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Sony EX1 vs Sony HVR-X7E
I am in the process of buying Sony EX1
but some people have mentioned it might be worth waiting for the HVR-X7E
coming out soonwhich is best?
they look like they cost about the same priceAlso does San disk sell the 3rd party cards yet and where can you get them from
any help much appreciated
thanks
mike -
7 Replies
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[mike faulkner] “which is best?”
That’s not an easy question. What’s best for some may not be what’s best for you. You have to ask yourself what type of shooting you’re going to be doing and then apply that to the feature sets of these two cameras.
The X7E looks like it will be a great camera along with the bigger shoulder mount version. Interchangable lens? Nice, although I’m betting that 90% of the folks who buy this camera will never change a lens. Record to flash cards as well as tape? More nice stuff.
The X7E won’t be as good in low light as the EX1 will. But if you’re always shooting with your own light source then this isn’t an issue. The EX1 will have a more shallow DOF because of the larger sensors, but if the operator doesn’t care about that, then……
The EX1 shoots using a higher quality codec, Think of it as HDV on steroids. For myself, I need the best low light HD camera I can afford and am not worried about changing lenses. I’m an event shooter, not a movie maker, so I chose the EX1. It will take some time to get the SxS Pro memory card workflow in place but I’m well on my way in that respect.
Choose the camera that’s right for you.
If you’re referring to the San Disk cards for the EX, then no they’re not available yet.
– Don
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Don said a bunch but here’s a nutshell version.
X7 – shoulder mount, interchangeable lens, records to miniDV tape and CF card.
EX1 – much higher resolution 1/2″ chips, shallower depth of field, great low light, much better codec (xdcam) that handles motion hdv can’t, undercrank/overcrank up to 60p for great slow motion, time lapse recording, HD-SDI 4:2:2 for “studio” work, built in lens but with great manual controls,SxS cards offload at 10x real time to a laptop with Express port, continuous shooting (shoot with one card while the other quickly offloads), files you can hand a client with free Sony Clip Browser (no HDV deck compatibility issues) or burned directly to Blu-ray disc without any further compression.
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[Craig Seeman] ” much better codec (xdcam)”
I’ve seen similar statements in this and other forums but I am unclear as to how the Sony EX1 codec is better than the hdv codec.
HDV
4:2:0 long gop
25Mbps CBR
1440×1080 60iSONY EX1
4:2:0 long gop
35Mbps VBR
1920×1080 30pCan someone explain how cramming 1920×1080 30p into 35Mbps is better than cramming 1440×1080 60i into 25Mbps?
Does the VBR max out at 35Mbps or is there a range, ex:15Mbps-50Mbps?
Admittedly my Subject title is a bit inflammatory (just to get your attention), but I really only want the answer and not a flame war 🙂
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The VBR on the codec helps with fast motion, there have been some rough and ready tests posted on other forums where a fast moving shooting situation that “breaks” the HDV codec doesn’t show any problems when shot with the EX1.
The story from Sony is that the XDCam HD codec is more efficient than the HDV codec as it was designed to be used in a broadcast environment. We’ve been shooting XDCam HD for a while and have had no issues. Obviously the EX is packing more information in to the same codec so I’m going to be interested to see how it holds up when we get ours.
I couldn’t tell you any of the technical reasons why the codec is better and to be frank I don’t care, as long as the codec holds up well in real world shooting situations then the theory is irrelevant.
I think the next few weeks will tell as more people get hold of the cameras.
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[Steve Connor] “there have been some rough and ready tests posted on other forums where a fast moving shooting situation that “breaks” the HDV codec doesn’t show any problems when shot with the EX1.”
Just to add to Steve’s post, it would seeem that not all standard HDV codecs are created equal, either. I remember Shane Ross commenting that he tested an XL-H1 a while back and couldn’t make it misfire even when he tried, using fast pans, etc. That in itself is quite remarkable. Other people using other types of HDV cameras presumably don’t fare as well. So it comes down to ‘trying before buying’ being pretty important.
I expect that the new high end XDCAM HD camera that shoots up to 50mps @ 4:2:2 DIRECTLY to XDCAM disc will be something to behold.
– Don
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the sony pmw-ex1 shoots true hd right?
it has the option of shooting hdv?
a bit confused.
thx in advance for ur expertise.
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EX1 shots XDCAM HD 35mbps VBR. It also can shoot HDV compatible 25mbps CBR with PCM audio (HDV cameras are using mpeg comrpessed audio).
XDCAM is a MUCH BETTER codec. Shots that would break the HDV codec look great in XDCAM. I can see VERY FEW situations where I’d shoot HDV over XDCAM. Maybe shooting a long seminar (only talking heads) where the extra record time on the cards might help and there’s no risk of breaking the codec.
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