Sony EX1 market plan: typical Sony

[Elton]

Elton,
David at Cineform has been asking for someone to post an EX1 10bit file (SDI).
Based on your earlier thoughts, it's probably not using all 10 bits, but it would not hurt to put this to rest.

I sent him an uncompressed 10 bit file. He seems to think it's the real deal.

Maybe he can chime in with his observations.

Just to let everyone know what I did--

A friend of mine who got his EX1 in early December came over to my house for a few hours of geek tests. We shot a little bit of greenscreen tethered to my Final Cut Pro workstation. We shot live from the camera (not XDCAM playback) and just to test for 10 bit, we also shot a little bit of the sky outside my backyard at dusk. It made for a good ramping gradient to help discern a difference in greyscale and color.

I made triple sure that I captured with the Kona 10 bit digitizer and used the SheerVideo 10 bit 422 codec. Just for a simple test, I exported a single frame of the video as a Quicktime YUV 10 bit uncompressed frame (about 5.27 MB per frame) and sent it off to him.

It looks like my initial observations were off. And that's a great thing.

 

[Insecto!]

EX1 HD/SDI output

EX1 HD/SDI output

I just purchased the CANON G1. At this point it's still brand new in the box.
I'm considering exchanging CANON for the new SONY EX1.

My goal is to use the HD-SDI output for greenscreen work. HD-SDI output to AJA KONA LHe using ProRes 422 codec. LIVE CAPTURE, no SxS card.

Can anyone tell me if there would be any significant avantage using the SONY vs. CANON for HD-SDI output?

Thanks.

 

[editorforhire]

The major advantage to the Sony is the 1/2" CMOS chip set. I think a larger chip is going to give you less noise and more light sensitivity.

 

[editorforhire]

Maybe Panasonic will introduce a HVX300 with 1/2 CMOS chips? I'd buy that. It already has the 4:2:2 image codec. It would give Sony a bad case of heartburn, but hey, that's competition!

Of course, one thing very helpful to know would be the price of this thing.

Because, let's be honest . . .

The more expensive it is, the less it makes sense to bother with it when there's already a camera which records intraframe 4:2:2 with no need for it to be tethered to anything.

 

[Stevet]

Maybe Panasonic will introduce a HVX300 with 1/2 CMOS chips? I'd buy that. It already has the 4:2:2 image codec. It would give Sony a bad case of heartburn, but hey, that's competition!

Yes, it sure would give the EX1 a run. That's for sure! LOL
But, this would only trigger another model for Sony or brand X.
Let's face it, we're in for good times now!

Also, there's info that now supports the EX1 SDI out is using the full 10 bit word, not 8.

Barlow Elton mentioned he sent EX1 footage captured from SDI to
Sheer 10 bit original (FCP) to David Newman (Cineform).

David seems to think it's genuine 10 bit.

As Barlow mentioned, I'm inclined to believe him.

This is really good news for EX1 owners and makes the wait for Cineform's portable drives that support up to 10 bit even harder.

 

[Elton]

I just purchased the CANON G1. At this point it's still brand new in the box.
I'm considering exchanging CANON for the new SONY EX1.

My goal is to use the HD-SDI output for greenscreen work. HD-SDI output to AJA KONA LHe using ProRes 422 codec. LIVE CAPTURE, no SxS card.

Can anyone tell me if there would be any significant avantage using the SONY vs. CANON for HD-SDI output?

Thanks.

The EX1 will absolutely be the best sub$10k for tethered greenscreen work. You'll get real, full raster 10bit 4:2:2 output to capture, and the low noise combined with a true progressive source will make for very smooth edges.