-
Cheapest camcorders with HD-SDI out for music event space, any thoughts?
I realize this is probably a fairly tedious question and may have been asked here and on other forums, there seems to be a bit of a jungle of random solutions out there but I haven’t been able to make heads or tails of them.
The situation is as follows:
I work at a venue where we document bands and performances using a 3 cam set-up where every cam has an operator and the three streams are mixed live. At the moment the set-up is SD as the mixer is an old Sony console. We have started upgrading to HD but with fairly low level consumer cams. They have a composite out but even though the signal after going through the mixer is slightly better than from the SD cams we used before, it is simply sub-par compared to having a HD signal. I have been looking into replacing the mixer for a Blackmagic switch. They have both SDI and HDMI in/out so we could work with HDMI but the connectors are dodgy for semi daily use (and operated in a lot of the cases by less disciplined enthusiasts) so I worry they might break. Also the maximum length that HDMI cables come in is a very big obstacle. HD-SDI is for me the way to go. So now the obstacle is finding a camera that has HD-SDI output but falls within our budget, which is vanishingly small. CCTV solutions aren’t really an option as we do need some manner of control, like zoom functions, manual exposure control and white balance that can be adjusted directly on the cam. Also auto-focus is a big plus. So basically the minimal functions of any random camcorder but as cheap as possible but with decent low light performance and HD-SDI out.
If there are any thoughts on this it would be highly appreciated, my thanks in advance.
-
22 Replies
-
Hi Carl – to get all the features you want, you will probably have to buy used – and the cameras will likely be over $2000 each.
The least expensive camcorders I could find with HD-SDI out were this $2275 Canon XL H1
and this $2288 Canon XH G1
on eBay.
The Panasonic AG-AF100 also has HD-SDI, but they start at $2489 body-only on eBay
. Micro 4/3 power zoom lenses are not that expensive
, but they’re not free either.
The Canon XF105 is the next step up, but the least expensive used unit I can find is $2675 from Adorama.
Sorry I couldn’t find any options below $2000, but I hope this was helpful. Good luck with your project!
-
Thanks Bill,
I haven’t found much beyond those either. I knew I was asking for something that most probably doesn’t exist, but surprises are just that, and they do arise. Thanks for looking into it and answering.
-
What your cameras do in this venue is typically referred to as IMAG; “Image magnification”. You might want to ask IMAG questions in the Live and Stage forum. My two cents on your problem is, have you considered HD over CAT5 ethernet from the cams to the switcher, using baluns and a converter, since HDMI in the length you want isn’t in your budget?
-
Hi Mark,
I’m not sure if IMAG is what we do at our venue. Is a three cam setup, operated by 3 camera operators, and a live video editor IMAG? I’m foggy on the terminology, there may be a language gap here since I’m a non English speaker.
The option you speak of, using CAT5 is an interesting one, one I hadn’t thought of, mainly as I have no experience using CAT5 as a data transfer in this way. I suppose I would have to convert the datastream from an HDMI connector to a CAT5 cable and then to a switch that takes 3 to 4 CAT5 cables (or convert yet again to a more mixer/switch friendly format). I’m not aware of any mixers/switchers with witch one could do live editing but I haven’t looked yet either as I hadn’t explored using CAT5 yet. It would still leave open the problem of having camera’s with HDMI connectors that are fairly sensitive to breakage.
I’m not sure this really simplifies the setup but I will look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.
-
Cheaper than running HDMI cabling, was my main point.
-
Looks quite interesting for other projects in much larger rooms I am involved with as well. So even though this may not be quite the solution for this particular venue, I may well be able to use it for another. Thanks!
-
You can find used Sony EX-1’s for around $3000. They are great cameras for live concerts.
Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.netSony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro
with Final Cut Studio Adobe CS6 Production -
Be aware that video over CAT 5 will have latency issues. For iMag this is a dealbreaker. I think you should continue to look for SDI options.
-
Oh thanks for the heads up, that really is a deal breaker. I’ll look into that.
-
Yes great cams and good prices, this particular venue can’t afford 3 of those though. I realize I am asking for something that doesn’t exist, I did do my homework, but I am simply hoping someone knows something that has been hidden from all of us. Thanks for all the suggestions though.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up