That it's 4:2:0 is very old news. The XDCAM series is 4:2:0. What is perhaps more exciting is there's another new XDCAM series that's 4:2:2 @ 50Mbps. Considerably more expensive than the EX series though.

Bob.

the fact remains that XDCam was accepted into the Discovery channel acceptable formats for 100% production is a pretty strong statement of it's quality, and from what I can see, that's been with the 4:2:0 format the whole time, as it would seem that the 4:2:2 is just now coming to be within the next while.

and still, it's a little disappointing to see that restriction placed on the EX. Either way, I think that the EX is still going to be the winner for a while. My plans are to move to HD fully when that comes into play. I still want to see what the lense is going to be, what I wouldn't give for a nice long one on that camera.

Dave

Using the EX as a "crash cam"?! That sounds a little extreme, doesn't it?

At any rate. This is a camera I am looking forward to trying out, in the not too distant future.

how much is this supposed go for on the street?

"Under $8,000"
Bob.

Oh so I don't have to mortgage the house, just a couple kids. I thought XDCam was going to use discs instead of solid state for storage.

that's list price isn't it? so I'm hoping to see a street price of something along the lines of 7500, but I'm probably a little crazy.

Dave

"I thought XDCam was going to use discs instead of solid state for storage."

That's something he addresses right away in the video, perhaps you should watch it again, and listen :P

just joshin ya, no offense.

Dave

Looks like Sony's answer to Panasonic's HVX200. The reality though is that it's the chip that makes teh difference 1/3" chips is just too small to deliver images that impress on trully big screen. Qute frankly i'm not sure how 1/2" chip will compare.

even with a 1/2CCD (most likely CMOS) I would say that it will still be about a stop under SD at this time when considering pixels per inch. Still DoF should be manged much easier on this unit and adapter lenses probably wotn be needed for a majority or work

as for the lens, its a Fujinon 13x zoom, im praying its nothign like the HD101 Fjuinon though

as for 8k price tag, thats US dollars not aus.. we should see this unit competing with the XLh1 in price (about 14k AUD)

420 has always been an XDCam spec, newer 422 xdcam has been announcd, but price is very.. well pricey..

DJPadre - you'll probably be right about the A$14k tag, but with current exchange rate US$8000 is about AS$9100.

-? too many washing machine salesmen in the sales chain, or simply Aussies gonna be ripped off yet again.

Sony's local pricing is pretty good, it has to be. Keep in mind this beasty doesn't come in PAL and NTSC variants :)
If they whack too much markup on it I'll know how to offset the cost of going to NAB next year.

Bob.

and this is what amazes me, our dollar is now so strong, so why are we staill paying $13k + for a canon H1, when i can import my own for a litle over 10k?

Two reasons:

Importers might have bought when the dollar wasn't so strong.

Look at who sells the camera, locally they're the same people who tried to charge me $595 for a Rode NT1A that I ended up paying $299 for. For my mates OS, the dang thing's made 5 KMs from where I live and yet I could have bought it cheaper out of the USA than what these vultures wanted to charge me.

Bob.

Friggin dyin over here. Just bought my XH-A1 about a month ago ... anyone got around 8k I can borrow? I'm sure I can pay ya back in under ten years. =)

- Ray
www.undergroundplanet.com

Hey, Ray, it's been a while!

So you retired the XL2! How do you like the XH-A1 so far?

Hiyah MUTTS!!

Ditto on Jay's question.

G

I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with what I saw of the A1 at NAB, but I'm pretty sold on waiting to see the EX. Right now however, I'm just trying to save up the dough for it. Because I'll bet with 2 cards I'll be seeing something around a 10K price tag if I buy early, otherwise I'll be seeing a 9K tag if I can wait.

Dave

Heya Jay, heya Grazie!

Can't say that I've used it enough to be a great judge of the XH-A1. Coming from the XL series I will say that it drives me crazy not having a regular viewfinder. With the XL and the Black and White CRT viewfinder that I had it seemed so much easier to grab focus. Even with the focus assist and peaking turned on the LCD leaves me wanting. On well lit stuff it looks stunning but I did a wee bit of shooting in low light the other night and for all of it's accolade's in that department I was a bit dissapointed. With it's extensive internal menus and adjustments I may just need to do some experimenting and tweaking, hard to say.

One thing that got me laughing out loud. You see all these charts and stuff showing the size difference between DV and HDV but the other day I took a screenshot of a DV project I'm editing and a screenshot from some XH-A1 footage I shot and opened em in Photoshop. Even knowing beforehand didn't prepare me to looking at them side by side at 100%. Left me a little giddy.

Anyway, enough of my little unqualified and inarticulate review. Great ta see ya!

- Ray

throw on a 580ex Speedlight on the A1s hotshoe and tell me how giddy u feel then... ;)

???
...a flash on a comcorder ?
...it will stay lit? go "woosh" ?
...can you ...
... well, ok. I'm outta here...

it works much like a DSLR flash light, with EC (exposure compensation) and everythig else the flash can do. Consideirng the A1 takes 3mp stills off the card, it CAN in fact make a photographer redundant for those seeking smallish prints (up to a4) oh and its NOT interpolated 3mp either.. its 1920x1080 native

in addition, the 580 can act as a IR trigger for other flash units, so you can not only do a studio video shoot, but throw on a couple of these and your right to grab afew portraits as well. Vertical video camera.. you betchya bals
Throw on a WA adapter and... well.. you can se how much u can realy do with this camera..

I just wish the instant focus acted like the EF USM Auto focus on the L(prime) DSLR lenses (it comes close though) but nowhere near my 24-105 L IS USM

Yes i love my 5d and my primes.. lol
For me now, im considering an A1 and an XDCam EX... id prefer 2 of the same (2 EX's that is) but budget just wont allow it.. not unless my wifes grandmaother carks it first...
.
I persoanlly despise HDV (which is why i sold off the Z1's), but it might need to be the way I go if cost is too extreme.
In that case, the A1's are the best option for the work i do, but i jsut cant ignore the 1/2 sensor of the EX and the flawless way Vegas manages XDCam media
To me the NLE is far more important than the camera