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Filed under: *VIDEO* •Cameras •Hardware •

PMW-EX1 Firmware 1.11

23.98PsF output is available on EX1s with firmware 1.11.

I’ve upgraded our PMW-EX1 from firmware version 1.03 to firmware version 1.11 and I can happily verify the following improvements…

• 23.98PsF live output can now be selected in HQ 1080/24p mode (using the VIDEO SET menu). However, it has to be re-selected each time the camera is powered on, as it defaults to 60i with 2:3 pulldown.
• All shooting modes offer 1/100 and 1/120 shutter speeds, for flicker-free filming in both 50 Hz and 60 Hz countries.
• Back-focus problems with ND filters? Completely gone. Back-focus doesn’t change at all as ND filters are switched in and out of the optical path (this was reportedly fixed in firmware 1.05, too, but I went straight from 1.03 to 1.11).
• When the DISPLAY MODE is set to clear the screen of all clutter, you still get “STBY” and “• REC” indications.
• Others > Clip > Number > Reset is now Set, with the ability to dial in the four-digit clip number of your choice.
• You can choose Chinese menus and messages. For those of us who don’t read Chinese, these are more exciting than the Japanese-language selection, which only changes the status messages leaving the menus in English. The Chinese selection flips the menus as well as the messages into Chinese characters, making navigation much more interesting! Fortunately, the “Language” setting is always shown in Roman characters, so it’s not a one-way trip for us Chinese-language illiterates./li>

Chinese menus make operations more exciting for non-Chinese folks!

There are several other changes that I haven’t tested myself:

• Support for the PHU-60K hard disk unit and (unofficially) other USB-based storage devices, like SD cards in ExpressCard34 adapters.
• 32 GB SxS card support.
• Others > Clip > Update lets you restore the management data on an SxS card manually, presumably allowing repair of damaged card metadata (but I don’t have any damaged cards to try it on).
• Audio distortion is reportedly decreased (in my recording so far I haven’t run into a problem, so I can’t say if the already good sound is any better)
• Errors that reportedly occurred when switching SxS slots during recording while also using i.Link output should be fixed.
• “The picture does not swing during the REC review mode.” I don’t recall it swinging much before; there may have been a momentary distortion going into and out of REC review. There is certainly none now.

Overall? It’s well worth the upgrade.

In the USA, it’s $100, plus shipping to a Sony Service Center:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcamex-solutions-pmwex1featureenhancement0908.shtml

It appears to be a free upgrade in the UK (?), mainland EU, Norway, and Switzerland until 30 November, after which a fee will be charged: http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowContent.action?contentId=1218788047172&parentFlexibleHub=1205831217039

In any case, it’s a ship-it-in upgrade; check with Sony Service in your country for details.

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Has Sony released the starting serial numbers for camera being shipped with the upgrade already installed?

Posted by DanConklin  on  10/22  at  09:28 AM

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I don’t know about serial # ranges. You can check the firmware on a particular camera by pressing and holding down Menu, the Select thumbwheel, and Cancel all at the same time to enable the service menus. Roll all the way down to the “IF” (Information) menu, and check the firmware Version #. Then turn the camera off to disable the service menus (if you leave the service menus enabled and select some of their options by accident, you can really screw up your camera. Look if you want, but don’t touch!).

Posted by Adam Wilt  on  10/22  at  11:53 PM

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