HD camerea

Ken Minehan · February 24, 2006

Hey guys, I am working in a Production house in Singapore, and my company is thinking of buying a HD camera. We have been doing alot of research on various cameras. We came to a point where we see the pros and cons of each camera we research.

So, I would like to ask the advice of DPs on this network who have HD shooting experience, which camera from their POV do you prefer and why. To be honest, I am quite confused as to which one we should invest in.

The majority of the work that we do, is Corporate video, TVC, and long form documentaries (as of this year).

So far we are looking at Panasonic Varicam, HDX400, and also the HVX200, sony F900,

Please give me some advice on this matter

Cheers guys.

ken Minehan

Phil Rhodes · February 24, 2006

Hi,

Bear in mind that the HDX-400 is an interlaced-only camera - unless you have a very specific need for an HD broadcast camera for sports and things like that, I wouldn't consider it. If this really is your market, also look at the Thompson Infinity, which is yet to be released but reportedly works similarly to the P2 solid-state cameras on more generally-available (and much cheaper) media.

Varicam and F900 are... well, the tradeoff is resolution against the variable frame rate ability, which may be attractive to feature film, music video or promo people. HDCAM is probably a more commonly-accepted standard than DVCPRO-HD, though.

The HVX-200 is a small consumer style camera with a servo-driven, non-removable lens. If you have the option to go for a Varicam it's going to be a vastly superior device.

However, if I were in the market for a 100k worth of camera, I'd definitely be going to NAB in April, because Panasonic have hinted at a P2-based version of the Varicam, which would combine several interesting advantages if you find the P2 solid-state storage workflow attractive.

Phil

thomas-english · March 3, 2006

Phil... are you sure the pana hdx400 is progressive only?

I lit a job a little ago , varicam and hdx400 as the second camera. I asked for it to go 25p and the assistant did it. It looked 25p and I am sure it was 25p......

Phil Rhodes · March 3, 2006

Hi,

> Phil... are you sure the pana hdx400 is progressive only?

No, not now I look into it a bit further. It is usually billed as a "1080i camera" which does rather suggest that it doesn't do progressive scan, but looking into it further I find multiple Google references to it doing just that.

Clearly, I was wrong.

Perhaps this is about the NTSC version not doing 24p or something?

Phil

thomas-english · March 3, 2006

your right .. it clearly does not do 24p . I also got confused too when it arrived and thought it was just 1080i ...

i think the 400 could be a good choice of camera. Like a dsr570 of the HD world.. but its not sony which means a lot in making money back on kit in england anyway.

The Thompson infinity is what I am really holding out for now. A lot of times a camera cannot penetrate the market because of the lack of availability of decks. This would not have this problem.

I will be keeping an eye on this forum carefully to see what the likes of phil rhodes have to say about this. I am looking forward to it. I have used many thompson cameras in the past and they have always seemed good.