Sony PMW-EX3 Official Thread

It has a lanc which is good.

Yes they are looking into making one and yes I will be hanging on to the old FX1 for abit more yet.

Off on another shoot in the morning with it actually.

Yesterday I was pulling a 50 gig edit from a 120 gig Barracuda drive that I had storded in my cubboard for the last 12 months.

I managed to get all the files off it to my computer but it was touch and go there for awhile.

Had to file up the project from the failing drive and encode out the files I could not copy from the drive and got around it that way.

If you are saving raw video footage to just one drive you are asking for it.

It has a lanc which is good.

Yes they are looking into making one

Camera and housing will be a very expensive but very nice set up

yes I will be hanging on to the old FX1 for abit more yet.

Well at least until you get your AHEM, complementary... gift ???

Dive safe

DeanB

Hey Guys ,

All this talk of LANC is news to me.

My understanding is the EX3 has the same 8 pin remote as the EX1.

I got excited and checked the specs ( see below ) and can't find any mention of LANC.

--Signal inputs/outputs--

Audio input

XLR-3-pin (female) (x 2), line/mic/mic +48 V selectable

Composite output

BNC (x1), 1.0 Vp-p, 75 ohms

S-Video output

Y: 1.0 Vp-p, 75 O unbalanced, sync negative

Audio output

RCA type (CH-1,CH-2),-10 dBu (reference level), 47 kO

Component output

Mini D (x 1) Y: 1.0 Vp-p, 75 ohms, Pb/Pr: 0.7 Vp-p, 75 ohms

SDI output

BNC (x 1), HD-SDI/SD-SDI selectable

i.LINK input/output

IEEE1394, 4-pin (x 1), HDV stream input/output, S400

Timecode input

BNC (x1), 0.5 to 18 Vp-p, 10 ohms

Timecode output

BNC (x1), 1.0 Vp-p, 75 ohms

Genlock input

BNC (x1), 1.0 Vp-p, 75 ohms

USB

Mini-B (x 1), USB 2.0 High-speed

Headphone output

Stereo mini-jack (x 1), -20.5 dBu (reference level output, 16 ohms load)

DC input

DC jack

Battery input

5-pin

Remote

8-pin

Im sure that when i first spoke to Amphibico months ago they said they didn't have any intention of making a housing for the EX3 because of this reason...

But i like my 'occasional' jovial banter with Wags and he has 'friends' and 'inside connections' with them so maybe he knows something we don't...

Dive safe

DeanB

Just got back from a night dive in the Swan River here....vis was 0.15 cm Just like stoney cove hey......

Well I did see a lanc on there somewhere, I'll have another look.................................................................

.................................................................................nope it's not there, must of been thinking of another one.

Just got back from a night dive in the Swan River here....vis was 0.15 cm Just like stoney cove hey......

Thats excellent viz by comparison

nope it's not there, must of been thinking of another one.

Z7 Maybe ???

Dive safe

DeanB

I had also heard from another source that Amphibico were doing the EX3... maybe Chinese whispers.

Wags: How warm was the Swan, last time I dived there is was freezing and murky as hell. I felt like bull shark bait for the whole dive!

I had me socks, jocks & dry suit on

It was 23 Celsius- 73 Fahrenheit.

I'll make a post about the excellent vis with some pics.

I did hear as well there were working on a EX3 housing.

Must of been the Z5 with a Lanc then.

Drysuit in 23C?? hahahahahaha

Sorry but that's just too funny

Cheers, Simon

A concern with the EX3 underwater is that it will be a very large housing. With the same codec as the EX1 and limited use of most controls underwater, there is little benefit to be had. IMO putting that money and size penalty toward an XDR Drive which enables 4:2:2 at 100 mbps from the EX1 makes a lot more sense. Turn a usd 6500 camera with a usd 4500 drive into a usd 65000 cam makes more sense. Now if we can just get a few folks together to justify the custom housing.

A concern with the EX3 underwater is that it will be a very large housing. With the same codec as the EX1 and limited use of most controls underwater, there is little benefit to be had. IMO putting that money and size penalty toward an XDR Drive which enables 4:2:2 at 100 mbps from the EX1 makes a lot more sense. Turn a usd 6500 camera with a usd 4500 drive into a usd 65000 cam makes more sense. Now if we can just get a few folks together to justify the custom housing.

I think this is a very valid comment...

Here is the link: XDR

All you need is a HD-SDI output...

That's right, good news is the EX1 has HD SDI which bypasses the long GOP MPEG compression. You can then capture 4:2:2 native. I know a place that will build housings if they get a few orders lined up. My question is, will post houses at Broadcasters accept EX1 footage at 4:2:2 at 100mbps as it is a non-standard format. The Beebs, NG, AP, etc are very picky about formats, especially non-standard ones.

-shawn

Well, if the 100mps codec that they are using is really good, then we should be able to transcode to something acceptable to the big cheeseheads. However, the device still uses the Long GOP Sony format just at higher rates. I wonder if the clip browser will convert them?

The beeb etc must have a standard on this due to the fact that there are a fair few cameras around now with HD-SDI out and uncompressed capture is very viable. I thought they had a clause that states if the footage comes from a camera with 1/2" chips or larger and is over 100mm/sec it was classed as HD?

I totally agree with you Shaun about housing the EX-3... I wonder whether it will allow you to use different lenses??? Otherwise I can't see any advantage over the Ex1. Thinking about it.... What lenses are available for the Ex-3?

You could mount 35mm Canon and Nikon lenses that have aperture rings via an adapter to the EX3. This is really useful for topside wildlife shooting as there is a 5.5 magnification factor but of no benefit to underwater shooters. I asked Gates if they were going to make a housing for the EX3 and the answer was no. No advantages in housing the EX3 as it is essentially the same cam as the EX1. Decent macro can be achieved with the fixed lens on the EX1 plus the close-up diopter.

Andy

The Nanoflash also being made by Convergent Designs will be a better bet for underwater use and may even fit into an existing housing such as the Gates. Wouldn't be hard for a manufacturer to make a larger back that will accomodate such a device. But, in reality, people are reporting that the XD Cam Ex codec is pretty good as it stands.

It is Silver standard for Discovery which means that entire programs can consist of just EX1 / EX3 footage. It appears to be accepted by the BEEB as well.

Andy

It is Silver standard for Discovery which means that entire programs can consist of just EX1 / EX3 footage. It appears to be accepted by the BEEB as well.

 

Andy

Hmmm....

All sounding more and more interesting and positive

Dive safe

DeanB

Well it isn't officially accepted by Beebs as a primary format...yet. I really hope it does as a know a number of production companies that are doing work for both Beebs and Discovery. Interestingly enough, Nat Geo hasn't taken a shine to it yet. I do caution that one can inadvertently get sub-par footage from the EX1 if they don't watch their settings and profiles. I can easily imagine that in untrained hands, a broadcaster could get disappointing test results and disregard the camera.

Having worked a good deal now in post with EX1 UW footage, I can say with confidence it could benefit from higher chroma sub-sampling (4:2:0 to 4:2:2) as underwater the red chroma is already the most diminished of the color channels (underwater there is very little red light and the camera must sample on a very limited amount of data). In addition, the blues are stressed underwater with the lower bit rate and Long GOP structure. The blue gradients underwater can be quite subtle but very important to a smooth sharp image. If the sensor does not recognize the subtle blue shifts, the blues will be highly compressed. This can lead to a flat or fine grain blue black ground. Whereas with the Z1 HDV codec the blues often present blocking and severe banding, the XDCam EX codec is more robust and doesn't typically do this. A higher bit rate would provide a lot more room for less blues compression with the EX1 (or EX3).

In post when doing color grading, chroma sub-sampling and bit rate issues become more pronounced. More than modest shifts in the color channels and gamma can cause banding and undesirable chromatic shifts. A higher sampling rate and bit rate would offer a lot more latitude in post color grading. It would also provide more resilience to multi-generation compressions when outputting for various target platforms. Not to say the current codec is substandard but their is a reason why broadcaster prefer 35mm film or HDCAM SR for full HD broadcasts. With 4:4:4 chroma and super high bit rates, the footage is stunning and holds up excellently in post.

-shawn

as the variable rate codec does not

I was thinking the very same thing Shawn...

Dive safe

DeanB

Well it isn't officially accepted by Beebs as a primary format...yet. I really hope it does as a know a number of production companies that are doing work for both Beebs and Discovery. Interestingly enough, Nat Geo hasn't taken a shine to it yet. I do caution that one can inadvertently get sub-par footage from the EX1 if they don't watch their settings and profiles. I can easily imagine that in untrained hands, a broadcaster could get disappointing test results and disregard the camera.

 

Having worked a good deal now in post with EX1 UW footage, I can say with confidence it could benefit from higher chroma sub-sampling (4:2:0 to 4:2:2) as underwater the red chroma is already the most diminished of the color channels (underwater there is very little red light and the camera must sample on a very limited amount of data). In addition, the blues are stressed underwater with the lower bit rate and Long GOP structure. The blue gradients underwater can be quite subtle but very important to a smooth sharp image. If the sensor does not recognize the subtle blue shifts, the blues will be highly compressed. This can lead to a flat or fine grain blue black ground. Whereas with the Z1 HDV codec the blues often present blocking and severe banding, the XDCam EX codec is more robust and doesn't typically do this. A higher bit rate would provide a lot more room for less blues compression with the EX1 (or EX3).

 

In post when doing color grading, chroma sub-sampling and bit rate issues become more pronounced. More than modest shifts in the color channels and gamma can cause banding and undesirable chromatic shifts. A higher sampling rate and bit rate would offer a lot more latitude in post color grading. It would also provide more resilience to multi-generation compressions when outputting for various target platforms. Not to say the current codec is substandard but their is a reason why broadcaster prefer 35mm film or HDCAM SR for full HD broadcasts. With 4:4:4 chroma and super high bit rates, the footage is stunning and holds up excellently in post.

 

-shawn

 

as the variable rate codec does not

LOL Shawn you're sounding more like Drew every day. I'm going to need a translater to read these threads soon!

Cheers, Simon