Phil Bloom and the Sony EX-1

I recently had a conversation with some friends - John and James at Toast about the merits of the Sony PMW-EX1 and Panasonic HVX-200. I have to say that I seriously thought about buying a HVX-200 - given it's status in indie/DV rebel production circles but found the thing so clunky - when compared to the silky like quality of the Sony Z1 interface. I bought a Z1. Even though the HVX offered a Leica lens, 100mbit/s DVC Pro HD recording rates and the chance to go tapeless. Maybe I was wrong. The thought that I was wrong has been bugging me for a year. Then Sony released the EX1 - and I got the chance to be bugged about another camcorder I maybe should have waited for or chosen. Well now I can worry more and indulge my fears. You and I can compare shot for shot of each camcorder til our eyes bleed here. I have to say that the EX1 images in this not very scientific test look so much better than HVX.

I've been flirting with getting a 35mm lens adapter for the Z1. But given the rate of change in the camcorder market maybe I should wait? I was flirting with the Letus Extreme. Over at Philip Bloom's blog you can read about Phil - cameraman/editor/director/catalogue model (no that's not true) grapple with a an EX1 and a Letus Extreme. Always informative. He's off in Las Vegas at the moment shooting a documentary on two (read it and weep) Sony EX1's. Lucky lucky man...

Talking of 35mm for digital camcorders - who would have thunk it - Interesting article on testing 35mm adapters on the set of 24.

UPDATE 11/03/04
Article on the merits of HVX v EX1 at ProVideo Coalition. Adam Wilt turns the argument into do you want an HD only camera or do you need SD. If you need SD then of the two the HVX wins. However in some environments less encumbered by legacy HD only will do very nicely me thinks.