'Fashionable' connections.
The NX5 features an HDMI port, HD-SDI output with embedded audio, composite and component video, and a timecode input that allows you to sync multiple cameras with ease. However, it does not have a genlock connection, which can significantly limit its use in multi-camera applications. The camera also includes the inevitable USB 2.0 port that allows virtually instant connections with a PC to transfer material.
The composite video connector and Handycam-style component output deliver a downconversion of sufficient quality for material monitoring or for copying to home formats. The result is really good, but not perfect. However, it is on par with the downconversion performance of equipment with costs three or four times higher. Small visible downconversion defects tend to appear in the SD material generated by the NX5 as well, but overall the camera's performance in SD is comparable to that of a 3-sensor DVCAM camcorder .
We also tested the connection between the camera and an HDMI capture card. The results are excellent, although in the real world there are not many users who are willing to use a PC as a recorder, a resource that opens up interesting possibilities to make the most of the camera head by capturing a 4:2:2 signal, and avoiding AVC compression. Important note: HD-SDI and HDMI connectors cannot be used simultaneously.
The XLR connectors are located on the front of the camera, in the upper right corner, just below the point where the small boom that comes included with the camcorder is mounted. In this department the camera has what it has to have: Phantom voltage, adjustable level, line/microphone settings, monophonic signal routing and Sony's famous "wind filter", which many users love and others simply ignore.
As always, we have a 3.5mm mini headphone jack and a pair of RCA outputs on the back of the equipment.
On the right side of the camera there is a LANC connector, which allows you to use one of the most interesting legacies of Sony's HDV family: The RM-1000B controller, a device that allows you to remotely operate the zoom, focus and iris controls and also adjust all the menu options.
Curious sensors
Let's start with the conclusion: In favorable light conditions the NX5 delivers images comparable to those of any other 1080p camera with 1/3" CCD sensors. Its sensitivity is similar to that of a Z1U or an EX-3. In general, it works very well in low light, although it presents a fairly noticeable loss of resolution when gain levels higher than 9Db are applied.
The NX5 uses three 1/3" ClearVid CMOS sensors – the same as the Z5, Z7 and S270 HDV cameras. The design of these sensors is based on using sensitive areas or photosites arranged on a diagonal grid. Matrix rotation is combined with the use of a dedicated A/D processor for each row of sensitive elements to achieve a significant decrease in the visible defects characteristic of CMOS sensors from a few years ago.
However, it is possible that occasionally sawtooth problems appear when very intense lights enter the field or very fast movements are made. And ClearVid sensors aren't immune to the split-screen problems that often occur when the camera captures the flash of a flash – although I think it's fair to mention that we need fifteen attempts to generate this flaw, which is directly related to the reading speed of CMOS sensors.
The specifications of clearVid sensors are confusing: Each piece features 1440x810 photosites – which ultimately do not have an exact correspondence with the pixels of the final image, which in all cases is the result of an interpolation of the captured values. It sounds almost as bad as the specifications of a cheap scanner , but the truth is that in good light the image of the NX5 is excellent and also offers really low noise levels.
