Pmw-ex30

[Heiner Boeck]

Hi:
Is this Sony PMW-EX30 a good buy in order to view raw-material? Or is there a more economic way for someone like me - unfortunately being sort of a computer-dummy?

[Bo Skelmose]

That would depend where and how you would use it. The easiest or maybe cheapest solution would be to buy a laptop computer and install the Sony Clipbrowser.

[Ronn Kilby]

If all you want to do is view raw material, you can do that with any laptop that has an Expresscard slot (or a reader). Much cheaper :)

[Alister Chapman]

Playback from clip browser on a computer is no where near as good as playback from a deck in terms of picture quality. Most edit applications will do a much better job of full screen playback than clip browser.

[Doug Jensen]

I have really come to rely on my EX30 much more than I thought I would before I bought it.
It is great to be able to just slide a card in and playback footage on a 42" Bravia via HDMI without any other adapters or converters. I have it in a Pelican case and operating from batteries so I can playback anytime, anyplace. Great for client presentations, etc.

I also need to record HD-SDI often from other sources and it works great for that. Keeps all my footage in the same codec. The only thing I really wish it had was an easy Last-Clip delete function like the cameras have.

I actually bought two EX30 decks, but unfortunately found that it couldn't do one of the things I needed the second one to do, so I actually have one too many. If anyone is interested in buying a brand new EX30 that has never even had the box opened, please PM me. I'll make you a good deal.

[Alister Chapman]

I will second what Doug says about the EX30. While I don't own one I often use one at the workshops I run as a player as well as a way to get from HDSDi to HDMI. It's really very versatile. I just wish it weighed a little more. You get used to picking up tape decks and them being heavy boxes. The EX30 is light as a feather.

[Mike Garrison]

Hi gentlemen,
I'm new to the forum and I recently started shooting with the EX3, logging into Final Cut using Sony's SxS card reader. I'm cutting in 1080VBR60 in FCP 7.

But I also just got a EX30, and plan to print video back out, from Final Cut out onto the 30.

I saw you guys commenting about using the EX30, so I was wondering if either of you has used the 30 in this way. If so, is there a preferred way to do this? That is, FireWire out of FCP into the EX30? or Firewire out to HDMI? I have tried printing out from Firewire to Firewire-in to the 30, but wondering if there's a proven method others are using.

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.
Best,
Mike G.

[Doug Jensen]

Mike,

I don't have time right to tell you how to do it, but just let me say that you are approaching this wrong. You don't use Firewire or HDMI or SDI. You use a normal USB cable.

If you want to put your edited program onto an SxS card, the best way to do that isn't to stream it out "live" and capture it like you were recording with a VCR. The best way is to export your edited timeline from Final Cut Pro directly to an SxS card connected to the computer. It's just a file transfer that is basically the reverse of how you import footage from the card.

It's very easy to do and just takes a few steps with FCP, but since it's been more than a year since did it, I don't want to explain the steps off the top of my head. I would surely miss a step or say the wrong thing. Do some some searching and you'll find some step-by-step instructions. Hopefully my pointing you in the right direction is good enough.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

I do not have (nor can I afford) the PMW-EX30, but I guess it's worth to mention that I concur with Alister's and Doug's comments on the picture quality one can achieve on his large flat display by omitting any computer software player, graphics card etc.

I can only stress it that when I plug my nanoFlash directly to my 50" plasma (via HDMI), the PQ is much, much better than when I play back the same clips through my PC.

Piotr