Alongside the new FDR-AX1 4K camcorder, Sony has released the PXW-Z100 4K XDCAM professional camcorder priced at $6500.
The Sony PXW-Z100 captures 4K video at 50p or 60p using Sony’s XAVC format at max bit rates of 500Mbps or 600Mbps, respectively. Footage is captured onto dual XQD card slots. MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression is used for HD (1920×1080), QFHD (3840×2016) and 4K (4096×2160) content. Image sampling is 4:2:2 10-bit, with an intra-frame system that compresses each frame individually.
The sensor is a 1/2.3″ Exmor R CMOS back-illuminated sensor. The 20x Sony G lens offers a wide angle of 30mm at 4K or 31.5mm at UltraHD (3840 x 2160) and a 20x zoom range.
The HDMI interface on the PXW-Z100 camcorder can output 4K as a 50fps/60fps signal. When the PXW-Z100 is connected to a Sony PVM-X300 4K professional monitor or a 4K-compatible BRAVIA TV, the recorded 4K image can be displayed in 4K 50fps/60fps quality. A future firmware upgrade is planned to provide compatibility with the new HDMI standard (referred to as HDMI 2.0) and enable 4K 50fps/60fps output to a wider range of devices. Other features include a 3G HD-SDI interface that supports output to an SDI of up to HD 60p. It also supports HD output during 4K recording.
The Sony PXW-Z100 should be available by the end of the year for $6500.
Oberoth says
Frame rate at 1080p?
Oberoth says
1/2.3″ sensor seems awfully small for a $6500 camera!
Mark Sasahara says
Half inch chip. Which is better than 1/3 inch.
Re-read the first sentence of the second paragraph: 4K 50P/60P frame rates. What’s good is that it is recording full 4K on the XAVC codec 4:2:2 10 bit.
More info and pics @ Sony’s lone Z100 page:
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-latest-pxwz100.shtml?PID=I:prohomepage:promotion:pxwz100_landing_page?
I think the most important fact is that both the FDR-AX1 and the PXW-Z100 are both fine 1080P/2K cameras that can be used for broadcast, or production right now, with the added bonus of migration to 4K on a budget. This means that they are semi future proofed for the next little bit.
The same goes for the Sony FS700. It is a great little 1080P camera. But, the FS700 with the addition of the AXS-R5 recorder + HXR-IF5 interface lets you shoot full 4K RAW up to 60P. Pretty cool.
Oberoth says
1/2.3″ is a tiny sensor for such a high sources camera. My phone has a bigger sensor! A full frame camera has a session with 31 times the surface area.
What I don’t understand, and it’s the difference between me serious contemplating this camera or not even looking at it twice is the 1080p frame rate. Given it can process 4096×2160 @60fps which is over half a billions pixels per second then it would be capable of 1920×1080 @256fps, so why no full HD at 240fps mode?
Ruban says
This is 2/3 Lense?