mikkowilson
Steadi-Guru
Ok, I finally got a bit more time with the Sony guys. In all simplicty, here's what I found:
Barry is right, there is no SD in the EX1 at all .. it's all HD only.
You have 2 choices of HD:
There "SP" mode, which is normal sony 25mbps HDV, 1080i only (1440x1080) . Camera outputs available are HD/SD-SDI, Component, Composite, S-video and HDV (through an IEEE1394 iLink connector). The HDV is totally standard HDV, so in this mode, you can output it out to any regular HDV device, like the DR60 Hard Drive Recorder or a Laptop, etc..
Then there's "HQ" mode, which is the brand new 35mbps XDCAM-EX format (not the same as XDCAM-HD). It can shoot at 1080i and at 1080p using the whole sensor at a native 1920x1080 (and recording this whoel signal), it can also shoot all your normal 720p formats (in both "PAL" and "NTSC" framrates). The HDV output is not available in this mode, so it's SDI, or recoding to SxS and moving it as data later.
The camera can not cross-convert between formats.
Ok, so it shoots all the normal framerates to XDCAM-EX, what about off-speed shooting for over & under cranking?
Well, the cool thing is that you can shoot at any framerate (in 1-frame increments) from 1fps to 30fps in 1080p mode, and from 1fps, all the way to 60fps in 720p mode. You can't change speeds on the fly (so no ramping), but setting the shooting rate is very simple. Of course the data-rate to the cards varies with shooting speed.
BUT there is a catch, and this is a HUGE catch for me as a Steadicam operator, and for many others too.. As soon as you change to a "non-standard" framerate, ALL the live outpus of the camera become inactive. Meaning that the ONLY way to monitor during off-speed shooting, is by using the camera's own LCD or EVF. This is a shame, as it really hurts the abiltiy to shoot a lot of stuff off-speed as you have no options for external monitoring.
Ok, the lens is really very good. They have put a lot of effort into the lens, which does show. But your oprtions or external control are VERY small. The camera has a new (as of yet, unnamed) proprietery lens control connector. The conenctor can control Zoom, Start-Stop, and the "Clip Review" funtion, and that's it. The connector by itseld is prety useless, you have to buy an adapter cable from sony to adapte the lens to a standard (Canon, or Fijinun) lens connector, then just add you favorate Professional lens controller and you are set..
Ok, back to formats a little: the camera comes with software for both the PC and the Mac platforms that you use to "ingest" the media and convert it for your use.
If you shot in HDV, than just use the normal established connection. If you shot in XDCAM.EX, then you will need to keep your ringers crossesd that an NLE manufacturer will have come forwards with plans to provide XDCAM-EX support; currently no one has announced that they plan to supporet it.
The unit is slated with a European list price of €6500, with cards slated to sell for €700 and €400 for the 16GB and the 8GB cards, respectivly.
The camera weighs 2.5kg (5.5lbs)
Because of the beefy lens' power requirements, the camera is a 12v camera, adn can be run form wither one of it's batter,es or by plugging in your charger and seeing it it wokds.
Barry is right, there is no SD in the EX1 at all .. it's all HD only.
You have 2 choices of HD:
There "SP" mode, which is normal sony 25mbps HDV, 1080i only (1440x1080) . Camera outputs available are HD/SD-SDI, Component, Composite, S-video and HDV (through an IEEE1394 iLink connector). The HDV is totally standard HDV, so in this mode, you can output it out to any regular HDV device, like the DR60 Hard Drive Recorder or a Laptop, etc..
Then there's "HQ" mode, which is the brand new 35mbps XDCAM-EX format (not the same as XDCAM-HD). It can shoot at 1080i and at 1080p using the whole sensor at a native 1920x1080 (and recording this whoel signal), it can also shoot all your normal 720p formats (in both "PAL" and "NTSC" framrates). The HDV output is not available in this mode, so it's SDI, or recoding to SxS and moving it as data later.
The camera can not cross-convert between formats.
Ok, so it shoots all the normal framerates to XDCAM-EX, what about off-speed shooting for over & under cranking?
Well, the cool thing is that you can shoot at any framerate (in 1-frame increments) from 1fps to 30fps in 1080p mode, and from 1fps, all the way to 60fps in 720p mode. You can't change speeds on the fly (so no ramping), but setting the shooting rate is very simple. Of course the data-rate to the cards varies with shooting speed.
BUT there is a catch, and this is a HUGE catch for me as a Steadicam operator, and for many others too.. As soon as you change to a "non-standard" framerate, ALL the live outpus of the camera become inactive. Meaning that the ONLY way to monitor during off-speed shooting, is by using the camera's own LCD or EVF. This is a shame, as it really hurts the abiltiy to shoot a lot of stuff off-speed as you have no options for external monitoring.
Ok, the lens is really very good. They have put a lot of effort into the lens, which does show. But your oprtions or external control are VERY small. The camera has a new (as of yet, unnamed) proprietery lens control connector. The conenctor can control Zoom, Start-Stop, and the "Clip Review" funtion, and that's it. The connector by itseld is prety useless, you have to buy an adapter cable from sony to adapte the lens to a standard (Canon, or Fijinun) lens connector, then just add you favorate Professional lens controller and you are set..
Ok, back to formats a little: the camera comes with software for both the PC and the Mac platforms that you use to "ingest" the media and convert it for your use.
If you shot in HDV, than just use the normal established connection. If you shot in XDCAM.EX, then you will need to keep your ringers crossesd that an NLE manufacturer will have come forwards with plans to provide XDCAM-EX support; currently no one has announced that they plan to supporet it.
The unit is slated with a European list price of €6500, with cards slated to sell for €700 and €400 for the 16GB and the 8GB cards, respectivly.
The camera weighs 2.5kg (5.5lbs)
Because of the beefy lens' power requirements, the camera is a 12v camera, adn can be run form wither one of it's batter,es or by plugging in your charger and seeing it it wokds.
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