anyhow as I'm used to only 12x.

The other negative mentioned previously is no SMOOTH GAIN setting which was an option on the Z7. So switching gain manually is instant and harsh. Not a biggie, I tend to select 1 gain setting suitable for the environment and leave it there, controlling things with iris.

Very nice in low light (see clips above). Lighter than the Z7 and slightly more plasticy feel - but solid. Has a built in mic next to the LCD light. Advanced Picture Profile settings (gamma, knee, rgb etc)

I've got a wedding this Saturday and are confident enough to use this as main camera already... with a roving NX70 for cutaways. I'll let you know how I get on.

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Michael Warren

Thanks John. Downloading now...

Let me know if you want to see anything else. The FULL AUTO shots I filmed didn't give me any indication of iris/shutter/gain - my fault, I had turned the CAMERA DATA DISPLAY off which was silly. All sorted now so I can see what settings the AUTO is choosing.

[Michael Warren]

What cute pigs. :)

Thanks for that. Showing what the auto system can do in poor light really gives a "warts and all" view, and it performs pretty much exactly how I expected. No surprises, either good or bad.

I think this camera will sell well for Sony, but now with the viewfinder/LCD thing, there are three things holding me back from jumping in.

[Michael Warren]

Originally Posted by John Knight

The FULL AUTO shots I filmed didn't give me any indication of iris/shutter/gain - my fault, I had turned the CAMERA DATA DISPLAY off which was silly. All sorted now so I can see what settings the AUTO is choosing.

It was obviously gaining up significantly.

I guess, to be scientific, it would be nice to see properly exposed shots where the gain is at 6, 12 and 18db, but for me, I feel I have a good enough understanding of it now, between your clips and Zulqar's.

Thanks again.

[Michael Warren]

Oh, one more thing: is it possible to do creep zooms, or is the rocker too touchy?

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Michael Warren

Oh, one more thing: is it possible to do creep zooms, or is the rocker too touchy?

Zoom is fantastic... lots of options. On the top handle there is a FIX/VAR settings, and in the menu you can change the HANDLE ZOOM SPEED from 1-8. On the 1 setting it takes 30secs to zoom wide (1x) through to 20x. So nice and slow... maybe not creeeeeep. But slow and steady. I use a Manfrotto remote handle and can get a nice variable pressure zoom speed with this also. Unfortunately the FOCUS AUTO/MANUAL switch doesn't seem to work with the Manfrotto handle, but START/STOP and ZOOM do so that's ok.

[Ron Evans]

Does the zoom have a ramp for start and stop or does it just instantly move?

Ron Evans

[John Knight]

Hi Ron, it appears to be slightly padded at each end. Not a jarring stop, but I don't know if it's actually true ramping. I'll get something up in the next couple of days for you.