PIX E5 in my hands!

[Cliff Totten]

Just got my PIX E5 today....WOW!

Here is my take coming from a guy who owns a Shogun and Samurai.....

I love the build quality. This thing feels rugged as Hell. It's a very high quality build and construction. This is recorder/monitor to take with you to Iraq and a war corespondent. It's a VERY tight case and tough. (I can't stress this point enough!)

I love the form factor. It's the perfect size for a DSLR rig.

I love the screen quality. It's beautiful. It's every bit as nice as the Shogun screen...if not better.

I love the touch screen expander. BRILLIANT!

I love the peaking and zebra controls.

I love the OS, hard buttons and rotary dial.

What do I NOT like? I can only think of one thing: The waveform scope is slow and seems to lag behind the video. The scope is also very "clunky" looking with a low resolution too.

Any chance of Avid DNxHR soon?

That's it!...I officially LOVE this thing. Waiting on LUTS and please improve the lag on the waveform scope. Please look into Sony FS700/FS7 raw to ProRes. I would PAY extra for this.

I love my Shogun too but this PIX E5 is MUCH better built and is more compact. It's by brand new "go to" recorder/monitor.

[Gary Huff]

Cliff, thanks for your first impressions! Very interested in potentially adding this to my kit. What camera are you using it with? Does it support record triggering?

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

Just got my PIX E5 today....WOW!

Here is my take coming from a guy who owns a Shogun and Samurai.....

I love the build quality. This thing feels rugged as Hell. It's a very high quality build and construction. This is recorder/monitor to take with you to Iraq and a war corespondent. It's a VERY tight case and tough. (I can't stress this point enough!)

I love the form factor. It's the perfect size for a DSLR rig.

I love the screen quality. It's beautiful. It's every bit as nice as the Shogun screen...if not better.

I love the touch screen expander. BRILLIANT!

I love the peaking and zebra controls.

I love the OS, hard buttons and rotary dial.

What do I NOT like? I can only think of one thing: The waveform scope is slow and seems to lag behind the video. The scope is also very "clunky" looking with a low resolution too.

Any chance of Avid DNxHR soon?

That's it!...I officially LOVE this thing. Waiting on LUTS and please improve the lag on the waveform scope. Please look into Sony FS700/FS7 raw to ProRes. I would PAY extra for this.

I love my Shogun too but this PIX E5 is MUCH better built and is more compact. It's by brand new "go to" recorder/monitor.

Yeah if it would record FS700/7 raw to ProRes I'd snap it up. My only gripe
with the Odyssey 7q is that it is a bit large for quicker moving shoots. Usually
I'd prefer something smaller like the PIX E5.

[Albrecht Ziburski]

Thank you for your first impressions with the pix-e. But what do you mean with the brilliant "touch screen expander"?
Your post confirms, what I was hoping for since the first announcements of the pix-e recorders in April. On the specs exactly what I need to go with the A7s and Sounddevices quality at a price I can afford. I will be among the first to get a pix-e5H in Germany.

With the first firmware update, just a few days after shipping, even one of my wishes for a file delete option was implemented. Is it real delete of the files from the drive without the risk of fragmentation the mSata SSD or just hiding the file names on the file list? Anyway it is great. With this early start of updates, I am sure we will see the LUT's sooner than later.

[Cliff Totten]

I mean the touch screen focus expansion. The tap zoom-in function. Its GREAT, very fast and nicely implemented! You can also slide the image around when you want to see the edges of what you are shooting.

I have to say it again, the build quality is just fantastic. From what I have seen with Atomos and CD products, this construction quality is way above those other two. I do like my Shogun but the PIX E5 is definitely a solid "step up" in that category.

As far as triggering, the only options I see right now are for SDI based triggering on this first firmware.

By the way, it sits so perfectly on the A7s, even without a rig.

Paul...can you tell us some of the things you are working on for the next firmware?

Is the HDMI port 2.0 or 1.4?

I'm hoping for:

SLOG-2 LUT
Higer resolution waveform scope with less delay.
Support for Samsing 500gig mSATA
Sony Raw input with ProRes recording.

Other than that, you guys did a fantastic job! (so far... from my first day of owning it)

[Mark Watson]

Cliff,

Good to see someone get so excited about some new gear! When you plug in a camera, will the recorder display the specs of the incoming video? (like frame rate, color space, resolution?) Also, could you do a test with the AX100 in high speed mode and see how it records (does it roll the 120fps into 30fps file?), and if it improves IQ at all? Very interested in this application. There are some recorders out there that say they will record HD up to 120fps, but I wonder how the PIX will do with the 1280x720 120fps.

Mark

[Paul Isaacs]

Folks

Thanks for all your positive comments

- LUTs are a huge priority for us and are well in progress.
- File delete is a true delete with no fragmentation problems. We added this feature in v1.01.

Recommend keeping up to date with firmware releases. v1.01 is here:
PIX-E5 Firmware - Video Devices

- Re AVID DNxHr, Sony FS700/7 RAW, thanks for your suggestions.
- Point noted about the WFM slight lag.
- We do plan on adding more mSATA media to our approved list. The 500GB 850 EVO is one of the media we are assessing.
- We support frame rates up to 60 fps for HD and 30fps for DCI/UHD
- The PIX-E5 displays the incoming frame resolution, rate and bit depth

Paul

[Gary Huff]

Paul, what about record trigger/timecode over HDMI from cameras such as the C100, GH4, and A7S/R II?

[Paul Isaacs]

Coming soon!

[Cliff Totten]

Thanks for that 1.02 firmware fix today! I did some earlier tests this afternoon and those black dots freaked me out on 1.01. Thanks for jumping on that lightning fast!!! All is awesome now.

Marketing help for the PIX E5......

Several camera's today have great on-board codecs. Sony's XAVC-S at 100Mbp/s is very durable and stands up to grading pretty well. However,..what many people don't realize is that an external recorder like the PIX E5 will do two things for you that many 4k cameras CAN'T do today internally.

1.) 4:2:2 color sampling - Many 4k cameras from Panasonic, Canon and Sony only give you 4:2:0, UHD internal video. Many of these same cameras DO output 4:2:2 (8bit) video over HDMI. The PIX E5 will grab that and give you files with TWICE the chroma resolution of internal 4:2:0 files. This is a huge deal. Especially if you want to key something.

2.) Beat the 29 minute recording limit - Remember that many cameras today will force-stop your recording at 29 minutes! This blocks you from recording long form plays, or shows or forces you to stop and interrupt an interview. A PIX E5 will beat this problem for you. Not stopping, just record as long as you want with no worries. (this is HUGE for me!)

Something else. There are already some reports that the new A7r-II gets very hot when recording internally. Some have said it sometimes doesn't even get 29 minutes before it stops internal recording because of heat warnings. Others have also stated that recording externally (without recording internally) reduces heat build up quite a bit. And look,...cooler sensor's run cleaner with less noise. Hot sensors are NOISY!

So, if you are thinking about getting a Sony A7R-II, the PIX E5 could make your life ALLOT easier in both of these ways.

LOVING this thing so far. Oh,..and my Samsung 850, 500gig mSATA is running perfectly fine on firmware 1.02 tonight.

[Albrecht Ziburski]

Cliff, with some hours of experiencing the pix-e5 and the chance to compare it to the shogun, could you tell something on battery life and outdoor view ability / reflection of the screen?

[Paul Isaacs]

Thanks for your thoughts and insights Cliff and good to hear about the 500GB EVO working. Just a reminder though we haven't officially approved this drive yet so there is an element of risk.

Curious as to why some cameras force recording to stop after 29 minutes. Is that a file size limitation of the disk format they use or something else?

Paul

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

Thanks for that 1.02 firmware fix today! I did some earlier tests this afternoon and those black dots freaked me out on 1.01. Thanks for jumping on that lightning fast!!! All is awesome now.

Marketing help for the PIX E5......

Several camera's today have great on-board codecs. Sony's XAVC-S at 100Mbp/s is very durable and stands up to grading pretty well. However,..what many people don't realize is that an external recorder like the PIX E5 will do two things for you that many 4k cameras CAN'T do today internally.

1.) 4:2:2 color sampling - Many 4k cameras from Panasonic, Canon and Sony only give you 4:2:0, UHD internal video. Many of these same cameras DO output 4:2:2 (8bit) video over HDMI. The PIX E5 will grab that and give you files with TWICE the chroma resolution of internal 4:2:0 files. This is a huge deal. Especially if you want to key something.

2.) Beat the 29 minute recording limit - Remember that many cameras today will force-stop your recording at 29 minutes! This blocks you from recording long form plays, or shows or forces you to stop and interrupt an interview. A PIX E5 will beat this problem for you. Not stopping, just record as long as you want with no worries. (this is HUGE for me!)

Something else. There are already some reports that the new A7r-II gets very hot when recording internally. Some have said it sometimes doesn't even get 29 minutes before it stops internal recording because of heat warnings. Others have also stated that recording externally (without recording internally) reduces heat build up quite a bit. And look,...cooler sensor's run cleaner with less noise. Hot sensors are NOISY!

So, if you are thinking about getting a Sony A7R-II, the PIX E5 could make your life ALLOT easier in both of these ways.

LOVING this thing so far. Oh,..and my Samsung 850, 500gig mSATA is running perfectly fine on firmware 1.02 tonight.

[Paul Isaacs]

By the way folks, if you want to join in the PIX-E5 conversation on our Video Devices FB group, go here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/videodevices/

Paul

[Cliff Totten]

Originally Posted by Paul Isaacs

Thanks for your thoughts and insights Cliff and good to hear about the 500GB EVO working. Just a reminder though we haven't officially approved this drive yet so there is an element of risk.

Curious as to why some cameras force recording to stop after 29 minutes. Is that a file size limitation of the disk format they use or something else?

Paul

The 29 minute limit is due to the wonderful European VAT tax. Any camera that can record 30 min or more is taxed as a "video camera". So, it order to beat that tax, all the DSLR models have a firmware limitation of 29 minutes. I don't know why Europeans put up with this VAT tax but I guess nobody is trying to change it over there. Yes, even non-European market cameras have this same restriction because of this. (ridicules!)

This 29 minute limit is not something that Sony, Panasonic or Canon hate. In fact, the VAT tax is their friend. It gives them a nice problem that helps them to separate the DSLR and camcorder markets.

It's good for you guys though,...your products will allow a DSLR to shoot almost unlimited video recording times.

[Dmitri Zigany]

If you have an A7S or similar, I can't see a reason to get a Shogun anymore. the PIX-Es look so much nicer. But as an owner of both a FS700 and A7S (and without funds for two recorders), I second the request for supporting FS raw to ProRes. Without it the PIX-E is unfortunately not an option for me... Which is a shame as it looks like a fantastic device!