SONY UNVEILS FIRST OLED PROFESSIONAL FIELD MONITOR
LAS VEGAS (NAB Booth C11001) April 11, 2010 – Sony is bringing the stunning technology that revolutionized consumer displays to its line of professional monitors. The new PVM-740 is the first field display to use an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display panel with Sony’s unique Super Top Emission™ technology to efficiently deliver superb high contrast, high color images, even in ambient light.
The 7.4-inch high-resolution (960 x 540 pixels) portable monitor can fit a range of professional monitoring applications, including studio editing, ENG and EFT production, OB trucks, and even research and development. The versatile new monitor is also ideal for use in 3D camera rigs with its flip mode.
The display panel creates smooth gradation from the dark to the bright portions of scenes such as a sunrise or a sunset. The PVM-740 offers outstanding high-contrast images – for example, the deep black of a night scene can be accurately displayed and the black portion of an image is not raised even in a low-illumination edit suite. Its blur-free, quick response to fast motion is perfect for sports or camera monitoring during panning and text scrolling.
The monitor can flip a picture horizontally or vertically without frame delay. This feature is useful during 3D image acquisition using a 3D rig camera with a pair of 2D monitors. The monitor can be connected to the camera systems directly without need for an external signal converter, making system integration simpler.

SONY DEMONSTRATES NEW XDCAM HD WORKFLOW ENHANCEMENTS
LAS VEGAS (NAB Booth #C11001), April 11, 2010 – At NAB 2010, Sony is displaying new technologies and prototype concepts that can enhance the XDCAM HD® workflow.
“Sony continues to develop powerful and unique solutions for the XDCAM HD optical family,” said Bob Ott, vice president of Sony Electronics’ professional and optical products business. “These solutions can be an effective bridge between the studio and the field, or between the Professional Disc™ media and the SxS memory card. We are focused on enhancing the total XDCAM workflow.”
Sony is also introducing a News Production System (XDNEWS) for delivering advanced XDCAM based news production capabilities suitable for small to mid-scale broadcasters, as well as a powerful archiving system called XDCAM archive.
A new version of the XDCAM Professional Disc will be a quad (four) layer, single-sided version, with a 128 GB capacity. The new disc is ideal for long-form recording and archiving, and users can store more than four hours of XDCAM HD422 50Mbps content.
A new XDCAM drive is planned to be compatible with the four-layer disc, with faster transfer and write speeds as a result of dual optics on one head.
Sony is also developing workflow solutions that take advantage of each type of XDCAM tapeless media – the optical Professional Disc and the solid-state SxS memory card. The XDCAM Station hybrid media recorder will feature internal storage, a Professional Disc drive, SxS memory card slots and a VTR-like control panel.

Well, it's increased the value of 1/2 lens now! Mal
Nice one Sony - Puts to bed the 1/3" challengers for time being.


SONY REDEFINES THE CAPABILITIES OF SOLID-STATE
PRODUCTION WITH NEW XDCAM EX CAMCORDERS

Shoulder-mount models now Available with ½-inch and 2/3-inch
Imagers to Address Specific Needs of Production Community

LAS VEGAS (NAB Booth #C11001) April 11, 2010 – The expanding family of Sony’s XDCAM EX™ video products now includes two shoulder-mount camcorders that deliver new levels of creativity and flexibility for solid-state digital production.

The products include Sony’s 2/3-inch CMOS memory camcorder, the PMW-350, and now a ½-inch version, the PMW-320.

“Since it was first introduced, Sony designed the XDCAM EX series to be flexible enough to grow and expand as our customers’ production needs change,” said Bob Ott, vice president, Sony Electronics’ broadcast and professional audio/video products business. “These new products redefine solid-state production, with improvements achieved in features, performance, and ergonomics.”

Both camcorders have three Exmor™ full HD 1920x1080 CMOS imagers, and are studio-configurable, with timecode in/out, genlock in, and HD-SDI and HDMI out. The PMW-350 camcorder features a DVCAM recording and playback as an option; with both features offered as standard on the PMW-320.

Users can choose between the lens-packaged models, PMW-350K and PMW-320K, or versions without lenses, PMW-350L or PMW-320L. To enhance editing interoperability with Sony’s XDCAM HD 422 camcorders, both the PMW-350 and PMW-320 camcorders feature 1440x1080 recording mode at 35Mbps.

Both camcorders can also be used in studio configurations, using the optional 50-pin adapter CBK-CE01, as well as the camera adapter, XDCA-55, and camera extension unit, XDCU-55.

Sony is also delivering new solid-state memory choices to complement these new camcorders. An affordable series of Sony’s SxS™ memory cards, SxS-1™ (model SBS-32G1, 32 GB) offers compact and high speed transfer and supports a wide range of motion.

The cameras are also available with an adapter, MEAD-MS01, for using Sony’s Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™ HX Series media, which can be used as an “emergency” recording option. An adapter is also available for SanDisk Class 10 SDHC card use (MEAD-SD01). Current owners of Sony’s PMW-EX1, PMW-EX1R as well as PMW-EX3 can use the MEAD-MS01 or MEADS-D01 by upgrading the camera’s firmware.

A hard-disk recording unit, model PHU-120R, offers a recording capacity of 120 GB. The new PXU-MS240 mobile storage unit can be used to transfer data from SxS memory cards to the unit for nearly continuous back-up or off-load of video clips. The unit stores content on a removable hard disk drive (HDD) cartridge, model PXU-HC240, which can store up to 240 GB of data or up to 17 hours of content in SP mode.

The following is suggested list pricing ($US) and planned availability for the new products:
• PMW-320K, $14800, availability in August
• PMW-320L, $12800, available in August
• MEAD-MS01, $120, now available
• MEAD-SD01, $110, now available

...Sanders explains that because he's constantly on the move, he has to find good shots wherever he can, as well as giving the viewer a sense of what it's like to travel by motorbike. This means “I ride with one hand on the bike throttle and my left arm supporting the camera, and I'm buffeted by winds of up to 90 mph.”
Read more at Sonybiz Eu

For Australian and NZ members:
Shot on location in Turkey with my EX-3 with Fujinon 3.3mm "Faith Of The Anzacs" airs on the Seven Network on ANZAC Day at 1230PM Sydney and Brisbane, 0630AM on all other capitals. Mal
Teaser can be found HERE.

A doorstopper no longer



PDW-U1 - Firmware Package V2.45 + U1 Utility + VFAM V2.3.0 (Windows + Mac)
Sonybiz Download

PDZK-P1 - XDCAM Transfer Package V2.12.0 + FAM Driver V2.3 (Mac)
Sonybiz Download

PDZK-LT1 - XDCAM EX Log and Transfer Plug-in V1.1.0 (Mac)
Sonybiz Download

PDZ-1 - Proxy Browser V2.70 + FAM Driver V2.30
Sonybiz Download

XDCAM Windows FAM Driver v2.3
Updated to include 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows 7.
Sonybiz Download

The PDW-U1 has such little use (from me) this year, so I thought I'd try a few practical ideas.

Introducing Sony's new Doorstopper.

Only use with cushioned end, due to the fragile nature of the product.
Promised software update using Snow Leopard was due in March 2010.

Let's hope it comes before Santa arrives.

Happy Easter all

Cheers,
Mal (the easter bunny)

CUSTOM USER MENU for the PDW-700 and PDW-F800.

One of the most powerful features of Sony's PDW-700 and PDW-F800 camcorders is the ability to create your own custom USER MENU system. As anyone who has used either of these camcorders knows, the organization and structure of the default menus can be confusing and hard to navigate.

Like other Sony camcorders, the menus were clearly designed, labeled, and organized by engineers – not camera operators. The F800/700 has more than 500 menus spread over about 80 menu pages. And although each one of those menus is very important, how many do you really need to change on a regular basis? Maybe a couple dozen? That’s why Vortex Media has crafted a streamlined menu system that looks nothing like the camera’s original USER MENU.

Read more about it on: Vortex Media

Press Release:
Convergent Design Announces Beta Firmware for its nanoFlash Recorder/Player Providing 8-Channel Audio and Variable Frame Rate Support (8/3/2010)

Convergent Design posted new beta firmware for their popular nanoFlash recorder/player which includes 8-Channel audio, variable frame rate (over/under crank), loop recording and expanded XDCAM Optical support. This new firmware marks the 4th major upgrade to the nanoFlash since its introduction last August 2009.

Doug Jensen, director, cameraman and owner of Vortex Media wrote a Field Guide for the Sony PDW-700 and PDW-F800 XDCAM HD422 Professional Disc cameras. You can pre-order and download a some sample pages, including the full Table of Contents, from the 320 page full color book (Offset Printed) on his website. Shipping starts between 3/25/2010 and 4/1/2010.

More information about this and other guides on:
Vortex Media's XDCAM Field Guides