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Buying Advice – Sony NXCam
Hello All;
I am looking for a reliable High definition Professional Camcorder under $4500 that only uses flash memory (No tape). As an avid video enthusiast, I would be using it for personal use now but could use it for business uses in the near future.1. For those of you who have a Digicam that meets the above requirements, can you make any recommendations as to which model(s) I should consider ? I previously bought a Panasonic HMC-150 for the office and it’s OK but it doesn’t seem to perform too well in low light and I also perfer the layout of the controls on the sony models better than the panasonic models.
2. I have initially been looking at the HXR-NX5U but am open to other suggestions. Anyone recommend/not recommend this digicam ?
3. I read about problems with the HXR-NX5U on this forum such as things happening suddenly in the middle of taping that causes lost footage. Is this camera problematic ? Do you recommend Sony’s extended warranty ? Are these cameras generally very durable ?
4. The one thing I like about the Panasonic HMC-150 is that it has a built in waveform monitor plus other diagnostic displays. Do any of the Sony NXCam’s have any built-in features that are similar ?
5. I noticed that Sony offers cameras that use different solid state media such as SDHC cards, Compact Flash cards, and SxS cards … Is there any advantage/disadvantage to using SDHC cards vs. Compact Flash Cards ? I was always concerned about using Compact Flash cards due to the many pins that seem fragle and problematic to me.
Thanks for your input.
Tim
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6 Replies
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Hi William, i recently got 4 units of the NX5 camcorder and soon will have 10 or 12 more. i´ve heard about some troubling when in middle of record but most of all it has to do with improper card formatting or not formatting at all for a new project, mainly when the recording format has been changed and there are still some clips in the cards.
i can say that its a nice machine, battery is long lasting, lens is wide enough. unfortunately it lacks histogram, time lapse option and what i really miss is the shot transition feature that you one find in other sony camcorders. viewfinder is touchscreen but i prefer to use the buttons. usually i prefer to record in 16GB sdhc cards because in case of trouble or if one get lost i just loose part of the job, not a big portion as it would happen in bigger cards, aside 16GB are cheaper than 32GB.
the NXcam is a complete camcorder for the semi pro user. its lacks are far compensated by the ease of use, the fast editing workflow and the options you have for competitive projects.
actually there are some camcorders like HMC-150 which was one of the choices for me. now you can find the new Canon that records CF cards. i can say from canon that the optics are far good, and the image quality is top, but canon has taken too much time in turning to solid state and one can find that inside the company there is a long way between thinking and doing, same thinking can be applied to solve customer issues.
few months ago i was like you, comparing all option, i made a deep research to find that NX5 was the right choice for me, then after i used for a couple of monts i got another 10 units. 🙂
regards
Rodrigo
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Rodrigo,
What are you doing with 12 cameras? Are you an instructor?
John Lenihan
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Kinda, we are an institution and im in charge of the A/V department. recently we moved from DVX100 to NX5 camcorders and its been a hit for our customers.
best
Rodrigo
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HI , the Sony HXR NX5 works fine, I have the camera since May and it works just fine,I just had recently a small problem when my sdhc card cat. 6 had a breakdown,due to some chain reaction of my hand 😉 but I could get 99 percent of my files back with a program called cardrecovery…. so no worries about that.
I never had any problems losing any footage during shootings. The HXR NX5 works pretty reliable.
According to a SONY SPAIN TECH-SUPPORT ( i live in spain) the warranty +extended is only valid when you buy the HXR NX5 in the designated selling area…e = europe, p= southeast asiaI think the compact flash are more for foto cameras… I use for my hxr nx5 a sdhc integral ultimapro card cat.6 !!minimum!!! and a sony memory stick produo mark2…
I hope this helps you a little bit in your choice -
I have a wedding business here in Australia and I cannot talk highly enough about the NXCAM NX5. Sure it may not do some things like shot transitions but u can around that. Its a no-nonsense camera and it is just perfect for the wedding industry. I have never had an issue with mine recording to SD cards (class 10), Sony Memory Stick HG cards or the FMU attached to the camera.
The only thing I would have liked to have seen on this camera is interval recording so I could record clouds which make a great fill for my weddings but I use my EX1R for that anyway.
Ray
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I have the NX5U and it’s an amazing camera but AVCHD can be difficult to work with in NLE’s and you better have one he’ll of a good processor to edit with this format. Main reason I bought this camera was SDI out. If you don’t need SDI, I’d suggest going with the Z5U and buying the optional flash card record unit. Same price as buying the NX5U with the optional flash unit and HDV .m2t files are easier to use than AVCHD .MTS files. As far as image quality, Z5 and NX5 are identical but much better than the Panasonic HMC150.
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