John Sharaf
Forum Replies Created
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Jennifer,
First off, I don’t think you’re getting a price from Japan which is including the two optional cards (which add almost $10000 retail to the price).
I think prices in Japan are actually higher than in the states; this is because of a report from a friend who recently visited Japan and found prices to be more there than in the states for similar items.
The warrantee on a recorder is very important; it’s full of mechanical, moving parts, spinning heads, etc. all of which are service intensive. My deck has been to the shop three or four times already and serveral were within the one year warrantee period. I’d be very cautious of buying grey market.
Finally I noticed that Panasonic has extended their cash back program on purchases of the deck in combination with camera, perhaps you can qualify for this. There is as much as $5200 back with a Varicam and deck purchase.
JS
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David,
Just a guess, as I have not had occassion to do DV downconvert (only straight digitize into FCP and downconvert to Beta via SDI output) but you might take a look at menu item #880 DIF SPEED.
Default is 0002 S400 (400Mbps); I’d try lower speed settings of S100 (0000) or S200 (0001). I think thetransfer speed in the default setting must be too high for the Sony DV deck!
JS
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Haakon,
There are two ways to view the footage at the “converted” frame rate; the hardware FRC (as the rental company suggests) and by using the 1200A to injest the material into an Apple computer which is running FCP. Once in the computer you can use the software plug-in (available for free at the Panasonic website) to process and view the framerate converted materials.
JS
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Serge,
Sounds like that old dirty head problem which comes up regularly with the 1200A! I’ve found that the cleaning tapes don’t really cut it and the only solution is a trip to the factory service center for a proper cleaning.
Good luck,
JS
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Dave,
If you’re watching on a SD projector, then all bets are off. Somewhere in the chain (presumably in the 1200A VRT you’re using for playback) you’re downconverting in a less than ideal way and the projector cannot do justice to the HD photography created in the Varicam. Do youself and everyone else a favor and get an HD capable projector and a towel to wipe the droul off your face as view the spectacular pictures!
JS
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The same is true with 30 fps; each frame is repeated twice with matching fields, resulting in a 60i playback with the look of 30p. Again 24 fps is also similar with an offset repetition resulting in 60 fields per second from repeated frames and fields that maintains the look of film after its been through a telecine.
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Thomas,
I too have heard that Nat Geo has purchased Varicams, and even had there own dedicated “Varicamp” recently. Furthermore, I got a call for a Nat Geo shoot this coming Tuesday specifying Varicam (unfortunately I was busy), so all I can deduce is that every purmutation is in play.
On Monday in fact, I’m doing a shoot for CBS Sports using a Varicam; granted it’s for the SD NFL Today Show, but it just shows that you can not assume that every 1080 network will only shoot on 1080 cameras. I’ve found that for the ultimate exhibition on televsion (even HD) that transcoding of 1080 to 720 or 720 to 1080 is pretty transparent, especially when when progressive. For film-out I think it’s a different story, with 1080p being slightly sharper than 720p.
Finally, the choice of production format is often determined by the post production workflow and the machines that are owned or readily available where the editing will take place. The Firewire/FCP/Varicam workflow has attracted many devotees because of the lower price, no need for downconverts, native hd editing on cheap storage and lack of off-line/on-line distinctions. I have to believe that many producers are using this workflow and transcoding at the end for delivery on D5 or HDCAM at 1080 per the specifications in their contracts with their network.
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One last point, I presume you’re usinh HD lenses; if you’re trying to use SD lenses, even broadcast types, you are definately short changing the image making capability of the Varicam. Resulting softness would definately show up on large projections!
JS
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Dale,
I beg to differ with you on both points you make:
Backfocusing the prime lenses has very little to do withg the lens’ actal sharpness, except at infinity which is rarely used; as long as the focus is determined through the lens by the operator. If not backfocused and focused by an assistant reading a measuring tape that’s a different story. The bottom line is that backfocusing prime lenses is a method to assure that the focus markings match the actual measurement, if there’s no camera assistant it’s a mute point.
Secondly, regarding the detail; unlike a conventional SD camera where the picture will definately look out of focus if the detail is turned way down or off, with the Varicam the detail setting is very subtle and normally is turned way down (-19 to -26) in an effort to minimize artificial enhancement (which is what detail really is, and noise)and the picture is still very sharp. In fact Panasonic has added a “High Detail” feature in the new “H” model for the folks who wanted an over-enhanced tv look and couldn’t get it in the range of the “F” models detail scale.
If you have out-of-focus pictures with a zoom lens, then it’s undoubtably a matter of back focus; if the back focus is correct, then it’s a case of operator error. You should be able to tell if the backfocus is to blame if there’s a recording of the operator focusing at the long end of the zoom and then widening out to a soft picture.
JS
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Neil,
I doubt very much that there is an “offset control” per se, I know there is not one on the Avid, but you can easily “edit” the sound or picture by sliding two frames to correct the offset!
JS