Sony PMW-EX1 Camera

Hello All --

I am thinking about buying a Sony PMW-EX1 camera. (CineAlta line).

Any pros or cons?

Thanks --

Jack Lindauer

Kinda vague question.

Read the product literature then ask specifics.

I bought one and every feature is a "pro" and the some total outweighs the cons.

The EX workflow is pretty awesome; just pop out the PCI Express card and slap it into a MacBook Pro. Use Sony's software to transfer HD QT files right over to your drive. Very snappy. At least in demo...

At around 7K, there is a drool factor here.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

If you can afford it (and you need it) buy it.

This is a fabulous piece of gear.

Check out this thread on DVinfo [www.dvinfo.net]

Even the HVX fan club have gone quiet lately.

If you decide to get this camera, or any tapeless camera, you should also get a tape back-up drive for keeping footage "masters" and archives of footage and edited pieces.

This adds about $3K to the cost of the camera itself (for a drive unit that connects to a workstation, rather than a network accessible unit, which would cost about double this amount, or more).

Hard drives are not viable long-term storage options.

I would recommend an LTO3 or LTO4 based tape drive. These are enterprise level data tape devices. Here's an example of a drive made with film/video people in mind (it is a network-based model, hence more expensive than a computer-attached model):

[www.quantum.com]


-Dave

P.S. - I should also mention that a very good overview of film/video data storage is given in some white papers available on the Quantum site (see the "Product Collateral" area in the right-hand column of the referenced page, the White Papers link).

Hi Folks,
I bought the PMW EX1 and love it. I have FCP 602 running on a OSX10.4.11 DualProc G5. AS Craig said in an earlier post, 602 is necessary for the HDCAM transfer software to run, but Clip Browser will not operate unless you're on an Intel machine. No big deal, either software will import.
My question is:
I was trying to figure out why, when the camera is hooked up to a Firewire cable (as I did when working with a DV deck or camera) FCP 602 doesn't give me an video playback output option that looks like an HDXDCAM setting. Its either "none" or one of the desktop cinema choices. Starting FCP with the camera attached gives me that message window that is looking for an output device. I know how to "enable" the iLink i/o in the menus and have done that.
I've got the camera tethered to computer via Firewire; and connected to an HD monitor via a component cable. I am able to see the output of the camera lens and the media cards. I just can't seem to make the computer recognize the camera, for example in the AV settings.
While I've got you looking at the AV settings, what should device control be? Sony HDV Firewire?
Any thoughts?

Brian Galford
BOSFCPUG

[Update: I did find a copy of the EX1 manual, and I checked the Z1U manual, as well... both seem to confirm what I had originally posted...]

Now, don't hold me to this with 100% certainty, but I believe what you are trying is just not possible, as with the HVR-Z1U... I, myself, don't have an EX-1... The info I provide may help to at least clarify things a bit, if not answer your question...

Unless I am grossly mistaken, you are trying to use the camera as a digital to analog converter, which would allow you to use the camera to drive a signal to an external video monitor.

The EX1 brochure doesn't show this workflow (I couldn't find the manual on-line to verify this).

The Firewire link only works on the "HDV" variant of recording (in both directions). That is, transfer to and from storage cards via Firewire.

The preview you do see via the component output is only coming from the the lens (via the sensors and other processing chips, in some combination) and in "playback" from the storage cards. This would only be accurate when used with an HD monitor anyway. You need to be aware of the output setting, HD or downconverted to SD, on the outputs. For downconverted SD output, if it's NTSC video, then you should make sure the proper setup is chosen in the settings (and that the downconverted output may not reflect the true nature of the HD imagery if you are using an external SD monitor to preview things)...

So, the days of using your camera as a way to get a preview signal to an external monitor may be over (for most "HD" flavors of camera).

My HVR-Z1U, for instance, can signal convert from analog to digital (via the S-Video or composite ports), but it cannot use the component port for this. Additionally, even in DV mode, the camera cannot be used as a digital to analog converter...

Hope this helps...


-Dave

P.S. - This kind of info would be good to know (and share) for those interested in possibly getting one of these cameras.

Thanks all for your positive reports about the EX1.

I don't think anyone can go wrong with the purchase of a "Sony" camera. They have been making television broadcast cameras for years. Sony is to the television industry, what Panavision is to the motion picture industry.

I was just given a demo of the EX1 at Band Pro in Burbank, and the depth-of-field of this camera is nothing short of amazing. This is due to the size of the (three) CMOS chips, (half-inch in the case of the EX1). The EX1 is part of the Sony CineAlta line.

I also like the tapeless recording format, the flash memory cards. No tape deck means no mechanical moving parts. The only moving parts on the camera are the lens rings.

The 16GB memory cards ($900.00 each) can record 50 minutes of HD video. There are two card slots on the camera.

My plans for this camera is to shoot a live action short for the film festivals, (and edit on Final Cut Studio).

Jack Lindauer

Perhaps my difficulties are proof of what you say, but what a shame that the output only goes from the cards to the component port, or only from the lens to the component port, and not some round trip through the entire system. Since the component port works, there is "some" D/A transcoding going on. If what you say is true, then there's a purposeful "short circuit" somewhere. Sigh, I suppose since the Firewire port is only activated in SP mode, HQ signals shall not pass. Argh.
This means that in order to monitor the signal to a decent NTSC monitor, I have to. . . (fill in the blank) . . . buy a Matrox MXO? With my G5, I am not going to invest in a AJA card specific to this (non-Intel) computer, then throw it away when I upgrade to a newer Mac in a few years.

Brian Galford

Brian,

The Matrox MXO would be a good choice, and a bit cheaper than other "outboard" solutions from AJA and Blackmagic.

The Decklink Multibridge looks like a nice higher-end model (as it can handle all formats via a connection to a PCIe "bridge" card). With a new computer, you'd just need to upgrade that portion of the setup.

That said, any of these solutions would work well.

Also, if you have access to a good, pro level LCD-based HD monitor, like the newish JVC models, among many, you may be able to just use an Intensity Pro card to drive an HDMI-capable monitor (for a lot cheaper)...

Yeah, my Z1 and a friend's A1 from Sony will not do a pass through... In actuality, it would be tough to sustain (and control) the bandwidth needed, and reliably, for a "HD" signal to flow from the computer over Firewire and through the camera to a monitor... You wouldn't be able to send a ProRes rendered signal or anything but camera-native, anyway (if it was possible)...

Good luck. The EX1 is a nice camera, as are most of the other choices under $10K. The camera is a small piece of the puzzle, so make your choice and don't worry about it... After all, these are all "prosumer" cameras and yield similar results, for the most part...

My best,

Dave