Ex1 vs HVX Shootout

Sony PMW-EX1 vs Panasonic HVX-200

A Saturday afternoon with both cameras.

Now that Sony’s new PMW-EX1 is shipping, we decided to get out our trusty HVX-200 and do a side by side shootout with the two cameras. We tested both cameras at 1080p24, and 720p24 in a variety of different situations.

We chose to shoot both cameras in 24fps mode using their cinema gamma presets as well, due to the fact that many users will be interested in the “film like” qualities of these cameras. Regardless of whether you will shoot 24p, 30p, or 60i with these cameras, the tests we did will show a good comparison of sharpness, noise, resolution, and color reproduction.

While our shootout wasn’t entirely scientific, we think it’s a good representation of how the cameras compare on a picture quality level. Below we have provided full resolution stills from each setup we did, as well as Quicktime movies at full raster 1920x1080 and 1280x720, compressed using the H.264 codec at “High” quality, as well as a smaller 640x360 version of both the 1080P and 720P footage. The full raster Quicktime files are a big download, so please be patient with them as they are the best example of how the cameras really compare to each other. While we have made our own conclusions after the test, we think we should let the footage do the talking and you can decide what you like for yourself. Enjoy!

1080p24 Test

Quicktime Movies

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