So I bought PMW200. Now what?

[Alister Chapman]

I have a PMW-200 picture profile here: XDCAM-USER.COM • Login

[Sara Jourhmane]

Thanks Alister. I will try this tomorrow. Fhew! I have no idea what those settings means....yet.

One quick question folks:

There are two cold shoes on the camera. The one on the back was not included in the box.

Is there a part number for this? I couldn't find it on B&H website.

TIA

[Sara Jourhmane]

Sony posted PMW200 vs EX1R Low light comparison via Twitter.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/10904830...ts/CFZwbEwXtsQ

Sony PMW-200 on Vimeo

[Jack Zhang]

I'm suspicious about whether picture profiles had any role in this. A true objective test is to turn PP off on both cameras.

I trust Alister Chapman's comparison better.

http://www.xdcam-user.com/wp-content...Comparison.jpg

[Ozgur Iskin]

Why a comparison in full auto mode? I'm a newbie and even i wouldn't do that. How can we know what TLCS settings ex1r was using, compared to pmw200.

That test reminded me of this: Canon 5D Mk II vs Sony PMW-EX1 - YouTube

Maybe he forgot to turn off the ND filter on ex1r, who knows :)

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Sara Jourhmane

Sony posted PMW200 vs EX1R Low light comparison via Twitter.

That test has not been done professionally.

Here's some controlled testing I did this afternoon comparing my PMW-200 and PMW-EX1 at various levels of gain. Because there is no motion in the frame, the videos might look like freeze frames, but they are actual rolling 24P video. Since the PMW-200 offers the same 35Mbps 420 codecs as the PMW-EX1 (FAT mode), plus several higher-quality 50Mpbs 422 (UDF) codecs, I chose to test both modes to see if it made any difference.

Shutter was off.
Lens was wide open at f/1.9
Picture Profile was off (although I would never actually shoot without a custom picture profile)

Vortex Media: VIDEO & PHOTO Tools and Training

PMW-200 and PMW-EX1 comparison of noise levels and sensitivity on Vimeo

[Ozgur Iskin]

Thank your for this REAL comparison Mr. Jensen :)

It's still interesting how Sony shared the first link tho'. It's false advertising (in a very stupid way). How come nobody questions the exposure difference between the two image yet says pmw 200 was much better in the comments -.-

Someone should contact that google+ account. Sony Professional Solutions doesn't look very 'professional' this way.

[Jack Zhang]

Would have wished for more split screens, but a fair test nonetheless.

What I noticed the most difference was in the highlights. It seemed like the EX1 was more sensitive than the 200, but the 200 looked like it handled highlights better. (though that may be a side effect of being less sensitive)

[Alister Chapman]

When I did my tests I found the PMW-200 to be marginally more sensitive at 0db than the EX1R, under half a stop. But more importantly it had a little less noise. Camera 0db gain levels are at the discretion of the camera manufacturer. These two cameras are proof of that as they use the same sensor, so the true sensor sensitivity should be the exactly the same. The PMW-200 uses better image processing than the EX1R and this processing includes noise reduction. Clearly Sony have decided that because of the improved noise reduction they can add a little more gain to the nominal 0db point of the PMW-200 and thus the PMW-200 appears to be more sensitive. This improved noise reduction becomes more noticeable at higher gain levels, the PMW-200 giving a slightly cleaner image. So while the PMW-200 may not be significantly more sensitive than the EX1 you can use more gain for a similar on screen noise level. When I had my EX1R I really didn't like going above +6db gain, with the PMW-200 I am happy up to +9db gain. Factor in the slightly higher PMW-200 sensitivity I feel that the 200 has almost a 1 stop advantage over the EX1R.

It's also important to note the way the noise reduction behaves. One thing that always let the EX1 down a little bit was the way the noise reduction could give greens and some skin tones in the mid range a "muddy" look. You could mitigate this at the expense of more noise by using a high minus value to the crispening settings in a picture profile but it is always there. The PMW-200 is far better in this respect and the more I see images from it the more I'm impressed by it. Despite using the same lens and sensors as the EX cameras the PMW-200 images are much nicer in many respects.

The recording codec should make no difference to the sensitivity, it's conceivable that the slightly higher bit rate of the 50Mb/s mode could show more noise, especially at high gain levels as the extra data allows the codec to record more picture information and a codec can't really tell the difference between desirable picture information and noise. However any differences in this would most likely be lost once the clip is encoded for the web.

[Sara Jourhmane]

I am teaching my nine years old how to focus and zoom manually. Here he is in front of FAO Schwarz in NYC.

[Jack Zhang]

Always good to start early! How touching! :D

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Sara Jourhmane

I am teaching my nine years old how to focus and zoom manually. Here he is in front of FAO Schwarz in NYC.

It is great to see him using the viewfinder instead of the flip-out LCD! That is starting off on the right foot. Good for him.

[Sara Jourhmane]

Jack:

As recommended I got BPU-90 battery.

Boy this thing is huge!

[Jack Zhang]

Oh, it'll certainly help for your press conferences and staff meetings. Uninterrupted power is critical, and a big battery is certainly something you will need.

[Sara Jourhmane]

BPU-90 battery actually balance well with PMW200. Specially with external microphone attached. It lasted me almost 5 hours with both Viewfinder and LCD on.

Certainly a recommended accessory.