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Today I took part in Sony’s second Online Expo…is this the future for trade shows…Sony seems to think so but I disagree. The whole experience was sluggish, stuttering video, paused video… a bit of a mess in my opinion.
No expense spared Sony had a top USA sound recordist record a 30sec sound loop at a genuine trade show and added the ambiance to the graphic of the auditorium, this was to be the only sound unless you chose to enter the theatre where you could watch videos by various production companies.
The best part of the whole experience was the live chat with some of the Sony technical staff, they were very informative and answered some further burning questions about the PMW-350…
My first question was about the mysterious SD module… CBK DV01 which turns out to be a download that you up load into your PMW-350 to release the SD mode.
Yes you can use the MxR SDHC card adaptors in the EX-1R and the PMW-350 but you loose the over and under cranking facilities as has been the case with the EX-3 for the last year, over and under cranking is like any effect it can become boring after a while.
This is a selection of Sony USA staff who were very helpful but I do question the need for such an event as most cameramen and women I know want to see, feel, smell their new camcorder, sit it on their shoulder before committing to purchase. The only screen beyond the XDCAM EX screen was this one below and if you chose “LEARN MORE” it took you to Sony’s USA web site. No new info or pictures…poor show.
I do question why their was no mention of the NXCAM, I personally thought that was a very poor omission. All in all it was a less than average experience and the same old footage produced by the same old Sony bashers. One attendee made me giggle when he asked “What is the difference between the Sony EX-3 and the PMW-350”, the staff were all pitching in with various answers …I personally think someone was taking the “P”.
Conclusion…
Sony don’t seem to grasp the need for cheap archive, I asked a further question about client archive, in other words giving the client the footage out of the camera and they could not grasp the idea that there is a need to hand over footage on a card costing no more that £30 or less, mini DV tape was good for this.
I commend Sony for this brave virtual trade show but it needs a lot more work behind the scenes to make it a far more user friendly experience and lets have fresh footage and reviews of the camcorders… people are hungry for fresh information not the same old boring stuff coming off Sony USAs web site !
I guess you have to see this as an attempt by Sony to be more accessible to end users so it is a move in the right direction.
The best thing they could do is have blog pages for each of these product specialists to post information and answer FAQs. That way they could consolidate their knowledge in one place and would be “reachable” I would not do a forum for these folks, but have a form to submit questions. The end result would be on target information without the clutter of 24P arguments, DSLR rants, etc. In a short amount of time those blogs would be a source of solid information from Sony, but in response to what WE want to know. Easy to add on the micro-site.
George I fully agree with the accessibility part…camera manufacturers have been all too inaccessible tucked away in their ivory towers inventing kit they “thought we might like”.
Why can’t they get away from these stupid graphics making it look like a Sony stall at a trade show, the graphics were poor in my opinion and would have been better served re-designing a virtual look of the future than a sad reflection of the past.