Sony new HDV camera competition with Canon XH-A1???

Giovanni Bertani

Giovanni Bertani

Active member
Looks like Sony is going to introduce a new HDV camera. Is this a competitor to the XH-A1?:

New interchangeable lens HDV camcorder details:
1/3" 3 chip
-interchangeable lens, 1/3" Bayonet tpe
-Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 1" Lens
-HDV/DVCAM/DV
-1080i50 & 25p (this is IBC, Euro market, presumably/hopefully will be an NTSC frame rate version as well)
-2 XLR inputs
-early 2008
-can use 1/2" lenses with an adaptor
-1/3" to 2/3" adaptor as well...but why put awesome glass on small sensor? Only if you have'em already - note to indies - putting awesome glass on this helps but doesn't make 1/3" camera perform like 2/3" camera. Gold rims on the hoopty, dude, as Stu would say.
-shoots 1920x1080 4:2:2, converts to 1440x1080 4:2:0
-DOES have HDMI connector

http://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowContent.action?site=biz_en_CH&contentId=1187079485470

http://www.hdforindies.com/2007/09/ibc-news-red-sony-xdcam-ex-new.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN9d...m/2007/09/ibc-news-red-sony-xdcam-ex-new.html
 
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Well theres no talk of camera price as yet. That will be the deciding factor if its to compete directly with the A1.

But if youre talking about the XDcam EX then Sony's sights are set squarely on the HVX, frame rates at 1 - 60 in 720p plus offering interchangable lens. That would be more the target.
 
YOu know... buying a digital camcorder makes you obsessed with the fear of new models coming out just the day after you have typed your credit card numbers. :undecided

So now I do not know if it is better to wait to see the price of this new cam before ordering a new XH-A1 and a Brevis35mm kit.

What a pain... :Drogar-Shock(DBG):

Cheers

Giovanni
 
Barry_Green said:
No, this is a different unit that's being introduced. This is separate from the EX, because this is an HDV-only unit, it's 1/3" chips, and it has interchangeable lenses.
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As can be inferred from Barry's comment, the EX has a nonremovable lens. Pity.
 
But it does offer true manual focus, true manual zoom, true manual iris, plus autofocus, and a healthy 14x zoom range. Would you really *need* to interchange it with something else?
 
CMOS has potential, but it also potentially has problems. It depends on how they implemented it. If it's like the rolling shutter in the HV20, I'd agree with you. But if they did it "right", it might look fantastic.
 
marketmd said:
CMOS? Yecch!
Click to expand...

So is CMOS anyway to be considered inferior? As I read here the new HDV is 1080i only:

http://ibc.mikkowilson.com/

Should I stick to a XH-A1 with the full set of Nikon lenses I already have? :badputer:

Really is difficult to understand much of this annoucement. Sony comes out with a new camera every 4 months.



THIS IS THE NEW HDV:

1187079485426.jpg




THIS IS THE NEW PMW-EX1 FIXED LENSES (Around 7000 USD):

http://simonwyndham.co.uk/assets/images/reviews/ex1/ex1side.jpg

http://www.simonwyndham.co.uk/xdcam-pmw-ex1.html


Cheers
 
Giovanni Bertani said:
So is CMOS anyway to be considered inferior?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. It depends on what you intend to do with it. CMOS and CCD are two types of sensors, and they have different characteristics. CMOS runs with less power, and is immune to vertical smearing. However, CMOS is usually slower (less sensitive) and can exhibit the various rolling shutter artifacts -- including skew, wobble, and partial exposure.

There are some uses for which rolling-shutter CMOS is probably not suitable for at all. There are other uses for which it will be perfectly fine. It remains to be seen how Sony's actual implementation performs.
 
I was planning to buy the XH-A1 to use it also in relative low light conditions, underwater and documentary shooting.

THis exactly where Cmos should be inferior right?.

Also... if the new HDV cam does not offer 35mm compatibility is not such an advantage to interchange the lenses for a more cinema-like FOV.

Cheers
 
Yes, those are places where CMOS will suffer as compared to CCD. When sony introduced the CMOS-based V1U they said that in bright light it'll be as good as or better than the CCD-based Z1U, but in lower light the CCD-based camera would deliver better images.
 
where is the new shoulder mount that sony is supposed to come out with, that i saw someone talking about in here?
 
...

So here is a summuary:

1 CMOS sensors are less performing in low-light conditions typical of documentaries
2 Lenses on this new camera are not 35mm so you will need anyway an adapter for my Nikon set.
3 Is a new model so will be probably more expensive than the XH-A1

I was already so impressed on the 3CCD XH-A1 cinema-like performance that I do not know if a CMOS, by the end also interlaced, camera will be able to do better.

Does makes any sense to wait and see? My plan was shooting some research footage in October and the full feature in May. So September was the right timing for setting up and understanding the camera.

Cheers

Giovanni
 
Barry_Green said:
But it does offer true manual focus, true manual zoom, true manual iris, plus autofocus, and a healthy 14x zoom range. Would you really *need* to interchange it with something else?
Click to expand...
I agree that there would probably be little need for some other half-inch zoom. I was thinking more of a DOF adapter with a relatively simple, integrated relay lens. Such could possible reduce setup fiddling as well as light loss.
 
Barry_Green said:
CMOS has potential, but it also potentially has problems. It depends on how they implemented it. If it's like the rolling shutter in the HV20, I'd agree with you. But if they did it "right", it might look fantastic.
Click to expand...
I thought Mikko Wilson reported some, albeit "slight," wobble. Any wobble is undesirable.
 
Any wobble is indeed undesirable, but it's also the nature of a rolling-shutter system. So I'd like to see "slight" quantified. If it wobbles like the HV20 or V1U, that's hideous and unacceptable. But I suspect that the higher up the $ scale you go (i.e., Red and maybe EX1) the more they'll spend to bring that wobble under control, so it may not be a practical issue in the final product.
 
Barry_Green said:
. . . But I suspect that the higher up the $ scale you go (i.e., Red and maybe EX1) the more they'll spend to bring that wobble under control, so it may not be a practical issue in the final product.
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that the RED One's Mysterium sensor has a global shutter and therefore isn't prone to wobble at all.
 
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