BUYERS’ GUIDE
PANASONIC AW-UE150 £8994/$9995 panasonic.com Panasonic’s AW-UE150 was the first 4K/60p PTZ camera from a major manufacturer and even though it has now been superseded as the flagship of the range by the UE160 model, it is cheaper so offers better value if you don’t need all the extras. The AW-UE150 has a one-inch MOS sensor, 20x optical zoom with a wide 75.1° angle of view and PoE++ compatibility. A firmware upgrade brings V-Log, a UHD crop function in 720p, a preset on/off iris function and more. It offers an HDR mode with BT.2020 support, optical image stabilisation, a fast 180° pan/tilt speed in high-speed mode and an infrared night mode for very low light in monochrome HD video. A cropping function enables the creation of a multicamera look by selecting up to three angles from a single 4K image. The Panasonic supports embedded audio and audio input via a stereo mini-jack. Its web interface is compatible with PCs, Macs, tablets and Android and iOS smartphones. It has adjustable tally light, 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64 ND filters, live streaming via RTMP and is upgradable to NDI/HX compatibility with a separate licence. There is 12G-SDI, optical fibre and IP connections for control and a function that prevents colour overloading from blue LED lights.
SONY BRC-AM7 £13,926/$12,000 sony.co.uk
SONY FR7 £8634/$9699 sony.co.uk Sony’s FR7 crosses the line between a PTZ camera and high-end cinema camera or mirrorless, as it is the first PTZ to combine a full-frame image sensor and interchangeable E-mount lenses to give a cinematic look. It has a back-side illuminated 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with 10.3 megapixels and dynamic range of more than 15 stops. Planned for next spring, Sony will provide a firmware update that will add the PTZ auto-framing technology to the FR7 too. The FR7 is designed for low noise thanks to the Exmor R sensor that can reach as high as ISO 409,600. Recording is possible up to 4K/120p for super slow-motion. Inside are gamma options including S-Cinetone, just like the A7S III, A1 and Sony’s pro cinema cameras. In cine mode, base sensitivity can be set to either ISO 800 or 12,800 and it allows the use of S-Log3 gamma, wide S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine colour spaces. The FR7 – capable of internal XAVC recording and external Raw output – has slots for CFexpress Type A and SDXC cards. The SDI output can deliver a 16-bit Raw signal to an external recorder, and there are HDMI Type A and 12G-SDI connectors as well as an XLR mic input.
The new flagship of Sony’s integrated lens PTZ range is the 4K/60p BRC-AM7, which exhibits auto-framing technology that uses AI to recognise and offer natural-looking automatic tracking of moving subjects. The camera automatically tracks a subject based on detailed information such as the person’s skeleton, head, face and clothing. By combining the 1.0-type 4K stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and fast Bionz XR processor, the BRC-AM7 can oversample 5K to capture high-resolution 4K video with low noise. Additionally, it supports 4K HDR. The lens is a 20x optical zoom and features Sony’s Clear Image Zoom technology, providing telephoto capture up to 30x in 4K or 40x in Full HD. It also has a built-in unique electronic variable ND filter that allows for seamlessly adjusting the filter transmittance from 1/4 to 1/128. The newly developed pan-tilt rotation mechanism enables quick, smooth and quiet operation at a speed of 0.004° per second up to 180° per second. The BRC-AM7 includes ITU709, 709tone, S-Cinetone and S-Log3 gammas. It also features a genlock terminal, which is compatible with Sony’s master set-up units and remote control panels. The camera features 12G-SDI and HDMI outputs and 3G-SDI for monitor output. For audio, the BRC-AM7 has two channels of XLR 3-pin connectors and a 3.5mm stereo input so high-quality sound is recorded – always an essential ingredient for video.
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