Jon Allen

I suppose I'm not looking for "good and cheap" I'm on a budget, so "decent and cheap" is more what I'm looking for.

This might sound a little stupid, but being as the dvx100a is just under 4 lbs, what tripod would you recommend for it? I could get an el cheapo from walmart (that would hold the cam and probably some accessories) but I'm looking for a fluid head and a more "professional" type pod. Any great recommendations or horror stories are welcome. Thanks!

To my knowledge, you can add filters and lenses to the 100a as well. I talked to a videographer my company is associated with and he said that the audio on the canons were not quite as good as the 100a, plus I'm not sure if the xl1/2 has phantom power. As far as the camera goes, I've heard that either is better. It comes down to what YOU like and what your CLIENTS like (assuming you do commercial work).

Yeah, I meant 4% for 24 to 25. Anyway, if you pick up different region DVDs of movies the running time difference could be substantial. Some people think that other countries edit/censor (or don't) some parts out. This may not be the case, just the frame rate compensation. :blink:

You mean a monitor that displays 24p natively. Not just because it's 24fps right? One other method of transferring from 24 to 30fps is to simply increase the framerate by 4%. My understanding is that most motion pictures end up on video by this process.

Phil. I'm not hellbent on it, I was just wanting something that had batteries that lasted (at least) as long as your harddisk. Note that on the FS-4 the battery is only good for 90 minutes, yet the disk can record up to 3 hours. Why the hell have a battery pack that doesnt last as long as your disk? I'd need to tote extra power anyway!

The problem with the 3:2 pull down is that 23.97 put into 29.97 fps format tends to look "strobish"- not that it's not smooth, the picture just looks fluttery. I personally hate the stobe effect with video. Again, pictures viewed in the format they were shot in normally look better- because it's their native framerate and resolution.

I picked up this quote from a PBS transcript. "If production conditions are controlled and if comparisons are made solely on the basis of sharpness and color fidelity, the best 35mm film will be slightly inferior to the best video?assuming the latest professional-quality video equipment is used and the final result is broadcast." The whole broadcast thing makes sense, if you shoot it in both 24 and 29.97 fps, the one that was shot at 29.97 fps will look better on a 29.97 fps display, given the correct exposure levels and experience with equipment. I think the main thing we overlook in the whole dv vs film debate is the level of experience with filming for -well, film. Chances are if I have a 24p dv camera I'm not seriously trying to get on the big screen- I'm more likely a producer of dvds and other "lower budget" features (aka corporate commercials). Which then, my final output would be broadcast-based (and probably not HD) so shooting in 24p would become in effect useless because of the 2:3 pulldown. I'd more than likely utilize the 30p for my uses. Which still makes something like the dvx100 a valuable tool. What do you guys think?

But what are my options for external drives? Is it conceivable to record video straight from a camera to an ipod or nomad? I was just curious if there are any hardware hackers out there. ;)

I dont know if this has been covered yet, but does anyone have any experience with a DTE system? We're thinking of this for a budding PR company and a brand new video department (me). It would help turnaround if I grabbed assets (heehee, grab-ass!) and then didn't have to capture (slooow) from a deck. I'm thinking of something like the Firestorm FS-4 alt link: http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/fs-4.html If anyone DOES know anything about these, do you think it would be possible to record to an ipod or nomad, instead of buying their expensive drives? Not that ipod is a lot cheaper, but at least the battery will last as long as the recording time on the disk. Thanks!

QT conversion in FCP can be anything you want it to be, there's a pulldown menu and it can be almost any framerate. In my experience mpg4 format is usually an interlaced image, no matter what the framerate is. On the other hand, if you're using compressor as your mpg2 format-izer, I have no idea what the framerate would end up being (my computer is currently busy with a project right now, no way to tell. Anyone sure?