Sony Corp. of Hong Kong, Broadcast & Professional Products Asia Group (BPPA), has presented the public launch of the new XDCAM EX camcorder, Sony's first system to utilise solid-state flash memory as the storage medium.
A large group of interested members from the Hong Kong broadcast and production community gathered at the Pacific Place Conference Centre in Admiralty for the three-hour seminar and demonstration. Karen Ho, product manager for HDV camcorders and the new XDCAM EX family, gave a presentation on the features and benefits of the PMW-EX1.
Most notable among the list of features are three full-resolution half-inch CMOS sensors, providing a true 1920×1080 pixel image, rather than the usual 1440×1080 found in earlier generations of HDCAM and XDCAM HD. Versatile switching between 24p, 50i, 25p, 29.97p and 59.94i is a welcome feature for freelancers who need to be able to shoot for projects destined for anywhere in the world.
Sony's adoption of solid-state storage for the recorded video and audio should not be taken as an admission that the remaining days for tape or optical disc are numbered, said Sony. Instead, the message was clear that XDCAM EX complements the XDCAM and HDCAM product families by providing features that are only possible on a non-mechanical non-linear recording medium.
At the end of the day, the captured HD material has to live permanently somewhere on some kind of archival medium, and the XDCAM optical disc and HDCAM videotape are still the only viable media for long term shelf storage of high definition video.
At just under US$8000, with a built-in high-quality wide-angle Fujinon lens, the PMW-EX1 represents value for money, said Sony. Attendee reaction to the Sony presentation was overwhelmingly positive.
— Craig Norris reporting from Hong Kong
