Digital Video - January 2008 - (Page 24) FIRST LOOK SONY PMW-EX1 The EX1 has variable frame rates, fully adjustable from 130fps in 1080p and 1-60fps in 720p. Like the HVR-Z1, it is 50Hz/60Hz switchable for worldwide compatibility. It uses long-GOP MPEG-2 codecs for video, with a 25Mbit/sec SP mode capturing 1440x1080i, and a 35Mbit/sec HQ mode capturing a full-raster 1920x1080 or 1280x720. All modes use 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. SP records 24p using 2-3 pulldown, but HQ 24p is a pure 24p recording. Compression quality is very good: I was able to cause blocking artifacts to appear with radically jumpy, earthquake-like shakycam work, but on anything less frenetic, the images looked quite clean, even as still frames. My gut impression is that codec quality on this camera is a step above that of previous HDV and XDCAM HD camcorders, though I’d need to do more controlled testing to tell for certain. Audio records as 48kHz, 16-bit uncompressed. The camera offers manual or auto gain, internal mike or XLR input, line or mike levels, and 48V phantom power, all selectable on a per-channel basis. The camera records on two SxS cards, slotted in sideways. An 8GB card holds 25 minutes of HQ material or 35 minutes of SP material. Double those times for a 16GB card; double them again for dual 16s. SxS cards pop straight into ExpressCard/34 slots on laptops, or can be mounted via USB 2.0 from the camera. Sony supplies clip browsing and transfer software for both Mac and PC (I was able to transfer and view clips on my MacBook Pro, but — at that time — FCP didn’t support EX1 clips). The camera offers i.Link (FireWire) for SP mode only; it’s essentially an HDV-compatibility mode. There is no SD recording mode, neither in DV nor DVCAM. You can down-convert on output, but internally the choice is between 1080 and 720 HD. The EX1 outputs HD-SDI or SD-SDI (reportedly including audio and time code, though I didn’t test this) on a standard, rear-mounted BNC. Its analog connectors are the same as on the HVR-V1: tiny, fragile D-shell connectors, one for component and the other for composite, audio and Y/C. These connectors are placed on the right, behind and beneath the rotating grip, in such a location that they cannot be used when the camera is handheld, because one’s wrist is in the way (Figure 4). Overall, the EX1 is a very promising camera: pin-sharp, sensitive imagers with what looks to be considerable latitude, variable frame rates, the benefits of solid-state recording, HD-SDI and lots of “tweakability.” It’s painful to handhold, and the analog I/O cabling is sub-optimal, but those problems have to be set against what may yet be turn out to be the finest images in the sub-$10k field. I’ll be very interested to put a production model EX1 through a rigorous evaluation. DV Adam Wilt (www.adamwilt.com) is a filmmaker with Meets The Eye, LLC. NEXT STEPS S ony recently unveiled two new HDV camcorders — the HVRZ7U (top; $6,850) and HVR-S270U (bottom; $10,500) — that feature interchangeable lens systems, native progressive recording, increased sensitivity for low-light conditions and hybrid solidstate recording. The new camcorders use Sony’s 1/3” 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system enhanced by Exmor technology. With a 45-degree rotated pixel layout, the 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system offers sufficient pixel surface area while maintaining high resolution. The Exmor technology features a column-parallel analog-to-digital conversion technique and dual noise canceling, resulting in highquality digital signals with extremely low noise, similar to the imaging technology used in the PMW-EX1 camera. The two new technologies combine to allow the new camcorders to perform significantly better in low-light environments with sensitivity of 1.5 lux. Most interesting is both new cameras allow users to attach different lenses for extra flexibility, and both models have a universal standard 1/3-inch bayonet mount mechanism for easier lens changes. Each comes standard with a 12x high-quality, multi-purpose Carl Zeiss lens for HD video, with a Vario-Sonnar T coating to reduce reflections. A specially designed 8x wide-angle lens is also available as an option. Built-in features include auto-focus, optical stabilizer, and automatic back-focus adjustment. Using a special adapter, users can also attach the lens series designed for Sony’s digital SLR still cameras. The camcorders offer 1080, 24p and 30p native progressive recording. The 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system and EIP technology create true 1080p images, which can then be recorded as progressive signals by the HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U camcorders in the HDV format. The progressive HDV streams can be output from an i.Link interface and used for progressive editing with compatible NLE software. Both cameras — as well at the accompanying HVRM35U recording and playback — deck are planned to be available in February. 24 dv january 2008 www.dv.com http://www.adamwilt.com http://www.dv.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.