EX in the fields: review from Norway and India at DVinfo.net

Erwin van Dijck · December 15th, 2007, 06:43 AM

Hello all,

We received our EX about 2 weeks ago and immediatelly headed for a nice one week shoot in Norway. The EX held up very nice in -10 degrees Celsius.

I wrote a short review with my first impressions and some frame grabs on our website:
http://www.dendv.nl/ex-review1.php

More frame grabs and clips are to follow...

Next week's destination is India. I will definately keep you posted how our new little gem is holding up in a complete different climate over there!

Hope you enjoy reading the report, plz let me know!

Regards,
Erwin

Daniel Weber · December 15th, 2007, 07:48 AM

Nice review!!

Very well done, great shots as well.

It is good to hear that the camera will handle the cold weather. I will be taking mine to Mongolia in the middle of February. I asked some Sony sales guys how the camera would hold up in the cold temps there and they shrugged and said "You tell us when you get back!!". I feel a little better about this trip after reading your report.

Keep up the good work and stay safe in India.

Daniel Weber

Steven Thomas · December 15th, 2007, 09:08 AM

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to your India frame grabs.

Bill Heslip · December 15th, 2007, 09:42 AM

Thanks for your thoughts, Erwin, especially concerning the potential of audio distortion. Hope you figured this out while/before you were recording and not after. Please continue to comment on settings and such.

Thanks,
Bill

Eric Stemen · December 16th, 2007, 12:22 AM

thanks for taking the time to do a write up.

Chris Soucy · December 16th, 2007, 12:42 AM

I am sooooo jealous!

The cam AND India as well.

Great review BTW, looking forward to the shots from India.

Well done.

CS

Christopher Barry · December 16th, 2007, 01:03 AM

Erwin, Thanks for the review.

I am interested to learn how the EX1 performed with the driving shots on a mountain road with the car suction mount. Perhaps a good test with the potential for vibration to cause the rolling shutter effect? This is the one setup that concerns me, especially as I will be on outback corrugated dirt roads. Any feedback or clips, are much appreciated.

Graeme Fullick · December 16th, 2007, 01:42 AM

CHristopher,

Where abouts in Australia are you located? Just asking because I thought you were in Melbourne - but obviously if you are looking at a lot of corrugated roads you would need to be a lot out of town!

Christopher Barry · December 16th, 2007, 03:41 AM

Graeme, I am located up on the Gold Coast, and the specific corrugated roads I refer, are along the coast of North Queensland. Intended ultra low budget Feature, a good chunk of shots at the start require shots with car suction mount to driver or passenger door, etc.

Test: shoot 720p50, instead of 1080p25, and playing out those 720p50 shots at 2x speed, dropping every second frame, would that decrease the chance of rolling shutter, if it was an issue in this instance at p25? The theory in my head: is the CMOS scan time twice the speed at p50 than p25?

Back to Erwin's coverage.

Graeme Fullick · December 16th, 2007, 04:28 AM

Christopher,

Aha - the far north. I love it. Travel to Cairns and beyond quite regularly in the dry! Have done the Bloomfield track 2 times in the last 4 years and then north on the Cape road.

Back on the video track - Christopher, I think that people make a much bigger deal out of rolling shutters than they deserve. I have been shooting with a Sony A1 as my B cam for 2 years and have never had a problem related to the rolling shutter.

I have had occasional HDV codec break up with very rapid moving scenes, but this is not a rolling shutter issue. I know of others who have been shooting XD CAM for more than a year and have never had any issues with the Codec breaking at 35Mbs - so I think that you will be safe at this bit rate. On the other hand I have heard of vibrations from cars breaking the HDV 25Mbs codec. I will be interested to hear your feedback, but I think that you will be very safe at 35Mbs.

All the best,

Phil Bloom · December 16th, 2007, 04:29 AM

great review. I hope you are enjoying the camera as much as me!

Christopher Barry · December 16th, 2007, 05:19 AM

Graeme, I am mostly a defender of the rolling shutter technology for my intended use. I must determine if fast vibration, moving the EX1 back and forth, up and down during a scan cycle may be an issue when recording via car mount along the corrugated dirt road, although I hope not. Every other setup should be cool. Lots of tests in due course. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it, and looking forward to Erwin's images and report regarding his car mount test.

Alessandro Zumstein · December 16th, 2007, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erwin van Dijck

Hello all,

We received our EX about 2 weeks ago and immediatelly headed for a nice one week shoot in Norway. The EX held up very nice in -10 degrees Celsius.

I wrote a short review with my first impressions and some frame grabs on our website:
http://www.dendv.nl/ex-review1.php

More frame grabs and clips are to follow...

Next week's destination is India. I will definately keep you posted how our new little gem is holding up in a complete different climate over there!

Hope you enjoy reading the report, plz let me know!

Regards,
Erwin

Hello Erwin, very nice rewiew.
I have a question of the equipment.
What Tripod head and tripod do you use in the picture 0028?

Steven Thomas · December 16th, 2007, 09:58 AM

I drove around yesterday for a quick test (1080 30P 1/60). The EX1 was hand held with OIS off aimed out the windsheild.

Granted the footage did not look that great due to a lot of movement, I did not see any wobble. I imagine if I had the camera aimed out the side window there might be a bit of skew. But, with that type shot and all the motion blur, the slight skew will not be a problem for myself.

I understand why there is concern for rolling shutter artifacts, but I believe that Sony has done a decent job of minimizing these artifacts with the EX1.

Erwin van Dijck · December 21st, 2007, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher Barry

...and looking forward to Erwin's images and report regarding his car mount test.

I will have a look at that driving footage this weekend and will post it in the review when I update it this weekend.

Quote:

I have a question of the equipment.
What Tripod head and tripod do you use in the picture 0028?

Tripod used is the Sachtler DV6 SB, which is in my opinion a very nice and suitable tripod for the EX.

Regards,
Erwin

December 15th, 2007, 06:43 AM	#1
Erwin van Dijck Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hoofddorp, The Netherlands Posts: 75	EX in the fields: review from Norway and India Hello all, We received our EX about 2 weeks ago and immediatelly headed for a nice one week shoot in Norway. The EX held up very nice in -10 degrees Celsius. I wrote a short review with my first impressions and some frame grabs on our website: http://www.dendv.nl/ex-review1.php More frame grabs and clips are to follow... Next week's destination is India. I will definately keep you posted how our new little gem is holding up in a complete different climate over there! Hope you enjoy reading the report, plz let me know! Regards, Erwin

December 16th, 2007, 12:42 AM	#6
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,691 Images: 18	Hi Erwin........... I am sooooo jealous! The cam AND India as well. Great review BTW, looking forward to the shots from India. Well done. CS

December 16th, 2007, 01:42 AM	#8
Graeme Fullick Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 337	CHristopher, Where abouts in Australia are you located? Just asking because I thought you were in Melbourne - but obviously if you are looking at a lot of corrugated roads you would need to be a lot out of town! __________________ Graeme

December 16th, 2007, 04:28 AM	#10
Graeme Fullick Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 337	Christopher, Aha - the far north. I love it. Travel to Cairns and beyond quite regularly in the dry! Have done the Bloomfield track 2 times in the last 4 years and then north on the Cape road. Back on the video track - Christopher, I think that people make a much bigger deal out of rolling shutters than they deserve. I have been shooting with a Sony A1 as my B cam for 2 years and have never had a problem related to the rolling shutter. I have had occasional HDV codec break up with very rapid moving scenes, but this is not a rolling shutter issue. I know of others who have been shooting XD CAM for more than a year and have never had any issues with the Codec breaking at 35Mbs - so I think that you will be safe at this bit rate. On the other hand I have heard of vibrations from cars breaking the HDV 25Mbs codec. I will be interested to hear your feedback, but I think that you will be very safe at 35Mbs. All the best, __________________ Graeme

December 16th, 2007, 04:29 AM	#11
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	great review. I hope you are enjoying the camera as much as me! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

December 15th, 2007, 07:48 AM	#2
Daniel Weber Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 696	Nice review!! Very well done, great shots as well. It is good to hear that the camera will handle the cold weather. I will be taking mine to Mongolia in the middle of February. I asked some Sony sales guys how the camera would hold up in the cold temps there and they shrugged and said "You tell us when you get back!!". I feel a little better about this trip after reading your report. Keep up the good work and stay safe in India. Daniel Weber

December 15th, 2007, 09:08 AM	#3
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to your India frame grabs.

December 15th, 2007, 09:42 AM	#4
Bill Heslip Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Southeast USA Posts: 129	Thanks for your thoughts, Erwin, especially concerning the potential of audio distortion. Hope you figured this out while/before you were recording and not after. Please continue to comment on settings and such. Thanks, Bill

December 16th, 2007, 12:22 AM	#5
Eric Stemen Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 378	thanks for taking the time to do a write up.

December 16th, 2007, 01:03 AM	#7
Christopher Barry Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 107	Erwin, Thanks for the review. I am interested to learn how the EX1 performed with the driving shots on a mountain road with the car suction mount. Perhaps a good test with the potential for vibration to cause the rolling shutter effect? This is the one setup that concerns me, especially as I will be on outback corrugated dirt roads. Any feedback or clips, are much appreciated.

December 16th, 2007, 03:41 AM	#9
Christopher Barry Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 107	Graeme, I am located up on the Gold Coast, and the specific corrugated roads I refer, are along the coast of North Queensland. Intended ultra low budget Feature, a good chunk of shots at the start require shots with car suction mount to driver or passenger door, etc. Test: shoot 720p50, instead of 1080p25, and playing out those 720p50 shots at 2x speed, dropping every second frame, would that decrease the chance of rolling shutter, if it was an issue in this instance at p25? The theory in my head: is the CMOS scan time twice the speed at p50 than p25? Back to Erwin's coverage.

December 16th, 2007, 05:19 AM	#12
Christopher Barry Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 107	Graeme, I am mostly a defender of the rolling shutter technology for my intended use. I must determine if fast vibration, moving the EX1 back and forth, up and down during a scan cycle may be an issue when recording via car mount along the corrugated dirt road, although I hope not. Every other setup should be cool. Lots of tests in due course. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it, and looking forward to Erwin's images and report regarding his car mount test.

December 16th, 2007, 09:58 AM	#14
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	I drove around yesterday for a quick test (1080 30P 1/60). The EX1 was hand held with OIS off aimed out the windsheild. Granted the footage did not look that great due to a lot of movement, I did not see any wobble. I imagine if I had the camera aimed out the side window there might be a bit of skew. But, with that type shot and all the motion blur, the slight skew will not be a problem for myself. I understand why there is concern for rolling shutter artifacts, but I believe that Sony has done a decent job of minimizing these artifacts with the EX1.