XDCAM EX answers...

[Mark Kenfield]

Your welcome guys! Filter threads are 77mm Daniel.

[Jiri Bakala]

Originally Posted by Serena Steuart

I didn’t like the White Balance, Assign 4 and Shutter lever under the lens to the front of the camcorder. They are just too small and difficult to ‘feel’ your way to during use. You have to flip the camcorder up to actually see what you are about to press.

Well, it's not like you would be using the WB or Shutter controls 'on-the-fly' all that much. I don't really see this as much of an issue. Not to mention that over time one would get used to the placement of the controls and their feel anyway. As long as the overall built of the camera is solid, we have a great piece of equipment here.

[Serena Steuart]

The display was about a metre wide (but could have been bigger). In fact the screen they used for projection wasn't that much bigger, but better positioned. Like these recalled impressions, seeing different content from different cameras displayed at different times on different devices isn't a reliable basis for judgement of comparative image quality. However the EX really surprised me with the quality of the images, and I haven't seen that matched in the under $10K bracket. But every camera can look good when used well, and each when released has been a step up, but since entry to HDV this is the one that makes me think "the time has come to upgrade". Larger sensors (rather than smaller - I didn't care for dropping back down to 0.25" cmos), a real lens (mechanical focus and iris rings, zoom is probably servo, but control good), extensive processing options, great help for getting sharp focus and good exposure, good low light capability.
On the other hand, fixed lens, not weather proof (is there any camera under 10K that is) and you don't have tapes to store away. Is this one worth the extra cost over something already in the market? I think so if the extra cost gives you something you really need. But you can shoot great images with the FX1 (with care). Will clients value the difference between you and cheaper competitors? Probably not, in most cases. Will having this one improve your effectiveness and production throughput? That is the question!

[Jiri Bakala]

The real question is: will the camera and its workflow make your life better?

[Greg Voevodsky]

I guess cell phones are getting worse. No pro-big button grand ma cell phones?
Sorry, but small cameras should have smaller buttons. I am very glad to have a full size pro zoom... like most... but it is a balance. SPORTS CARS are not SUVS.

[Steven Thomas]

Thanks Serena.

I'm looking forward to the improved image quality.
The better image quality will hold up better through post and the end results
will look better.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Serena Steuart

Download speed from the cards is 2.5Gb/s, so you can work out download/shooting time fairly readily.

I understood 2.5Gbs to be the speed of the bus, the cards being rated at a max 800Mbs?

Even then, I don't think you can give a simple one off answer for download speed, since I'd expect it to depend far more on the equipment being downloaded to etc than the cards themselves. 800Mbs would correspond to roughly 24x real time for 35Mbs material as a theoretical maximum.

In another thread Alaistair Chapman reports 4-5 minutes for an hours worth of material, so 12x-15x (400-500Mbs) is what he was getting in practice. But a lower specced laptop is likely to be slower.

[David Parks]

Originally Posted by Mark Kenfield

Your welcome guys! Filter threads are 77mm Daniel.

77mm??? Is that the same as the Z1U or the HVX 200??

[Steven Thomas]

I believe the Z1 is 72mm, I'm not sure about the HVX200.

[Alex Leith]

Until now most camcorders in the semi-pro arena use 72mm, while the pro broadcast lenses usually have an 82mm filter thread...

It's interesting that Sony have gone for 77mm... if I were them I might have been tempted to pad a little and take the thread up to 82mm... I don't really think there are any 77mm video filters available at the moment.

Does anyone make a step up ring from 77mm to 82mm?

[David Parks]

Originally Posted by Mark Kenfield

Your welcome guys! Filter threads are 77mm Daniel.

Just an observation: (Ha...Alex beat me to the punch by 3 minutes!!!)

I'm not an expert in lense adaptors, but it seems to me that 77mm is not a standard/universal thread size. It seems to me everything has been 72mm, 82mm, or 58mm. I didn't see step down or step up adaptor rings in that size from Letus, Brevis, or Red Rock Micro. Even most screw in filters for cameras are 72mm. I'm sure the adaptor manufacturers will come up with a step up ring 72mm to 77mm.

Let me know if I'm wrong.

Cheers.

[Carl Dieker]

Check ut B&H, there is one 77mm-82 mm that will work for you.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...p_up_Ring.html



----------------------------
www.carldieker.com

[Alex Leith]

Originally Posted by David Parks

Just an observation: (Ha...Alex beat me to the punch by 3 minutes!!!)

Hee! Hee!

Originally Posted by David Parks

I'm sure the adaptor manufacturers will come up with a step up ring 72mm to 77mm.

I guess the crux is going to be whether we get any vignetting with a 72mm "device" on a lens with a 77mm front element.

I have a teleprompter hood that attaches to the outside of an 82mm broadcast lens OR (via a special adaptor) screws into a 72mm lens. I doubt it will fit on the outside of a 77mm lens so I'm reeeally hoping that I can get away with a 72 to 77mm adaptor (to adapt the adaptor...)

[Brian Cassar]

Originally Posted by Alex Leith

Until now most camcorders in the semi-pro arena use 72mm, while the pro broadcast lenses usually have an 82mm filter thread...

It's interesting that Sony have gone for 77mm... if I were them I might have been tempted to pad a little and take the thread up to 82mm... I don't really think there are any 77mm video filters available at the moment.

Does anyone make a step up ring from 77mm to 82mm?

If you have a look at this page of the B&H website you'll find more than 35 filters size 77mm:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=&at=Size_77mm

[Alex Leith]

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

If you have a look at this page of the B&H website you'll find more than 35 filters size 77mm:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=&at=Size_77mm

Certainly EX users will have plenty of UV filters to choose from... ;-)