New PMW-350, EX1R & media reviewed

New cards and storage options

One of the big gripes of XDCAM EX has been the cost of the SxS cards. While they have dropped dramatically in price since their launch they are still costly items. The first 8GB cards that I purchased cost around €800.00, today a 16GB SxS card costs around half that. But that’s still a lot of money for one card. SxS cards are expensive because they are built to last, built to be ultra reliable and are very, very fast. Sony have been trying to bring the price down, but the technologies used in SxS make them difficult and expensive to produce. The only way to really get the price down was to come up with some new ideas. Enter the SxS-1 card. These new SxS cards use a different memory technology called MLC. They are just as fast as the original SxS PRO cards and just as reliable, however MLC memory has a limited life cycle. Typically this should be around 5 years. At around half the price of a regular SxS card these new SxS-1 MLC cards are going to be a good alternative for those on a tight budget.

Some time ago, it was discovered that it was possible to use consumer SD memory cards in EX camcorders by using off-the-shelf adaptors. This can be made to work, but hasn’t always been reliable and has many limitations. Sony have now decided that they too will support the use of consumer memory cards by introducing their own adapter. This new adapter (MEAD-MS01) makes it possible to use Sony Memory Sticks in any EX camcorder. If you already have an EX1 or EX3 then you will need a firmware update before you can use the adapter and it is recommended that you use the high performance HX range of memory sticks of 4GB size or over. As this has come from Sony, you know that provided you use the recommended media it will work. However you do need to understand that you can only shoot at the standard frame rates, so no over or under-cranking. Also as you are using consumer media it is easier to corrupt your files. Having said that it would certainly be worth having one of these in your kit bag as a stand-by.

Conclusion

So what does all this mean? For a start it means that Sony are very serious about taking the EX camera range forwards.

The PMW-350 is a very impressive camcorder that will make the transition from SD to HD easier for smaller production companies. It’s ultra fast file based workflow makes it well suited to news and current affairs and the low cost of ownership will be very attractive to corporate video producers. It really is an excellent work-horse camera that produces stunning pictures.

As for the EX1R, well as I said at the beginning the EX1 is still a great camera. The EX1R takes it to the next level making it more flexible and easier to use. Just a few years ago I never imagined that I would be able to afford to own cameras that produce HD images of this quality.

Thanks to XDCAM EX, no compromise HD is available to everyone at standard definition prices.

Alister's Video Review of PMW-EX1R and PMW-350
PMW-350 Product Introduction Video

PMW-350K (with lens) Product Information
PMW-350K (without lens) Product Information
PMW-EX1R Product Information