Sony PMW EX1 vs HVX200 shootout footage online

[Matt Devino]

Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to give a heads up that we've posted a bunch of footage and stills from a shootout we did over the weekend between these two cameras. It's not all encompassing or completely scientific, we just put both cameras next to each other and pointed them at the same scene, with out of the box presets on both cameras. I think what we got is pretty interesting, so check it out!

Here's the link:

http://www.pairofhands.net/Ex1%20vs%...0Shootout.html

[David Saraceno]

Your link didn't work:

This one does: http://www.pairofhands.net/Ex1%20vs%20HVX%20Shootout.html

[Michael Friedman]

The stills from the EX do look good.

[RE1000]

Care to do a lil more in dept comparison? Such as checking to see if you get find skewering, wobble or partial exposure in handheld footage and footage with light, flashes, ect. And doing the same shot with the HVX200 too.

[lawriejaffa]

Yah hmm, its not maybe that useful those tests, i know their not scientific, but their not particularly aesthetic either.

The shots at a wide dof of the toys show the sharpness of the resolution of the ex, the hvx200 shops with different focal ranges and focus (maybe because of the exposures but hmm seem a bit hmm) ive seen sharper from the hvx but then these conditions are the same in your setups?

The motion was interesting, though it didn't test i think the areas folk are most keen on.

I liked the the sharpness of the ex, i felt the 'mojo' of colour lay with the hvx, but taking the same shots myself of the same subject with the hvx, id be a bit dissatisfied with some of those? I prefered the aesthetic quality of the motion depicted with the hvx, but hmm, a peculiar test that really raises more question marks than answers haha.

[reem12]

i like the cleaness and overall sharpness of the ex1 but for film like color and motion the hvx will to me holds the ring.just wondering if giving the proper omount of light will the sharpness of the hvx increase.now try the canon a1 against the sony ex1,somebody.

[lawriejaffa]

Yeah thats what im thinking reem regarding the light, HOWEVER, Matt, i think folk probably look for a smoking gun, and then just find little things they like and don't like.

The sharpness of the ex actually (i know this is totally wrong its just superstition) reminds me of the difference between the PD 170 and the Canon XL1s.

I think the heightened sensitivity and sharpness of the ex is going to have obvious advantages, in my test, i will be putting them in a nice dramatic context with adapters, costumes and light, so another non scientific test that i hope shows weaknesses and strenghts of each. Thanks for taking the time to do it tho mate .

[TimurCivan]

Actually..... I am surprised. the HVX held up Much better than i thought it would. Though without a doubt the EX is Crisper. The HVX really is no slouch in 1080P. and in 720P the difference is far less pronounced.

I still think the HVX has incredible color reproduction, and i like its handling of highlights. Its unique.

The EX is one helluva machine though. Beautiful camera.

[Kholi]

I'm with Timur. Thena gain, EX-1 is a new Camera and people gotta learn how to use it.

I don't think the horrible looking skies on the EX-1 Motion tests (Skateboarding) footage are supposed to be like that. looks like really bad compositing/green screen work.

O_o;

I think I'm back to hugging my HVX now, at least til an A version or SCARLET hits the market. Grr.

[TimurCivan]

Or the "green" camera...... ;)

BpressKrew4life.

[Kholi]

BpressKrew4Life foo.

I want to use an EX-1 for an all night shortfilm. Like, just not even care what story is about and just shoot something random at night with a Letus + EX1 combo.

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

Those still images of the res chart were strange. The HVX had a horrible representation.

[taormina]

Those still images of the res chart were strange. The HVX had a horrible representation.

I thought I was the only one who thought that!

[reem12]

yeah it did look a little suspect to me to.

[Justyn]

The HVX shots had some noticable camera wiggle as well... This was nice too see.. The sony does look a bit shaper but the HVX has more natural looking and more vibrant colors. I'd like to see some of the other qualities with the overcranking and some green screen stuff. I also would like to see some fast shutter bizness.. I hardly ever shoot a 1/48th outside.. and almost always shoot with some polorizers and all of that.


thanks for showing and will be cool to see more and more of these comparisons

[Barry_Green]

Care to do a lil more in dept comparison? Such as checking to see if you get find skewering, wobble or partial exposure in handheld footage and footage with light, flashes, ect. And doing the same shot with the HVX200 too.
The EX1 does all that. I've had a chance to test it and do some comparisons and use some charts, and yes all the CMOS rolling shutter problems exist.

FresHDV.com has posted a few clips that show the flash problem with a police car and at a wedding.

[Barry_Green]

I also spent a little time with one, I pried it out of an owner's hands for a day and a half, and I had some charts and whatnot. I found some surprising things (like the sensitivity? It's a half-stop more sensitive. I've heard people claim it's three stops faster! Shoot a chart with 'em in equivalent gammas and equiv color representation, equiv recording mode and equiv shutter, and the EX1 is a half stop faster.)

Well, I'll post my findings in another thread.

[buhce]

How do you think the HPX170 will compare to the EX1? I'm torn at the moment about which one to buy. When I look here : http://www.vimeo.com/channel7178/page:13

I find the EX footage to be much better than the HVX200. However the HVX excels in other areas. At this rate, I'll end up flipping a coin.

[Barry_Green]

EX1 will be sharper, they'll be about equivalent in sensitivity and noise, 170 will be less expensive.

[Shane Ross]

Did you white balance both cameras? Because just looking at the stills the HVX looked more...warm. Orange/yellow, as people noticed. A Basic white balance would have been good.

I will watch them soon, but my home internet is not on (just moved) and work internet sucks (stupid slow).

How about tests to show how they handle under color correction?

[weixiang623]

are you sure the EX color & exposure is that bad?

[PerroneFord]

Not from what I see through my viewfinder. This thing is AMAZING.



are you sure the EX color & exposure is that bad?

[weixiang623]

it seems as if these settings were tweaked on a favor for the HVX, looks... i agree EX produces great images, but in these test vids, color/exposure looks like crap...

[Film it]

It seems that there are a lot of HVX200 fans in here. I am still wondering why so many people are bashing the EX1? Sometimes I find myself on Vimeo just watching EX1, HVX200 videos. And the EX1 quality looks 10-20x nicer just on vimeo. I love the HVX but I am considering the EX1.

[David Saraceno]

This is basically a Panasonic cam focused forum.

hence the name "dvxuser.com."

Ten to twenty times nicer seems to be a hyperbole.

The question is always what you like and what your clients like.

I don't want to deal with the potential for rolling shutter, and LONG GOP, and a maximum of 35 mbps.

But if you feel the EX1 suits your needs, and is 20x better than a HVX200 . . . .

[mpalmer12345]

My 2 cents…

For me, the EX1 image is spectacular but not sustainable. By that I mean that the imagery is not something that can be viewede for any length of time without becoming tiresome on the eyes. The EX1 image fits better with advertising imagery, where you are going for a brief, immediate impact, a brilliant glossy surface that grabs the viewer right away and holds him only for as long as it takes to sell the product, rather than with a feature length movie, where you are more interested in having the viewer dwell within the imagery without exhausting him. It's essentially the difference between a reality and a hyper-reality, and, frankly, I prefer plain, unadorned reality most of the time.

I'm not sure that this problem is exclusive to the EX1. In fact, the more HD increases its resolution capacity, the more this will become an issue, I would say. Whenever I go to an electronics store and look at all the huge high def TVs, most of them produce an image that just doesn't look real to me, however brilliantly detailed it may be. It's more like I'm looking at a video game than an image of something within my world. The subtlety and warmth of 35mm movie imagery is largely missing. Then again, maybe I'm just getting old. . .

[PerroneFord]

Interesting observation mpalmer12345,

Do you tend to feel the same way about movies that originate in HD? Movies like:


Apocalypto (Genesis)
Cloverfield (Sony F23)

Etc.

I think one thing I notice with some HD originated footage is the lack of grain. It shoots "too cleanly" sometimes which nearly draws too much attention to itself. However, I do have to say that I don't mind looking at HD images unless they have edge enhancement turned on. And even then, if it's sports, I don't mind too much. I've gotten used to the look.

It's relatively early times in high resolution HD production. Much like when CDs first arrived and people knocked the sound. Things improved rapidly, and now the sound has matured a lot. I think we'll get there with HD.

[mpalmer12345]

I haven't seen any HD-origined movie in the theater yet, but your analogy with CDs sounds like it is apt. If so, I await the upcoming years!

[EDV]

the EX1 quality looks 10-20x nicer just on vimeo.

Dude, you need some glasses. Seriously...NOTHING looks 20x better than the mighty HVX200. Else they wouldn't be using it for all these big budget TV shows....

[PerroneFord]

Dude, you need some glasses. Seriously...NOTHING looks 20x better than the mighty HVX200. Else they wouldn't be using it for all these big budget TV shows....


Well I don't know about 20x better, but having seen stunners like Casino Royale, 3:10 to Yuma, and some stunning IMAX releases, I can confidently say that there is a GULF of quality difference between our handycams, and well shot 35mm, super-35mm, and 65/70mm.

[Richard J. Johnson]

Man, I am still rollin' with the Old Dirty DVX100a + LEX. The choices are just too much. But I will make one in October. For me, it looks like the HPX170. I might just go back to the PXL-2000.