Sony PXW-Z100 professional 4K video camera revealed

Sony has announced the QXW-Z100, a more professional 4K video camcorder to complement its autumn offering along with the “prosumer” version called FDR-AX1E.

Sony has been one of the most active companies at IFA Berlin 2013. Although some camera makers have failed to recognize the importance of this trade show, the PlayStation maker is not one of them and multiple devices have been launched.

The Germany-based event has brought the QX10 and QX100 lens-style cameras, the HDR-AS30V action camera, as well as the first under-$5,000 4K video recording camera in the world, the FDR-AX1E, among many others.

Sony PXW-Z100 is a new 4K video recording camera with an 8.8-megapixel sensor that shoots videos in XAVC format at 600Mpbs bit rate and 60 frames per second.

Sony announces professional PXW-Z100 4K video camcorder

If the FDR-AX1E performs the most basic functions as its specs list is rather limited, then the new Sony PXW-Z100 is a more professional 4K video camcorder.

The FDR-AX1E is not very cheap, just like anything which costs around $5,000. However, a lot of consumers have always wanted to capture high-quality 4K videos and they could not have spent more than this amount. Either way, pros are never forgotten and the PXW-Z100 brings a lot more features to the tablet, though the price will be higher.

Battle of the 4K video: Sony PXW-Z100 vs FDR-AX1E

Sony PXW-Z100 is packing an 8.8-megapixel Exmor R CMOS 1/2.3-inch-type image sensor. It may not sound like much, but it is enough to capture 10-bit 4K videos with a bit rate of up to 600Mbps. This means that it records videos at 60 frames per second in XAVC format. Additionally, it can shoot 10-bit 4K movies at 500Mbps and 50fps.

This can be compared to the FDR-AX1E, which shoots 8-bit videos at maximum 150Mbps and 60fps in XAVC-S format. This means that its bigger sibling provides up to four times the bit rate, which means that there will be a big difference between the quality of the videos recorded by the two devices.

Both handheld camcorders will require XQD memory cards in order to store the movies, as they are the only ones capable of supporting so much data in such a short amount of time. The PXW-Z100 offers slots for a pair of XQD cards.

Availability and price details

The new camcorder can output 4K videos to compatible 4K TVs via an HDMI output port. However, users will also need a new HDMI 2.0 cable.

Sony’s PXW-Z100 does not feature built-in WiFi. Nevertheless, it can achieve such an accomplishment thanks to a WiFi Remote Control. It will be supplied in the package and it will allow users to link their camera to a smartphone. After that, they can control the focus, aperture, zoom, and start recording videos remotely.

The Sony PXW-Z100 release date has not been scheduled yet, but the company promises that the camera will become available in late 2013 for under $6,500.

B&H Photo Video is offering the FDR-AX1E for pre-order at a price of $4,498, while the PXW-Z100 is listed at $6,500.