hello, Philip, i need a bit of help. Did you tested EX3 with RedrockMicro M2?

im thinking to buy this one, but not sure about the mount and spacers..

what do you think?

man i just want to be behind the lens, but have now been asked by another manufacturer to review their stuff!

absolutely!

i heard july 1st but that will probably slip

you too!

the vortex media dvd is superb!

ex1 is all yours Charles. Of course as it was mine and is therefore a collectors item it is yours for $20,000. Interested? ;-)

ahmmm... oh did I mention how much I liked your jacket? :D (how about now) lol worth a shot

you need to understand the concept of chip sizes, frame sizes etc. It's not just about lenses it's about the DOF control. Putting on a different lens onto a 1/2" chip camera makes no difference to the DOF control

So you mean since a 35mm convertor projects the picture to a screen substantially larger than the chip you can achieve greater DOF and that's why you would want to use converters?

exactly!

RE: "LCD permanently open" - must drain the battery then?

Not permanently "on", just not tuckaway-able. I was just thinking of travel cases having to accommodate the viewfinder/LCD screen jutting out at the side. I currently store my camera in a custom Pelican case, but I'd probably need a new arrangement with this camera.

Just a little observation...

Will the EX3 will do 50Mbps 422 recording to SxS? quick answer, No. This not going to happen within the EX3; however, I understand that SONY's new version ClipBrowser v2.0 will have a utility to re-wrap the EX1 files to 4:2:2 @ 50mbps, once the files are downloaded off of the SxS cards. JimW

Hi Jim - interesting point - thanks for mentioning that. Of course you are still transcoding, so you don't gain any quality, but it will be interesting to see how fast the conversion to 422@50Mbps happens.
Certainly makes it work well with it's big brother the PDW-700.
Dave

maybe...shame it doesn't exist right now. When it actually comes out then it becomes a contender!

It will!

I notice you said you had an XDCAM - maybe you'd be interested in the RED ONE, which does exist right now - at half the price but quadruple the resolution!

exactly, but most of those manufacturers are saying the flip improves their edge to edge sharpness...

Fantastic Phil,

Edge to Edge sharpness is a great deal of advantage.
Do you find the COMBO LCD/EVF besides resolution of course hard to handle as it sticks out of course and cannot be retracted?
Any ideas when the EX3 will be shipping?

Thanks Phil Great Video Review! What can i say!

thanks Nick, appreciate it. I thought it was coming out on July 1st? It is bigger than the ex1. Go to website philipbloom.net and read the written review, there are comparison photos there and no the lcd cannot be folded away

not at all. there is still a need for a full size camera. four separate audios. superb professional disc format. proper shoulder mount form factor.

But the picture quality from both is equal, isn't? I didnt run a test as there are not so many EX1 in Brazil, but the image quality of an EX1 seems to be superior to the 350 ( according to some forums ). Also did you use a monitor when you went shooting with the EX3? I find that you need a monitor when using the 350.

the lcd on the ex1/3 is amazing. THe 350 screen is not.

The f350 can overcrank in 1080p and can shoot dvcam with permanent media

Slightly less than 2 pounds more in overall weight, (like 7.5lbs), and about 2" longer overall.

not at all. The RED camera is for a totally different market and a full shooting package in WAY more expensive than an EX3.

RED cannot be used by a one man operation and has enormous workflow issues. But can deliver amazing pictures. It is designed for making features.

The EX3 is not.

yes yes and yes

Thanx for taking time to answer.I'll go to B&H NY specially to get it whent it's out ( I live in Paris but with the dollar vs the euro, now is the time to make fine deal in the US ).
My next shortfilm is waiting for this new baby !!!

v2 is awesome. I have the beta. dont know when though. Sorry as am an englishman have no idea of release dates for US. am sure it will become know V V soon

I heard the V2 was terrific, lots of file conversion in the HDV arena... also I too will be looking for the X3 asap as it appears stateside. Your video descriptions of the camera are stunning. What would be the direct coupler to the X3 (similar to what is used for connecting canon EOS lenses to Canon HD Video cams) so that I can utilize my large inventory of Canon EOS "L" lenses. What will be the magnification factor would be.. thanks for your reply above.

Yes, this ergonomic design that Sony came up with for the EX3 is dicey at best. This semi-shoulder mount design is just not good for long periods of handheld shooting. If you’re going to be shooting a sporting event from the sidelines, it’s going to tire you out quite quickly. Even with a shoulder mount adaptor, I feel the camera is off balance, and is tipping to the left on the viewfinder side of the camera. Thus you correct by twisting your wrist to the right to keep it level with the horizon. The LCD display on the viewfinder is quite sharp. I’ve not been able to compare to other cameras in its class, but others seem to indicate it’s one of the best looking. There is certainly enough resolution there to see the HD quality and adjust properly. We ordered over seven EX3’s along with a few EX1’s for our reporters, as our newsroom is preparing to transition to HD. So these are slowly replacing 10 year old DVCAM 350’s and DNW-7 Beta SX’s and even some DSR-250s. I just wish that if Sony is considering this as a camera similar to the old DVCAM 250’s and 150’s, that they had taken the form factor from the 250 and made an EX3 out of it. A more traditional shoulder mount with flip out LCD, and rear mounted XLR’s and DC power for lights, just like the 250’s. The 250 was like the 350, except without the nice cannon lens you could get, or better CCD imager, but in the end, you could shoot just as well with it as the 350 for news, I think it was even lighter. The EX3 is probably best suited for tripod mount and long form shooting. Adapting it to a newsroom environment is difficult. We have to use a special shoulder mount piece to add a long duration battery, v-mount tripod plate, DC power distribution for light, BNC extensions, XLS extensions, and wireless mic mount. This all seems way too much just to make it workable as a news camera, to run and gun. Plus the threading screw from the shoulder adaptor keeps getting lose, and the camera then is off kilter, very annoying.

I just had the pleasure of fixing an EX3 that had been tipped over on its tripod and broke the entire handle and several important internal communication cables. Handle was over $130, single micro-ribbon cable $170, LCD harness data cable $98, view finder loupe magnifier $198, the Loupe has already broken three times on other cameras. The viewfinder takes the brunt of the fall and transfers that fall into the handle that is thin aluminum cast and snaps just forward of the handle. So everything has to be replaced in the handle section. It’s laborious to take apart, and does not come apart that quickly. I didn’t even get into the body of the camera, but it looks the like handle will have to be removed to get to the side panels. On the old 250 camera, it was simple four screws on each side of the camera depending on what you needed to access; the most complicated part was the lens itself on the DSR-250. I compare the EX3 to the old 150 in terms of accessibility and repair labor. I’ll certainly get faster at taking apart the EX3 in future fixes, but it will certainly take longer then the 250’s, 350’s or DNW-7’s SX’es. If I had a choice in cameras to buy for out newsroom, I would have gone with the JVC HD Pro camera, it looks far more accusable for repairs, and the recoding media alone costs less then the Sony SxS (JVC can take both SxS and SDHC, and can you find SxS memory cards on the road if you lose a SxS? SDHC are available everywhere) cards for the same amount of storage, plus you can get nice wide cannon lenses. We did a little experimenting with DSR-350 canon lenses on the EX3’s, but we found they had color aberrations in the corners of the picture along with soft focus, I suspect maybe an adaptor for the ½” lens might fix this, but the camera gets very nose heavy, and you don’t have the steady shot feature anymore.