OK, I know it's not a fair comparison, a sub $4K camera vs a high-end shoulder mount $25K Sony. But I took my 160 along to a green screen shoot yesterday to shoot some 1080 60P material for slomo. I didn't do anything special to the camera, set it on scene file #1 and white balanced it and started shooting.
I did a blind test with folks around the office and most thought the 160 was the higher end camera based on image quality. I'm guessing the Sony would win under low light conditions, but in a well lit studio I liked the look of the Panny over the Sony. It was also surprising how close the cameras looked together. A little grading and I could easily make them match in a 2 camera shoot although I wouldn't want to recommend it. Sony and Panny used to have very different looks, but they seem to be closer together now.
The colour from the 160 was richer than the Sony and the images seemed as sharp as the Sony with it's $10K Canon lens. But what blew me away was the keying. I thought I'd see some issues with trying to key AVC material, but I think the extra colour info coming from the camera to begin with gave me lots of separation for keying.
Sorry, but I can't post any samples until the show goes to air.
Cheers
John
I did a blind test with folks around the office and most thought the 160 was the higher end camera based on image quality. I'm guessing the Sony would win under low light conditions, but in a well lit studio I liked the look of the Panny over the Sony. It was also surprising how close the cameras looked together. A little grading and I could easily make them match in a 2 camera shoot although I wouldn't want to recommend it. Sony and Panny used to have very different looks, but they seem to be closer together now.
The colour from the 160 was richer than the Sony and the images seemed as sharp as the Sony with it's $10K Canon lens. But what blew me away was the keying. I thought I'd see some issues with trying to key AVC material, but I think the extra colour info coming from the camera to begin with gave me lots of separation for keying.
Sorry, but I can't post any samples until the show goes to air.
Cheers
John