Sony Europe held a Facebook chat with Den Lennie about the new HXR-NX3 (currently $3,795) on Thursday. You can read it here. I've put together the highlights below:
Q: Will the NX3 replace HXR-NX5 (currently $3,395)?
Alvaro Ortiz: No, NX3 won't replace NX5. They will live together. However, both products, even having almost the same body (as that of Z100), have different specs: WiFi, 50p, SDI, HXR-FMU128 compatibility... but, to be honest, I love NX3 even more!
Kanta: The NX3 isn't a direct successor of the NX5. NX5 has SDI and it is good for those who really need it for broadcast system etc. NX3 is more general purpose camera at lower price.
Alvaro Ortiz: BTW, for those interested, as you can see we are basically sharing the same body between HXR-NX5, NX3 and Z100. The main reason is that most of NX5 users were really glad about the weight, the balance, and the lens touch of such chassis. Also, that lens allows us a little margin with different sensor sizes - so far, from 3x1/3" to 3x1/2.3"
Two of the main differences related to chassis between NX3 and NX5 are the built-in light (really powerful!) on NX3, and the slot for HXR-FMU128 (128 GB flash memory) on NX5
Kanta: The NX3 has 3.5 inch bigger size of LCD than NX5 with 3.2 inch.
Q: What Smartphones can you use to control the camera?
Alvaro Ortiz: You can use any Smartphone in which you can install PlayMemories (it depends on your Android implementation, Smarphone specs, etc). Also, you can directly download the recorded video (mp4, 3 Mbps) into the phone, for further applications (e.g. uploading it into YouTube). But you can download it after shooting; what you see on your smartphone screen is live signal, which is not stored live on your phone.
Jin: In addition to Alvaro's comment. If you don't have a smartphone with NFC, you still can use the wifi remote function by downloading the free app "PlayMemories Mobile". You just need to set up the NX3 to Wifi-Mode. It will then show you the SSID and password. On the smart phone you choose the SSID of the cam and put in the password manually. Then they are connected to each other.
Kanta: For the WiFi remote, the RM-LVR1 wrist watch style controller is also available.
Q: I'd like to know if there's a way to shoot in sort of "cinestyle" mode on this camera to allow more grading options after the shoot?
Den Lennie: The footage in the demo film is ungraded. what you see is straight out of the camcorder. I have not graded it extensively in Resolve however the codec is the same as in the FS100 - AVCHD . My experience with AVC HD grading in Resolve has been very positive. There are a number of camera profiles that you can choose from. Very similar to the FS100 from memory. I'd be comfortable grading this footage in Resolve but it is not designed to shoot flat and grade up. It is designed to be shot with a picture profile so that the images are created in camera looking close to how they will in edit
Q: What's the stabilization?
Den Lennie: The stabilizer has 2 modes, normal and active - both great. As you see on the boat to boat shots in the film. Also the camcorder will shoot from 1fps to 60 fps and so very useable off speed functionality. It's a great camcorder
Q: Favorite Feature?
Jin (Sony in Germany): My highlight feature of the HXR-NX3 is, that you can do recordings independently on both of the slots. For example, if you are shooting a press conference, and on one side you want to record the whole session, but due to time pressure, you need to send out some comments of speakers right during the conference, you can do, as you are able to split the assignment of the record buttons independently. So for example, with the record button at the grip aside, you could turn on and off the recording of slot A, while with the rec. button on the top grip, you can control Slot B.
Den Lennie: For me it's stunning image quality and great looking IAuto features combined with terrific ergonomics. This camcorder packs a big punch for the money
Alvaro Ortiz (Sony): Two of the things that I especially love from the camera? The well-known AVCHD up to 28 Mbps (more quality than that of a Blu-Ray disc!) with 1080/50p format, and the really, really powerful 40x zoom: 20x optical, and 20x through "patterns" (Super Resolution technology), which makes it very superior to the traditional digital zoom; right now, no visible signal drop is seen. Those two features makes this camera a really powerful tool, allowing to shoot at any environment (even with affordable external recorder, if needed), and with the big flexibility of that powerful zoom.
Anna Doublet (Sony): I like Independent recording trigger (rec on card A by button on handle, and rec on card B on hand grip) - it's just a perfect feature for simple editing.
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