Deciding between EX-1 and Canon 5d Mark II, will a new Sony come out soon?

Close but not exact -- Sony doesn't enforce that you sell it at the MSRP (suggested retail price), but they do set a minimum selling price and if you violate that, you lose the ability to sell the CineAlta line.

It's not "price fixing", per se, but it is fixing the price at which the product can be sold.

Canon did the MSRP thing with the XLH1, enforcing that no XLH1 could be sold for a penny below the MSRP when it first came out. Don't think they're still enforcing that though.
 
basspig so right!

basspig so right!

I appreciate your technical comparisons of the 5d and EX1. I also own two EX1/one EX3 but I bought a Panny GH1 to try out the DSLR system. I am on the fence about getting a 35mm adapter for the EX's, so I thought I'd try the DSLR to circumvent that whole rig. My main complaint about all the DSLR craze is that there is no reliable audio yet...that's a gigantic drawback for me. Syncing sound is no picnic. It should be highlighted in the plus/minus column of all of the DSLR's. But, having said that, the image is amazing right out of the box. This is exactly how I felt about the EX1 when I first saw it's image on a big HD monitor. WOW. The first difference you see is the seriously crunched blacks, I suppose due to compression? This makes for a gorgeous image a lot of the time. I suspect I can go into the EX1 matrix and achieve the same thing? It's eye-popping stuff. I figure I can use the GH1 for interesting angles and for stock footage, but the EX's are my main money maker and will be for some time. They can do it all, and they do it very, very well.
 
"The first difference you see is the seriously crunched blacks, I suppose due to compression? This makes for a gorgeous image a lot of the time. I suspect I can go into the EX1 matrix and achieve the same thing?"

Hi Chris

I'm not sure how you are using your EX1, but yes you can totally customize your image with the EX1. I don't go for "crushed" blacks until post so I have some room to wiggle. A picture profile of some sort should be used 100% of the time (if you aren't already) because the stock (out of the box) image is designed to be flat/neutral - so one has a blank pallet to build from.

Are you ever shooting without a picture profile?
 
Yes, I'm a big fan of the Vortex recommended Picture Profile settings. However, the DP's I work with are always setting the gain to -3db to crunch the blacks. I prefer doing this in post myself with the EX1 through Filmlooks. The GH1 has the look already. I'm too chicken to
mess with the EX1 matrix. But I know the film clients would love to see the blacks dropped further in the field. This is off topic now, sorry. Moving on.
 
I set my gain to -3 too, most of the time. But I see it as keeping the noise down more than crushing the blacks. That would be done in the matrix. Yes moving on...


I would love to have one of those fancy DSLRs as well as an EX1. I don't see it as an either/or thing. They are 2 different beasts. With only one chip I still look at a DSLR as a still camera primarily with a pretty cool video feature - though not ready for prime time. Prime lenses maybe...
 
Using CINE1 gamma and -3dB gain, I don't see any crushed blacks. At a recent car show, the EX1 captured not only the cloud higlights in the sky, but the detail of the undercoatings under the fenders of cars. That's even challenging for the naked eye.
 
There is another vendor that I would recommend. ...... Armato's in NY. I have bought and traded cameras with them for over 10 years and they have always treated me super on price and on trades. Recently I bought the Ex-1 used it for a year then traded it for the EX-3. My experience with them and my sales representative (Dennis Hopkins) has been outstanding.
Before you make your trade give them a shot.

www.armatos.com

Ronnie Martin
www.dirtracingvideo.com
 
About a new model coming out soon...

It is my opinion that Sony and Panasonic are in a tough spot right now.

Their upper end of the market is in a slump and the image quality is so good in the middle that some serious questions are being asked.

When the $6000 EX-1 can come close to the $30,000 PDW-800 in certain circumstances, there is a brick wall that has been hit.

Why would they need to put out an improved EX1 if they are already eating into the thier premium models?

I see the market as being quite stagnant for a while until the economic landscape shows more clarity.
 
That certainly is an intriguing dilemma. Why would Sony do this? Did they miscalculate? Or are they banking on the possibility that the 'cheap HD' cameras will break in a year or two, whereas the expensive HD cams will last 15-20 years? Perhaps the EX are a new form of 'disposable cameras', use a few times til they break, then buy new ones?
 
I certainly hope that is not the case! I invested more money in these EX cameras in the past 18 months than the purchase price of my home. I expect them to outlast me and pass them down to my daughter and wife. In the past, every Sony camera I have owned, had been completely reliable and sold in perfect working order, after 5+ years of use. I hope the EX cameras will be working perfectly, ten years from now.
 
You're making the correct choice with the Sony EX1/3. Check to see what camera the pros are using... overwhelmingly this camera. Here's even better news for you. Buy a couple of MXR Flash 34 readers from the Australian company that developed them... they're about $45. They take SDHC cards (class 6 or better) which run about $40 or so for a 16gb card...which gives you nearly an hour of full 1080p HD. Compare that to a $600 P2 or SxS card!!! That should absolutely make the decision to go with the Sony. And then... take a look at the new NanoFlash recorder from Convergent Design and you can get a nearly uncompressed 4-2-2 color space out of the EX1/3 SDI jack. Ah...life is good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top