Why not HDV cameras for local news/events

[Michael J. Murphy]

Hi-

I've got a question that's been burning into my mind for a few weeks. I visited my local film production house. They basically film a lot of the local news, events, parties, and so on. I believed the camera they were working with was, or was very similar to, the JVC GY-HD250U. I brought my Sony HVR-Z1 along, to show them a bit of what I had shot (I was also there to see about an internship over the summer). I saw some of their footage and when I compared it to mine, the resolutions and image quality looked practically identical. I really couldn't tell the difference. So, here's my question: What is the difference between using the $9000-$1000 HD250U when you could save some money and and still have high quality using the Z1?

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[Thomas James]

Actually the JVC GY-HD250 shoots in the full high definition 720p format at the full progressive 60 frames per second. This 720p format is considered to be the best high definition for the fast action sports because the 1080i and 1080p formats are limited to only 30 frames per second. For fast pans and fast zooms the 720p format cannot be beat. Also the compression of the 720p format is much cleaner for the fast action sports and pixellation and artifacting is virtually eliminated. For 720p sports gigs such as FOX, ESPN and ABC a $10,000 720p60 HDV camera will result in a more pristine image than a $25,000 1080i Cine Alta camera that has to be converted from 1080i to 720p. Conversion from 1080i to 720p always results in a loss of picture quality simply because the 1080i does not have the same type of resolution as 720p.

 

That being said for electronic news gathering it would be best to shoot using the native resolution that the network broadcasts in. For a 1080i network such as NBC and CBS a 1080i camera would be the best choice. For a 720p network a 720p camera would be the best choice. Remember the selling point of HDV is that it is better to use a cheaper camera that shoots in the native resolution of the network rather than a more expensive camera that shoots in the wrong format and has to be doctored.