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Reader SurveyNAB 2008
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Perspective on this year’s show.
Sony HVR-HD1000U
And as you probably know by now, Sony had even more tricks up its sleeve in 2007. In August, Sony announced a new low-end, shoulder-mount HDV camcorder — the HVR-HD1000U — based on its tiny single-CMOS consumer HDR-HC7 camcorder, with a street price of $1,600. What does it say about the state of today's technology that the guts of a sub-$1,000 consumer HD camcorder can be repurposed to meet the needs of those who specialize in weddings or industrials?
As if the innovative EX1 weren't enough already, in November, Sony announced two more CMOS-driven HDV camcorders: the equally innovative, Handycam-like Z7 (currently $6,500 at B&H Photo Video) and its shoulder-mount version, the S270 ($10,000 at B&H), both available in February. Newly designed from the ground up, both feature three new 1/3in. ClearVid Exmor CMOS sensors (the earlier HVR-V1U uses 1/4in. ClearVids, and they're not Exmor) and bring a whole new set of their own “firsts.”
For instance (and this goes for both): interchangeable Carl Zeiss 1/3in. zooms with a dual-mechanism auto/manual focus ring (like on the EX1); adapters for 2/3in., 1/2in., and Sony's Alpha series lenses from its digital SLR line (many by Zeiss); 12-pin (round) ENG lens connectors; a new Sony XtraFine color electronic viewfinder, which produces an incredible 1,226,880 pixels (compare to the EX1's and HVR-Z1U's 252,000) that has to be seen to be believed; two choices of recording media for 1440×1080 HDV, including familiar DV tape and unfamiliar CompactFlash; a detachable, 4oz. HVR-MRC1 module for recording to CompactFlash, which, like a mini deck, independently downloads video files to an NLE via IEEE 1394; recording to both media simultaneously or in serial order; and native recording of 1080p24/30 (in addition to conventional 1080p30 over 60i with pulldown for 24p).
Key differences between the Z7 and S270 are size, price, and extended feature set. The S270 offers more controls; a side monochrome LCD for audio levels and timecode; uncompressed HD-SDI with embedded audio and timecode (Z7 offers HDMI, which S270 lacks); larger standard DV cassette for 4.5 hours of recording; and four audio channels with four XLR inputs (using Audio Layer II of MPEG-2 instead of MPEG-1, for four channels of 48kHz/16-bit at 384kbps).
As I hold the Z7 in my hand, the word that comes to mind is “refinement.” The balance is perfect, and the controls have never been better placed: ND filters adjust by upper knob (like on big camcorders), and the servo iris ring adjusts exposure smoothly, or you can use the push-auto exposure button found — where else? — at the front of the handgrip (like on big camcorders). All audio-level and mic-routing options are hard-switched and visible at a glance without moving your eye more than an inch from the viewfinder. Documentary makers are going to love the Z7.
Refinements continue on the inside. Shot Transition now automates pulls for focus, zoom, and iris independently. A digital “focus marking” function in the viewfinder aids in pulling focus between an actor's marks.
What the Exmor CMOS family of EX1, Z7, and S270 have in common is full-24p capability, along with remarkably enhanced sensitivity equaling Sony's benchmark DCR-VX2000/DSR-PD150/DSR-PD170 series. (Speaking of DV, the DVCAM logo on the side of the Z7 already looks quaint.)
