Sony PMX EX3 for wildlife documentary

[Craig Seeman]

What is
[Ofer Levy] “100% broadcasting quality? “

CNN has used what looks like cell phone video but I don’t think Discovery HD would accept that for a full nature documentary.

You’d probably need to ask the specific channel/network what they accept because they vary for hired work and hired/commissioned work may be different than selling a completed doc on the market.

[Noah Kadner]

Greatly depends on the broadcaster involved. Definitely you’ll have better luck with the EX1 as it’s full 1920×1080 24p and it well shot and exposed in 35 Mbit will likely impress a higher number of broadcasters than a Z7 would. Still to be sure you might want to investigate something even higher end such as a nice ENG style camera. I’d also highly recommend finding out more about the broadcasters you intend to pitch and their requirements. It’s quite tricky to sell a doc without a prior arrangement of some sort- especially when you’re on the edge with broadcast requirements.

Noah

My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook.
https://www.callboxlive.com

[Michael Palmer]

The EX series cameras are definitely capable of recording for any network broadcast. As far as HDV for broadcast goes there is a don’t ask don’t tell common philosophy, it’s all about the content. With any video format good photography skills make good images and IMO HDV is even broadcast quality if it is used correctly.

I would like to suggest a new product that I’m looking forward to adding to my inventory list that may be what you should look at first, it’s the Convergent Design XDR Compact Flash HD-SDI recorder. The EX series cameras and some HDV cameras have the HD-SDI uncompressed signal that can be recorded with less compression using the XDR, as you choose the compression level from HDV 25Mbps all the way to 160 Mbps All I-frame 4:2:2. There are HDV cameras with HDMI (another uncompressed HD signal) that can be converted to HD-SDI that can also use to produce unbelievable images. You may already have the camera you need and recording at a higher bit rate would definitely raise the quality of over it’s HDV compression. The XDR Nano will have the ability to use HDMI directly from the camera and should be available by the fall. The XDR should be available by end of summer.
https://www.convergent-design.com/

Good Luck
Michael Palmer

[Sverker Hahn]

Fairly new to HD video, I cannot quite understand what the XDR can do for me. I understand that it is better to use less compression, but how great is the change?

Normal clips with EX1 are very good, but dark shots show quite a lot of noise. Are noise in general the reason to invest in gear like XDR? – And it also comes with more investments, like faster drives and connections – in my case also a Mac Pro …

Is it so much better that you immediatly see it in your clips?

Or is it more like “I work with undcompressed video” and the broadcasting company says “Then we are interested, of course”.

And is it obvious when you see the final product – a DVD, a Blu-ray disk or a broadcast?

Sverker Hahn, Stockholm

Slower is better!

Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel

[Ofer Levy]

Thanks for your input guys!

This new XDR device sounds very interesting to me! I realise that using a small sensor camera like the Sony Z7 I am currently using has a HUGE advantage for wildlife filmmaking as every still lens I use becomes x7 more powerful. (a 400mm lens behaves like ~3000mm lens !! )
If I could keep on using my Sony Z7 and get an uncompressed HD which will be good enough for broadcasting – I will be very happy.
The Sony Z7 doesn’t have HD-SDI but it does have the HDMI so I hope this can work with the new XDR device.

[Mike Schell]

The Flash XDR / nanoFlash should make your video acceptable to all the networks. The BBC requires a minimum of 50Mbps 4:2:2 MPEG2 for it’s content. As Michael Palmer mentioned, the Flash XDR and it’s brother the nanoFlash can record at 50 or 100 Mbps Long-GOP or up to 160 Mbps in I-Frame only mode. At the 50 Mbps the image quality is certainly above DVCProHD and at the 100 Mbps level, the video is visually indistinguishable from uncompressed.

You won’t need a big upgrade to your hard-drive or PC/MAC to support these data-rates, as most drives can easily handle multiple streams of MPEG2 (50 Mbps = 6.5 MBytes/sec, 100 Mbps = 13 MBytes; most drives are good for 30 to 40 MBytes I/O).

We have posted some comparison still images on our website. We’ll also have some comparisons of complex video and green/blue screen comparisons shortly. In addition to improved resolution and reduced mosquito noise, you get a much better key with 4:2:2 color space as compared to 4:2:0 found in HDV or the 35 Mbps EX1/EX3.

Mike Schell
Convergent Design

[Ofer Levy]

Thank you Mike! This is absolutely fantastic news for me!!

I will get in touch with you through your website.

Cheers,

Ofer Levy
Sydney

[Tiago Bartholo]

Hi Michael,

I just got an EX3, is there any way around this XDR Compact Flash HD-SDI recorder to obtain 4:2:2?

Can I output HDMI into anywhere else in order to get that color info or is that the only way available so far?

Thanx,

JvK

[Don Greening]

[Jacob von Kreuz] “Can I output HDMI into anywhere else in order to get that color info or is that the only way available so far? “

It’s certainly not the only way available but it’s the most portable and least expensive way. An alternative would be the AJA Ki Pro but that looks to be more for a studio setting. It’s records HD-SDI/HDMI, etc. to hard drive. And it only records Apple Pro Res.

https://www.aja.com/

– Don

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Jacob,
Have a look to the nano-Flash (the younger brother of the XDR):
https://www.convergent-design.com/
This device rocks Jacob. Is the best (the only) option for portable-high quality recording.
There are other devices, like the Ki-Pro pointed by Don, that offers 10b recording, but no real mobility.
The nano-Flash is a bit bigger than a cigarretes box.
The footage is accepted by all the bigs (BBC, Discovery,etc).
With that attached to your EX-1/3 IMHO you have the best available rig to shoot documentaries for the price you go to pay.Options for a better picture?
– A camera with a 2/3″ CCD/CMOS; The SONY’s with 2/3″ captors; much more expensive, and recording only 50Mbps (NANO records 280Mbps).
– 10b Recording: The new PANA 300 have a 1/3″ CCD. The PANA 500 have a 2/3″ CCD. This one should yields a very good picture.
An advantage of the NANO is that the workflow is the simplest that you can imagine: Drag&drop from the CompactFlash card to the HD. No need of transcoding like with the P2.
Another advantage of the NANO is that you can use it with whatever camera have HD/SD-SDI.
I love my NANO. Is a “good bye” to the misery of the compressed formats.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com