which camera would be the best?

V

vvalverde

Hello all. I have a question for all out there. I am working with a new indie production company right now that makes low budget films and they want to buy a camera, video camera (they do movies but not on film). seeing as how I am the only one that graduated from film school they thought I might know but I have only worked with filmSO help :?

They at first were looking at the Panasonic AG-DVX100 b/c of its 24p capabilities, but now think that may an HD camera would be best. Any suggestions and what is the difference between a 24p and an HD.

Thanx all

Vanessa
 
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24p is the frame rate it films at and also indicates that the frames are progressive scan and not interlaced. Of course film is 24p, NTSC TV standard is 29.97 interlaced frames (or basically 30 fps, 60 fields ps - see also http://www.fact-index.com/n/nt/ntsc.html). HD is the resolution of the system you’re using. HD has a resolution of 1080i (interlaced) or 720p and generally uses a 16:9 recording ratio. SD (standard definition that we all grew up with) contains 480i lines of vertical resolution uses a 4:3 format. Of course there are many other differences, but this is the basic.

HD is looking like it will become the next standard. There are already dual format broadcasts, and HDTVs are getting cheaper every day. I would recommend the HD if you can afford it. Some people like the look of the 24p, but in my opinion it's more of an aesthetic decision than hardware picture quality. One thing to keep in mind, if you do get an HD camera, make sure your editing system can handle HD. Most of the major manufacturers have an HD version available now.
 
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THey thought that perhaps at the rate of renting, they in the long run would be better buying. what do you think? Nonetheless, they have about $30k give or take if they decide to go with the HD camera.
 
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One thing I wanted to say is that the Panasonic's 24P isn't a real 24 frames per second, it's using 29.97 frames per second but uses the 2:3:3:2 pulldown process to make it look 24 framish, however using a program such as Apple's CineTool you can easly convert your 24P into real 24 frames. . .ok ok 23.98. So you can do it with both the dvx100 or HD, it depends on how important the resolution is going to be, and how much hard drive space you've got! Ya look at what the editing capabilities are of the company if they're up for HD. And I don't know of any specific HD cameras to name. . .
 
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All i can say is that I have the Panasonic AG DVX100a, and I LOVE it. Great quality, really really movie/cinema like. I love everything about it.

I cant testify for any other product because i've only used this, and my dad's one chip sony...
 
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I was reading on some other stuff about video moviemaking and seems that alot agrees that lighting is extremely different with video than with film. So would you guys/gals recommend that they get the panasonic 24p and "perfect", "learn well", etc the ins and outs of this kind of camera before moving up to a biggie camera like an HD one? i just want to thank you all for all your opinions and help. if i didnt mention it before this is a new production company in south florida with people with great stories and cash but new to movies (as am I really since i've only just done student films) so we need all the advice we can get.
 
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I'll throw another HD question into the mix as well :)

Does HD need a special workstation, software or connection or something different, as opposed to standard Firewire?

I'm not seeing any "presets" for HD on my Premiere 6.0 project settings, so I'm assuming you need something "extra" to work with it.

Ta 8)
 
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Yeah, HD requires a lot more pipe than what firewire offers. . .unless you use the latest DVCPro HD with Apple's Final Cut HD. For anything else though, you'd need a special HD card like this one http://www.aja.com/kona.htm. Also you'd need a hard drive that could handle 170MB per second, give or take. HD is a lot higher res than DV, so it eats up a lot more hard drive! There's a lot of new HD codecs out now that make it fairly easy to do.
 
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HD throughput

Generally speaking, HD requires bigger, faster hard drives, along with some way of getting from deck to computer. Think Ultra 160 or Ultra 320 SCSI, or fibre channel. The drives typically have to be striped together into RAID arrays. Bandwidth for uncompressed HD can be 6Gb per minute(vs 5min per Gb for DV)!

Panasonic has a new VTR that will play 720P over firewire, but that's only compatable with their own DVCPro 100 tape format. More likely, you'd have to get an HD compatable capture card from Decklink, Pinnacle, Aurora, etc.

And you'll need an HD monitor in the edit suite to properly color grade the footage!
 
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THanx arniepix. we didn't even look at that one. It looks like a good camera and since its not HD, seems we don't have all those trouble people have been talking about in terms of editing. Well not really problems, but more things so keep in mind. NOw that I know we don't have HD editing capabitlies, perhaps this SDX-900 is a godo bet. Anyone else have any takes on this camera?
 
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I haven't heard a lot about the XL1S, except that it's a decent camera. If you're asking because you've got one, then you're wasting time. If you're asking because you're considering buying it, also check out the Sony PD150 and DCR-VX2000, and the Panasonic AG-DVX100A and Canon GL2. They're all mid-range cameras that are fairily widely used for indiefilms.
 
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directorlca said:
One thing I wanted to say is that the Panasonic's 24P isn't a real 24 frames per second, it's using 29.97 frames per second but uses the 2:3:3:2 pulldown process to make it look 24 framish, however using a program such as Apple's CineTool you can easly convert your 24P into real 24 frames. . .ok ok 23.98. So you can do it with both the dvx100 or HD, it depends on how important the resolution is going to be, and how much hard drive space you've got! Ya look at what the editing capabilities are of the company if they're up for HD. And I don't know of any specific HD cameras to name. . .
Click to expand...

I was told it was true 24frames but it converts it into 29.7 for video viewing.

the whole point of the camera is to transfer over to 35 or 16mm film without having to use a processer that cost a lot of time and money.
 
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