Production camera recommendations

[Robin R Probyn]

haha That would drive me nuts.. Im super anal about dirt /dust !

[AJ Young]

I will be shooting outdoor T.V shows such as fishing, hunting, etc.

The majority of the time, the camera will be in a boat. The other times it will be on shore getting b role.

 

This footage will be made into a 30 minute T.V show, which is then shown on a broadcast network and dispersed to 300,000 plus households.

 

I hope this clears things up a little.

 

A lot of very good information here, again, thank you for the input.

 

I am newer to this side of things and right now most of this is over my head so hang with me as i try to find the camera that will suit my scenario best. I realize different people will have different workflows and preferences but to a guy who will have limited time, just a macbook pro for editing, and not a lot of resources behind him, i am guessing one will stand out to you knowledgeable folks more than the other.

 

Again, thank you very much.

 

Jake,

 

From what you've described, the Black Magic wouldn't be a good choice. Shooting RAW won't work because you'll still have to transcode the footage.

 

When it comes to which codec to record in, imagine film stocks. Shooting RAW or ProRes (with a cLog, sLog, or LogC look applied) is like shooting negative film. Negative film stock stores much more dynamic range than positive film stock. However, shooting positive film stock (or transferring your negative stock to positive) contains much less dynamic range. H.264 with no Log look applied is like shooting positive stock. XVAC falls somewhere inbetween negative and positive stocks.

 

With the film analogy in mind, the TV station will want a positive film stock of your final edit (naturally). TV doesn't broadcast in cinema color spaces (they never have). Sure an Alexa/FS7/Ursa can record in 14+ stops of dynamic range, but TV stations and viewers TVs display images in, at best, 10 stops of dynamic range.

 

Additionally, you record in lossless codecs like ProRes so you can color grade the footage later. DP's would shot negative film stocks and then take the time to squeeze the dynamic range of the negative into the small range of the positive. It may sound simple, but is actually time consuming and takes years of experience to do a decent job.

 

In your case, you can't color grade a 30 minute show in time before your deadline. Furthermore, shooting doc style footage with RAW or ProRes eats up harddrive space fast.

 

You're best bet is a camera that records into a codec that saves space but also gives you a fighting chance for last minute color correction (like a shot that is just too dark). XVAC is a relatively new codec and is very well designed. Yes, it has compression and artifacting, but you never color grade XVAC; you transcode it to ProRes. In your case, you would only transcode the XVAC files that need desperate color grading/correction.

 

I can't recommend the Ursa, particularly because it's meant for cinema work. I do recommend the Canon C100/300 or the FS7. Those cameras are better suited for what you described and will make your life easier in post for the show(s) you're shooting.

 

A plus side to the FS7 is the short focal flange distance; you can mount virtually any lens to it. And it can still be used for cinema work with you get into the narrative world.

 

There are tons of options and opinions. You have to look at your entire workflow, time constraints, and budget to evaluate which camera will work for you.

Edited June 29, 2015 by AJ Young

[Tyler Purcell]

From what you've described, the Black Magic wouldn't be a good choice. Shooting RAW won't work because you'll still have to transcode the footage.

First thing, outside of news and multi-camera studio shows like game shows, everything on television is colored, just like a feature. I haven't once delivered a show for broadcast without critical color being done and that was working for Discovery and TLC. It's just part of the delivery requirements and most of that is due to matching broadcast spec (which is a requirement).

 

The neat thing about the blackmagic cameras is that they shoot in three mods; CinemaDNG Raw (like camera negative), Flat Pro Res (which is watchable) and Rec709 (which looks normal).

 

So if you're doing a rush job, you can shoot in Rec709 mode and deliver exactly what you shoot.

 

If you're doing something that you can work with in post, then you shoot in the Flat Pro Res mode. Edit the show, apply a LUT afterwards over the whole project, make a few tweaks and be done with it.

 

If you need a wider dynamic range, that's when you shoot in CinemaDNG.

 

Indoors, you don't need to shoot with anything special. However, if you run and gun, documentary style, having that dynamic range will help considerably in post. When you make a mistake with exposure, you can fix it in post. Having shot with standard REC709 ENG cameras from Sony and Panasonic for 15 years, it was nearly impossible to have the sky exposed properly and our subjects as well. With the blackmagic you can and in most cases have even more dynamic range then necessary.