Sony recently announced the HXR-NX3 video camera as the latest entry in its NXCAM line of video cameras, and we're taking a quick look at the specs today to see what interesting features it brings to the table.
The first thing I like to look for in a camera these days is the ability to overcrank – to shoot faster than the frame rate you'll edit in. This enables you to get smooth slow motion effects, which can add a very professional feel to any promo video you might want to produce. And the HXR-NX3 delivers on this, shooting at full HD resolution at a 60p frame rate in addition to 60i, 30p, and 24p, as well as 720p60. It also will shoot up to 60x speed for time-lapse shots.
It records onto two SD memory cards, which can be set to relay record (automatically switching from the first card to the second when the first card is full) as well as dual-slot recording (recording to both slots for redundancy). An HDMI output jack also enables the feeding of an uncompressed 4:2:2 video signal to an external recorder or external monitor.
The HXR-NX3 sports a 20x G-series lens, and boasts a 40x “clear image” digital zoom, claiming to digitally double the zoom capability with virtually the same image quality as an optical zoom through its LSI image processing chip. That sounds intriguing, and I'd be interested in seeing if it lives up to the marketing brochure's claims, or if it's more virtual than actual.
It uses a three-chip CMOS sensor to separately process and capture red, green and blue for more natural color reproduction. Iris, focus and zoom each have their own ring for easy manual control.
One of the more exciting features is the ability to use a smart phone or tablet as a remote control through built-in Wi-Fi. Users can perform record start/stop, zoom, iris, and touch autofocus, as well as see the image being captured on their device. This sounds like a great feature, and I'd love to see that in operation.
To make it easier to initiate a connection between camera and tablet/phone, the handle of the camcorder has near-field communications (NFC) capability, which with a similarly equipped tablet or phone all you need to do is touch the device to the camera's handle to initiate a connection. That sounds great—the last thing you want to be messing with on a shoot is setting up Wi-Fi connections.
At an expected MSRP of $3,495, this camera would be well worth looking at for any church in the market for a cost-effective video capture solution.
