The PXW X70 camera from Sony is so good that it might actually tempt some users away from their DSLRs. Here's some new footage that shows its capabilities
This is a camera that's much much more important than its modest size and shape would suggest. It's got a 20 megapixel sensor and a processor that can use the data from every photosite to produce a downsampled image that looks much better than than the "line skipping" methods commonly used by DSLRs and other types of primarily still cameras.
The sensor itself is Sony's 1" type that has cropped up in several recent devices, including the AX100 and (we believe) the RX10. The combination of this sensor and Sony's Bionz X processor is a pretty powerful combination, as evidenced by the fact that the X70 is upgradable to 4K (but not until next year, and, apparently, its a paid-for upgrade).
We tried the PXW X70 on the day it was announced, and it seemed a great little package. Now additional demo material is leaking out and we can get a better idea of what it looks like.
We don't know much about this video. It seems to have come from Sony and was possibly commissioned by them.
Here are the notes that accompanied the video:
Published on Aug 22, 2014
This footage is the beauty image of PXW-X70.
The shooting place is Otaru-city, Hokkaido, Japan, where the glass manufacturing is well known. Focusing on 3 glass artisans, the process of glass manufacture and their glass art works were shut by PXW-X70.
The PXW-X70 is a compact, lightweight XDCAM camcorder with professional features including a high-sensitivity 1.0-type CMOS image sensor. It delivers high-resolution recording and superb performance even in low-light conditions and can record in
various formats — including HD XAVC Long GOP (for 422 10-bit sampling), AVCHD, and DV® — to meet particular needs.
The lens features 12x Optical Zoom, which can be increased to 24x with Clear Image Zoom while retaining full resolution. Thanks to the 20-megapixel CMOS sensor and Sony’s sophisticated Digital Extender, zoom performance can be further increased to 48x to satisfy the demand of professionals for wide-angle to telephoto shooting in various scenes. The rich feature set includes a four position switchable ND filter, 3G-SDI interface, XLR handle unit, built-in Wi-Fi function, and the future ability to record in 4K Ultra High Definition* which will support at any situation, increasing the creative possibilities.
* A firmware update service (fee required) will begin in the first half of 2015.
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