-
Varicam verses 900 who is the king of documentary situations?
Talked with a producer who shoots tons of HD promos yesterday. He told me that the Sony 900s are not aging gracefully, that they had been burned on several shoots by malfunctioning 900s and that the electronics are not holding up. They now use Varicams for all of their HD production. I recently shot with a 900 outside in 90 degreee weather and 100 percent humidity and on another day in 110 degree weather and 10 percent humidity without any problems. Gave thirty minute warm up times and kept tapes with the camera at all times. My assistant told me that the 900 is very sensitive to ambient heat and one should avoid shooting outside in high temps and that the camera is best suited for stage work.
I know the above is based on antecdotal evidence, and I do not know what rental house provided the 900s to my producer friend, but I would like to know which camera can best deal with heat, cold, humidity, & dust.
With all the extra heat being generated by these HD cameras will both the 900 and Varicam have similar problems with heat leading to an early death of diodes and capacitors?
I owned a 400 Betacam for many years, shot in all kinds of weather, had a great tech replace diodes and felt Sony made a very reliable product, Is the Varicam more robust than the Sony? Will the updated Varicam model with its new diode fabrication processes lead to greater board relaibility?
-
4 Replies
-
I’ve used the Varicam at the top of Pikes Peak in light snow and rain without a single problem. Another cameraman I met up there had just used the Varicam on Everest. Not sure abut hot but, it sure does fine in the cold.
-
James,
Part of the issue is the upkeep on the gear itself and regular servicing of the gear.
Another issue is the types of clients who abuse or take care of the gear itself which can result in alot of wear and tear on the gear.
Head life on DVCPRO camcorders has been a major issue by several major LA rental houses who have mentioned this issue to me. Your best source of information is to talk to the engineering staff at several major rental houses and ask them about the problems they have had with any HD camcorder systems.
Transport noise has been an issue with F900 as they age. Dead pixels are a common problem with both Sony and Panasonic.
The only cameras I have been pleased with long term are Ikegami cameras which in my personal experience are built to last long term and deliver an beautiful image.
You can’t beat the service center I have received from Ikegami compared to the horrible service I have had to deal with Sony.Tony Salgado
Disclaimer: (The Sony service center I dealt with has great engineers it is the administrative support personell who leave much to be desired.)
-
I have worked with both the cameras and had little problem with either in regards to weather effecting reliability.
The F900 I have seen both in action in -30 degree weather in Sweden and on an OilRig off the coast of Norway. The Varicam had a slight problem on the Oilrig as it had some interference recorded due to something on the oilrig. I also have had the f900 pushed in sandy conditions in Austin USA right in the height of summer and had no problems at all.
Actually I know for a fact that the F900 (and F950’s) were really put in varied conditions when test shots were recorded by ILM at the edge of an active volcano. Again no problems at all.
I also have seen the Varicam in really hot conditions in Arizona USA perform with no problems.
I think as long as the camera is looked after and serviced there should be no problems.
-
I can imagine that rental cameras have much shorter head life. Rental customers probably leave the heads “on” all of the time. I am very judicious about making sure my Varicam is in the “save” mode when I am not recording.
Chris Bell
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up