Sony has officially announced the PXW-Z750, which they claim is the world’s first 2/3-type shoulder camcorder to support native 4K shooting with a 3-chip CMOS Global Shutter sensor system. The latest member of the XDCAM family has been designed for news and live production applications including sports broadcasting, live television and documentary shooting.
This camera was actually first shown at BIRTV in Beijing last month.
The PXW-Z750 features a newly developed 3-chip 2/3-inch 4K CMOS imager optical module with a wide color gamut, vivid color reproduction, high sensitivity, and low noise.
The Z750 can be fitted with a variety of B4 ENG lenses, including 4K or HD lenses. This flexible lens option supports a wide range of shooting applications while saving money for production houses and broadcasters who can leverage existing lens investments.
The camera is Sony’s first shoulder-mounted CMOS 2/3” sensor camcorder with a global shutter. Sony has had cameras with a global shutter before (every CCD Camera).
2/3″ B4 mount ENG and EFP cameras are not as popular as they use to be, but there are still a lot of segments in the market where they are the right camera for the right job.
“The PXW-Z750 sets a new benchmark for TV reality shows, documentaries, news and sports production. In fast-moving applications where capturing a second shot is not possible, the Z750 is the ideal choice.”
Sony
The camera has an 8.8 cm (3.5 in) diagonal 16:9 built-in LCD screen. It has all the input and outputs that you would expect on a professional ENG camera, including 12G SDI and four-channel embedded audio.
The Z750 weighs approx. 3.8 kg (body only, no lens, viewfinder, microphone), and Sony claims that a BP-GL95B battery will allow for up to 100 minutes of continuous run time.
Codecs & Recording Options
In addition to the previous XAVC-I QFHD Class 300 4K and standard MPEG HD422 codecs, the PXW-Z750 also supports the next-generation XAVC-L422 QFHD 200 codec. According to Sony, compressing 4K HD images with the LongGOP frame structure enables significant bitrate savings compared to previous intraframe codecs while maintaining excellent 4K image quality.
The low data rate increases recording time while reducing storage requirements. 10-bit quantization and 4:2:2 color sampling is claimed to enable lossless image quality.
As far as slow motion is concerned, the PXW-Z750 can record up to 60fps lens in UHD and 120fps in HD. This makes it suitable for sports and nature shows.
The camera also has an Advanced 4K and HD Cache Recording mode.
The PXW-Z750 can record HDR using Sony S-Log3 or HLG. The wide color gamut of the camera supports the extended versions of Sony S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3. Cine color gamut and industry-standard ITU-R BT.2020 color gamut are also available.
RECORDING RESOLUTIONS & FRAMERATES
- XAVC Intra (XAVC-I QFHD 300)3840 x 2160: 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- XAVC Intra (XAVC-I HD 100)1920 x 1080: 59.94p, 50p, 59.94i, 50i, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- XAVC Long (XAVC-L422 QFHD 200)3840 x 2160: 59.94p, 50p
- XAVC Long (XAVC-L420 QFHD 150)3840 x 2160: 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- XAVC Long (XAVC-L422 HD 50)1920 x 1080: 59.94p, 50p, 59.94i, 50i, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- MPEG HD4221920 x 1080: 59.94i, 50i, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- 1280 x 720: 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- MPEG HD4201920 x 1080: 59.94i, 50i, 29.97p, 25p, 23.98p
- 1440 x 1080: 59.94i, 50i
- 1280 x 720: 59.94p, 50p
PROXY RECORDING
- XAVC agentAVC/H.264 main class 4:2:0 Long GOP, VBR
- 1280 x 720, 9 Mbps (target rate)
- 1280 x 720, 6 Mbps (target rate)
- 640 x 360, 3 Mbps (target rate)
- 480 x 270, 1 Mbps, 500 kbps (target rate)
Audio
The camera is compatible with Sony’s DWX series of digital wireless microphone systems, the PXW-Z750 provides ENG and documentary teams with all the benefits of a full digital audio workflow, including powerful end-to-end encryption for truly secure operation.
The wireless transmitter parameters can be controlled directly from the PZW-Z750. The transmitter power save mode is synchronized with the camera’s on/off control and is controlled by an assignable button to save the transmitter’s battery life.
The receiver RF level is also displayed in the viewfinder.
Wireless Connectivity & Workflow
The camera’s built-in wireless connectivity supports advanced workflow production capabilities, including live streaming, recording high resolution and proxy files, FTP transfer and even remote control from a smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi. Using Sony’s professional cloud service XDCAM Air (including dual-link cellular operation), wireless workflows become more efficient.
The PXW-Z750 supports next-generation SxS Pro X media, using the SBAC-T40 Thunderbolt TM 3 SxS memory card reader with file transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps (1250MB/s). The transfer speed is approximately three times faster than the previous generation media/reader combination, dramatically increasing application workflow and reducing production costs.
Price & Availability
There is no current indication of pricing, but the camera is expected to become available in February 2020.
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