Sony introduces HDR-CX700v 1080p60 camcorder

[Dave Blackhurst]

I have to wonder how much of the price is because it's an "NXCAM", therefore is "professionally priced"... ala the A1u and V1U.

If that were the case, and Sony follows form, perhaps we'll see a "grey" (instead of black, it's just what color plastic flows through the molds!) "high end prosumer" version at a more digestable price point, like the HC1 and FX7 (both at one point or another in their product life cycles were in the $2K range).

It's not inconceivable that you knock off the XLR handle and mic, put a less noticeable eyecup on the VF, more subtle lens hood, and perhaps cripple a few features, and you could have a "FX" or perhaps a new designation in continuation of the old "VX" and "FX" lineage, - maybe an AX7000? There is a fairly large hole in the Sony line right now with the FX7 having been resurrected after being discontinued, and now VERY long in the tooth (and still one of my all time favorite cameras for ergonomics and functionality!).

Logically, they could fill that hole with a variation of such a camera fairly easily, and there are already interested buyers lined up - hi guys, good to see ya again, howya doin'... <wink>! I think Consumers are very much interested in "ruggedized" toys, and Sony has been doing some "tough" P&S cameras at very reasonable price points. I'd replace a CX550 with an AX7000...

[Jim Stamos]

dave from the specs, it seems identical to the cx700 except for the xlr, iris/focus ring, same guts, same pic quality etc.
im wondering how good the viewfinder is on it. would be nice to see how usable it is.
will send back feeback from nab.

will probably sell for around 2500.00/ list shows at 3200
i have the cx550 which is great but need to get a main cam , was leaning to the nxcam/ex1r, but if this can hold up as well, i could save alot getting it. just wish the zoom was more

[Dave Blackhurst]

Hi Jim -
Somehow I'm a bit reluctant to relate it to the CX700 - the genes are definitely related, but it's a significantly larger camera - While it MAY have the same sensor and general "guts", it should have better/bigger glass, and of course is ruggedized with more manual controls.

I'm in the same boat, like to get one "main" camera, this is the first one that's started to perk up my interests, though I fear I'd be taking the "small" cameras out out of habit!

The more I think about it, the more I suspect we'll see an AX7000 in the near future - Sony is a creature of habit.

[John McCully]

Does anyone know where I might find some raw files (not Youtube-ized) directly off the CX700v? I would very much like to understand how the data looks versus EX1 files.

Many thanks...

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

Hi Jim -
Somehow I'm a bit reluctant to relate it to the CX700 - the genes are definitely related, but it's a significantly larger camera - While it MAY have the same sensor and general "guts", it should have better/bigger glass, and of course is ruggedized with more manual controls.

I'm in the same boat, like to get one "main" camera, this is the first one that's started to perk up my interests, though I fear I'd be taking the "small" cameras out out of habit!

The more I think about it, the more I suspect we'll see an AX7000 in the near future - Sony is a creature of habit.

For the price it should have a new lens but the spec looks to be the same. We will have to wait and see. I would like a version without the XLR or fancy eyepiece too.

Ron Evans

[Dave Blackhurst]

Looked a little deeper into the spec sheet, and it's still a 37mm filter size, so very well could be the same lens and imaging block...

Looks like only stereo onboard mics, but it'd be pretty easy to make a "reduced feature set" version of this camera - I really don't need the XLR's and top handle or the jutting out the back eyepiece, just show me the buttons (with better manual controls of course!)! Shouldn't be hard to bring an "AX7000" in at just around the $2k price point.

Also hope they allow VF and LCD simultaneous ala the FX7. Like the lens hood, looks a lot like the A1U hood I've got on my CX550!

I hope that the "street" price ends up a little more realistic (sorry, I just don't see it at nearly 3x the price of a CX550 or CX700) on this camera (or the AX version!), it shows promise. Has anyone seen good photos of the button configurations? I see the 3 way switch for the ring, what looks like a button for focus enhance, and the next button towards the bottom looks to be labelled "iris"... really curious as to the user interface for this camera, as it does look to have quite a few buttons scattered about!

[Ron Evans]

The buttons along the bottom appear to be iris, extended focus, histogram. Then a door for the HDMI connector then a Display button. So the buttons for iris and focus will likely work like the NX5U. Pressing toggles between auto and manual. I hope the extended focus button still works like the CX700 and not the NX5U and it still retains the spot focus function from the touch screen. Will wait with interest for the manual to go up on the SOny site.

Ron Evans

[Dave Blackhurst]

There look to be more buttons or switches on the back, plus one on the opposite side of the lens and one more maybe on that side of the body... the possibility of being able to individually turn settings on and off, and control them with a wheel like on the old TRV900 or the FX7 is certainly potentially there. All that AND a touch screen and most control freaks would probably be left with few things to whine about.

C'mon AX7000... this'd be worth upgrading a CX550!

I really hope Sony will rapidly adjust the price point - this seems like so close a competitor to the new Canon at $2K, and IIRC there's a JVC and Panasonic that hit this market segment in those price ranges. $3200 just seems a bit too optimistic. Heck, VG10's seem to be bringing around $1600 in the barely used market!

Somehow this seems like it should have come in around $750-1000 lower, but it'd be easy to make an AX version meet that on the "consumer side" of Sony.


So back to the CX700 - have you A/B'd with the XR500 for low light performance to see if it's better or worse, and cleaner or noisier? I'm talking the REALLY bad lighting condition type thing, where the 5xx series have performed quite admirably in lo lux mode.

[Ron Evans]

On Monday evening I did a show and used both CX700 and XR500 side by side. Picture seems identical as far as I can tell. XR500 AE shift control has more range then the CX700 as this is only + or - 1.0 EV. I think the XR500 may be more useful because of this greater range control. CX700 was set at -1.0 EV and the XR500 at AE shift -3. It was nice to have zebra and peaking to check the picture though.

Ron Evans

[Dave Blackhurst]

Hmmm, wonder whether perhaps there's 4 steps, just designated differently? Or is it just one click either way... that would be another step backwards! Even my P&S TX7 provides 6 steps each way, up to +-2 EV...

Since the CX700 supposedly uses a new sensor than the 5xx series, I'm just sort of slightly curious as performance in bad light, and lowest noise possible is something I find very important, and the 5xx series cameras are hard to beat in that respect. The new Canon lower pixel density sensor looks to come pretty close, maybe even better, but I see too much degradation in the Panasonic samples I've seen, just wondering if Sony upped the game or at least held the line.

I know that the higher pixel density sensor in the TX9 was a slight step backward over the one in the TX7, at least when it came to video - not much, but enough to "bug" a bit.

[Ron Evans]

Dave, the AE shift is in 4 steps. Plus or minus 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0. So the steps are the same but the range seems bigger on the XR500. The XR500 visibly makes picture darker or lighter but on the CX700 doesn't seem so much.

Max gain on the CX700 is indicated in data code as 21db compared to 18db on the XR500 and the SR11. Noise levels are much like the XR500 haven't really noticed significant difference so far. The intelligent auto works very well seems better than the XR500.

Ron Evans

Edit: Forgot to mention that the low lux mode seems even more effect on the CX700 definitely sees in the dark.

[Pat Reddy]

I have decided to either return my CX700v or send it in for warranty work. The softness I noticed does indeed exist on the left side of the frame only. Here is a shot of a resolution chart (I wouldn't put too much stock in this as a measure of resolution or moire for this camera, since I made no attempt to be very careful about the setup or processing or lack thereof of the frame-grab). I did center the camera to the target and shoot normal to the center of the upper 40% of the image so that both upper corners were at the same distance and angles with respect to the camera. I was trying to verify softness that seemed particularly strong in the upper left corner.

Seems unlikely that this would be a problem for all or most cameras of this model, but has anyone else noticed this issue?

Pat

[Stacy Rothwell]

So anyone know how the cx700v would compare with the dsc-hx9v? The hx9v is obviously a point and shoot camera, but has a slightly larger exmor sensor, 1080p60 avchd recording at 28mbps.... In fact it seems to match nearly every feature.
Obviously it doesn't have the twisty LCD screen and no viewfinder. I looked on YouTube and the 1080p60 footage looks just as hood as the 700's.... Just wondering...

[Dave Campbell]

So, anyone using this camera with a Apple MAC? Looks like the PMB s/w will not run on a MAC.
Any issues getting files off?

[Dave Blackhurst]

Stacy -
From my experience with the P&S Sonys, here's the things you'll "miss" -

stereo sound, not 5.1,

no VF, no tilt screen,

smaller screen or display area on SOME models (in some cameras 4:3, depends on the model, you may get "letterboxed" video and native 4:3 stills, or in the TX series "pillarboxed" 4:3 stills and native 16x9 video - you'll have to check the specific model to find out the display aspect ratio)

zoom range - probably smaller on the P&S

zoom mech noise - comes through on the P&S because of the small body - may not be as bad on the new linear lens designs?

low light is not going to be nearly as good as say the 500 series handycams, you'll have to test to see if it's adequate for your needs - noise levels may or may not be acceptable at higher gains.

no dedicated audio I/O - no headphone or mic jacks - I've seen overloading/distortion in the internal mics in high volume situations on SOME models and not others...

Clip length is typically limited to 30 minutes, but you can just stop/restart

NO manual control beyond a very basic "+- EV".

One small battery - no larger optional ones, so you need to carry spares!


What you may find worth the tradeoff - pocketable, stills from the new 16.2 Mpixel sensor looked pretty good to me, and video in good light/60p was very impressive.


Frankly, a TX7 or TX9 has been what I'm carrying everywhere now, it's as compact as you can get, and covers MOST video fairly well with good stills too. I'm looking at the TX10 and TX100 when upgrading is not too expensive! Only thing I really miss is the long end of the zoom, and of course the HX series has a longer lens range

There are 3 "series" of Sony P&S currently (TX - the slim line touchscreen, WX - compact w/standard controls, and HX - larger with more controls and wider lens ranges), with several models at different price points and features. Seems like they try to make something for everyone!