Sony Unveils 3 New 1-inch Sensor Camcorders – AX700, NX80 & Z90

by Jakub HanSeptember 16^th, 2017

Sony has just announced three new 4K HDR (3840×2160) palm-sized camcorders during IBC 2017 in Amsterdam: the XDCAM PXW-Z90, the NXCAM HXR-NX80 and the Handycam FDR-AX700 with an improved AF system.

The new camcorders have a Sony 1-inch stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor, and all three support an instant HDR (High Dynamic Range) workflow with HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma). According to Sony, the most exciting thing about these new camcorders will be the fast Hybrid Autofocus system.

Sony FDR-AX700

The fast Hybrid AF system relies on 273 phase-detection AF points that cover approximately 84% of the shooting area, a high-density placement of autofocus points and a newly developed AF algorithm. Phase-detection AF frames make it easy to detect the focused area in order to monitor the subject that is in focus.

The new camcorders feature a high-resolution OLED viewfinder (0.39″ OLED, 2.359k dots) as well as a 3.5″ 1.555k dots LCD touch-screen display. It will be possible to quickly switch focus from one sbuject to another with adjustable AF drive speed, tracking depth range and subject switching sensitivity.

Sony HXR-NX80

According to Sony, the HLG HDR workflow speeds up post-production work and produces high-quality HDR content faster without grading.

Key features of the new Sony camcorders:

• 4K (3840×2160) full-pixel readout without pixel binning (through an enhanced BIONZ X image processing engine)
• Super slow motion recording – 1000fps in PAL and 960fps in NTSC. Sound will not be recorded in the super slow motion mode. Sony has not published the exact resolution for the super slow motion at such high rates, but if previous models are anything to go by, it will be below Full HD .
• Slow and Quick motion recording – Full HD, maximum 100fps in PAL and 120fps in NTSC. Sound will not be recorded in Slow motion mode.
• S-Log3/S-Gamut3 capabilities for further post-production possibilities
• 29mm (35mm equivalent) ZEISS Varion-Sonnar T* 12x optical zoom lens (18x “Clear image zoom” for 4K recording and 24x for HD recording)
• Less image distortion (rolling shutter)

Sony’s new camcorders feature dual memory card slots and allow for proxy recording, relay recording and simultaneous backup recording functions. All new camcorders also have remote terminals, Sony’s Multi-Interface Shoe and full-size HDMI Type A.

New Sony camcorders – NX80, Z90 and AX700

The Z90 and NX80 also feature dual XLR audio inputs and a detachable handle. Furthermore, those two camcorders have optional connection to Sony’s smartphone application to enable Wi-Fi monitoring, remote control and wireless timecode sync between multiple cameras.

The PXW-Z90 includes broadcast-specific features like the XAVC format with 4:2:2 10 bit (HD) and 4:2:0 8 bit ( 3840×2160), in addition to conventional (optional) broadcasting MPEG2HD format and 3G SDI connectivity.

The Handycam FDR-AX700 will be available in October 2017, while the NX80 and Z90 will be available in December 2017. For further information you can visit the Sony booth (13.A10) at IBC 2017 or the Sony website.

How do you think these new Sony cameras compare to the similar recent announcement from Canon? Let us know in the comments below!