Sony PMW-400 XDCam

Wow! So, this looks like the replacement for the PMW350 and PMW500. I wonder if it'll have the 500's price.
 
vanvideo said:
Wow! So, this looks like the replacement for the PMW350 and PMW500. I wonder if it'll have the 500's price.
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I'd say it's what the PMW350 should have been since day 1! (At least the XDCAM422 part of it.) A lot of PMW350s have been sold, but it's the codec that's always been seen as the bit that holds it back. In Europe, the PMW350 is fully approved for news etc use, but not for general broadcast. Putting the XDCAM422 codec on fixes that and makes it generally acceptable for full broadcast. And future XAVC support may be seen as the icing on the cake. Be interesting to see how the pricing works out - and whether they offer the same basic lens package as with the PMW350.

I'd not expect it to replace the PMW500 - rather sit between that and the PMW350, in respect of both specs and price.
 
vanvideo said:
What does the PMW500 offer that the 400 doesn't?
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Global shutter. Likewise more advanced "tweakability" than such as the PMW350. Things that can't be simply defined in a headline statement.

On the debit side, that makes it more power hungry than such as the PMW350 - which is why a PMW350 with XDCAM 422 was so requested by many users.

They saw the absolute quality advantages of the PMW500 with it's global shutter and CCD chips as less important than the low power etc of the PMW350. But the PMW350 didn't have the fully approved codec - the PMW400 does have........ (And the option of XAVC in the future.)
 
vanvideo said:
Oh, shoot, I forgot about that. Aren't CMOS sensors generally cheaper?
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I got beaten to it. :)

Yes, generally, and lower power. That's why I see the PMW400 and 500 co-existing. For high end work when power etc isn't a problem the PMW500 will still make most sense due to CCDs/global shutter giving that quality edge (and I'd expect to see an XAVC version of that before very long), but for something like documentaries in remote places (where powering is an issue) the PMW400 makes most sense. Same for such as news etc when the camera is being used with power hungry accessories - headlights or radiocam transmitters etc.
 
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I was really expecting an update to the EX3. To me seems way overdue. Sony has already released the PMW200, PMW150 & PMW100, makes sense to have a "PMW300" be a 4:2:2 XDCamera in a EX3 body for $8-$9k.

Although I agree with vanvideo in a true shouldermount would be better than the half shoulder rest EX3. Though that might cut into the PMW320 sales. So maybe a PMW330, as a PMW320 + 4:2:2 for under $12k?
 
zijital said:
I was really expecting an update to the EX3. To me seems way overdue. Sony has already released the PMW200, PMW150 & PMW100, makes sense to have a "PMW300" be a 4:2:2 XDCamera in a EX3 body for $8-$9k.

Although I agree with vanvideo in a true shouldermount would be better than the half shoulder rest EX3. Though that might cut into the PMW320 sales. So maybe a PMW330, as a PMW320 + 4:2:2 for under $12k?
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I totally agree, a PMW300 4:2:2 XDCAM in a EX3 body for $8-$9k is what i have been waiting for also.
-Jim
 
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