Just keep in mind that XDCAM disks are not the same as BD disks.
I'd trust XDCAM disks much more than BD disks. Also when you consider pricing compare what this new drive costs compared to a XDCAM 'VCR'. The other potentially good news was that at NAB Sony Canada were talking about an internal version of this drive at a lower price point.

Bob.

you know I'm not usually one to go crazy over some new format (in fact generally I like to reserve my judgements till i've really seen what it can/cannot do). To me though it just sounds like this format (XDCam) is a real winner as far as formats go. and it seems to me that Sony is doing it right (relatively cheap recording medium (I pay that much money for tapes in one year, and I don't do a whole lot of tape work). I've been building up some storage space too (2.5TB of space) so now it's just the cam and the cards (LOL I'm sure there will be something else). and I should be relatively good to go.

Dave

My only bitch about XDCAM is Sony are doing their own thing on this one. There's an open SMPTE XML standard that's used by everyone but Sony. Sony make much of the fact that Panny jumped the gun on P2 cards without waiting for the tech to be mature enough. An argument I happen to agree with. At the same time though they should mention that they too are playing fast and loose with standards. If XDCAM wasn't proprietary and Sony had conformed to the open standard we might well have not had Vegas so crippled. Instead we'd have a world beating NLE that could open P2 card and Thompsons Rev disks and Sony's own optical disks and SXS cards.

I think Sony still have the dated view that they only need to worry about broadcasters who buy entire systems and cameras. This is blinkered thinking, today more and more production is done by independant houses and that means post facilities having to cope with every format. That's another reason why Avid have the upper hand, they're not tied to a camera manufacturer's apron strings.

Bob.

Right on farss.
I've said it before: the way Sony acts in PC world is the same way Apple acts in computer world...
People don't like to be "stuck" with only one option nowadays. Things are going way too fast to imprison ourselves into a way that could become a dead end somehow, someday.

And in support of the XDCAM lovers out there. I am currently finishing up on a HDCAM project to air on HDNET and converted the whole thing as XDCAM to edit in Vegas and the outcome was incredible, so much to the fact that HDNET was impressed. XDCAM is a great format devloped by the same folks that developed the HDCAM compression scheme unlike the DVCPRO HD folks. I would suggest a full embaceing of the XDCAM format. Also look for yourself when the project airs on HDNET later this year. The Fabulous Thunderbirds.


L.T.

LongTallTexan we can't wait to view it!

4.2.2 would be great at a $8000 price but I don't see it ever.
I can't afford the EX now but add a deck? Some type of internal slot/drive
is my only way of downloading unless they add a network port on the camera.

All new laptops come with an ExpressCard slot. You can get an adaptor for desktops very cheaply too.

Long tall T
DVCPRoHD will alwyas be superior to XCDam... or any MPG based codec... and despite its size, the codec responds REALLY well in a windows NLE environment with very little juice required. Edius flies with it and thats on a laptop with a 5400rpm drive..

for the rest of the posts..
Although i think DVCPRoHD100 is the codec weve all been waiting for.. without the nuances of MPG compression, the way in which Pana have gone to deliver/acquire said codec was to put mildly, not very efficient. In addiiton the camera in most peoples budget range (HVX) makes too many compromises when it comes to resolution. Fair enough its nto all abotu resoution, and to me, the peculair "panasonic look" makes everything else pale (literaly) in comparison. I am yet to see a camera come close to what teh DVX.HVX can whip straight out of teh camera... A1/H1 come close, but still, thers that punch thats lacking..

To be honest, if P2 wasnt so expensive (and sluggish with pissy capacity), id have 2 HVX's right now, but ive waited, and im glad i did because id rather a larger CCD camcorder in the same formfactor. Hell they have full frame sensors on DSLRs, which are less than half the size of a video camcorder, so i dont see why its taken so long to have these imagers on this formfactor (aside from cost)
In the end u get what you pay for,

I have been bitterly disspoaitned with the HVX for about 2 years now (since launch)
Yes I am a pixel pusher and if im paying THIS much for a camera and P2 cards, i want it to at least be sharper than the lowliest HDV camera on teh market.. at least..
Stuck up? Of course i am.. hell im paying alot of money for this stuff.. i want it to be good and i dont want to regret my purchase. I need to compete with my associates and i need to show and prove my work is better than theres. Its how i survived in this business for almsot a decade now and if I dont keep my business hat on, then ill be out of business..
The camera itself is brilliant, i cant fault the Leica len, the codec kicks ass... DV50 is also a welcome addition... but the image quality (aside from codec) leaves alot to be desired consideirng how soft it is compared to the H1.. then again H1 fully loaded is twice the price here..
Im yet to see a camcorder that can come close to this kind of colour rendition though.. yes i like the HVX< but no i wont buy one.. despite the fact that ill need to spend an extra grand or so on new batteries when i jump ship.. to me, the HVX jsut doesnt cut it for teh longform work that i doId be spending more $ on P2 cards and storage as oposed to getting the best gear vs budget i have for the work i do.

the EX, as far as im concerned is a good compromise between HDV and DVCPRo when it comes to long form work, usability, archivability integration and delivery

for me, the fact that vegas plays nicely with it, is the biggest element of the decision .
No i wont preorder one, but i will suss out the responses of it once it hits the shelvs..
I only pray that our dollar can retain its hold till then...lol

IMO DVCPRO HD is a lame codec (by today's standards)... it doesn't do full 1920x1080, which is problematic. You don't get full resolution, and you can pick up aliasing artifacts when rescaling the image. Both the lack of resolution and aliasing artifacts are noticeable. With aliasing you get weird shimmering patterns on fabrics with fine detail.

For high quality work, Red's RAW approach looks good- we'll see if they deliver. The compression is visually lossless and don't hurt greenscreen and it delivers oversampled resolution.

For news work, a lot of facilities work off shared storage off of compressed material (e.g. DV) with proxies for browsing. This is where XDCAM has the opportunity to kick some ass. In this usage, the high compression is desirable. Easier to archive stuff, and more people can work off the shared material. Though I don't know how many stations are shooting HD/XDCAM instead of DV.

"Though I don't know how many stations are shooting HD/XDCAM instead of DV." that is an interesting question. I see a lot of TV news camera crews still using Betas in the field. A couple of HD/XDCAMs went the main anchor guy/girl is in the field, but not as many HD cameras as one would think.

smaller town here, but we see a lot of JVC HDV cams in the field around here.

Dave