Having used my PMW-350K in anger all this week I can vouch for it’s fantastic performance. From PTC to operating theatres this camera produces stunning HD pictures. All let it be said with two MxM SDHC card adapters using 16Gb Transend class 6 SDHC cards.

Sony state in their bumf that for optimum results use class 10 SDHC cards but I think Sony are being extra cautious specifying class 10 cards when I have proved time after time class 6 works fine. Now to pin this down I don’t do any over and under cranking which may cause issues with class 6 cards.

I am producing a corporate induction DVD for NHS Lanarkshire at the moment and have found myself and camera in some interesting locations. Today I had to film a man with a trigger finger, this condition leaves the patient with a permanently curled up finger due to a tightening of a tendon. Although an operating theatre does not pose any low light issues it gave me a major problem with too much light !

The patient is wheeled in after being prep’t by the anaesthetist and is layed out on the operating table, interestingly this was to be a bloodless procedure a tourniquet was applied to the arm cutting off the blood supply. The arm is layed out and fastened  to the table then the light is switched on…blam…5 to 6 stops over exposure.

Although I had filmed in a theatre before I had not filmed with a 350 before. The 350 eats light but today it met it’s match…in order for me to film the hand and the surgeon I had to use 2 cameras, the other being the Sony NX5. I had to switch the filter wheel to 4 (ND 64) and dial in some shutter in order to compensate for the intense light on the patients hand.

It was sore on my eyes to stair at the patients lit hand…I personally think it’s brighter than it needs to be, 5-6 f stops is a lot of compensation. The pictures from the 350 are amazing, they almost jump out of the screen at you. I followed Alister Chapmans suggestions on picture profiles to take out some of the sharpening and the pictures are very punchy indeed.

I came out of the theatre later than I expected to set up a PTC (Piece to camera) in a board room, than was not as interesting as the theatre but it was a further part of the induction jigsaw.

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I am running out of time to produce a video user review this week so I thought I’d better put something down as I am very impressed with the quality of the pictures coming out of the NX5.

I did not know what to expect with this camcorder but after Mondays shoot looking at the pictures side by side with the 350 I am still reeling from shock at the fantastic pictures this camcorder produces compared to the 350. In other words and I can’t quite believe I am writing this but there is little to choose between the two cameras.

Don’t get me wrong the 350 produces stunning pictures but so does the NX5…I am not sure if Sony have put a spell on this camcorder but apart from lower light situations this AVCHD codec is stunning.

I only remember one other camcorder having this effect on me and that was the Sony PMW-150 DVCAM many years ago and I still remember how good the pictures were from that camcorder.

Sony have done an amazing job on this camcorder …I can recommend it as a cracking second camera for EX-1, 1R, 3 and PMW-350.

So far I have used Transend SDHC class 6 cards and they work well in fact I would not have considered this camcorder if Sony had not given me the SDHC option.

I am still finding my feet with the NX5 but there are two small downsides to the camera so far…

1. The Shutter button…now the button itself is fine it’s the stupid rotary switch you have to fiddle with to get to the right shutter speed and as often as not you don’t choose the speed you want first go…a very poor switch in my opinion.

2. Over-cranking is not a patch on the EX-3…it’s the only non quality picture I have seen out of this camera I suppose Sony have to compromise somewhere but as over cranking is on the whole a gimmick I am not bothered with it’s lack of quality.

I will update this page as I further use the NX5 but so far I am blown away with it’s performance.

I present 2 video grabs from Mondays shoot one taken with the Sony PMW-350K (£15,000) the other with the HXR-NX5 (£3,900) can you tell which camera is which…leave a comment.

OK time up…it is a wee bit obvious but Pic 1 is the PMW-350K, the reason the shots don’t match is because they were captured at different times of the day and Pic 2 was filmed using a Sony LED video light. I am filming again this Monday I will set the cameras side by side, match WB and do the same exercise.

Update 26 Feb 2010… Having spent about 3 hours editing the footage from the 350 and NX5 it’s more obvious that the 350 has an edge over quality and that the NX5 footage has a slight background noise in the image that’s not present in the 350. I wipe my brow because I was a bit miffed early doors that I had just spent big time on a 350 when I could have bought 4 NX5’s for the same price…though as a second camera to the 350 it’s fantastic and two jobs I am filming this week need 2 cameras. I filmed an audio conference which needed the two cameras, one on the main speaker and the NX5 on a wide shot looking over the speakers shoulder and at one point I was filming the same man with both cameras tight/wide and they match perfectly.

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Just got my hands on a Sony NX-5 which I have bought as a second camera, I will be using it for the first time on Monday filming in a hospital for a corporate production. Although most of the work will be done using a Sony PMW-350K I still need hand held cutaways and tracking shots that would be impossible using a shoulder mount camcorder like the 350. I hope to get the pieces to camera done tomorrow then add Mondays footage during the week. I need to get this done and dusted before a week on Monday so hopefully you will see my user video review nearer the end of this week.

I had a play with the camera today and so far I have been blown away with the pictures… the AVCHD codec has come a long way since it’s early days in the domestic arena.

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I can see this “Bloggie” being useful for documentary work, getting people to keep accounts of their lives, being able to film yourself is a great idea, it’s the one feature the iPhone does badly.

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Sony does not make it obvious that the NX5 camcorder has dual slots, Memory card and SDHC. This is amazing news and will help boost sales of this camcorder. Many dealers were not aware that this camera has SDHC slots which makes it very archive friendly.

Sony have finally broken away from their dated and dear Memory Stick to now include SDHC in the NX range of camcorders and the EX range with the announcement of the new SDHD adaptor.

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Expanding media choice for XDCAM EX family

Sony’s innovative XDCAM EX professional product range is specifically designed to exploit the ultimate high speed performance and reliability of SxS PRO and SxS-1 media. However, SxS media is a professional format and not available from retail outlets, so in situations in the field where additional media is required or for cost-conscious users, where this ultimate performance is less important, Sony have developed the MEAD-SD01 adaptor to enable the use of consumer SD Card media.

The MEAD-SD01 adaptor is the same shape as SxS memory cards so as to fit within the media slots on XDCAM EX camcorders, with no protrusions, allowing the media cover to be in place during shooting. The adaptor can accept one high speed SD Card which simply slots inside.

At the time of writing (January 2010), Sony Professional recommends only the latest Class10 SDHC cards. Using 8-, 16-, or 32-GB media, approximately 35, 70, or 140 minutes of recording (in SP mode) can be achieved.

Please note, it is not recommended to utilise the Slow Motion recording function due to speed limitations of SD Card media. The nature of the adaptor and SD Card media will also mean slightly less reliability than SxS media – caution should be exercised when turning off XDCAM EX hardware during recording. XDCAM EX hardware will need a firmware upgrade to use MEAD-SD01 – please see specifications for more information.

HDW : Fantastic news this will bring a lot of hesitaters into the EX field…Sony are finally listening and responding to end users…the death nell sounds for the expensive, overrated …’Memory Stick’ !

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Working on one of my video overviews recently I discovered the sexiness of the shallow depth of field (SDoF) while filming product shots of a Sony EX-1R.  It all happened by chance…I needed close shots of the new button layout so I forked out and bought a Canon 50mm f2.5 macro lens, just the job.

As I looked through the lens of my Canon 5D2 I saw these wonderful shots appearing…the 50mm macro lens was producing some fantastic shallow depth of field shots…totally obliterating the background !

It didn’t take long for me to start playing with the video HD mode and you can see the wonderful results with a very out of focus gold reflector as a backdrop.

So why did I not film all the video overview with the Canon…good question…it became clear to me early doors that filming at 30 fps was going to be challenging to say the least, I spent a lot of time footering about with various bits of software and droplets but it was becoming time consuming and the very next day the Sony PMW-350K arrived putting the 5D2 problems on the back burner.

I decided to film the PMW-350K with my Sony EX-3 as I am a big fan of 720 50p…after that the rest is history but I do have some sexy shots of the EX1R thanks to the Canon 5D2 and I have lumped all of them together to let you “judge” for yourselves…

Sony EX1R filmed with a Canon 5D Mk11

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Overview of the Sony EX-1R

If this does not play properly please try here…

http://www.vimeo.com/8963865

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Sony PMW-350K Overview (UPDATED)

Gee wiz this took a lot longer to put together than I was expecting but we got there, the Sony PMW-350K is a great piece of kit and as I noticed on the box it’s only 1kg heavier than a Sony EX-1R (8kg)…the PMW-350 being 7.5kg, remembering that’s before the ‘V’ lock battery !

It runs just over 21 mins hope you like it.

I have uploaded it onto my VIMEO site as well, if you have problems watching the above video please click here…(Link now updated)

http://www.vimeo.com/8926962

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Sorry I totally forgot I was having the family to my place for my fathers birthday which is why the Video Overview of the Sony PMW-350 will be two day’s late !

Sorry but the “Overview” took a lot longer than I anticipated but I promise it will be uploaded by Wednesday morning UK time. Better get the popcorn it’s 21mins long…an epic !

It’s now chuntering through Compressor as I write !

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