We're thinking of buying the new Sony 700 2/3" xdcam.  According to Sony, "They will offer striking quality HD recording at a data rate of up to 50 Mb/s using the MPEG HD422 compression technology."  Of course there is no money in the budget for an Avid upgrade.  I'm still running MCA 2.2 on an XW8000 with no DNXcel board.  Will I be able to handle this new codec?

Perhaps MC 3.x, but no current version supports this as a file import, and you do not have an HD-SDI input on your DNxCel-free Adrenaline. You might consider an F350 or F355 XDCAM HD camcorder, and put the money saved into your NLE. These cameras produce excellent imagery, and do not be put off by the 4:2:0 color space.

bonang:

 These cameras produce excellent imagery, and do not be put off by the 4:2:0 color space.

Have you chroma key experience with a 350, or 355 ? We have a 330, and (but) chroma key is really hard to be set.

jimdingo:

 We're thinking of buying the new Sony 700 2/3" xdcam.  According to Sony, "They will offer striking quality HD recording at a data rate of up to 50 Mb/s using the MPEG HD422 compression technology."  Of course there is no money in the budget for an Avid upgrade.  I'm still running MCA 2.2 on an XW8000 with no DNXcel board.  Will I be able to handle this new codec?

 XW8000 won't support v3.0. 

Yes, we have done quite a bit of chroma keying using the F350, all w/ excellent results...well, at least the stuff we produced. Certainly comparable to what we've been able to pull from an HDW 700 HDCAM camcorder. The greatest letdown is in the dumbed-down Spectramatte keyer, so we often end up using the BCC keyer. The older meridien utimatte keyer was the best!

 Our shooters looked at the F350 and they were really put off by the 1/2" ccd's.  The new camera has 2/3", which they tell me makes them 3 stops faster.  That's a huge difference.  I know another guy in town that has a F350 and hates it's lack of sensitivity.  He's shooting on P2 now.

I can't believe that Avid won't address this for all the users that are still on 2.x systems.  Both FCP and Vegas can import XDcam HD422 now.  If we have to buy a new system to use this codec, I doubt it will be another avid.

jimdingo:

  That's a huge difference.  I know another guy in town that has a F350 and hates it's lack of sensitivity. 

There is a new firmware available for the 330 350 series, which increases the sensitivity. We never could complain about the 1/2 inch lens, a Fujinon wide angle with excellent results.

If you 'd like to go with Vegas, I wish you good luck, we have a Vegas station here, just for some file crossconversion, but not more.

 just talked to our reseller.  he says Avid will have support for 422 on adrenaline by the fall.  we can't get a camera before then anyway, they're shipping them to Beijeng as fast as they can build them.

Really? Who told you that? Who  was  the reseller? I guarantee they have no idea what  is in the pipeline for the fall.

Even if they had any clue, new features will be included in an upgrade. There are never new features added to old software. So, one way or the other, you are gonna have to upgrade.

 That makes sense !

 The reseller is Matrix in Vancouver.  So you're saying we'll never be able to use this codec with 2.x software?  So every Media Composer in the world is unable to use this codec?  Is that what you're saying?  Cause if that's what you're saying, well, that's um really um not good.

I'm saying that no new feature is ever added to old software. So, if it's gonna be added to MC, you are going to need to upgrade to get it.

 sorry, I was being facetious.  I know I'm kind of thick, but I need to decide what to do.  If I buy this camera, I will need to run version 3.x to import hd422, right?  Can I run version 3.x on my Adrenaline system?  What do I have to replace to run 3.x?

Sure you can. You may want  to  check the system requirements when the software is released.  The CPU requirements have gone up but older CPUs do still run the software, just not as fast.

However, I am not saying  that the ability to use 422 is in 3.0. Don't know that it is not either so I'm checking for you.

 Okay, here's my other option.  We just upgraded our Xpress to MC 2.8.  It's a newer system, dual xeon 2.33's, quadro fx1500 with a mojo sdi.  Maybe that would be a better choice for version 3?

Thanks for your patience with me.  From what we're hearing, the 2/3" Sony is becoming a very popular camera, and a lot of places are going to want to use this codec.