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DV 50 firewire data i/o on PC/Windows is currently only recognized by Avid & Canopus Edius. There are 3rd party DV50 codec for the PC, I recall it's from Main Concept. It's expensive, around $400 and I don't think Premiere Pro will see the DV50 firewire data even if that DV50 codec is installed on the PC. That codec is intended for non-capturing (graphics, compositing...) I suspect the workflow for Premiere 2 is to capture DV50 via SDI, then export it out to MainConcept's DV50 codec. This will save the expensive HD consumption. From there, virtually all Windows native apps will read/write it fine. Yes, there's a "richness" loss when shooting in 25 mbs on the SDX900. Somehow it's similar to DVCAM. This will save you the headache of post if budget constraint is present. Nevertheless, it's still pretty good over DVCAM for certain scene thanks to the cam's CineGamma & DSP. It'll have a less video look and wider latitude.

Getting to the main issue: First off, the AJ-SD93 deck only comes with Firewire and analog composite output when buying it bare. If you want component, SDI, & RS-422 deck control, you have to pay about $3K more to get all of the options. Make sure the deck you're getting has the add-on cards. Don't waste your time capturing composite video. You'll regret seing how bad it's in post. Just went to Sony Vegas site and it's for sure that Sony doesn't like Panasonic. There's absolutely nothing on DVCPRO 50 & 100 support. Sony Vegas is friendly to all XDCAM formats, which makes sense. To capture the full fidelity of 4:2:2/8-bit DVCPRO 50 w/ out native support for Firewire, you have to do it via SDI. A Decklink SD card is probably the cheapest route to do this. It has free codec and doesn't require hardware on the editing computer. It's Mac/PC dual format. A desktop is required to capture. My suggestion is to capture SDI on a Decklink card as an AVI on Windows. Probably do it at the highest setting, no need to do uncompressed. I shot a lot of tests in the past and couldn't discern the difference between uncompressed and DV50's 3.33 to 1 compression tape out. After all capturing are done (hopefully via RS422 so that you have TC info on the clip), you simply peform an export out to regular DV25 MS DV AVI. There you can edit on any system. When you're done w/ all the edit, go back and replace the SDI captured clip with the MS DV AVI lower res clip. This will give you the best quality. To be even more precise, when you export the clip fr. the raw SDI capture, you may have to update the time code value on the exported clip. The NLE app (Premiere Pro 2) will reset it back to 00:00:00. >>Why? I've got an external hard drive with FW connections. What's so special about a Mac compared to a PC? Are you just referring to datarate (PRO50 over MiniDV?) or hardware?<< I was hardcore PC/Windows and viewed the Mac as "rich man's tool". Struggled w/ Windows XP/Premiere Pro reliability and overall support. Tired of the nasty crashes and internet viruses. PC laptop is no better. When I got the Panasonic SDX900 & Varicam, it forced me to migrate to the Mac because of native high-end codec support, efficient workflow, and mobility. The Mac Book Pro 17" (Core 1 & Core 2) has proven that for the past 14 months. The $3.5 K investment paid off on just one project. In retrospect, the extra $1K spent on the Mac laptop over PC is to avoid the downtime and be creative. I can edit full online DVCPRO HD via the Firewire 800 or Express34-> Sata w/ out the need to make proxy files. Being a Cam Op/DP, I don't like to be confined in an area. I'm always on the road. Shooting footage on the P2 (HVX200, SPX800 (DV50), and the upcoming HPX2000 2/3" HD cam, I need immediate preview & can start editing ASAP. My work is 90% broadcast and need very fast turn around time. It's quite a new way of working. After using Final Cut Studio (FCP, Motion, Live Type, & Shake), I'd say it's pretty impressive. This is from a guy migrating from from the Adobe Production Bundle Suite (Premiere, After Effects, Encore, etc.) The only draw back is that you have to be willing to spend a good 3-8 months learning and mastering the apps. At this time, I'd not want to move back to the PC! On a side note, Adobe is smart and they're porting Premiere 3 to the Intel Mac this summer. So my time spent w/ Adobe video software is not at all wasted. It just give me more options to choose.

Avid Xpress or Canopus Edius will let you do this natively in Firewire DVCPRO 50, AVI format. Adobe is misleading their claim to capture DVCPRO 50. Yes, but via SDI and expensive disk space consumption. W/ SDI, you can pretty capture anything (DigiBeta, DV50, D9, D1, etc..) So it defeats the space-efficient firewire workflow.

I have the AJ-SD93 and use it every other day. In the 1394a i/o mode - which is a bit for bit data transfer, I'm certain that you CANNOT change the output bit rate if it's recorded in 50 mbs. In otherwords, if it's recorded in DV50, you are forced to use the 1394@DV 50 mode. If DV25 is desired, then use the AJ-SD93 SDI output (optional card) and to out to another DV25 deck that has SDI i/o (I use the Sony DSR-2000 DVCAM w/ SDI & Firewire i/o). SDI will transcode any format (D1, DigiBeta, DV50, D-9, etc). Either record to tape or do a realtime capture back to Firewire. This will let you edit in all NLE apps. Make sure to run a separate TC out on the SD93 and set the TC on the record deck to ext TC to preserve the original TC. This is very important otherwise you'll have to edit everything all over again if there's ever a need to use the DV50 for filmout. I'd reconsider your plan to capture DV50 recorded footage if you don't use Canopus Edius, Avid Express (PC/Windows) on your laptop. Plus, it's going to be pretty hard to capture uncompressed AVI on a laptop. For Mac, it's easy and virtually painless. Powerbook and MacBook Pro laptops handle DV50 flawlessly. Despite the HDX900 & Varicam as the preferred cams in 2007, the venerable 2004 SDX900 w/ a high quality premium broadcast HD lens still look pretty darn good

Did Panasonic recently license Sony Vegas for the native DVCPRO 50 codec over firewire? Last time I check, only 3-4 vendors (Canopus Edius, Avid (PC), and of course - Final Cut Pro for Mac). If not, you'll have to capture via SDI and can edit on any NLE app? For color saturation, I usually select the factory default color mastrix A or B. B is the more saturated one and I think it's too strong for scenes that contain red objects. It's too artificial looking to my liking.

If I'm not mistaken, only Avid, Canopus (PCs) and Final Cut Pro (Mac) can capture DV50 codec via firewire natively. This includes a DVCPRO 50 codec at 7 mb/s. Premiere claims to support DV50, but I think it's not via Firewire - rather through SDI. The point of native firewire DV50 codec is to save huge space. That's very misleading advertising. If your footage is in DV25, it shouldn't be a problem. It'll be very interesting to see when Premiere Pro gets port to the Mac Universal around Summer '07. This will change things.

I'm looking to replace my lousy $190 Audio Technica 835. I had it with that shotgun mic. It failed me too many times in the past. I'd like to buy a high quality and versatile shotgun mic where it can faithfully capture sound in all environments (int/ext/noisy). My work is heav broadcast news, journalism and indie film. Sennheiser is nice, but the Schoeps appears to be a level up. From various forums, it appears that the Schoep CMIT 5U ( Condenser Microphone with Interference Tube) has many positive reviews. Has any one used this extensively with interior, exterior and very noisy environment? Is it worth $1700?

Got it. Very helpful suggestions from both of you. Thanks. Very interesting to know that Wescott make the background scrim to control the light contrast ratio. Prior to this I had to light the subject to match the background. The problem with this approach is that the talent is blinded by heavy front fill lights. They get very uncomfortable, particulary during the sizzling summer season.

Does anybody know where to buy a 2x2 or larger 5/8" light stand mountable board reflector? I want something that lasts a long time. It's getting too expensive to rent those.

FW RAID is good to have for any 10-bit uncompress SDI capture. FCP5 is mostly software only processing, so any hardware assist in the transfer throughput will improve the multilayer performance. It's not overkill for SD video and it'll be a good investment for other type of future projects.

After using the SDX900 on a daily basis for the past 2.5 years, I think this is the cam for cost-effective digital film cam. The only thing I don't like about it is the ATW. It's not so great. However, the preset works fairly well. For example, shooting inside a window and using filter C @4300K looks as close as a manual WB. It's not so easy when there's an overcast situation. For 3200K, it tends to be a bit warm. I prefer to always manual WB to get a cooler look. Others will like the strong 3200K preset tungsten look. This cam is not point and shoot and does require a lot of technical expertise to get it right. The color temp. readout is really the only way to tell if the WB is correct. Lowlight is very good, but you have to use a true broadcast grade SD or HD lens to take full advantage of the clarity. Pro grade just doesn't have that punch. TC out allows easy FREE RUN TC for multiple SDX900d shoot, SD card is another plus to transfer settings between cams. 4 audio tracks is awesome because it can substitute an expensive sound person if up to 3 or 4 mics. are needed. I like the unislot (or slot-in) mic that plugs right into the center of the cam. You can assign any audio channel function in the USER buttons. Overall, this cam has virtually all of the needed broadcast level features. Lightweight is up to the battery type. It fits very well on the shoulder. I use AB Dionic 90 for live docu work. The last favorite is the wide exposure latitude. Very forgiving in terms of bad lighting (harsh & uneven contrast). With a DVX100A, sunny exterior shot is very hard to pull off w/ out additional light or reflector. However, the SDX900 handle it so easy w/ minimal frontal HMI fill light. This in turns save a lot of $$$ in getting HMI lights or additional crew to compensate for the cam's limitation. I don't think you'll regret using this cam, providing that a decent 2/3" broadcast grade lens is utilized.

7 mb/s for DV50 Firewire xfer to FCP from a Mac. It's double to that of DV25. So an hour of footage on DV25 is roughly 13.5 Gb. For DV50, it'll be 27 Gb. If you're not using FCP5, SDI (SMPTE 259M) workflow should be based on the quality of your favorite NLE card. DVCPRO 50 has a compression of ~3.33 to 1. So based on that, capture it at that ratio and you'll be OK. Anything greater than 3.33 to 1 capture is not recommended if quality is your top concern. For deck, the cheapest now is the AJ-SD93, about $6.5K with out the SDI or analog option. It's not a frame accurate editing deck, but a very cost-effective feeder and final recorder. If you need full RS-422 TC batch capture via SDI or component, you'll have to get the analog option to make it work. The analog option card has the RS-422. Very tight cost control on Panasonic. The bare deck only comes with Firewire and composite. A fully configured AJ-SD93 will run you about $10K.

I'm preping for a Varicam shoot. I have 2 concerns: 1) The producer like to have the shallowest depth of field possible, fish eye lenses is also considered. 2) Output to 35mm film, Cine Alta or Varicam is more suitable for this? So far I'm looking into the 2/3" Zeiss & Fujinon E-series 20mm and 40mm. Are they comparable to 35mm in terms of shallow d.o.f? I'm thinking of renting a P&S Technik Pro 35mm adaptor for 2/3" to get that extra shallow d.o.f, is this necessasry since they already have 2/3" prime lenses? How about fish eye 2/3" lens? Any comments on actual film output fr. Varicam vs. Cine Alta?

Grabs from recent indie film. Extremely low budget (as usual). Just starting out to the world of 24P SD&HD lighting. I'm coming from a all-natural documentary lighting to staged setup type. It has been a unique experience. I'm beginning to like DPing the indie film. Lighting setups: Nothing special here, just regular 3200K fixture lighting at the house. This one is the CU of her face, thus a simple 24x36 flat was used to cut down the overhead light. ---- For the dying scene, (4) 650W MR Twenies with 1 CTB, 1 Kino Flo 4-bank with 3/4 CTB. The one below has two 650 MR Tweenies with 1 CBT double covered to get the deep blue. It was shot around 10-midnight, thus the foggy nature of the location helps to get the condensation and overall cold mood. Dying scene: This one is very hard because we ran out of time. I had to make quick decision by putting a 200W tweenie weenie mole on the right side to lit the guy's leather jacket. The rear light coming through the door was a standard 650 Tweenie w/ no gel. A frontal fill w/ 1 CTB is applied to the healthy guy. Standard Tweenie light. I just move back about 6 feet to reduce the intensity. ------ This simple injured scene is with a 1 CTB and 650 Tweenie pointing down at 7 ft. Due to extremely limited buget, gels had to be used over PAR HMIs. It still work, but can be better if PAR is used to get that moon I noticed that the SDX900 is extremely sensitive to light. I wanted to get that dying, deep blue look. To avoid the typical sensitve video look, it was intentionally reduced to 0 dB gain and everything else is playing w/ the lighting intensitive to match it at 0 dB. Camera: SDX900, Fujinon HA13x4.5ERM, black stretch: 1-3; 0 dB gain, Filmlike 1, Progressive, Vdetail=0. Majority of these were shot at f/1.7 to get the shallowest DOF. Focusing was pretty easy thanks to the B&W crt view finder. I recall that I had to turn up the peaking all the way up for the dying scene. It was pretty shallow.