PARK RIDGE, N.J.--Sony is targeting television stations doing news with a new (PXW-X70) professional camcorder that it said features a CMOS sensor more than eight times the size of the conventional 1/3-inch single chip found in camcorders now commonly used for newsgathering. Sony said future updates (later this year) to the presumably affordable camcorder (no price was given) would include support for Ultra HD acquisition and Wi-Fi file transfer and live streaming directly from the camera.
The PXW-X70 features a 1-inch type Exmor R CMOS Sensor with a resolution of 20 megapixels.
The new PXW-X70, part of Sony's XDCAM product line, records high definition video in XAVC Long GOP, delivering 4:2:2 10-bit sampling at 50 Mb/s. [XAVC is the latest compression codec from Sony, geared toward 4K production but it can also be used for 2K acquisition as well] It's also Sony's first professional compact camcorder to include Wi-Fi-enabled control via smartphones or tablets using a Content Browser Mobile application.
The PXW-X70 features a 1-inch type Exmor R CMOS Sensor with a resolution of 20 megapixels. Sony said the sensor, which is even larger than a Super 16mm film frame, delivers high resolution and superb low-light performance, while giving shooters more control over depth of field. The company said the new PXW-X70 is designed to be Sony's most compact XDCAM professional camcorder (it weighs less than 3 pound), and also one of its most versatile, making XAVC workflows available to a wider range of shooting applications.
The new PXW-X70 wraps files in the MXF file format, compressing full HD (1920x1080i) resolution footage using the camera's internal MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec. Other hey features include: a fixed lens that offers a 12x optical zoom, which can be increased to 24x with Clear Image Zoom while retaining full resolution using Super Resolution Technology. Zoom performance can be doubled using a digital extender by up to 48x. In addition, a variety of recording format options (XAVC, AVCHD and DV file-based recording) are supported, as is 4:2:2 10-bit image sampling, with high-efficiency Long-GOP compression at 50 Mbps, 35 Mbps or 25 Mbps.
There is also 3G-SDI and HDMI output connectors, an XLR (2x) handle unit with zoom lever, manual lens ring that can intuitively control zoom and focus, ergonomic palm grip with large zoom lever, two SD memory card slots for backup, simultaneous and relay recording, and a three-level switchable ND filter.
