Panny DVX100 or Sony DXC-D30

Josh D Ford · November 14, 2004

Hey all, I'm shooting a comedic short film soon and have the option of either of these cameras. I'm going for a real clean, simple, natural look. The Panasonic DVX100 or the Sony DXC-D30 betacam. Suggestions?

Edited November 14, 2004 by jdford

Phil Rhodes · November 14, 2004

Hi,

More info - what are you doing with it, what's the output format.

The only thing the D30 doesn't have is progressive scan; the resolution you lose in deinterlacing may or may not be more than what you'd lose by cropping the DVX to 16:9. The lenses will be better (and easier to use) on the D30 and it probably has better DSP control. It will interface more gracefully with feature-style accessories and is much nicer handheld.

By the way, the D30 is in itself just a camera head - you can put any back end on it you like. It's only a betacam if you put a PVV-1 recorder on it; put a DSR-1 on it. Of course it would be preferable to record to some uncompressed or low-compression format, but then it'd probably be easier to rent a digibeta camera.

Phil

Josh D Ford · November 14, 2004

Thanks for the quick reply Phil. This won't be blown up to film in all likelyhood and will stay on beta or miniDV/DVcam formats as well as being burned to DVD. If I shot with the DVX100 I would shoot in 4:3 mode (as it's not native 16:9, I believe. Or is it? I can't remember.)

Interesting note about it being just the camera head. I knew the body and head were interchangable but now I'm not sure which body it is that the available camera has, I'm pretty sure it's a BetaSP. Some form of digital beta.

Thanks again.

Hi,

More info - what are you doing with it, what's the output format.

The only thing the D30 doesn't have is progressive scan; the resolution you lose in deinterlacing may or may not be more than what you'd lose by cropping the DVX to 16:9. The lenses will be better (and easier to use) on the D30 and it probably has better DSP control. It will interface more gracefully with feature-style accessories and is much nicer handheld.

By the way, the D30 is in itself just a camera head - you can put any back end on it you like. It's only a betacam if you put a PVV-1 recorder on it; put a DSR-1 on it. Of course it would be preferable to record to some uncompressed or low-compression format, but then it'd probably be easier to rent a digibeta camera.

Phil

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Michael Nash · November 14, 2004

I knew the body and head were interchangable but now I'm not sure which body it is that the available camera has, I'm pretty sure it's a BetaSP. Some form of digital beta.

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To clear up some confusion here -- Beta SP is an analogue tape format, Digital Betacam ("digibeta") is a different format that's, well, digital. If you're going to edit on a non-linear system you'll have to convert the analogue signal to digital, which can vary in quality depending on the system and hardware you're using. Digital Betcam can go in as straight digital data, again with the right system and hardware. MiniDV is already digital info on the tape and goes into the editor straight digital.

The D-30 has WAY better image processing (DSP) than the DVX. More resolution, yada yada. But like Phil said, if you de-interlace that footage you might lose whatever resolution you gained over the DVX. The "head" is the camera section; the other part is the "recorder." Saying "body" is just confusing here. I haven't seen a PVV-1 recorder in years though; it's usually a PVV-3 these days. Functionally the same, just newer. And there are no camera-dockable digibeta recorders -- only digibeta camcorders like the DVW-700.

An alternative camera would be the DSR-500. Very similar image quality and controls to the D-30, but comes with a built-in DVCAM recorder. Just firewire the footage (from a deck) straight into the computer for editing.

Sean Morris · November 14, 2004

I would go with the D30, better quality glass is possible and larger

CCD's or even rent a Digi-Beta rig if funds allow.

Cheers

Sean Morris

Josh D Ford · November 14, 2004

Thanks guys. I remember seeing BetaSP on the recorder part of the camera but I've been told the same camera is in digital format. I'm confused now. I'm getting conflicting information. Okay. I'm trying to figure this out with my mates and I remember shooting with the D30 and using a standard miniDV tape. What would that make the recorder?

Sean Morris · November 14, 2004

Okay. I'm trying to figure this out with my mates and I remember shooting with the D30 and using a standard miniDV tape. What would that make the recorder?

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That would be the DSR-1 DVCAM back (digital) , instead of the PVV-3 back (analogue)

Cheers

Sean

Edited November 14, 2004 by Sean_Morris

Phil Rhodes · November 14, 2004

Hi,

> I remember seeing BetaSP on the recorder part of the camera

That's a PVV-1 Betacam SP recorder, and it's detachable. Look closely and you'll see the line where they split - I don't blame you for being confused by this, since most of them are bought docked and never changed around. There are various other backs you'll see, most often the studio back which allows triax output and control.

> but I've been told the same camera is in digital format

Same camera. Different recorder.

> I'm trying to figure this out with my mates and I remember shooting with the

> D30 and using a standard miniDV tape. What would that make the recorder?

That would be a D30 with a DSR-1 recorder.

Perhaps some visual aids would help.

Phil