Camera Shares Accessories with HDC-2500, Offers Up to 8x Super Slow Motion

Sony opted not to release new high-end cameras at NAB this year, looking instead to fill in some holes elsewhere in its line-up. With an eye on the just-beginning broadcast transition to 4K acquisition, Sony announced the HDC-4300, a new 2/3-inch 4K B4-mount camera with three-chip CMOS imaging. 

The HDC-4300 is aimed at broadcasters who want a solid option that combines everyday HD requirements with future-proof 4K acquisition. To that end, the camera can output HD and 4K simultaneously, and it features the ability to create HD cutouts from a larger 4K image in real time. It's modeled in large part on the HDC-2500, and uses the same accessories as that camera for a full 4K workflow. 4K capabilities are enabled through a software option, presumably meaning users can invest in the cameras but delay that added expense until they're ready to deploy it.

Other tempting specs for broadcast include 8x super-slow-motion acquisition–that's capture at up to 479.52p (or 400p in PAL mode), Sony said. Those high frame rates are unlocked through a separate optional software upgrade, and can be recorded to Sony’s PWS-4400 multiport 4K/HD Live Server.

The HDC-4300 is expected to ship this summer.

Sony filled out its pre-NAB press conference with demonstrations of 4K at all levels, not just broadcast. Alec Shapiro, Sony's president of professional solutions of America, highlighted Sony's 4K YouTube channel, and noted that XAVC is gaining ground with Discovery's addition of Sony's codec to its roster of approved UHD delivery formats.

Peter Crithary, Sony's marketing manager for Super 35mm acquisition and technologies, showed 4K clips from Monkey Kingdom, an impressive-looking Disneynature feature film that was captured over 1000 shooting days with three Sony F65 cameras and two Sony F55s. And concert cinematographer Brett Turnbull was brought on stage to discuss his experience shooting concert videos by Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, and many other performers with the Sony F55.

Crithary noted the official arrival this year of the Academy's long-in-gestation ACES standard for color workflow, declaring the 16-bit raw capture capabilities of Sony's F55 and F5 "a perfect fit for ACES 1.0." And with a nod to another NAB buzzword, the new BVM-X300 OLED monitor was cited as an HDR-ready 4K display.

On the software side, Sony Creative Software (SCS) is showing its new Catalyst Edit software along with an update to the existing Catalyst Prepre. SCS Director of Marketing Michael Bryant described it as "a fast, focused editing experienced focused on 4K, Sony raw, and XAVC." The latest version of Vegas is tuned to work with "all flavors" of XAVC, he said.

Sony said its project with public TV station WGBH in Boston to automate master control and media management at the station level has launched on schedule, with plans to bring the capability to archive content to the cloud online in the future. Sony's Ci cloud platform got a moment in the spotlight, too, as did its optical disc archiving system, which is being supported now by archive technology from ASG, StorageDNA, XenData, and MassTech.

Finally, Sony is demonstrating an IP-networked and 4K-ready live production switcher that it claims is the first of its kind. The model on the show floor is a working product that allows users to choose between an IP or SDI hybrid operating environment. One advantage of moving to IP networking for video is simplicity — 4K output can travel over a single 10GigE connection rather than four SDI ports. It's slated for release later this year. Sony's also showing live, high-quality streaming from cameras for news production using a new Sony server, the PWS-100RX1 Wireless RX Station.