Atomos Samurai

Sony vs. Blackmagic


I mis-wrote when I said the BMCC is future-4k -- it's the Sony FS-700 that will have that capability.  The BM is a 2.5k sensor.

Phillip Bloom reviews the Sony:

http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/dv/news/philip-bloom-reviews-sony-fs700/59608


Well really kinda apples and oranges here, they're both nice but different.  One thing that seems to get lost in the Blackmagic deal is that despite being a (future) 4k-capable imager, the chip is WAY smaller than the Sony.  BOTH need lenses and other expensive add-ons.  On the plus side of the BM vs. Sony is the built-in SSD recorder, includes Resolve AND Ultrascopes (each worth about a grand) though you pretty much need a Thunderbolt-capable computer to go with it.  I would say the Sony is a more "traditional" camera (in a good way) from the functionality point of view.  Plus it does awesome slo-mo.  I would guess that it will generally make better images than the BM, due to the imager - but in order to be apple-to-apples there, the Sony requires an outboard recorder like the Atomos Samurai, etc.

What I mean by that is that the BM has an onboard hard drive recorder that can potentially record in any format - and on the high end natively records 12 bit RAW files.  The Sony's internal recorder is NXCAM AVCHD compressed files.  As with my EX1, which records XDCAM EX at 35mbps - you have to go out the SDI spigot to get a 4:2:2 uncompressed signal, and to record that properly you need an external recorder.  The Samurai records ProRes in three flavors, I typically use the middle ProRes422 at 150mbps.

So if you wanted to truly compare the outputs of the BM and 700 apples-to-apples, you would need to record the Sony to a high res external recorder.  (Or set the BM to record compressed) So - another point for the BM.  $3k INCLUDING internal RAW recording capability AND full Resolve AND Ultra Scopes.  That would be a deal at $5 or $6K.  The Sony is $8k without lens (or external recorder, or Resolve or scopes).

This is not to say that the Sony's internal AVCHD files would not be fine for most stuff.  A drive in my Samurai locked up on a recent shoot, and so all I had was the XDCAM on the cards in the camera as backup.  Bummed me out, but the clients can't tell.  And I sure was glad I had the backup rather than having to re-shoot a half day.

So it's a lot to sort out.  I'm having this issue with a lot of items these days - not just what do they do, but what don't they do - and what's the best for my particular needs?
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The new Sony PMW 200

It’s pretty bitchin’


PMW200

People have been complaining that they aren't putting pro codecs in these awesome cameras they're coming out with - like the FS100 and 700.  Why a so-so AVCHD onboard codec, and not an established pro codec like XDCAM?  Even the EX1 and EX3 are XDCAM EX 4:2:0 at 35 Mbps.  This little unit is XDCAM 4:2:2 at 50 Mbps!  Cool!

Again, though, I would like to see what this (new, I think) sensor looks like.  Assuming it doesn't suck, the camera looks like a sure-thing-type good investment. TC in/out, Genlock in/out, SDI out…. it will likely get a lot of use in multi cam shoots due to the connectivity alone.

The big question is, "Where is the PMW-EX5?".  Many expect that to be the next thing to drop.

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Sony PMW 200

Some pros and cons on the new Sony camera

PMW200

$7,800 list price.  The EX-1 listed for around that but sold for $6,500.  I think the earlier numbers were guesstimates of the street price.

Yeah - not exactly cheap.  B&H is listing it for $6,300.  Plus cards and batts and etc.  But it's the same price as the EX-1 was back when I bought it, so not terrible.  And you don't have to buy a lens, and can likely get by without an external recorder.

The only thing that's a bit of a bummer (for me, if I was to consider it as a replacement for my EX-1) is that it is essentially the same chips and lens as the EX-1 with some added features and better on-board recording.  So it's not like I would be getting better quality from the main guts of the thing.  Yes, the recordings going to the cards would be better, but with the Samurai, I am already getting 4:2:2 AND even higher-bitrate ProRes, so I can technically make better recordings with my existing camera.

If I didn't already own the EX-1, though, I would definitely put it high on the consideration list.

The integration with 'pro' XDCAM stuff will be big for a lot of folks.  It should make it easier to do dailies and archives to BD, which I would really like.  I'm finding myself wishing I had an easy way to burn discs of the raw footage I shoot on the thing.  I have already lost some original footage by mistakenly erasing the wrong hard drive (the one with the ONLY backup on it - AFTER I had re-used the cards).  

So just having it on hard drives still makes me nervous, even if I have two copies.  After a year or so, you start looking back through the HDs and going, "hey there's a bunch of space on this one, what if I moved this over here, blah blah…"  and pretty soon you don't know what you've got or where it is.  Clearly I need better data management skills.  If it's burned to a shiny disc though, it's locked down for at least a decade - it's more like having a tape master backup.  I think a lot of pro environments are still using DLT tape, but unless that has changed significantly, it takes forever.  I guess you just leave it running overnight.
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