John Lenihan
1
COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Hi David,
First of all, what are you planning to shoot with it?
I use my nx5u for events, weddings, sports, and corporate work. Both HD and SD. I am very satisfied.
When I did my initial purchases of PD170s a number of years ago, I compared them head to head with Canon and JVC. Since low light was very important to me, PD170 won.
When I started to look at moving to HD, I decided the following were very important:
1. Tapeless
2. Ability to record long events, without switching media, like 2 or 3 hours.3. Low light performance.
4. A better than or equal to 12 x zoom, which the pd170s had.
I went to NAB two years ago and tried all the cameras from everyone on the floor. I decided the best fit was the Sony EX3.
I advertized HD, and if I got a gig, I rented the EX3. However, it had a flaw. I could not store long events on it. So I watched memory go from 8 gig to 32 to 64 but it was taking too long. Also the EX3 erognomics for handheld work are exhausting.
When the nx5u came out, I bought one, and compared it to the ex3 and the pd170. The zoom was 20 x. Better than the ex3 and the pd170. The low light was the same as the ex3, both are worse than the pd170. The ergonomics are nicely balanced, left to right and fore and aft.
However, the brilliant stroke of genius for sony was using avchd plus the attachable 128 gig memory device which combined give me plenty of storage time. I recently shot three hd weddings over the weekend, and on monday loaded them into my editing computer.
When I get a broadcast gig, then I rent the ex3.
–To your application, If it is like mine, then looking at your list of equipment I make the following observations from specs only. I have not touched the models you mentioned.
1. HV30 is a consumer camera, not in competition
2. T1i, T2i are slrs, not serious video contendors due to audio workarounds you have to do.
3. Panny HMC150 is a step above the HV30, but not much.
a.It has a small number of pixels for the lcd, which will drive you nuts trying to check focus in HD.b. It uses the small sd cards, which I think are fragile if you have to keep taking them in and out compared to the sony attachable unit.
c. The zoom is not very wide ranged. The audio is only AC3, rather than allowing linear PCM. The problem with AC3 is, although it takes up less memory, if you EVER go past about +6db signal, it produces a loud snap sound. If you always use the built in auto gain control and never feed it theatre house input and never use a wireless microphone, and never record a rock band, then you will be ok.
4. XHA1s This is a reasonable camera if you bought it in 2005. It records in HDV, which in my opinion is dead. It was a transition to full HD of 1920 by 1080. HDV is an intermediate size HD. Better than SD, but not real HD.
b. It records on Tape. I would never ever use tape again. If you ever record events longer than an hour, like a wedding that starts late, or a stage performance and the intermission is after an hour and 15 minutes, you go crazy trying to guess the best time to change tapes. And tapes have dropouts, always at the worst times. Simple dropouts only mess up the audio, worse once leave pixelation on you video.
One day it was 105 degrees here in Dallas and I was shooting a wedding with my PD170 tape camera in a nicely air conditioned church. I was all set up and all checked out. The bride pulls up in a limo, so I go out to record the arrival. Condensation gets into the camera when I step outside. After returning into the church I did not know it at the time, but later had dropouts all through the ceremony. I had to do some huge editing gymnastics to hide the drop outs. There is no wrath like a bride asking why she can’t hear her saying her vows.
Between all your listed choices, I would go with the nx5u and the memory block that is extra.
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Thanks for the update.
I am glad to here you can edit the avchd directly in premiere.
Were you doing multicam, or a single camera in the timeline?
John Lenihan
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Scott,
Thank you for taking the time to write down and post the instructions for all of us!
John Lenihan
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Thanks for the update that Edius HD works.
Although SD doesn’t work, you are further along than the rest of us.
john
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Scott,
Call the cineform support desk. He was very helpful for me, and it was while I was still using a trial version. ( Which I did purchase once it worked).
That is what I did, and the tech walked me through a bunch of settings to finally get it to work. I can’t remember what I did. I didn’t write it down, I just followed his instructions.
It had something to do with the codec registering properly with windows in the windows registry.
John
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
My suggestion is that you use an amplifier or converter.
Composite video is not specified to even work at 150 meters (That means 450 feet)at all due to the chroma and the luminance signals getting out of sync with one another.
The fact that you managed to get the pd170s to work that far was fortunate. I have had trouble getting my pd170s to work reliably past about 150 feet.
Since you are pushing the spec, you just happen to have some above average line drivers in the camera and cables. The nxcam line drivers are probably similar but not exactly the same.
Option 1. Buy a small composite amplifier/buffer. You can get cheap ones from radio shack or you can get ones for about $400 which allow you to actually add gain to compensate for the loss of signal. You can put this buffer right after the camera, or half way down the line.
Option 2. (better) use the sdi output through the bnc connector. It is specified to actually work the distance you are talking about. In this case you will need to buy an sdi to composite convertor and place it at the end of the cable run before the analog switcher. These convertors are about $1000.
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
972-378-0446
https://www.lenicam.comJohn Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
What is the benefit of that? Where do you use it?
John
In playing with the nx5, I discovered if you go to manual mode, press the iris button, and turn the iris smaller than f11, it will say shutter off.
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Rick this is a learning opportunity for me.
When would you turn off the shutter? Does it leave the camera in the open shutter state or closed shutter state?
John
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
Rick,
Thanks for the clarity.
I read the ex3 manual, and the shutter off button is shorthand for
“Turn the autoshutter off so I can manually adjust it.”So, assuming that is what you are trying to accomplish, is manually adjusting your shutter, you do the following with the nx5.
1. Turn the auto/manual switch on the left side to manual.
2. press the shutter button until it displays the speed you want.
3. Press execute to save it.The more complete steps are on page 31 of the manual.
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video ProductionsJohn Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com -
So the problem is the live mixing.
Can you give us a few more details.
1. What mixer (switcher) are you using?
2. What signal are you using, the sdi, or the composite?
3. Are you saying that this is the nxcam problem or the z cam problem?John Lenihan
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicam.com