Z280
Z280
Z280
data from the cards: there’s a USB port, which you can plug an external hard drive into. You then navigate the menus on the camera and instruct it to offload all the footage to the external drive. It’s a great option that means you can leave your camera downloading to a hard drive while driving back after a shoot, for example. As an alternative to SxS cards, you can use XQD or even SD cards via an adapter, but you lose lots of speed and some functionality. The Z280 also shoots in XAVC-L and even MPEG-4, ideal for broadcast use. It can also output in the old DVCAM format, in case it needs to fit into a workflow that uses that legacy codec. In comparison, the Z190 uses very cheap SD cards because it simply does not require such high data rates. It does record 4K in 50p or 60p, but not the gloriously colourful 10-bit 4:2:2. For those bit rates, it’s HD only. And of course, with a larger sensor and 10-bit 4:2:2 4K, it’s obvious that the footage from the Z280 is a step ahead of the Z190 in terms of ultimate resolution and ability to suppress noise as you crank the gain up. When you look at the 4K footage from the Z280, it’s hard to believe it’s from a sub-Super35 camera.
SPECIFICATIONS SONY Z280 Price: £6939/$6950
“The footage fromthe Z280 is a step ahead of the Z190 in terms of ultimate resolution and ability to suppress noise”
Sensor: 3 x½-inch back- illuminated Exmor R CMOS Formats: XAVC-I, QFHD: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, max 600Mbps. XAVC-L, QFHD: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, max 150 Mbps. XAVC-I HDMPEG-4 AVC/H.264, max 222Mbps Frame rates: 23.98 / 25 / 29.97 / 50 / 59.94 in QFHD andHD. Storage: 2 x SxS slots Lens: 17x optical zoom. 5.6-95.2mm/f/1.9 (equivalent to 30.3-515mm) ND: Built-invariable NDfilters plus three-stage optical ND Output: BNC, 12G-SDI, HDMI, built-inWi-Fi Shutter range: 1/24-1/8000sec Screen: 8.8cm/3.5in LCD Audio: Integrated stereo microphones, 2 x XLR inputs with phantompower support Dimensions (WxHxD): 178.4x202x426.3mm/ 7.1x8x16.9in Weight: 2600g/5lb 11.7oz , body only
There are many similarities between both cameras, but there are also significant differences in specs. The Z280 flagship essentially has a high-end codec that has an identical spec to the FS7 Mark II. It can shoot 4K 50p or 60p in XAVC-I, in 10-bit 4:2:2 at 600 Mbps. That’s an astonishingly high spec for a camcorder, but this obviously needs super-speedy media to record onto. So, the camera uses SxS memory cards. These cards are pretty much the fastest you can buy, but it’s unlikely many filmmakers will already have a supply of these. Even if you used them in earlier Sony cameras like the EX1, you’ll need bigger sizes to cope with the additional data from 4K. The latest, fastest 256GB SxS Pro+ spec card costs £1630/$1679. You’ll also need to invest in a £258/$320 card reader, but thankfully Sony has introduced another way of downloading the
ABOVE The Z280 uses SxS memory cards, or XQD or SD cards via an adapter. The Z190 takes cheap SD cards
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SPRING 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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