Digital Video - October 2008 - (Page 18)

BENCH TEST SONY XDCAM EX PMW-EX1 UP TO SPEC? A PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF SONY’S TAPELESS EX1. BY JOHN E. JOHNSON T he PMW-EX1 was revealed at the NAB Show in 2007 and immediately gained great interest from videographers seeking the “ideal” camera. With the EX1 now in wide circulation, many users have offered their respective subjective opinions about its performance. Fortunately, there are a variety of more objective ways to judge Sony’s tapeless offering. First up is the lens fall-off — or vignetting — test. With the EX1’s 14x Fujinon lens set to wide angle — 5.8mm — and infinity focus, the maximum falloff is 0.295 f-stops, which would not be THE SPECS SONY PMW-EX1 18 Design: 1080/30p HD Video Camera Sensors: Three 1/2" Exmor CMOS Data Rate: 35 Mbps in HQ Mode; MPEG-2 Resolution Modes: 1080/30p, 1080/24p, 1080/60i, 720/60i, 720/24p Lens: 14x Fujinon; 5.8mm81.2mm; f/1.9-f/16 External LCD Viewfinder: 3.5" Media: SxS Pro ExpressCard Flash Connections: SDI, USB 2.0, FireWire, component video, XLR external microphones Dimensions: 7" x 7.1" x 12.4" Weight: 6.2 lb. MSRP: $7,499 dv october 2008 noticeable. Similarly, the telephoto (81.2mm) result shows a maximum of 0.113 f-stop fall-off, which is negligible. The result of the MTF50 sharpness test was, uncorrected (without the standard amount of sharpening), 758.9 LW/PH. This is the best test result we have yet obtained with any HD video camera. The MTF50 value refers to the number of adjacent black and white lines arranged vertically, and where you would see a 50% contrast between them, and represents what is felt to be the highest resolution for optimum picture quality. We can, of course, detect lines closer than that value (such as 758.9 LW/PH), and MTF30 would be an example of that, but the MTF50 value is the standard. In this sense, it is the “Useful Resolution Value.” But, regardless of semantics, the EX1’s MTF50 result is terrific. Measured chromatic aberration (CA) was also very good, at 0.161 pixels. The Fujinon is a very good lens. Now you can see why we spend so much effort with the bench tests. Many HD cameras specify 1080 resolution, but it is not just the sensor that gives you the image. The lens is extremely important, and the Fujinon lens in the EX1 is undoubtedly a significant part of the $7,499 MSRP. The ChromaDuMonde chart was reproduced by the PMW-EX1 as close to the original as we have ever seen. The grayscale results indicate that Sony does not roll off the white response just to keep the highlights from being blown out. They assume that you, as a videographer, know what the heck you are doing, so the response is flat. The noise data shows a steady rise in noise as the gray levels become darker, meaning they do not employ noise reduction processing. With some cameras, the darker grays actually have reduced noise compared to the whiter grays, suggesting strong noise reduction, and that will reduce sharpness (noise and image sharpness are intimately related; if you utilize image processing to reduce noise, you reduce sharpness as well, unfortunately). The Q-60 Color Target appeared very natural, with all colors rendered very close to the original. Perhaps a bit of underexposure. The Gretag SG Color Chart results revealed just a bit of overexposure, but overall, the colors are reproduced well. In short, the Sony PMW-EX1 is a superb camera. It would be somewhat cumbersome (and expensive) to carry around on vacation, but when you returned home and put together your family vacation video, you’d thank yourself for lugging its 6lb. of weight (not including the case) all over the place. And, indie film producers take note. This is a camera to be reckoned with. DV John E. Johnson, Jr. is the editor-inchief of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, found at www.homethe aterhifi.com. You’ll find an extended version of this story — with extensive test charts — on our site. Visit DV online. www.dv.com http://www.hometheaterhifi.com http://www.hometheaterhifi.com http://www.dv.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - October 2008

Digital Video - October 2008 Contents First Look: Creative Suite 4 D800 Raid Edirol F-1 Video Field Recorder Universal Dolly BT-LH1760 Monitor Bench Test: XDCAM EX PMW-EX1 Camcorder The Dead Can Dance Cutting Crew Unrest In Peace DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - October 2008

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