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We have 3 PDW-F335s and one has gone faulty on the CCD block and needs to be replaced. I either replace it with another PDW-F335 or was looking into the PMW-350 but have a few questions regarding the CCD vs CMOS issue. We mainly shoot weddings.

1. Is the rolling shutter issue with photographers and CMOS cameras over-exaggerated or is it REALLY bad when viewing?
2. Is the skewing of the image a major issue. We dont pan super fast, but would there be skewing on a average speed pan?
3. Does CMOS cause a shimmer/wobble effect as some people have suggested on the net?
4. Would I be able to match scenes across these 2 cameras on the timeline in terms of colour/look so that the customer wouldn't notice on a 2 camera shoot?

These questions are directed at the PMW-350 in comparison with the PDW-F335.

Alistair, your valued input would really be appreciated too. Thanks.

Raja
Sadha Video

The PMW-350 is a lot more sensitive than the F335, it's also a lot less noisy, The PMW-320 is also more sensitive and less noisy than the F335, though not by quite as much as the 350. As the F335 is half inch as is the PMW-320 you might be able to use your existing lenses on the 320.

Skew and rolling shutter is real. Normally skew is not noticed, I certainly almost never see it in my footage and have yet to have a shot that I can't use due to skew under normal shooting conditions. Partial frame exposure due to flash guns is a bigger issue and can be a problem. BUT as most consumer camcorders are now CMOS, many viewers are used to seeing part exposed frames. Most end customers won't see a technical issue, they will simply see shots spoilt by flash guns. In addition if you shoot interlace in most case the falsh band removal tool in the XDCAM Browser will remove the offending flashes.

It will be very hard to get a perfect match between a 350/320 and a F335. The newer cameras are much better and the images will look better, but for different shots from different angles the pictures should be close enough to cut together in most cases.

Thanks for the reply.

I have EX1's as backups and the other day tested the EX1 and F335 (CMOS vs CCD) with flash photography and to my surprise found it to be fine. You can see the partial exposure on a frame to frame basis on the timeline, but during normal playback I found it not a prpblem at all. In fact, i found that the EX1 (CMOS) was less noticable than the F335 (CCD). I boiled this down to the fact that the CCD is capturing the FULL frame of white, whereas the CMOS is capturing LESS of the white. Sometiomes 20% of the frame is white and sometimes 80% of the frame is white. So during playback, the naked eye is seeing 'less' white. In fact on the 20% (thinner strip) of white frames, it doesn't show up at all during playback.

I hope I wasn't missing somethng during the test. This was during normal photography flashes. Maybe a strobe light from a DJ would have a different effect.

Raja
Sadha Video
UK