wishlist for next firmware

[Don Greening]

[Michael Slowe] “although I believe that the EX1 R has made them a bit harder to press accidentally. “

Correct. The EX1R has more traditional buttons that take more pressure to operate. The EX1 has membrane switches that are easily activated.

[Michael Slowe] “the time it takes to set the function up would negate its use for me shooting documentary in the field.”

Right again. Although the in-camera transition functions are nice to have they’re certainly not the answer for all situations.

– Don

[Don Greening]

[Andy Nickless] “Anyone who keeps their BPAV files will be familiar with the frustration of downloading and archiving these huge files in which only the audio is required.”

XDCAM EX files are a mere 18% larger than MiniDV files. This is a far cry from just a few short years ago when full raster 1920×1080 video took up more than a gigabyte of hard drive space for every minute of footage. Yikes. What these cameras have done is allowed us to get into HD with enormous quality for almost the same price as the original HDV cameras.

[Andy Nickless] “Another item high on my wish list for the next firmware is the ability to record Audio Only.”

Agreed.

– Don

[Andy Nickless]

[Don Greening] “Yikes. What these cameras have done is allowed us to get into HD with enormous quality for almost the same price as the original HDV cameras”

I agree 100% Don.

But what I meant was, the BPAV files are way bigger than they would be if they contained only audio (and not video).

Please don’t misunderstand me. The EX1 R is the most amazing value for money. A truly fantastic camera. I would hate to be without mine now.

But Sony obviously want to make improvements and surely that’s what this post is about. I’m not complaining (well, maybe just a little niggle about those membrane controls) just trying to make constructive suggestions.

[Don Greening]

[Andy Nickless] “But what I meant was, the BPAV files are way bigger than they would be if they contained only audio (and not video). “

Yes, you’re right and being able to record audio only would certainly be a good choice as far as a firmware upgrade. Off the top of my head though, I can’t think of any camera out there that allows you to record audio only. You can certainly transfer audio only from cameras but all of them record the video, too.

Generally, people who want an extra audio source just use a dedicated audio recorder. We do this all the time.

– Don

[Andy Nickless]

[Don Greening] “Generally, people who want an extra audio source just use a dedicated audio recorder”

Agreed, but as a so-called ‘prosumer’ product, I would have thought this would be a valuable feature for those who don’t have the budget for an audio recorder.

Or is there an inexpensive one that will give the quality of audio I can get from an EX1?
It would have to be pretty good to compete with the EX1 R’s cache facility. Just set the cache to a couple of seconds and there’s no chance of missing the beginning of any more audio.

Just imagine . . . with up to 15 seconds of cache, you can (for example) wait ’till the dog barks and then press the record button!