Robert Sanders

While Panavision makes good glass. Both Canon and Fujinon also have comparable cinestyle lenses with resolving power as good as if not better than Panavision. I recently went through the bidding process from several vendors in and around LA for an F900 cinestyle package. And Panavision was definitely on the high end. No doubt their service and meticulously maintained equipment is worth a premium, however their package price was almost 4x more expensive than some of the smaller houses. I'd contact Jeff and HDCINEMA and get a quote from him. Great gear. Great team over there. And the Canon cinestyle zooms is fantastic glass. The money saved is better spent on art department, talent, crew rates and, don't laugh, BETTER CATERING! The key to happy crew is through their stomach!

Interesting that Panasonic has not released to resolution of the CCDs. Sure they say it "records" 1080P. But is that an uprezzed 1080 from a 1280x720 chip? Or worse, a 960x720 chip? Nobody knows. The Canon XL-H1 is at least a 1440x1080 chip. What we don't know is whether that camera's funky interlaced CCD and 24F mode ultimately produces an acceptable progressive image.

DVD resolution is 720x480 progressive. Which means it's 480P. Anamorphic DVD resolution "unsqueezed" has an effective resolution of 853x480. 720P has a resolution of 1280x720.

David, Did you shoot that film with the F900's internal recorded in 3:1:1? If so, were there any problems with the images recorded out to film? I'm gearing up for a feature shoot with the F900 and the budget doesn't allow for a 4:2:2 deck. Obviously, we're concerned about the lower color space. But I've also seen stunning 3:1:1 images as well. Thank you.

The anamorphic 35mm print I saw of "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" was gorgeous. I've heard other complain it looked soft. But the print I saw blew me away. And this was the first generation F900 with crappy lenses and recorded with the internal 3:1:1 deck. "Collateral" had the benefit of the Vipers and 4:2:2 recording. But I still thought OUATIM still looked like a better transfer. I didn't get to see either in DLP. I saw them in 35mm specifically because I wanted to see how well they filmed out.

The GY-HD100 uses JVC's ProHDV is 720P 24P. True 24PA 2:3:3:2 720p record capability.

Film snobs will always push the "video" terminology. Digital snobs will always push the "digital" terminology. Full disclosure: I'm a digital snob who still believes film is still superior (for color and resolution). But I find manipulation of digital imagery easier and more affordable, therefore it is my preference. However, if I had the budget necessary to shoot film as an acquisition medium only, scan it, and have a complete digital post pipeline, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I respect your demands for higher quality resolution in digital cinematography, but perhaps the British film community should focus on saving its own film industry with quality "content" first, rather than specifications... PRODUCER SAYS UK FILM IN 'CRISIS'

The HDLink box supports LUTs via a hardware/software combo. http://www.blackmagic-design.net/products/hdlink/

Does the SRW-1 or SRW-5000 have a squeeze feature? It would be nice if Blackmagic HDLink performed this function as well as the LUT correction.

The AK-HC931 is a 720P and 1080i camera. It does not do 1080P. Panasonic Website

Can the Viper record to an HDCAM-SR deck in FilmStream mode? If not, how does one backup the S2 recorders to a tape based medium to satisfy the insurance companies? Also, when shooting in 2.40 mode does the camera have a built in de-amorphoser (sp?) for proper aspect-ratio viewing on the monitor?

I find both cameras frustrating. The XL2 is the dream DV camera I always wanted. True 16x9. True 24P (and 30P). But, it's come too late. I'm ready to dive into HD and anamorphic standard-def video just doesn't do it for me anymore. The HVR-Z1U is nice starting point, but it's nowhere near ideal. There are moments when this camera's picture quality can be wonderful. And there are moments when it just completely falls apart. Also, check the camera specs. The imaging resolution is suspect. To me, however, it is the lack of a true 24P frame rate that kills this camera for me. Neither camera represents an ideal low-budget solution. Both miss the mark. However, if I absolutely had to put money down on a camera, the XL2's 24p wins my vote. If JVC is really going to introduce a 24p HDV camera, then that changes the equation a bit.

Very interesting information. Surprising, considering that the only real benefits from renting Panavision's 900's are for the Digital Primos. How would you rate Panavision's customer service in resolving this matter? I've heard that's the second best benefit to renting from Panavision is their customer service (at least on the 35mm side of the aisle).

Robert Rodriguez owns all his own gear. While I knew he owns two F900's, I'm not sure if he's upgraded to the 950's or not. Considering the number of projects he's shot using his 900's, I'm sure he's gotten his money's worth out of them. And considering that he's mentioned that they're eager to upgrade to 10-bit, I wouldn't be surprised if he's shooting Sin City in SR.

It's being shot using the Sony F950's using HDCAM-SR (4:4:4) with Fujinon lenses. Rented from Plus8Digital. Also, don't forget there are other benefits than just 4:4:4 color space. The F950's in SR mode record a full 1920x1080 pixel frame rather than HDCAM's 1440x1080.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...rnMore=M9649G/A

I've seen some 3rd party manufacturer's that make mounting kits for Apple Cinema Displays for mounting onto equipment racks for IT purposes. Basically it removes the pedastle from the back of the display and attaches an actuated arm on the back. I'll bet those arms could be bolted to a metal plate that's welded to some tubular steel (or aluminum) which could be attached to a Magliner cart or something. I've also seen some behind-the-stills of the DP on "Enterprise" using Cinema Displays as his reference monitors and the two displays were just sitting precariously unprotected on top of a magliner.

I absolutely adore widescreen animation. I believe "A Bug's Life" was 2.35 as well. Hopefully Pixar makes more widescreen animated films provided the story supports it. Even though "Atlantis" wasn't Disney's best, I still loved the wide aspect ratio. Same with "Anastasia" and now "The Incredibles"!

You're more than welcome to stay a couple extra weeks.

Yay! Another Lucas bashing thread. Everyone mocks and ridicules and then privately mimics everything he does. :lol:

This is the full-version of my original point. ;) Obviously the steadicam operator has to be as untethered as possible. I, as a director, would never demand that the steadicam operator have the paint box or tap connected. Why would anybody want to hamper the potential performance of a steadicam operator? That said, wrt to traditional setups, I still stick to my guns that the HD naysayers' knee jerk first response is "all the cables". Which is just plain silly. When you walk on a set you're usually walking over countless electrical cables, junction boxes, stingers, walking around c-stands, flags, apple boxes, avoiding the boom guy's cabling, etc. The notion that a small bundle of cables connected to a camera is unacceptable just seems silly to me. ;) Especially when you consider all the extra cabling that gets connected to any modern film camera rig. I had a film snob recently quip that he could load a couple magazines, throw the camera on his shoulder, and shoot anywhere, the desert, the hemalayas, etc. Well, last time I checked the ENG guys were doing just fine in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Discovery Channel guys were doing just fine shooting in the Antarctic, Australia, etc.

I would probably only be using a streak filter during night time exterior and interior scenes. So DOF shouldn't be too difficult to control. I like the way car headlights and flashlights flare out anamorphic lenses. While there are some nifty software plugins that emulate this effect in post (Knoll Light Factory), they never appear completely authentic.

Thank you. I can see how DOF could be an issue with ENG style HD camera systems. I'm assuming streak filters would work "normally" with the Panavision's Genesis or Kinetta (Super35 sized imagers).

I've never walked on a film-based set and not seen the camera covered with cables. The idea that HD is encumbered by cables is a fallacy.