By Robert M. Goodman, April 25, 2007
The Sony PDW-F350 XDCAM HD camcorder ($25,800 list) uses three 1.5 million pixel Power HAD 1/2-inch CCDs to record in 1080 HD or DVCAM on optical discs. The F350 has native 16:9 (1440 x 1080) progressive CCDs that record either 1080p at 23.976, 25, or 29.97 fps, or 1080i at 50 or 59.94 fps. Using its variable frame rate features, this camera can record from 4 to 60 fps and offers cache and interval recording. For standard-definition recording, it can switch to a 4:3 aspect ratio.
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The F350 package includes a 2-inch 16:9 black-and-white viewfinder, stereo microphone, tripod plate, remote control, camera strap, the PDZ-1 proxy browsing software, and MXF proxy viewing software. The PDZK-P1 v1.1 XDCAM transfer software, a plug-in program designed to transfer and convert the MXF files into QuickTime for editing in Apple Final Cut Pro, is available as a free download on Sony's Web site.
Canon and Fujinon make lenses for this camcorder and its less-expensive cousin, the Sony PDW-F330 ($16,800 list). The lens supplied for this review was the Canon KH20x6.4KRS ($9,800 list), an HD servo-zoom lens in Canon's HDgc line. The focal length range is from 6.4mm to 128mm, which is equivalent to the field of view covered by a 34mm to 672mm 35mm still lens. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.4 that ramps to f/2.0 after the focal length goes beyond 90mm. This lens includes Canon's Shuttle Shot feature, which lets you set and switch between two preset focal lengths at the press of a button, and a 2X extender. It's a short, compact lens weighing 1.27 kg (2.8 pounds) that nicely complements the lighter weight of the F350, which is 5.5 kg (12.2 pounds) with viewfinder and battery.
The less-expensive Sony PDW-F330 package has a smaller 1.5-inch 4:3 black-and-white viewfinder, component analog output (Y, Pb, Pr), and a single timecode connector for input and output. There are no variable frame rate features, although the F330 does record in 1080 HD or DVCAM at 23.976p, 25p, 50i, and 59.94i and otherwise has the same feature set as the F350.
Recording
Before shooting with the F350, you have to set the frame frequency, recording format, and bitrate. Blank optical discs are formatted automatically when placed in the camcorder. The frame frequency can be 60i, 29.97p, or 23.976p if the camera is set to NTSC and 50i or 25p if set to PAL. The recording format choices are MPEG HD or DVCAM. The default bitrate is SP (standard play), which is 25 Mbps using fixed-bitrate compression. Higher-quality images are obtained in the HQ (high-quality) mode, which is 35 Mbps with variable bitrate (VBR) compression. A third mode, LP (long play), uses a rate of 18 Mbps that's useful if you must double your record times. An optical disc with a capacity of 23 GB will record approximately 68 minutes in HQ mode with two channels of audio. The camera can record two- or four-channel audio at 16 bits with 48 kHz sampling. Four-channel audio reduces the record run time to 66 minutes.
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The placement of the controls on the PDW-F350 conforms to established ergonomics for ENG camcorders.
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Discs formatted for one frame frequency can't be used to record a different frame frequency without reformatting the disc first. If you decide to record 1080/23.976p and then need to shoot something in 1080/29.97p, you must change discs. However, you can mix bitrates and shoot at variable frame rates on the same disc. The initial frame frequency determines the relationship of the variable frame rate to the base frame rate. For example, when the F350 is set to a frame frequency of 23.976 fps, a variable frame rate setting of 48 fps will record slow motion that doubles the original frame rate.
Each start and stop of the record trigger creates a file on the disc and a proxy for the clip. Clips can be selected from a thumbnail display and then played back on the F350's color LCD screen. The VTR controls let you move through all the first frames of the clips on the disc or go to the first or last clip on the disc in addition to the normal VTR controls. You can name and delete clips, create shot marks, make subclips, or reorder the clips from the LCD panel using the camera's side control panel.
Operator controls
The F350 has most of its controls in the usual locations that have become second nature to professional camera operators. Shooting with the F350 was very comfortable for me.
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Timecode is set using controls on the flip-out LCD screen and the joystick on the camera body.
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Some differences did require a bit of adjustment; for example, setting timecode. The camcorder uses buttons on the swing-out LCD viewfinder along with a joystick selector to change the settings. The selection of drop frame or non-drop frame is made with a camera menu item. Dedicated switches select either record run timecode, set initial timecode, or free run timecode, and switch between the preset, regen, or clock modes. The clock mode uses the time of day clock information in the F350 as the timecode. It wasn't as easy to change the timecode--the color LCD must be set to display timecode--though after doing the procedure a few times it wasn't an issue.
Paint controls
The intent--admirable--was to simplify the controls in the F350. Typical professional camcorders often present you with a bewildering array of menu choices that number in the hundreds. Color reproduction controls include four preset color matrix settings: standard, high color saturation, fluorescent, and cine; plus a user-adjustable matrix setting; overall hue and saturation adjustments; low key saturation; color temperature controls; and Red and Blue gain controls.
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The slot on the far left is for a memory stick, which stores operator and scene files. Other connectors include full-sized XLRs for audio, an HD-SDI output, and a FireWire 400 port to connect the camcorder to a computer.
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Yet some important functions are buried in the service menus that aren't accessible. You can select five preset gamma correction curves: one standard video gamma and four cinema gamma curves. The F350 actually has four selectable video gamma curves under the service menu. Individual R, G, and B gamma controls are present there too, though again not accessible to operators. The service menu lets you alter the gamma correction slope from 0.35 to 0.90, which controls midtone reproduction. This control is useful if you're trying to cope with very low- or high-contrast lighting conditions. However, F350 operators are limited to fine-tuning the 0.45 gamma correction preset using the accessible master gamma control.
The F350 does have accessible black gamma and low key saturation controls, but operators cannot access the range adjustment control that sets the upper limit of the values to which these settings apply. Placing these functions, already present in the camera, on the operator-menu level would be a simple way to enhance the F350's solid performance. Though what seems simple to us may be more difficult than it appears.
Workflow and compatibility
Optical disc workflow shares some similarities with tape. Recorded discs can be stored until the footage is edited into a program. The archival life of an optical disc remains an open question until more field experience is gathered, though Sony claims its testing indicates Òan archival life of at least 50 years, and Sony's Professional Disc media is re-usable up to a minimum of 1,000 read/write cycles and tops out at 10,000 read/write cycles under ideal conditions."
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Note the saturated colors in this shot of the piedmont of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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The footage is recorded as MXF files, so the material can be transferred to an editing system's storage network or used directly from the disc without first transferring the material. Any shot marks you create on the clips will transfer along with the clip. Avid editing systems can edit XDCAM HD files natively without any conversion.
Sony developed a program called the PDZK-P1 v1.1 XDCAM transfer software, which is required to edit XDCAM HD material in Apple's Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 (earlier dot releases don't have full support for the codec). The software can be downloaded free of charge from Sony's Web site. It places the MXF files into a QuickTime wrapper that Final Cut Pro can edit. You select the clips you want to transfer from within Final Cut Pro or by clicking on the XDCAM drive that appears on the desktop. A bug in Final Cut Pro, which hopefully will be corrected by the time this article appears, prevents clips recorded at 1080/29.97p from being transferred into Final Cut Pro. If you are contemplating shooting 1080/29.97p material, check to see if the clips will transfer into the editing system of your choice.
Otherwise, the program made it very easy to transfer the clips we shot into Final Cut Pro. If the timeline settings match the settings of the footage, the clips will play in real time without any rendering.
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These shots of Boat House Row (wide and close up) represent a challenge because of a broad contrast range and lots of fine detail. The motion of the water rendered flawlessly. The detail in the wide shot is captured nicely even though the detail setting in the PDW-F350 was turned off.
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Performance
We found the F350 to be a well-balanced camera and quite comfortable for handheld shooting. The image quality and resolution were impressive when recording at the 35 Mbps HQ bitrate. Tests performed by Sony suggest higher resolution and better image quality can be achieved at 1080p with this 1/2-inch CCD-based camcorder than with 2/3-inch CCD-based camcorders that must be converted from 720p to 1080p. At other bitrates, the footage looks like high-quality HDV.
Conclusions
The F350 is a compact pro-fessional camcorder that can produce great-looking images. Judging from the functions and controls, this camcorder appears to have been designed for news and small-market EFP environ-ments. The paint controls are limited, but there are enough controls to set up the camera properly to produce great-looking results. Moving the paint controls currently available only on the service menu would improve the performance.
If you want slow- and fast-motion recording capabilities, the F350 is a lower-priced alter-native--about one-third the cost--to the Panasonic VariCam and worthy of consideration. You can't use high-end digital cinematography-style HD lenses without a field-of-view penalty, which shouldn't be an issue for potential users of the F350. The challenge, however, is that using variable frame rates reduces the bitrate of the recording, lowering image quality.
The F350 is a solid performer that will be attractive to anyone who prefers the familiar workflow of tape and wants the advantages of file-based recording.
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