[John Sharaf]

Ernie,

I don’t know where you live, but I rent my 1200A and 1400 decks at $350 net to qualified clients with proper insurance. I’ve even subrented decks in my area (LA) for less on occassions!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Robin,

A “lit” pixel will never be black; that’s what it’ll become when it is turned off and made invisible. Some cameras have advanced features that allow you to address particular pixels and turn them off, others have automatic circuitry that does the same thing. There is a finite sized buffer that will allow only so many pixels to be turned off; once it’s full you’re out of luck.

JS

[John Sharaf]

The manufacturer would prefer that you didn’t even know there was such a thing as a “lit pixel”.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Mark,

If you shoot at 720 60p and import to a 24 or 30fps timeline it’ll be slo mo. If that doesn’t work, use the frame rate converter (FRC) in your FCP; that’s what it’s for!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Oscar,

I’m not familiar with your DVC200, but sounds like a “lit pixel”. Many cameras have built in pixel correction circuitry that’s activated by repeated auto black balance (ABB). try doing this three or four times and see if your problem goes away. You can see lit pixels better at gain up with the iris closed or capped.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Mick,

I’m not sticking up for Sony, but I think that price is a “list” price and various discounts will apply. Please feel free to contact me off-list when the cameras are actually being delivered and I’ll be able to get you a much better deal.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Mick,

Not so fast!

If you want it to look like film (on TV like displays) shoot 24p. The 3:2 pulldown will be added so it doesn’t flicker. Same speed if you intend to film out (unless your in a 50Hz country where projectors run at 25 fps, then use that rate).

For video, you can still shoot 24p (again if you want it to look like film with pulldown), or shoot 30p for smooth motion and some-what film look (progressive) or shoot 60 for live look.

It’s really great to have all these choices, you just must consider what your final product will be, how it will be seen and educate your clients about the various advantages and pitfalls.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Lank,

The best way is to return the unit too Panasonic factory service. In addition to conventional head cleaning they replace cleaning rollers.

In the past I have had recurring clogged head problems with my 1200A decks, but lately not so bad.

Of course you can clean the heads and rollers yourself, using isopropal alcohol and q-tips or clean dry cloth, but the disassembly of the machine is tricky and the head gap so small that you might just make it worse.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Paul,

The capture of the telecine is dependent on what recording format you use. It is inaccurate and misleading to say that “It is also captured at RGB 4:4:4 and not…”

I fail to be convinced that color space affects the temporal quality of the 24p film look. What if it was in B&W? The motion would be the same!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Kevin,

The ability of any two cameras, even on the same model, to match is totally subjective; dependent on the baseline setup of the cameras and then the particular matrix and other settings overlaid.

The best way to match two cameras in production is to have a skilled video controller with the necessary tools to preform camera setup; namely a DSC chart, waveform/vectorscope, remote controllers and a high quality master monitor.

The next best method would be to have the two cameras setup to match before the shoot in an engineering lab environment.

The least best method would be to turn the matrix off in both cameras, AWB, ABB, and shoot, leaving final matching to post.

Off course the detail settings are difficult if not impossible to alter in post (short of applying filter effects), so it is important to try and ballpark in the detail level when shooting.

Matching the numbers is not really sufficient, as variances in the baseline setup and lenses have an effect, so the best course is to put the two cameras side by side aiming at a target with fine detail (like the trumpets on a DSC chart or even the fine newsprint from the morning paper) and subjectively make your match.

Of course making a detail level adjustment without a waveform is to risk setting the enhancement too high and increasing the noise level, so proceed with caution.

Finally you must also consider the monitor you’re looking at. Is it native 720? And you must consider the horizontal downsampling that takes place in the recording, such that the observed picture is actually sharper than that which is being recorded.

Hope this helps,

JS