Sony XDCAM EX

The deal-breaker for me will be bad wobble or pan-slant issues which remains to be seen. That aside, you never know, Juan may decide to hydra-dize the EX as well which would eliminate the HDV hassel, and might give you higher frame rates at 1080p. Just a thought.
 
I roughly agree with the costing figures, though yes to DXmetal - I've heard around $6,500 as the price to aim for for the EX. But the XDR could be hired as required, or shared amongst a group, in a way that a Hydra mod can't be hired or shared.

If just two people shared the ownership, that brings the cost of EX plus XDR to $6,500+$2,500 - $9,000! Very close to a new Hydraized HVX! And with the cost shared between three or more........

And you need to ask what you're getting for the money. With Hydra, it's an enhancement to one single camera, which also voids warranty on a new camera. The XDR can be ported from camera to camera, or even used to record the output of an HD-SDI mixer, HD minicam etc etc.

It may be more expensive, but it's much much more versatile, and likely to have a much longer life.
Kholi said:
And, just imagine if you dropped ANY expensive item at all. It happens, that's not really a reason against Hydra at all.
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Yes, but with Hydra you've written off the cost of HVX + Hydra. If the same accident happened with the EX + XDR, it's just the EX that gets written off. Bad enough, but.......

And not just cost. Replacing a Hydraized HVX QUICKLY may prove difficult, replacing a standard EX is likely to prove much easier.

There are pros and cons for each, but the XDR is certainly something that should be very carefully considered, especially for anyone starting from scratch. It may be different if you already own an HVX.
 
mikkowilson said:
That's what insurance if for guys.
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For the financial side, maybe. But it won't get a replacement camera any quicker, and if that prejudices the entire project.........

It is looking on the dark side, though. Personally I like the idea that EX + XDR CAN be a fairly simple self contained (even hand held) package, OR could be two separate cabled units. And the XDR can be used for other tasks, and other cameras.

Card costs are interesting as well. At the moment I can get 16GB CF vards adequate for up to the 100Mbs mode for about £135 (inc tax) versus £550 (inc tax) for a 16GB SxS, so pretty closely a quarter the price. Since 100Mbs is pretty well 3x the native 35Mbs, that means the card cost per minute using the EX/XDR is actually substantially LOWER than recording native HD-XDCAM to an SxS card.
 
We'll have to wait and see how well the EX performs. If the EX performs as well as i'm hearing, the EX with XDR will be what I've wanted for a while.

We're in for some real nice cameras for a decent price over the next few years!
The HVX200 created this excitement. It' obvious Panasonic drove Sony to offer the EX.

Now, only if Sony would of offered a 4:2:2 version. We all know they could of, but hey, that would dip into
their next models profit margin. I'm sure Panny has something up their sleeves....
 
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Price confirmed, $6449 + shipping with 1x free 8 gig SxS card in the box. Another 1x free 8 gig card after mail in rebate (good on purchase till march 2008 only).

Available from a National Well Known Online Dealer. They have 5 stores in 5 different states. They are taking 10% deposit down since last Thursday. First come first serve on Inventory. Expected Delivery
19th November.

PM me if you are interested and I can forward you the full Info (contact no, salesperson which was really nice).

And Unlike the other retailers, they do not penalized you if you retreat your preorder and the deposit is fully refundable.

NOTE: I DO NOT BENEFIT IN ANY WAY ON YOUR TRANSACTION ! I AM SIMPLY POINTING OUT TO YOU A BETTER PRICE THAN $6999 THAT B&H IS CHARGING.

P/S: Sony is currently working with Avid to provide support for the new codec. Sony also already have in place a converter that will allows most NLE to import the new codec from the XDCAM EX.
 
561-scharf-scharf.jpg


A test (http://www.slashcam.de/artikel/Test/Sony-XDCAM-PMW-EX1---Vorserienmodell.html) done in Germany between the A1 and EX. Seems like you can see more lines(more resolutions on the EX). You can babble fish that site if needed since its in german.

Kevin Shaw also did a line resolution/price comparison between these cams.

Canon XH-A1: 800 lines, $3250 after rebate

Z1U: 540 lines, $4400 after rebate

HD110U: 700 lines, $4400 with lens

HVX200: 540 lines, $5200 with colorista, anton bauer
EZ battery and barry's book

EX1: 1000 lines, $6500 with 2 free 8 gig memory cards
 
Dxmetal said:
Canon XH-A1: 800 lines, $3250 after rebate

Z1U: 540 lines, $4400 after rebate

HD110U: 700 lines, $4400 with lens

HVX200: 540 lines, $5200 with colorista, anton bauer
EZ battery and barry's book

EX1: 1000 lines, $6500 with 2 free 8 gig memory cards
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This test seems skewy to me since you're not comparing apple to apple.
The 800 lines figure sounds about right for the A1 in 60i mode, but not 24F. Was the Z1 ran in 60i or Cineframe24? If it is Cineframe then it loses a significant amount of vertical res. The HD110 is 720p only and it's being compared against all 1080 cameras, so 700 lines is a lot. Definitely need more info before taking this test seriously.
 
Looking at the circle pattern, does it look like the XH-A1 is sharper, resolving more detail? Is that a moire pattern in the circle for the XH-A1?

Not a lot of difference in it. It would have been nice to see the HVX's detail resolved in comparison.

Low light performance and low noise from the EX will likely make this camera stand out from the XH-A1, HVX, etc.

Thanks for the link, Dxmetal.

Dxmetal said:
561-scharf-scharf.jpg
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The chart is from a review made in Germany. The 1000 lines resolution is not based out of the chart. It is based on the numerous cam's specification.
 
Ehhhhh thats not a claim you can make then. Let someone shoot a chart and we will see what it can reproduce.
 
TimurCivan said:
Ehhhhh thats not a claim you can make then. Let someone shoot a chart and we will see what it can reproduce.
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huh ? That chart was shot by someone in Germany.

And Panasonic made the the HVX200 CCD with only 960x540 pixels and the EX has way more resolution on its CMOS chip.
 
Giovanni Bertani said:
In any case looks like that the XH-A1 is quiet a competitor for the price point!

I am happy to have bought it!
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Resolution is merely one very small factor for overall picture quality... The A1 is nowhere close to the HVX in terms of gamma curves and color reprodution. And lets not forget the codecs we are talking here. As for the EX, seeing is believing. I'm waiting for a real world comparison...
 
SPZ said:
The A1 is nowhere close to the HVX in terms of gamma curves and color reprodution. And lets not forget the codecs we are talking here. As for the EX, seeing is believing. I'm waiting for a real world comparison...
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Sorry but thats totally subjective and merely an opinion.

Where the A1 isnt close to the HVX is shooting variable frames in 720 and inability to shoot to solid state at 100mbps.

As for the EX I simply cannot believe people will simply look at the GOP structure and write of the high res 1/2 ccds along with many of the other features. Unbelievable to me. We should be relishing the day, however many seem bogged down in a lot of myth and heresy in addition to wanting to pick apart anything.

In addition SPZ, I direct this one to you, Giovanni only stated he was happy with his A1 and its the quite competitor. Cant say I blame him. Its a great camera.

Oh ****, I am sure I recently said I wouldnt get involved in this kind of discussion anymore. OK I missed a hurdle. Last one for me though.
 
Despite of what HDV being crucified here on this forum, one only has to watch the XH-A1 works from Disjecta and some of the guys from Europe and be amazed.
Without a doubt, Panasonic has GREAT out of the box color and gamma, non Panasonic users just need to do a little gamma and color correction in post.
 
SPZ said:
The A1 is nowhere close to the HVX in terms of gamma curves and color reprodution.
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Out of the box, maybe. But if you hadn't heard, the A1's color can be thoroughly tweaked to be as good as the HVX.

The 4:2:0 vs. 4:2:2 argument has also been shown to be somewhat moot; the Canon's 4:2:0 holds up great in CC and keys incredibly well. 4:2:2 is definitely superior on paper, but in terms of what the eye sees, the cams are pretty much equal at rendering color.

Do some more research before posting thoroughly debunked ideas like this.
 
Dxmetal said:
huh ? That chart was shot by someone in Germany.
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that chart does not show 1000 lines of res. it tops out at 600. the circular patters is there to show moire patterns. which the a1 does because of 24f deinterlacing.
 
Metrolens said:
The 4:2:0 vs. 4:2:2 argument has also been shown to be somewhat moot; the Canon's 4:2:0 holds up great in CC
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I love our A1, but Canon's HDV falls apart with any serious grading. If you're slightly adjusting a WB, it's fine, but if you're going for a stylized look, you hit the wall very quickly. The codec is the biggest problem with this camera.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what a better codec in the XDR brings to this chipset.
 
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