From HD to 4K via Sony PXW-Z100, Memory Cards XQD, Transfer Speeds, Codecs XAVC-I, XAVC-S, XAVC-L and Recording Times
In this world to be happy we need to have progress, and for that we need challenges.
At Plasma we are looking all the time to offer better quality services. 4K give us this sharpness, crispiness and crunchiness that we want to see in our client's videos. But there is a long way to search, research, test and learn about the implementation of 4K in the level of our studio and in the level of the target of our clients.
I will go with prices, models and this type of camera (one-man camera with everything you need shoot and go) as an option of a sea of options.
Let's start with the prices of the Memory Cards and the Camera Sony PXW-Z100 in Lozeau
Sony PXW-Z100 Brochure of 2013
Are you kidding me? Just 20 minutes of recording in a 64GB ? Is to re-think your way of shooting.
https://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/micro/xdcam/brochures/v2589a_PXW_Z100_Brochure.pdf
If you are looking for information about the PXW-Z100, you will arrive inevitably into this interesting and informative post of the site xdcam-user.com
A Tale of Two Cameras – The PMW-300 and PXW-Z100 reviewed.
December 20, 2013
The thing is that alisterchapman compare the two cameras, in witch open a new "option" if you are asking yourself witch one to buy and, this post is from 2013, so the information is valuable but in two years a lot of things happens, he talks about future updates and when the new codec will be available.
But I will quote the most valuable information (for our purposes) as follow:
The Z100 comes with Sony’s XAVC codec. This is a 10 bit, 4:2:2 “I” frame only codec. In the future there will be a firmware update to add the more compact 4:2:0, long GOP XAVC-S codec. A further update will also add the ability to record AVCHD on to an SD card into the currently un-used SD card slot next to the two XQD slots.
XAVC is a great codec. It offers very high quality 10 bit recording at different resolutions and different frame rates. Unlike Mpeg 2 it is not restricted to 30fps and HD. It is the same codec as used in the PMW-F5 and F55 cinema cameras. It is almost certainly going to become standard on most Sony pro camcorders in the future. For post production it is already supported in FCP-X, Adobe Premiere, Avid, Edius, Resolve and of course Sony Vegas.
One thing to be aware of though is the data rates. These are higher than XDCAM. In HD the data rate, depending on frame rate is around 100Mb/s, that double the amount of data compared to XDCAM HD422 and almost 3 times as much data as XDCAM EX. So a 32GB XQD card will only last a around 30 minutes (depending on frame rate 24/25/30fps, 15 mins at 50/60p). If you want to shoot in 4K things get even worse, a 32GB card lasting between 12 and 14 minutes at 24/25/30fps and a mere 6 to 8 minutes at 50/50p. For most people a 32GB card will not be big enough and your going to need a couple of 64GB cards as a minimum. Once the XAVC-S codec becomes available as an option you will be back to similar data rates and storage requirements to XDCAM HD, but without the image quality benefits that the full XAVC codec brings.
The Z100 has two slots for the XQD cards and as one card fills up the camera will automatically switch to the next card without any interruption to the recording. As XAVC can shoot at full HD when you enter into the cameras S&Q mode you can choose any frame rate up to 60fps and the recording will be in full HD.http://www.xdcam-user.com/2013/12/a-tale-of-two-cameras-the-pmw-300-and-pxw-z100-reviewed/
Rentals in Australia
In this site of rentals, they just show the Codec in wich the Camera Sony PXW-Z100 is able to record, XAVC recording format at 4K 50fps/60fps, 4:22 10-bit at 500/600Mbps,HD at up to 223Mbps
the Codec or how much you can record or what do you need for this... what it shows is that they camera are using the XAVC-S Format for 150 Mbps 4K Recording, but just that.
http://www.dragonimage.com.au/sony-pxw-z100-4k-compact-xdcam-camcorder-with-xavc-recording.html
About the Sony XQD Memory Cards
Considering Buying Memory Cards this is what I found about Recording Times of the Sony XQD Memory Cards. This apply for the camera Sony PXW-FS7, FDR-AX1, and the camera we are interested wich is the Sony PXW-Z100.
The larger capacity 128GB model expands the line-up allowing up to 40 minutes of 4K XAVC Intra 422 60p (600Mbps) recording with Sony's 4K video cameras.
The Data Transfer Speed of the G Series, S Series and N Series of Cards are as follow:
Read and Write Transfer Speed of the diferent series of the XQD Memory Cards
http://www.sony.net/Products/memorycard/en_us/xqd/
About the Firmware Update of the camera Sony PXW-Z100
This camera went to the market 2 years ago, and they are talking about future updates, until now that I just saw this 2 months ago in the official site of Sony, down below the link.
Product Firmware and Setup Utilities
Last Updated: May 4, 2015
XDCAM XAVC Memory CamcorderLast Updated: May 4, 2015
For model: PXW-Z100
This is coming from the oficial site (or microsite) of Sony in the following link :
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloadsAbout The function to record in XAVC-L format
This is the PDF where you can see the ability to record in XAVC-Lin the camera Sony PXW-Z100, This is the date, Last Updated: May 4, 2015
About the Codecs XAVC-I, XAVC-L and XAVC-S recording
Sony originally introduced the XAVC codec in February 2013 with XAVC-I recording in the F55 and F5 digital cinema cameras. Since that time, we've vastly expanded the range of products that incorporate XAVC technology—and we've extended the technology itself to three different tiers of production.
- XAVC-I. The Intra-frame only version delivers exquisite pictures. Using intra-frame compression means consistent quality, even in scenes with fast motion. The incorporation of highly advanced compression tools yields images of uncommon fidelity. Tech specs: MXF wrapper • 10-bit • 4:2:2 • Full HD at 89 Mbps (23.98p).
- XAVC-L. The Long-GOP version takes advantage of the similarity among video frames to achieve even greater compression efficiency. You get stunning quality and extremely modest bitrates. Tech specs: MXF wrapper
• 10-bit (HD) • 4:2:2 (HD) • Full HD at 50, 35 or 25 Mbps. - XAVC-S. The next-generation consumer video codec. Tech specs: MP4 wrapper • 8-bit • 4:2:0 • Full HD at 60 or 50 Mbps.
About the Codec XAVC-L
Long recording times.
Productions must contend with a stubborn practical question: how long are the loads? That's a critical issue for documentaries, natural history and reality TV. The magic of the XAVC codec, especially XAVC-L, is the ability to capture stunning 10-bit, 4:2:2 Full HD content at a budget-friendly 50, 35 or even 25 megabits per second. So you can record hour after hour of content on a single memory card!
XAVC-L recording enables the Sony PXW-FS7 to capture more than eight hours of spectacular HD content on a single, 128 GB card.
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-latest-XAVC.shtml
The Shogun automatically detects the 4K signal from the camera and you are all set to shoot. The only thing left to do is select what flavour of ProRes you want to record in. I really like the ability to choose between ProRes LT, 422 or 422 HQ. In 422HQ with a 480GB SSD you can record around 1hour and 20min of 4K footage. For a lot of users ProRes 422 will be more than enough.
About the Atomos Shogun
http://www.atomos.com/shogun/The Shogun automatically detects the 4K signal from the camera and you are all set to shoot. The only thing left to do is select what flavour of ProRes you want to record in. I really like the ability to choose between ProRes LT, 422 or 422 HQ. In 422HQ with a 480GB SSD you can record around 1hour and 20min of 4K footage. For a lot of users ProRes 422 will be more than enough.
http://www.newsshooter.com/2014/12/31/atomos-shogun-4k-recorder-review-the-good-the-bad-and-the-4k/
Rentals in Montreal
ATOMOS SHOGUN (HDMI) with SSD Sandisk 500GB - $90 x 48 hrs
http://royalphoto.com/en/rentals.html
In the next video I show some of the test I pass. One of the things I never read anywhere else, was that once you change of codec to another (not all) the camera have to "restart" so even if this time is not that much, just by doing the test, I realize that is not that "practical", I guess you need to know what is the exact codec you will use and stick on it and dont change it. As always depend of the type of project but at least I put it here.
http://royalphoto.com/en/rentals.html
In the next video I show some of the test I pass. One of the things I never read anywhere else, was that once you change of codec to another (not all) the camera have to "restart" so even if this time is not that much, just by doing the test, I realize that is not that "practical", I guess you need to know what is the exact codec you will use and stick on it and dont change it. As always depend of the type of project but at least I put it here.
