Sony announces three new palm camcorders featuring stunning Autofocus performance with 273-point phase-detection AF sensor and 4K HDR recording

Sony has today announced three new 4K HDR¹ camcorders featuring its ground-breaking Fast Hybrid AF system: the XDCAM® PXW-Z90, the NXCAM ®HXR-NX80 and the Handycam® FDR-AX700. All three palm camcorders combine a fast and reliable autofocus (AF) function adapted for shooting with a 1.0-type stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor, delivering stunning image clarity alongside a range of versatile shooting features. The new camcorders all support an instant HDR (High Dynamic Range) workflow enabling users to produce breath-taking HDR content with minimum post-production to suit a range of content creation scenarios and applications.

The Fast Hybrid AF system ensures highly-accurate focusing and tracking during shooting, delivered by 273 phase-detection AF points that cover approximately 84% of the shooting area, high-density placement of autofocus points and a newly developed AF algorithm. This reduces the burden of focusing especially when highly accurate focusing is required for shooting 4K² films. In movie recording mode, the appearance of phase-detection AF frames indicates the focused area and easily allows users to monitor a subject that is in focus. The new camcorders feature a high-resolution OLED viewfinder (0.39-type OLED, 2,359k dots) and advanced touch screen operation, on the 3.5-type large LCD screen (1,555k dots), to allow users to quickly switch focus from one subject to another, while the AF Drive Speed, Tracking Depth Range and Subject Switching Sensitivity can all be configured as required for different subjects and content styles.

The new camcorders support 4K HDR¹ recording with HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), offering an instant HDR workflow. This enables users to reduce the post-production work and produce high-quality HDR content without grading, which usually requires a highly skilled technique and specialist knowledge. They also have the following key technology features to support versatile shooting, including;

• 4K² full-pixel readout without pixel binning, using an enhanced BIONZ X™ image processing engine
• Super Slow Motion³ recording up to 960fps⁴ , which is industry leading among palm categories and Slow & Quick Motion⁴ Full HD recording up to 120fps⁶
• S-Log3/S-Gamut3 capabilities for users to create and work with images as they desire.
• 29mm⁷ (35EQ) wide-angle ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T^* 12x optical zoom lens and 18x Clear Image Zoom⁸
• Less image distortion (rolling shutter phenomenon), in comparison to conventional models when shooting subjects in motion
Workflow efficiency benefits such as Proxy recording, relay recording and simultaneous backup recording are also delivered thanks to the new camcorders’ dual memory card slots and multi-camera operation capabilities supported by TC (time code)/UB (user bit). Three new camcorders also have REMOTE terminals, Multi-Interface Shoe™, and HDMI Type A to ensure enhanced operability.

“We strongly believe in empowering customers to tell amazing stories, whether it’s a journalist out in the field covering a breaking news event, or a freelancer working under the tight deadline pressures of a one-day corporate shoot” explained Aydin Tolan, Business Head for Broadcast in ME region, Sony Professional Solutions MEA. “Our new palm camcorders do exactly that. By minimising the efforts required to focus on a subject in-frame and streamlining the post-production workflow, we’re helping users concentrate on what they do best: storytelling.”

In addition to the above key features as series, the XDCAM® PXW-Z90 and NXCAM® HXR-NX80 also feature dual XLR audio input, a detachable handle, and access to Content Browser Mobile a supporting smartphone application to enable Wi-Fi® monitoring, Camcorder remote control and wireless timecode sync⁹ between multiple cameras.

The PXW-Z90 also includes several features to suit broadcast-specific requirements: XAVC®format recording, which provides high-quality images at 4:2:2 10 bit (HD) and 4:2:0 8 bit (QFHD) in addition to conventional broadcasting MPEG2HD9 format recording; 3G SDI connectivity for compatibility with existing broadcasting equipment; and networking functions to support news reporting, such as compatibility with XDCAM® air, the Sony cloud-based ENG subscription service.　

NXCAM® HXR-NX80 and Handycam® FDR-AX700 adopt XAVC S®¹⁰ ,an extended format of XAVC for consumer use which can record high-defined 4K² films.

The XDCAM® PXW-Z90, NXCAM® HXR-NX80 will be available in December and Handycam® FDR-AX700 will be available in October. For more information on Sony visit www.sony-psmea.com, or visit stand 13.A10 at IBC 2017.

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_{¹3840 x 2160 pixels. 『FDR-AX700』『HXR-NX80』：Connect this product to a HDR (HLG) compatible Sony TV via a USB cable when displaying HDR movies.『PXW-Z90』:Connect this product to a HDR (HLG) compatible Sony TV via a HDMI cable and TV setting change required when displaying HDR movies.
²3840 x 2160 pixels
³4K recording is not available. Sound cannot be recorded. A class 10 or higher SDHC/SDXC memory card is required.
⁴960fps in NTSC, 1000fps in PAL
⁵Sound cannot be recorded. UHS-I (U3) SDHC/SDXC memory card is required
⁶120fps in NTSC, 100fps in PAL
⁷35mm equivalent
⁸18x(4K), 24x(HD)
⁹Optional licences required
¹⁰A Class 10 or higher SDHC/SDXC memory card is required to record movies in the XAVC S format. UHS-I (U3) SDHC/SDXC card is required for 100Mbps}