Kevin Shaw
Forum Replies Created
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The Sony PD170 and VX2000/2100 are still good choices for SD video production, but are a questionable investment in the HD era. Many wedding videographers are migrating to HD cameras for their widescreen recording format plus better long-term potential, and low-light concerns are disappearing with the latest batch of HD cameras. The most popular HD cameras for event work today are the Sony FX1/Z1U/Z7U and Canon XH-A1, with corresponding consumer models (Sony HC9, Canon HV20) being used for “b roll” shots. The EX1 is also intriguing but doesn’t seem to have caught on due to the high camera price plus high price of the required memory cards.
Keep in mind that a growing number of customers own widescreen HDTVs, which are typically set to “stretch” traditional SD video to fill the screen. So if you shoot and deliver SD content to such customers they’ll likely see it stretched to make everyone in the video look wider, which isn’t an ideal option for a wedding video. Buy HD cameras and you won’t have this problem, plus you’ll be ready when someone asks whether you shoot in HD. Buy SD cameras and you’ll be increasingly stuck as customers comes to expect HD for paid video projects.
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Kevin Shaw
Always Memorable Videos -
“To imply that the company that created the iPod, iTunes Music Store and the iPhone somehow wildly missed the mark on Blu-Ray is pretty presumptuous.”
Whatever reasons Apple may have for lagging on Blu-ray support aren’t helping their customers or their reputation any. I share the hope that if/when Apple implements Blu-ray it will be a trend-setting solution, but until then it would be nice if they’d put a “quick and dirty” option into iMovie.
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Kevin Shaw
Always Memorable Videos -
The way I read the announcements, Matsushita owns both Panasonic and JVC and is trying to sell the latter because it’s not profitable, largely because of competition for HDTV sales.
https://www.digitalcamcordernews.com/posts/2007/03/660-jvc-to-be-bought-by-tpg
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‘I am excited by this Panasonic offering because of the 2/3″ CCDs and the interchangable lenses (although I am NOT a P2 convert as of yet). And I would rather avoid the MPEG-2 compression (even if it IS at a higher bit rate than standard HDV).’
Just to add another wrinkle to this discussion, consider that XDCAM HD footage can probably be archived and played “as is” on Blu-ray HD DVDs, whereas P2 footage will require computers for storing and playing in native form plus transcoding for delivery to consumers. A minor point perhaps if you prefer intraframe compression for recording and editing, but MPEG2 now offers a complete end-to-end solution we may never see for DVCProHD. Food for thought…