Anyone else want a waveform display on EX3?

[Alan McInnes]

I don't know how to go about this, but does anyone else wish that the EX3 had a waveform monitor display instead of or in addition to the histogram? I don't find the histogram to be very useful and would really like a waveform monitor display. Is that not possible as a software upgrade? Does anyone know how to petition Sony to provide this as an upgrade? I'd be willing to pay something to have this capability.

[Warren Kawamoto]

For me personally, a historgram is the same as a waveform monitor. The only difference is that the waveform shows ire levels from bottom to top, and the histogram shows it left to right.

[Chris Medico]

A WFM has the advantage of showing where along the horizontal axis the luminance is distributed. That can be valuable info when you are looking for that trouble spot at a glance. The Histo only shows total luminance distribution.

Coming from and engineering background personally I would prefer both WFM and vector.

I expect the probability of Sony adding this functionality to a product as long in its lifecycle as the EX1/EX3 is ZERO.

[Steve Kalle]

You can easily pay to get waveform by purchasing an external monitor, but the monitors I know to include WFM cost a pretty penny: the Sony OLED, Panasonic 7" and 8.9", TV Logic and Flanders Scientific. Of these monitors, the Sony OLED is my favorite.

[Alan McInnes]

I've been looking at external monitors, if only for more accurate focusing, but when I have been seeing waveform monitoring show up on new cameras like the Panasonic AF 100, it seems to me that its only software development and a firmware upgrade to provide WFM and perhaps even a Vectorscope. Old guys like me sure appreciate a WFM for accurate level control. Does anyone know who to petition within Sony for this capability? I'd be happy to pay for an upgrade considering what it costs to get a WFM in an external monitor. I can't imagine that all EX3 owners wouldn't love to have WFM capability and be willing to pay for an upgrade.

[Andrew Stone]

Hi Alan,

I've been using an EX3 for a 2.5 years. Yes, almost all of us wish the EX series cams had waveforms. Even the new F3 which costs about double the price of an EX3 now does not have a waveform or vectorscope.

In my view, it ain't gonna happen at least not in the current range of cameras. Unfortunately, you get to a certain level in video production and buying solutions is just the order of the day to make up for these deficiencies. It should be noted that when the EX series cams were released, the cost/benefit ratio of these cameras was huge. Sony gave you A LOT for your money.

Right now you can get a very decent 6.5 inch monitor from TV Logic that has the scopes you want and it sells for $1450 from FilmTools and other outlets. Here is a DVinfo thread on the product.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-...vfm-056wp.html

It has been getting lots of good press and reviews from camera operators of all stripes.

In my view, it is the best solution by far right now that suits your needs that you have outlined.

[Dean Sensui]

My main concern is clipping whites. So the histogram serves as a warning. But what finally nails it for me is actually seeing clipped highlights in skin tones.

For what I do there's not much time to ponder exposure and I have to ballpark it in a matter of a couple seconds.

I'll shoot it somewhat flat, then get it exactly where it needs to be in post.

[Walter Brokx]

@ Dean:

if clipping whites is your concern: use zebra at 100%
For proper skintone you can use 70%, but I guess you won't have time for that. (And using both makes your skin quite messy)

Waveforms on camera is possible: Panasonic is doing it for years now.
But I guess Sony figured that other features were/are more important. (Lots of people I know can't read waveforms at all...)
Waveforms on the cam would be nice, but I can manage without the feature ;-)

[Alan McInnes]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stone

Hi Alan,

I've been using an EX3 for a 2.5 years. Yes, almost all of us wish the EX series cams had waveforms. Even the new F3 which costs about double the price of an EX3 now does not have a waveform or vectorscope.

In my view, it ain't gonna happen at least not in the current range of cameras. Unfortunately, you get to a certain level in video production and buying solutions is just the order of the day to make up for these deficiencies. It should be noted that when the EX series cams were released, the cost/benefit ratio of these cameras was huge. Sony gave you A LOT for your money.

Right now you can get a very decent 6.5 inch monitor from TV Logic that has the scopes you want and it sells for $1450 from FilmTools and other outlets. Here is a DVinfo thread on the product.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-...vfm-056wp.html

It has been getting lots of good press and reviews from camera operators of all stripes.

In my view, it is the best solution by far right now that suits your needs that you have outlined.

I'd agree Andrew that Sony delivered a lot of bang for the buck with the EX3 as I'm old enough to appreciate the realization of a tapeless digital work flow. The VFM-056wp looks like a great monitor and will give me what I want. I had hoped not to spend as much, but once again, I'm old enough to remember that a waveform monitor alone was over $3,000 not too long ago. You have to love technology development!

[Chuck Fishbein]

I think this NAB will have many surprises including lower cost monitors that include waveform and vector scope displays. The screen shot below was emailed to me recently from a company in Korea. Sight unseen, I'm not vouching for the quality of this particular unit, only to say that stuff appears to be coming down the pike.