Jeff Regan
Forum Replies Created
-
There should be at least a couple of Varicamps this year, one in NY, one in Burbank–check Createsphere for the schedule.
Check out this white paper by Suny Behar for Panasonic, he’s a DP that presents at Varicamp, https://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/p2-hd/white-papers.asp Click on the “Best Practices for Digital Cinematography” .pdf. It’s a great resource for shooting with the P2 Varicams, IMO.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
Noah,
Definitely a HUGE price difference, but if renting, not such a big difference in the scope of a production budget. Camera, optics, and now codec are important! 10-bit with Film-Rec @600% DR is pretty cool.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
I have a 2700 and use the Letus Ultimate/B4 Pro 2/3 relay lens with Nikon 35mm SLR primes, and have Canon and PL-mounts as well. The framing is Academy with the B4 Pro relay lens, similar to the P+S Pro 35.
The other approach would be to use 2/3″ primes that have a faster aperture than an HD ENG zoom lens and shoot wide open, which should look better than a zoom lens that port holes and ramps down the level when zoomed in.
With a 2700 and 35mm adapter, you will get the shallow DOF with the advantage of more latitude using Film-Rec gamma(10-11 stops) and a more robust codec with AVC-Intra 100, which is 10-bit, 100Mbps, 4:2:2 I-Frame vs. the more consumer level codec in a VDSLR, being lower bit rate, 8-bit, 4:2:0, Long GOP frame structure. AVC-Intra will offer more flexibility in grading and color correction, won’t have the aliasing/moire and CMOS artifacts. The 2700 offers a lot more control over the image in-camera, 4 channels of high quality audio, can record over 13 hours with 5)64gb P2 cards in 720/24PN, or 6 hours at 1080/24PN.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
I have sources who say that Panasonic will show a large sensor AVCCAM prosumer camera–2/3″ or bigger at NAB. There are some new Fuji and Canon 2/3″ very low cost, compact zoom lenses available now, so 2/3″ could be viable in an under $10K camera using CMOS sensor/s. Or it could be a micro 4/3’s sensor from the Lumix GH1?
I think we’ll see something, question is when will it deliver and will 24Mbps AVCHD codec be adequate?
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
Sony EX1, EX3 do not use pixel shifting. Panasonic HPX200, 200A, HPX170, 500 do, as does JVC 700, I believe. EX1 and 3 are true full raster cameras.
HDCAM is 3:1:1 color space, that’s correct. Sony SRW-9000 HDCAM SR camcorder is tape based and 2/3″, so not worth the price to me vs. Panasonic HPX3700.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
Joe,
You are confusing a codec recording mode with HD. ANY 720X1280 or 1080X1920 sensor camera IS an HD camera, even if not a native HD sensor.
HQ mode just denotes a full sample horizontal recording option.
SP mode just denotes a sub-sample horizontal recording option.Both are HD codecs, just as the EXMOR CMOS full raster 1080X1920 sensors are HD in the EX1 and EX3. A codec need not have the letters “HD” in the name to be considered an HD codec.
If you knew anything about the Cine Alta name, you’d know that it denotes two things, HD and 24 FPS(24 Psf to be exact).
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
This from Wikipedia re: XDCAM EX:
“It uses an 4:2:0 MPEG-2 Long-GOP codec when recording to SxS solid-state memory cards, but is 4:2:2 internally and a full 4:2:2 signal is present on the HD-SDI out connection.” Unquote.
Every broadcast and cable network has its own set of technical requirements and most of them break their own rules. Bit rate alone is not a measure of quality. DVCPRO HD and AVC-Intra 100 in 720/24P Native modes run at only 40Mbps.
I own an HPX2700 and was an HDX900 owner. I certainly believe these cameras are superior to the EX1 or EX3, but the latter two cameras are full raster 1080, and when used in progressive modes, yield very good images. The NBC network show “Trauma” uses F35’s and EX3’s, Michael Mann’s “Public Enemy” used EX3’s for some parts of the movie.
How a 1/3″ camera like the HVX200 is considered HD, but not an EX1 or EX3 is nonsensical. The original XDCAM HD 1/2″ cameras have been used by local market stations for broadcast for years.
I think most anybody would agree that an EX 1 or EX3 output via HD SDI to a separate nanoFlash or KiPro deck would certainly qualify as HD. I prefer 2/3″ CCD cameras, but Sony wouldn’t have put the “Cine Alta” badge on the EX1 and EX3 if they didn’t consider the image quality to be HD.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
I have my thoughts, as an owner of an EX1, which is the same camera as far as sensors, processing, codec as an EX3. My thoughts echo Dan’s, as well as reality–EX3 IS an HD camera, but not 4:2:2 color space.
It is the ONLY 1/2″ full raster camera, other than the EX1, that I’m aware of. If a full raster camera is not HD, I don’t know what is. Many use the HD SDI output to record externally and are amazed at just how high the resolution is. From a luminance perspective, the XDCAM EX codec is full sample, recording every bit of detail that the full raster CMOS sensors provide. Chroma is sub-sampled to 4:2:0, something most people can’t see with their eyes vs. 4:2:0, but computers can discern for compositing, etc.
One could even make the argument that the EX3 is more of an HD camera than an HPX500 due to the full raster native 1080 sensors.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
Assuming it’s a CAC enabled lens, you download it from Panasonic, put it on an SD card and read the file into your camera. After reading and selecting the file, use the mode button to find the CAC page to make sure data is valid. With Canon lenses, it may be necessary to go through full focus and zoom rotation for calibration.
As long as you’ve enabled the CAC circuit and data is valid, you should see a “CAC” display on the upper left of your viewfinder.
Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com -
If your EX cameras are doing what you need them to do, I don’t see any compelling reason to introduce a different look and work flow. The 500 will seem a bit soft if you’re used to the EX cameras in 1080.
Adding a 35mm DOF adapter will be a more dramatic difference visually.
I have the Letus Ultimates, but you might want to look at the SG Blade as well.Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com