Brian Babarik

Hey all, I'm taking on a job that wil require us to have two super low light motion activated cameras. We'll be watching people with sleepwalking habits and the final product is broadcast so I'm looking for some insight into other cameras and options. Ideally it will be a motion-activated camera with a night-vision mode or an on-board IR light and capture ability. I'm finding lots of spy cameras but few that meet all the criteria especially a 1080 or 720 recording format. any suggestions? thanks, Brian

Thanks everyone. I think I've now wrapped my head around this. I also changed the screen name and apologize about not doing that sooner. Thanks again.

I was speaking with an editor who said that there is a Panasonic camera that shoots is a 24P mode and has a final output of 29.97. I checked the manual for the DVX and it says that the video signal recorded is 525i (NTSC) using the 60i option and in progressive mode to convert to 525i and record. I shot 24P advanced with the DVX 100b last week and the editor says the footage looks best when captured into Final Cut using the 29.97 preset. I do not believe they captured using the advanced pull-down option from Final Cut yet but am wondering - Does anyone know whether or not the DVX 100b or any other Panasonic camera converts 24P to a 29.97 signal? Do all cameras use this conversion for viewing or editing? I'm sure I'm missing something but I don't know what. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you much.

The tapes are brand new out of the box. Panasonic master quality mini-DV. These are the only tapes used on this camera. On the shoot day there was no indication that there was a problem (no grinding noises, timecode drop-out, etc.). The tape I shot after the one I cannot view is fine and I can watch it. I just don't know. I will keep tryng to find places to save the tape if possible. Thanks.

I shoot many weddings with the FX1 and have had no problems with it until now. I took the camera outside in about 80% humidity and 95 degree weather conditions. I shot for about fifteen minutes and then took the camera inside an air-conditioned church. I shot inside and out for about the next half an hour. After this shooting session I switched to a new tape and shot the ceremony and then shot all the footage after the ceremony and before the reception on the one tape. Timecode ran normally and there were no error messages. As the introductions of the reception started I switched tapes and shot the rest of the evening. Here are my issues: 1. The next day I went to shoot a test tape to import into my computer. I had trouble with error message C:31:23. It told me to eject and reinsert the tape. After doing this four or five times the camera accepted the tape. I shot five minutes, cut, and shot another minute. When I cut the timecode was lost and zeroed out as I began rolling again. I could see parts of the image as I fast-forwarded or rewound in VCR mode but the tape would not play normally. The camera is now not accepting tapes but grinds every time one is inserted or ejected. 2. The tape I shot with for the ceremony and before the reception is not viewable in any camera. I believe there is still footage on the tape as the tape I shot with during the reception is still useable with no problems. When the ceremony tape is inserted into any player is reads that the tape must immediatly be ejected. This is very important for me to get resolved and I would greatly appreciate any advice on the next questions. Questions: 1. Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? If so is there any preventative maintenance? 2. Are there any kits or can I find a tape recovery system? If I were to find a kit to rethread the magnetic stock onto a new casset might that help me upload the tape information? Has anyone had this issue and what was the solution?

Now that is what I am talking about. I was checking prices at one post house in chicago and for a 5min Beta Sp tape and copy from a master they were charging seventy (yes $70.00) for one tape. the math for five hundred copies for different markets was more than a new Beta deck and the stock. Talk about mark-up!

I don't know who you are and I know that should not matter but I was viewing all of the posts and wanted to congratulate you on you acceptance. I love the art of Photography and cinematography and applaude most everyone who attends and posts on this site. To everyone else who applied good luck and remember that its the light that matters just as much as the darkness.

If a direct clone of the image is made will there be any benefits to uprezzing? Will the image look better or will the master simply have a greater resolution on HD? Thank you.

I haven't seen any of your work recently but the product from your feature looks consistent with your high quality and style. Kudos Justin.

I was talking to a worker in a video rental house about the XL2 today and they said that it does not have a true 24p mode. I did not have time to finish the conversation but needless to say this has peaked my interest. I am a fan of the XL series because of the interchangeable lens system. I know that both the DVX and the XL series of cameras can be outfitted with adaptors to allow for PL lens mounts to be attached. However, the DVX series worries me because I know the adaptor fits over the unchangeable lens. The questions I have are this: 1. Does the XL2 have a "true" progressive mode or else what does anyone think about this gentleman's statement? 2. Which camera has a "better" progressive mode the DVX 100a or the Cannon XL2? 3. Has anyone used the adaptor for the DVX and if so how does the image look and also how is it in working environments (is it hard to keep focus, if the focus or the zoom get moved on the onboard lens does that affect the image)? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I was at a video rental house today and one of the workers and I got into a conversation about uprezzing mini-DV tape stock onto an HD master. We talked about the 24p mode on the XL2 and he said that some of the technicians in the house felt that the Cannon's 24p mode is not a true 24p mode. He also said that the DVX 100a had a better quality image with it's 24p mode than the XL2. Now my personal preferance is for the XL line for I like the interchangable lens system. However, there is also an adapter that goes over the lens for the DVX 100 system that can also support PL mounted lenses. I wonder about other comments to these remarks. Does anyone know about an untrue 24p with the XL2? Has anyone done a shot comparisson between the XL2 and the DVX 100a?

What are some of the differences that you see in the Fuji stock over the Sony stock. Do they represent colors differently? How is saturation? Is this because of a cost difference? Any information is useful and I do appreciate all the other information left by these posts. Thank you.

I understand that tape is not film, you should be kinder with your wording for I am just trying to understand the medium in comparisson to something familiar to me. And the correct spelling for your context is vary, not very.

I believe that most commercials are still transmitted from Betacam stock but in all honesty I am not sure. It may be digibeta, HD, or SD although I would think that the cost of Digibeta and HD would be high for most commercial budgets and that the quality of SD would be too low except for low budget commercials. I guess my question would be: What media are most commercials, after a master copy is made, sent to Broadcasters on SD, HD, DigiBeta or Betacam (or some other stock)? Also, sorry to make this a two part essay question, but, what is a good (high quality) stock to use for this purpose, and also, do different tape stocks have different effects on the quality of the image? I know that sounds redundant so please allow me to clarify. Do different tape stocks react differently to color, luminance and latitude (ana analogy would be to how different film stocks react differently to the same situations)? Thank you for any input I suddenly feel very inquisitive.

I was wondering about the effects on an image that has been recorded on a mini-DV stock if it were to be uprezzed to HD. Will there be a more apparent pixelation of the image? How would this affect the latitude of the stock (will the blacks crush easier and the whites clip quicker)? How will this affect the saturation and luminance of colors (how should I manipulate the waveform and vectorscope readings during a mini-dv edit session)? I would appreciate any comments on the subject as I am interested in the topic, as I guess is evident by my post, sorry I am not good at the whole internet post thingy.