Sony PXW-Z190 4K 3-CMOS 1/3 Sensor XDCAM Camcorder
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Not so great...
I originally purchased the Z190 as a B-Cam to my Sony A7sii. Since I used Sony camcorders in the past, I thought it would be a great idea to purchase one myself. To start off, when I purchased this camcorder, I already had multiple issues. 1. Soft images were produced at f/3.2 or lower f-number 2. Only Sony-branded SD cards were working on this camcorder. 3. Terrible low-light performance. I have used quite a few 1/3 camcorders in the past and ... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Well below expectations. A shame.
Im a hobbyist but I like using pro-level tools with my hobbies. Prior to purchasing this camera, I did some research, and aside from the reviews on here, and a handful of YouTube videos, I did not find anything. I was concerned about the reviews here but thought perhaps its just a bad batch or firmware issue some were having. I was wrong. The bad: The camera is soft, especially at wide open zoom. At f1.6/wide open iris/aperture, it is very hard... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
PXW-Z190 - A Piece Of of Junk
I have the HDR-XR500 camcorder which made by Sony - I have been using for number of years since I bought it around $1300.00 in 2011. It has been an excellent camcorder. Beautiful, solid, and makes beautful movies and clips. I use it anywhere in any occasion and always happy with it stil today. As I want to upgrade, I bought the PXW-Z190. I received it a while ago, and set it in a closet for a while as I did not have time to test it out or use it.... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Awesome And Inspiring Camera!
I was on the fence about purchasing the Z150 or the Z190. The difference in price wasnt an issue for me, but whether it was worth spending it for my purposes. I purchased the Z150 and used it for one week, but the allure of the Z190 continued to haunt me, so I purchased one and VERY quickly realized that I should have purchased it over the Z150. Dont get me wrong, the Z150 is still a great camera, but just doesnt have the many invaluable improvem... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
2nd Bad Z190
Ive written 2 previous reviews for this camera and they were both very negative. Ive already wasted many hours of valuable time with this camera and have concluded that Sony is either aware or not aware that there is a batch of them that are defective, or.....they all have the same problem and some people are just not that fussy about the image quality coming out of their camera. Ive been VERY happy with the features and image quality of my new ... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
VERY Disappointed!
OK. I left a review yesterday about my new PXW Z190 and need to admit that it was based upon my liking the many great features on this camera over my Z150. I hadnt had a chance to even use it due to the hassle over finding an SD card that would actually work in it. I addressed this in my review in more detail at the bottom. Since the new Sony SDXC cards I mentioned in my review yesterday DO work, I was able to go do some test shots today. All I ... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Amazing 4K Camera for event coverage, news, & run and gun!
The Sony PXW-Z190 is an excellent camera for event coverage, news gathering, nature footage, interviews, and professional video work. I use the camera for interviews, convention, stage, event coverage, YouTube content creation, and trade show coverage. Sony's new 3CMOS 1/3-inch chips are VERY good in lower light conditions than any other 1/3-inch sensor camera I've seen in the past. The 25x optical zoom Sony Lens G on this camera is spectacular. ... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Vastly superior to my NX5U
What a difference eight years makes in camcorder technology! I bought the Z190 as a replacement for my trusty NX5U and I'm loving it. Even though this camera is UHD with 3 densely packed 1/3" sensors, the low light capability is much better than my old camera. I can boost the gain to 18db and the image still looks great, on the NX5U, 18db was unusable. The 25x zoom is really nice, I shot an event from the back of a large room (about 100 ft at l... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Defective lens on mine + VERY high noise reduction artifacts
My Z190 was EXTREMELY soft wide open and did not get sharp until f.4 and higher. I also a lot of weird optical ghosting and strong purple fringing on the long end past about 400mm or so. This camera also relies HEAVILY on huge amounts of noise reduction to clean its image. Even at 0db, there are heavy amounts of noise reduction artifacts on edges. I did a side by side test between this and the Sony 1inch-type sensor NX80 and the NX80 beat the Z19... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
I can't believe SONY put this on the market
I love everything but the performance of this camera - i.e. the features are great, controls layout, construction, specifications in general, battery life, - the bad - soft focus, noisy in even slightly low light, areas that appears as lens fog but the lens is clear? - I suspect what is really causing these issues is the lens design has internal reflection issues with light bouncing around internally - I tried a circular polarizer adjusted to red... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
A step in the right direction
Coming up from a Z150, the Z190's low light performance is excellent and the face detection auto focus really helps in challenging focus situations where I'd have used manual focus in the past. The variable NS filter is also a huge asset. On the down side simul-record is not supported in 4K at this time, this is a big step backwards from the Z150 or even Sony's less expensive handheld line and hopefully it is corrected in a later version. Sony st... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
This camcorder has great specs, but it I had to return it...
I think I will be very happy with this camcorder, but the one I received was very erratic. Some videos were great, others were horrible, in the same recording session. My conclusion is that I received a defective camcorder. I have returned the camcorder for a replacement, and Im waiting for the new camcorder. Since I bought several hundred dollars of accessories, Im very hopeful that the replacement will be good. I really like the cameras menu st... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
WOW!
I do Breaking News Video for Local and National Media outlets. I have been using Canon Gear for the last 5 years. I gave a glowing review for the Canon XF-405, but......................This Sony PXW-Z190 is Soooo Much Better. Heavier, but better. The crystal clear viewfinder, the high quality of video. The ability to record 4K and HD at the same time. It's just a great professional camera. I shoot mostly during the daytime but shot my first nig... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
I wanted to like it...
I found it to be soft wide open, some purple fringing zoomed in. But by far the reason I returned the Z190 was the horrible noise in low light. I had to do an event focused on a podium in dinner lighting. I had to use 18db and it is by far the worse I have even experienced. I had an AX100 as a second camera and the noise was surprisingly far better than the Z190. Im bummed and was hopeful, especially after selling my Z150 for the Z190. Z150 not great in low light but far less noisy. I wanted to believe these 1/3 sensors were going to show an improvement but unfortunately not the case for me.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Defective Unit
I have owned the camera less than a month. The system clock shows 1 hours of use... Yesterday I was testing out the camera and the camera will not focus while in manual focus. The IRIS ring is also not working. I called Sony ProVideo and they wanted me to pay for the shipping to have the camera fixed or replaced with a refurbished unit. I then called B&H and they are sent me a free shipping return label. B&H is sending me a factor new replacement. I will update this review when I test out the replacement but as of right now I am giving it a 1 star based on Sony customer service.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Poor Performance Under LED Stage Lighting Conditions
I love this camera, its general performance and feel. My problem with it, and the reason Im selling it, is that it does not function well in the darker, colorful stage performance environments in which I shoot. Current stage lighting consists of LED lighting that the Sony 3-CMOS cannot seem to handle. The blues are extremely over-blown, color is muddy and the frame is grainy. Tech seems to believe it is the 3-CMOS issue. Great camera for better lighting conditions; just not suited to mine.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
New and Better Replacement
I bought this to replace the Sony PXW-Z150 that I had just purchased in February this year...What a difference this Z190 is...the 25 times zoom, the low-light capability, the advance face-detection are all welcomed improvements. Battery life with the included U30 is limited, I recommend buying the U60...I did and can't wait to put it to the test. The one thing I miss is the 120 slo-mo frames per second...but I'm hoping SONY will put it in an upcoming firmware.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
The worst camera ever i had with Sony
So far, I have 4 different model of Sony cameras Sony Z5U, Sony Z150, SonyHXR-NX100 and this one, this is worth model which costed 4K+ and wasted my money on this. Very bad color (always get very dull and saturated color) . I love Z150 and Nx100 quality/Videos. They need to fix this by firmware or though Optional MPEG HD License for free for existing customer. Last 5 month used for 3 3 hours session, ruined by video quality. - The worst buy ever
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
I returned it.
Pros = Great body design and great pro menu features Cons = Terrible image quality - Heavy purple fringing on the long end - Extremely soft wide open - Only gets sharp at f4 - Massively heavy amounts of noise reduction artifacts at all gain levels. I returned it. If the final output of a camera is this bad, it doesnt matter how good the menu features are. The Z150s 1inch-type sensor image quality output is light years ahead of this camera.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great Camera - If It Likes Your SD Card
I really like the nomenclature of this camera, a nice size for our multi-camera theater and concert shoots. However, the SanDisc 128gig SD cards that are offered as accessories did not work in this camera. The PXW-Z190 did not recognize theSanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC Memory Card (V30). So I ordered the more expensive Sony brand and they work just fine. Great camera - picky appetite for cards.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
So far so good
Looks like Sony finally got it right. I used this camera to shoot handheld at a concert and it was extremely easy to use. The quality is excellent. Stabilization, auto focus and zoom are def it's strong points. Keep in mind you will only shoot max 50mbps in HD and 150mpbs in UHD. Overall, I'm very happy with this camera. Perfect for run and gun.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Poor auto white balance auto focus
I shoot indoor sports under fluorescent lighting. This cameras auto WB and auto focus produced grainy poorly balanced images consistently. I have a Panasonic HC-X1 which performs much better on these functions. I thought for the premium price Id be getting some marked improvement. Alas I found none.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
SD cards dont work at all for me.
I bought three of these cameras and a Sandisk Extreme Pro 128gb card for each. No SD card works in any of the cameras that i bought. I tried a smaller Sandisk extreme card with no luck as well. Have reported this to Sony and am waiting on engineers for an answer.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Easy Point and Shoot Video Camera
I have 2 FS7 cameras but when I used this one I fell in love with it right away. Of course the FS7 is better but for quick interviews / news coverage etc. This will work much easier and you dont have to deal with rigs and / or handles or unstable viewfinder/monitor.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
