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Sony PDW-F800 Review

Nov 2, 2009 12:00 PM, By D.W. Leitner

The tapeless CineAlta.

Needless to say, footage quality was impressive. For my shoot, I used an ENG-style zoom, a Canon 7.6-130mm with 2x extender, f/1.8 (HJ17ex7.6B), but later experimented with several Carl Zeiss DigiPrimes (see photo), which made clear the true prowess of this economy CineAlta. (Hint: from the footage, you'd swear it was an F900R.)

Like the F700, the F800 at 9.5lbs. didn't feel particularly light. Lens and battery added considerable weight, of course. Because I work with a lot of small-format camcorders these days, perhaps I'd forgotten how heavy full-sized camcorders can get over a day of running around and shooting. Perhaps it's because I've already spent time with Sony's upcoming 2/3in. shoulder-mounted XDCAM EX PMW-350—which, at 7lbs., feels decidedly lighter. (Read more about the PMW-350.)

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I wasn't in love with the 3.5in. flip-out LCD screen either—either its position (rear-mounted, operator's side) or the fact that it has to be viewed dead-on. Viewed from above, shadow detail lightens and goes blue; from below, the image darkens. I think other Sony camcorders may do it better. There's also a small black-and-white LCD on the operator's side under the built-in loudspeaker that displays timecode, remaining disc capacity, and battery charge. Only thing is, this exact-same information is available about an inch away on the flip-out LCD, as well as in the viewfinder. Its seems to me that the purpose of this little redundant display would be better served if it were located not on the operator's side (blocked by his/her head) but the camera assistant's side of the F800, where it would be visible to crew. There it would add genuine utility to what is supposed to be an EFP camcorder.

My time with the F800 gave me a real-world appreciation of the several significant advantages to Sony's Professional Disc format. It occurred to me that optical discs are nothing less than the videotape of the 21st century.

So my advice is, if you need a 2/3in. CineAlta on a shoestring, look no further than the F800—which joins the archival paradigm of videotape (without tape) to the workflow benefits of file-based recording. The money you save not bidding on a used F900R will buy a lot of PDs, and they're a lot cheaper than HDCAM cassettes. Longer lasting and more compact too.

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bottomline

Company:Sony
pro.sony.com
Product: PDW-F800
Assets: Records long-GOP MPEG 422 and MPEG HD to Sony Professional Disc media; 30-second flash-memory cache; offers 24p (23.98) and standard SD (MPEG IMX and DVCAM); Focus Assist in the viewfinder.
Caveats: Flip-out LCD screen poorly placed and impractical; 9lb. weight makes camera feel heavy after a day's shooting.
Price: $42,700 (no viewfinder)

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