Thank you, TMARK.
I'm not able to attend, so I hope you'll report your findings.
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The demo was pretty great. The E1 and E3 share the same imaging set. There is no difference in IQ between the two. What the E3 has over the E1 is the ability to use many, many lenses including 1/2, 2/3, PL mount, F mount, etc. lenses. Adapter included. The lens that ships with the camera is a Fuji. It is incredibly sharp with great oof. The E3 can also use a seperate time code that syncs with other cameras when used on a multi-camera shoot. Otherwise, its (almost) identical to the E1. Full 1080p.
Ergonomics: The E1 is better, to me. The way the E3 sits on the shoulder is odd, and its front heavy like the E1, but moree so. The E3 has more of a Canon GL2 like shape.
IQ: the images have better tone than almost anything I've seen from a still digital camera. Amazing for people, nice and soft like the RZ lenses. The best skin tones out of the box of any digital camera I've seen. Well, the Red is a little better, maybe. Part of a feature was shown, that was not put through final post. Really beautiful. Great dynamic range. Post Works is going to output some of the E1 files to 35mm film and project it. Time TBD.
Price: about $8,000 for the E3, and $6,000 for the E1.
These Sony xdcams are like the Canon 5d of hi-def digital video. These and the Scarlet are the new 16mm.
Build: like a 5d. Not all gnarly aluminum like the Red, but solid. Rental peeps report that they hold up well.
Known issues: all of the hidef cams with a rolling shutter suffer from frame distortion when wip panned. The E1 and E3 are no exception. The Red does this also. The solution is to turn of the shutter during a wip pan. The other issue is that if a strobe pops the images fall apart. They can be synced so they pop when they won't destroy the frame. I don't have a handel on what or why this happens, but it is an issue.
By the way, I asked the Sony rep about the Alpha. He said the ones on the shelf were not really Sony designs, but that the new Alphas have inherited alot from the xdcams in terms of color rendition. dynamic range, and on board image processing.
Now my time to bitch: For the price of a 1ds3, body only, you can walk out of Able Cinetech with a camera that will earn you a $2,000 day rate as a camera operator. Not a DP, just a camera operator. No creative input, just show up and pull focus. The images are amazing. The new Sony Alpha may be the deal breaker that pulls me from MFDB if it is as good as the E1 in terms of tone and color. I could sell the P30 and get the new Alpha and an E1, have some extra coin left over for an 8 core mac. For the initial investment into a Mamiya P30 system with a few lenses (and I'm talking about used camera and lenses, not the expensive new stuff) you could get a high res dslr and an E3, some lenses, and a new Mac. Ready to face the new era.
In the above E1 and E3 are of course the EX1 and EX3.