EX1 Test Video 1280 x 720 (40 MB)
EX1 Test Video 1280 x 720 (20 MB)
May 13, 2008
RE: Test report on the Sony EX1 and Gates EX1 housing
The camera / housing system
was tested on 5/11/08 on the wreck of the Yukon in San Diego. The
conditions I hoped for were present: Overcast skies and typical
San Diego visibility of about 30 feet. Water appeared greenish and
more than the usual particulate matter in the water. These conditions
were ideal to evaluate the low light capability of the camera.
(Side note: one of the problems
with HD cameras is very poor low light and WB capability. The introduction
of HD meant a big step backward in these features compared to their
SD predecessors. HD cameras often will not WB below 15 feet or so,
requiring the addition of light and/or the use of the red filter
to assist. The EX1 is conversely a step forward again showing remarkable
low light capability on land. A key element of this test was to
see how it would perform in the inherently low-light medium of underwater).
The housing setup included
the SP44 dome port and EM43 monitor. The EX1 prototype needed 6
lbs of weight to get slightly negative in the water. (Production
models will need only 4 lbs in the basic configuration.) No lights
used as this was a test of the camera in ambient light conditions
only.
The down line was moored to
the forward guns of the Yukon, where I began shooting at 70 feet.
The camera was set in ATW (Auto Tracking White balance) without
the red filter and gain=0 to see if the camera could adjust for
water conditions. It did not. The screen showed exactly the scene
in front of me: green, washed out, muddy and dark.
The next step was switching
to Preset B and manually white balancing on a metridium anemone
(which are very handy for WB. They are pure white and conveniently
abundant). I must admit that the image on my monitor genuinely surprised
me. The colors literally jumped off the screen. Rich red corynactis
anemones surrounded by the white metridiums and hazy blue background
were unexpected. Honestly it looked completely Photoshop-ed. But
the camera reported a WB setting of 3200K (shifting very red) and
captured colors as they are – not as they appear under the
highly blue / green shifted ambient light underwater. It was at
once striking and enjoyable.
I then continued
on to other visually engaging spots on the Yukon including the main
mast, stack and propellers. Max depth was 90 feet and still the
EX1 was performed superbly well correcting for color.
Reviewing the
video later on a large LCD monitor revealed the camera struggled
for detail and sharpness in these conditions. I do not know if this
is due to low light or the XDCAM format compression -- or both.
Either way this is typical for video cameras in low light and not
surprising, but it remains notable the EX1 performed exceedingly
well in conditions from which nearly every other HD camera on the
market would be precluded.
As for the housing
I discovered a three minor tweaks necessary for production, but
otherwise it performed like a classic Gates product. A control knob
requires slight change as do two bottom rails on the rear shell.
One item of note
is the trim weights. The EX1 design includes adjustable trim weights
secured to the bottom rails which can be added/removed and trimmed
forward/aft for just the right buoyancy/trim. On my second dive
I moved two 4 oz trim weights to the front shell as the housing
was a bit ‘nose light’. Doing so brought it perfectly
into trim – exactly as planned and designed. I believe users
will really appreciate this feature.
The new camera
tray is a delight, too. A single captive thumbscrew makes fast the
camera, and two lock arms snap the tray in the housing with and
secure it with a positive ‘click’. Easy, quick and convenient.
Editing the XDCAM
footage from the SxS flash cards is straightforward. First, using
the Clip Browser utility from Sony I can plug the camera into my
USB port and review, delete and transfer clips right from my PC.
No tape transfers, no edit lists. From there Canopus Edius Broadcast
(my editing suite of choice) readily imports the files and handles
them effortlessly.
(Side note: this
is a big reason I choose Edius: support for HD formats is available
when the format hits the market (that is, no waiting for a ‘plug
in’ support months after you got the camera) and it handles
the format flawlessly. No bugs, crashes or other issues requiring
a support call. This has been true with HDV, DVCPRO HD and XDCAM.
)
In summary the
camera performed beyond expectations for white balance in low light.
Users will appreciate the new cam tray and trim weight features.
In well lit conditions I expect the camera to produce sharp detail
– especially with the SWP44C super wide. Downloading and editing
the video is easy and straightforward, readily lending itself to
the emerging discipline of acquisition, editing and internet broadcast
from the field.
