I'd think HDMI, but keep in mind, it's flash-based, so maybe only firewire. But Sony is pushing HDMI in their new HDV units.

heath

The photos of the Unit shown at NAB show it has HD-SDI.

You can see that in this photo which Chris attached in another thread. - http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachmen...1&d=1176712062

Keep in mind this unit is still only a mockup unit however.

So Sony does have a portable XDCAM drive, the PDW-U1. I know it reads and writes to the discs by using a computer but does anybody know if I would be able to hook up the XDCAM EX to this without a computer to transfer the footage from memory card to Blu-ray?

idearly, what sony should do, is a P2 store like device that is effectively the PDW-U1, that has an SxS card reader in it. One touch transfer from SxS to XD disc would be very nice.

A possible future XDCAM EX product for the line up? i can only dream.

That’s what I said to
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.ph...181#post662181


If Sony doesn’t have such a unit already planned then they better work on one. I predict a big percentage of people who plan on buying the XDCAM EX will also buy this unit.

I sincerely hope that we can get our hands on this camera before at least November

I posted on another thread about this camera. I had one in my hands yesterday for about 10 minutes. This iS NOT a mockup. I powered up the camera and worked it for a few minutes but I had no media to record on. It is subject to being tweaked before final release so I would call this a pre-production unit. IIRC, I saw 81.5mm on the barrel for full tele.

The only thing I noticed (again this is a pre-production unit), was that it seemed to take longer than expected from flicking on power until the camera was ready to go.

Weight wise, about the same as a Z1. Very well balanced. I did the one finger under the handle trick and the camera sat perfectly level. It also looks like Sony crammed as many switches and controls on the body as they could to avoid having to go into menus.

This is an excellent b-camera to the bigger size disc cameras. The idea is to record on flash, then archive to Professional Disc.

Exciting times, these are!

-gb-

Thanks Greg.

I definitely hope that this comes out in Sept. (I go into filming in Oct. for a feature film using the V1U... I'd much rather go the XDCAM EX way).

I need to ask the guys over at Redrock Micro if their M2 will work with a 1/2" sensor (I know they didn't 'support' 2/3" cams, but that's a different topic anyway...).

Todd

Well in the presentation they said it would be available "by the end of the year." Unfortunately, that rarely means November or September but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Yeah, I figured their release time would be more like Dec. I remember that the V1U was supposed to be released earlier than it did (I got mine in Mid-Dec.), but I guess there's no harm in hoping...

Better yet, how about an external USB card reader for the SxS cards? Take a card out of your camera, connect it to a computer with a high-resolution monitor and watch full-quality rushes instantly at XDCAM HD quality. Or just do that on a laptop using a built-in ExpressCard slot, which seems to be what they have in mind.

P.S. If this is like previous Sony camera releases, I'd guess we'll see early shipments in late November or early December with volume shipments the following Spring.

I saw this camera just yesterday at NAB. Here were my notes from the demo:

1) 1/2' CMOS chips. Better low light performance using less power.
2) The camera had "cinealta" written on the side, does that just mean 24 fps(?) or is that some proprietary sony thing(?)
3) The cards. Panasonic has proprietary cards the Sony people said that their system will not be. possible to use third-party cards in their camera.
4) HDV
5) HD-SDI out
6) Bulky, has fixed lens but has all the manual controls.
7) 1080p
8) under $8,000!
9) aimed at the wedding video, event and crash cam market. But they think that some news outlets will use them as B-roll cams.
10) no mention of indie filmmakers.

I liked it. Looks like a sony version of HVX200. I thought it was a bit bulky. They didn't really have that much footage to show.

It's not coming out until the end of the year, so I would look for the Panasonic response. I have a feeling it was making them anxious. While I was in line to see the HVX200, I mentioned it to the guy in the line ahead of me. A panasonic guy overheard and read me the riot act.

He told me all the problems with sony HDV, 4:2:0 sampling, if needed I needed camera now there's no choice but Panasonic, Apple work flow... etc... etc... I don't want to overstate it, but they were a bit touchy about the subject.

Are there even any express card adapters for desktop based computers? Newer laptops have the slots but what options will we have for our main editing systems?

35 mbits/s mpeg2 is not HDV. Panasonic is trying to play down the format and make other people think it is as good as HDV which it is not. That would be like trying to call DVCPRO50 just DV because they are both the same exact style of compression. All DVCPRO50 is is a form of DV that has a higher bitrate and better chroma detail. XDCAMHD is a higher bitrate form of mpeg2 then what HDV is.

In almost every situation you could ever shoot in the 35mbit XDCAMHD footage is just as good if not better then the current style of DVCPROHD running at 100mbits. For that level of quality you get almost 3X the amount of video per gigabyte in terms of storage space.

About the only advantage Panasonic still has with the HVX200 is that it records 4:2:2 color which unless you plan on doing any keying isn't going to blow you away. Yes 4:2:2 can have slightly better color precision but most people with real world footage would never notice. If 4:2:0 is done well it can look very good.

Now if SONY would have added the 50 mbit 4:2:2 mode to this new camera it would totally blow away the HVX200. I can see why Panasonic would be a bit touchy.

Sony XDCam EX's LCD screen & Chip Imagers
 

From the pictures I have seen it looks like the LCD placement is similar to the Z1 & FX1 cameras; a feature I really liked. I talked to a sony rep & he said that it was undisclosed at this time as to what type of sensors it will have ie. CCD's or CMOS. I wish they would have put a DV tape transport along with the card slots for easy cheap recording; but oh well.

Joel brooks
Moments in Time Video Productions