Best camera for HD

[Brian Wells]

Actually I don't see where this camera is going to be that obsolete so soon

I was talking to a television cameraman yesterday who shoots on the SPX800 at a local TV station. It was sad to see the nature of the news business today doesn't allow this man to afford proper dental work, but that's beside the point.

 

He was telling me about how "great" it is to be in a tapeless news environment, using such examples as the following: "When we're out in the field, it's just so handy to be able to dump the footage on a DVD from the P2 cards" and I'm thinking in my head "instead of, what, shooting??"

 

He said that 20GB of P2 cards just barely get him through the day. Then they have to be downloaded into the file server at a speed no faster than DVCPRO tape can be ingested with a high speed (4x) capture deck.

 

But, they're tapeless, and that's better, somehow, in their imaginations... ;)

[Michael Nash]

I was talking to a television cameraman yesterday who shoots on the SPX800 at a local TV station. It was sad to see the nature of the news business today doesn't allow this man to afford proper dental work, but that's beside the point.

 

He was telling me about how "great" it is to be in a tapeless news environment, using such examples as the following: "When we're out in the field, it's just so handy to be able to dump the footage on a DVD from the P2 cards" and I'm thinking in my head "instead of, what, shooting??"

 

He said that 20GB of P2 cards just barely get him through the day. Then they have to be downloaded into the file server at a speed no faster than DVCPRO tape can be ingested with a high speed (4x) capture deck.

 

But, they're tapeless, and that's better, somehow, in their imaginations... ;)

 

I'm not totally sold on tapeless either, for all applications. I'm a firm believer in picking the right tool for the job, and for news acquisition, P2 cards ain't it. There's still a need for shooting continuously, and for archiving the original material. Tape provides that already.

 

I think once larger capacity cards come out though, some of the practical differences of shooting tape over solid state will go away. At least it seems that Panasonic is banking on this.

[Ralph Oshiro]

Oops. Typing too fast again.

 

anyway....this new Panasonic is looking pretty nice for that reason.

you can use digiprimes on a 14000 camera with variable frame rates

and (finally) some bigger P2 cards.

AG-HPX500

Looks like Will already beat me to the punch . . . I typed about this camera in your other thread. If I had a $100K budget, I would definitely BUY not rent. And I wouldn't shoot with a 1/3" camera--they have far too much chroma noise, IMO, and too deep a focus due to its small sensor size. If you can wait for it to ship later this year, I would BUY an HPX500, but possibly rent the lenses if you can, or opt for the "budget" $12K HD glass. This way, you'll be able to shoot beauty shots and pick-ups to your heart's content. You'll have the luxury to "wait" for perfect skys. You'll have the luxury to "wait" for perfect "magic hours" day after day after day, even long after production has officially "wrapped." And say, you're in post, and key production has already wrapped, but you need to shoot "one quick scene" to "fix" the whole film . . . you've got it.

 

 

Oops. Typing too fast again.

 

anyway....this new Panasonic is looking pretty nice for that reason.

you can use digiprimes on a 14000 camera with variable frame rates

and (finally) some bigger P2 cards.

AG-HPX500

Duh! I didn't even see this article! It's only $14K INCLUDING EVF??? That's a lot of camera for the money (I thought it was going to be $18K)! And it's shipping in May 2007? Man, this is your camera! Personally, I'm banking on RED for my digital cinema acquisition needs, but it you want a product from an established broadcast equipment supplier, and you want it as early as May, the HPX500 is it, IMO!

Edited March 6, 2007 by Ralph Oshiro