What are some models and brands of the professional filmmaking camera for HD?
For really professional HD, there aren't that many. There's the Varicam and the various high-end Sony cameras (F900 and the like) that I can think of.
Lower down there's the Z1, and JVC have a new HDV camera coming out soon with a shoulder mount and interchangeable lenses. There'll also be the new Panasonic, but that's an oddity as it records to expensive memory cards rather than tape.
My guess is that Sony will release a Betacam-like HDV camera in the $20k range for professional use too.
Thank you for the response. I read somewhere that the Sony HD F900 cost over a hundred thousand dollars. I did take a look at the lower end from that model to the F75 or something and it cost around 34 thousand but I couldn't find any US retailers.
Perhaps I will wait for the 20K range HD camera from Sony then.
Well, the Z1 is pretty good. It has its limitations, but I've read of several cases where people were shooting for TV with the F900 as main camera and the Z1 as backup and ended up dumping the F900 as the image quality wasn't good enough to justify the extra cost.
Well, I feel much better now...because initially I'm going to buy the Z1...but just stumble on the F900. Then one look at the price tag and I just turned away.
If you want to shoot true HD (not HDV) then rental is the way to go.
Just like 35mm. Very few filmmakers own a high end 35mm Arri. Panavision doesn't sell their cameras at all. Strictly rental only.
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Many thanks for those responded. I guess I have to look at the difference between true HD and HDV.
Does anyone know if the Sony HVR-Z1 HDV Pro has the capability to interchange lense? If it is, will anyone point me to a site that will sell lense that will work with this model. I'm guessing this is the camera I will end up with. Just like to know a few things about it first before commit to it.
The only way to change lenses on the Z1 is to cut off the original lens with a hack-saw :).
And I'm not joking:
However, while it's a cheap lens by HD standards, it's not bad. I've seen some stills other people have shot with some chromatic aberration (weird color effects), but I haven't seen that myself and the picture is still pretty good.
Here's the page I'm looking at:
http://bestpricecameras.com/prodetails.asp?prodid=213519&start=1
According to this page, it looks like the lense can be interchanged.
I don't see anything on that page that suggests the Z1 has anything but a fixed lens. If the lens is interchangeable the specs will always tell you what mount it is. There are some accessory lens adaptors that you can screw on to the front of the lens like a filter.
Let me tell you from experience - adding a wide angle or telephoto adaptor to the front of an already medium quality lens doesn't give you a better image. For the price, the Z1 is an okay camera. With great lighting and post color correction you'll get a fine image.
True High Definition shoots 1080p24 - 1920x1080 pixels, progressive at 24 frames per second. It has real, honest to God (and SMPTE) time code. It's uncompressed - that is, after the image is captured in 4:2:2 color space it isn't JPEG'd or MPEG'd or anything else to make the data rate smaller.
HDV shoots at 720p24 - 1280x720 pixels, progressive at 24 frames per second. Most cameras (including the Z1) don't use true time code and the image is captured in 4:1:1 using a JPEG or MPEG compression.
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Actually the Z1 is 1440x1080 at 25 or 30 frames per second, with a 4:2:0 color space.
So you're saying attaching a lens to an already existing lens, for the most part, will not improve much quality, correct? For a true HD camea, if it is not JPEG or MPEG comprssions, what is usually the media that it will be stored to? I'm pretty sure you can't burn into a DVD just yet because a standard DVD at this time the space is not big enough. So if my main output is going to be DVD, the true HD won't work for me in this case, right?
quote:
Originally posted by ljCharlie
So you're saying attaching a lens to an already existing lens, for the most part, will not improve much quality, correct?
Correct. I think it actually reduces the quality - more elements for the light to go through.
One of the main problems with digital video is the camera lenses. I own the JVC GY-DV5000. It comes with a very good Fujinon lens. When I rent really high quality (and very expensive to buy) Ziess Primes I can immediately see a huge difference.
quote:
Originally posted by ljCharlie
For a true HD camea, if it is not JPEG or MPEG comprssions, what is usually the media that it will be stored to?
Most HD cameras record to a HD tape using no compression. Some even record directly to a hard drive.
quote:
Originally posted by ljCharlie
I'm pretty sure you can't burn into a DVD just yet because a standard DVD at this time the space is not big enough. So if my main output is going to be DVD, the true HD won't work for me in this case, right?
No. True HD will work.
Since you're going directly to DVD (which uses MPEG-2 compression) you still have several choices - downconverting to edit on Premiere or Final Cut and then using your EDL to conform your master - doing the MPEG-2 compression directly from your downconverted footage - cutting the whole thing on an Avid. In my opinion HD isn't worth the expense and time. Until you are sure you're going to a film print, HDV is less complicated (and expensive) than HD.
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
quote:
Most HD cameras record to a HD tape using no compression. Some even record directly to a hard drive.
I believe it's only the hard drive cameras which record HD with no compression. HDCAM, for example, is something like 4:1 compression.
At this point, my main final product will bascially be DVD. I will be using Avid Xpress Pro HD to do all my post production editing. The concern that I have is export HDV materials from Xpress Pro to DVD media. Isn't true that HDV resolution requires more space than standard? If it is, how long will a double layer DVD be able to hold a HDV resolution movie?
