Some of you asked for a little preview of the upcoming review. Ok. Besides some footage of an English shoot, you’ll also get some footage inside Belvoir Castle… The video review should be up in about a week. Promise. I know, I know, now you can’t wait to see Belvoir Castle. 23 Nov update: It’s uploading now. Uh, kinda long (24 minutes). Hoping the power doesn’t go out. And yes, Ania (pictured) is in the video. 
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
The Video Whisperer 
Compared to the Sony PMW EX1 parameters of the x70 peak on paper!
Watch videos at weddings since I deal with, whether it be coupled with practice?
If so when it replaced!
Thanks in advance for your reply.
LikeLike
Sorry David, I don’t quite understand the question. Please clarify.
LikeLike
you’ll find the X70 similar to the EX1 in many many aspects. For example it gives the same profile control , and the very first thing that I used to do on EX1 (reduce the detail to make it more fluid panning) can be repeated on the X70. But there are differences of course: the lens of the X70 can’t be compared to the excellent fujinon of the EX1. But the sensor of the X70 lives on a different planet. Even with a consumer lens low light is managed beautifully on X70 and the picture quality is uncomparable. The size of the X70 looks small enough for hand-holding it but it still needs a shoulder support (the X70 “looks” small but it’s not, even the weight is not that “small”. And is “front-heavy” just like the EX1. The stabilization (set to active on X70 pretty much by default) is much MUCH better on X70. The ND filters engage in a sort of “brutal” manner on X70. So you need to be careful about that. The on-camera controls on X70 are small and difficult to push and hard to find in the dark. The audio section gives an excellent DB control but you can’t mix on-camera mics with XLR (will be one or the other). Again if XLR is set with only a shotgun attached I have to report that there are “unusual” noises coming out of the empty channel. Not the end of the world but if you are shooting a music performance live then it may be a problem. Other than that the X70 is capable of replacing the EX1 in an instant.
The X70 gives both SDI and hdmi (like the EX1r). The zoom speed of the X70 is not as slow as the EX1 at the slowest setting, but is stable , unlike the EX1 that can be jerky at times.
the autofocus of the X70 is truly “state-of-the-art”, it gives the same face recognition of the EX1 but now you can lock the face that you want to follow. That alone may make many cameramen to switch!
a final note : there are no switches underneath the handle, so we can say goodbye to those idiotic controls placed right where you put your hand to handle the camera that became a nightmare on EX1 (you grab the EX1 by the handle and the color bars or something else show up… never understood that one LOL)
Finally use the X70 on AVCHD, it’s 28Mbps but the pictures are stunning (compared t the 35Mbps of the EX1). Forget the XAVC (another idiotic and useless nonsense in my opinion).
LikeLike
Thanks Mark, I’ve added your comment to the X70 Resources section under ‘Helpful X70 User Feedback’
LikeLike
great shot there, you sure are preparing something “spectacular”. Thanks for your efforts!. Can’t wait to see the final production.
The depth of field is short on the X70, pleasant but never exaggerated. But it does require more attention, in particular for a one man band (like myself). There are few tools we can use but I’d like to reassure the colleagues that it’s manageable (not easy as the 1/3 sensors of course) but manageable. Interviews can be done for example in autofocus with face recognition and locking the main face before start shooting or even while shooting locking back and forth from the interviewer and the talent. It’s easy using the joystick. The touch focus works only in manual focus and works very well, but not useable (easily) in my opinion (at that point I’d rather focus myself, unless we need some smooth transition from point A to point B). Again (and this is just my opinion of course) this DOF (out of the X70) is more than enough but it needs more attention. Many of the buyers of this camera don’t have a focus puller and a dedicated crew (LOL) and I can’t stand the river of DOF obsessed newcomers creating horrendous shorts with nothing in focus, and boring and distracting shoots that only show the blurred area that the viewer will never understand (maybe in the movies for a 1-2 seconds sequence, but real life doesn’t have bokeh at all, only in fiction). So the DOF of the X70 is MORE than enough without boring viewers.
LikeLike
It’s uploading now, but probably not as spectacular as that shot implies.
It is spectacularly long though. Living in the English countryside, I can only hope it finishes uploading before Christmas.
Your comments on DOF on this camera (and generally) are spot on.
LikeLike
Like the boots, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to shoot hand held while wearing them, regardless of the image stabilization method.
LikeLike
Am I missing something can not find link to demo on the Sony PXW-70
LikeLike
Sorry if that confused you Bob. The review is not done yet. Should be in about a week (mainly due to other video obligations). Someone asked for a ‘sneak preview’ or ‘snippet’ in advance, so I thought I’d oblige in some small way with something that’s not too hard on the eyes. It’s a little mis-leading though. That’s one of the modelling still shots I did for her in exchange for her helping me out with a few shots for the video review as well as some stills for the ‘Run ‘N Gun Videography’ book coming out soon.
LikeLike
Any idea when the 4K update will come?
LikeLike
Maybe never. Sony’s not too good on following up on those kind of promises apparently. Personally I don’t care about 4K right now. The plus side is that if it’s ‘4K ready’, I think that means that’s not just an ordinary 1″ sensor. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
LikeLike