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Filed under: Cameras •Hardware •Production •

Review: Sony HDW-650F HDCAM Camcorder

The Sony HDW-650F (US$44,950 list) is a 2/3” 3-CCD 1080i/1080p shoulder-mount HDCAM camcorder using “Power HAD FX” CCDs, a 14-bit A/D, and a newer generation of DSP for a better image than previous HDCAM camcorders have offered. Yet it costs less, weighs less, and offers more features than the 700-series HDCAMs it succeeds. While it’s primarily aimed at broadcasters, it also offers 23.98p shooting and PsF recording, so it can also serve as a digital filmmaking tool—or just add the “film look” of 24p to TV production.

Sony HDW-650F with a Canon HD-EC zoom lens.

The Power HAD FX CCDs are the next iteration on the Power HAD EX frame-interline transfer (FIT) chips used in the HDC-1500 and F23 cameras. FX chips are also used in the PDW-700 XDCAM HD camcorder, which shares more than a passing resemblance to the HDW-650F. Indeed, in many ways the HDW-650F and PDW-700 are variations on the same theme, with the HDW satisfying HDCAM tape-based operators, while the PDW adds 2/3” imaging to the XDCAM optical disk lineup.

The HDW-650F is eventually intended to replace the US$60,000 HDW-790, which currently remains available. The 650F weighs 9 lbs 4 oz compared to the 790’s 12 lbs; the 650F uses a 14-bit A/D compared to the 790’s 12-bit A/D, and the 650F is marginally more sensitive, rated at f/11 @2000 lux compared to the f/10 of the 790. The 650F also uses what Sony’s Juan Martinez calls “super duper extra special DNR” (not the official description, grin), allowing cleaner images: 59dB w/DNR, 54dB w/o DNR.

Despite its 23.98 recording capability, the 650F is not designed to replace the US$69,900 HDW-F900R CineAlta camcorder. It lacks the “world cam” flexibility of the F900R (which offers 23.98p, 25p, 29.97p, 50i, and 59.94i), the user-installable gammas (thus no Digital Praxis curves), and the vaunted CineAlta label. Its CCD block and image processing yield slightly quieter images than the F900R, and the images have a subtly different look overall. Sony is keeping the F900R as it is; shooters the world ‘round have come to count on the look of the F900R and Sony doesn’t want to mess with a good thing. But that doesn’t mean that young turks, those not wedded to the F900R look, can’t go to town with the 650F and make excellent images with it. Just don’t expect 650F and F900R footage to intercut seamlessly.

Compared to its predecessors, the 650F loses the 50-pin multicore connector, user gammas, and TeleFile (the ability to record metadata in a chip embedded on the tape cassette’s label). But it includes a built-in downconverter and a cache board (for pre-record and interval recording) that were optional on earlier machines, and adds a slot for Sony’s digital wireless mic receiver, the DWR-S01D.

The 650F is one of a family of regionally-targeted models: Japan’s 650 shoots 50i and 59.94i only; the American 650F adds 23.98p, while the European 650P adds 25p. Both the 650P and the 650F are available in Asian markets, so Asia’s not lacking for proscan options.

The 650F can shoot interlace for any country, plus 23.98PsF progressive.

Sony sent me an HDW-650F with an HDVF-20A 2” CRT viewfinder for the Green/Magenta test, so I was able to give it a quick once-over. I borrowed a very nice 2/3” cine lens from Simon Sommerfeld, hung a spare RED brick battery off the back, and I was ready to go.

Next: Design & Operation…

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