>
> Are you wanting to shoot everything in high-def? Or just some of it? Note
that wide screen 16 by 9 and high def are not always the same thing. You can
do very impressive wide screen digital video in standard definition and yet
not be actually "high def", and it will cost you lots less. Lots. Not
everything you see on your wide screen TV at home is actually HD either, but
don't
get me started, there is a LOT of misinformation out there on that issue...
The hot prosumer cameras right now are the Sony EX1, the Panasonic HVX200,
and the latest version of the Cannon. All three of these feature a small form
factor, while they won't fit in your pocket, they are not huge as the cameras
TV news crews or film makers normally use. Yet they are popular with the indie
film maker crowd. Each camera has certain strengths and weaknesses, so your
choice will be influenced by your particular style and needs. For example
the
Panasonic shoots on mini-Dv tape and also to digital memory cards, called P2
cards, not unlike the memory card in a high-end RC transmitter or still
camera. But it only records high def or standard to the cards, and standard def
only
to the tape. You can transfer your footage for editing and burning to DVD's
by slipping the P2 cards into a laptop's card slot, or by using a firewire
cable to any kind of computer. Down side is that P2 cards are pricey and in
the
field its like changing out short film magazine loads: happens at the most
inconvenient times. Upside is that the Panasonic has a gorgeous picture for
the
price, and can simulate slow motion live inside the camera, in a way similar
to cameras costing over $30k. I have used this camera a couple times to
shoot HD commercials and I like it except for the P2 memory cards.
The Cannon has great electo-optical motion stabilization using actual optics,
the best in the biz. Handy when hand-holding telephoto shots for long
periods You can use most any Cannon lens you own with it.
The Sony EX1 is really really new, but is getting rave reviews as the
replacement for several of their most popular prosumer models. It may have
the best
low light performance of the three, using a new technology image sensor.
If you like long record times and recording in HD, consider a Focus
Enhancements Firestore external hard drive: it clips to any of these cameras
and
connects to their firewire port, can record up to six hours as well as do time
lapse shots of clouds and stuff. Connect it to your computer with that same
firewire cable, and edit right from the drive unit. Spiffy when used with a
laptop.
Two things I have a bad opinion of: the recording format known as AVCHD, and
camcorders that record to a mini DVD. I don't trust the former, and the
latter is hard to edit with and really over-compresses the images into bad
quality, and the media is overpriced, runs too short, and is hard to locate
when you
run out. I have yet to make up my mind about hard-drive-based camcorders, one
reason is what do you do when you want to shoot more but haven't had a chance
to offload your footage to a computer first? but I like the external
Firestore drives. JVC makes an HD camcorder that records highdef to cheap Dv
tape,
it's a variation of AVCHD though. You can check wikipedia for more about
AVCHDversus an MPEG2 based HD and other formats.
Good places to shop: B&H Photo-Video in New York is the "bible" of prices and
camera info for the industry. The salesmen are very knowledgeable and
scrupulously honest, they have the highest reputation in the land. Their
prices
are usually very good: in fact if somebody else is asking more than 10 percent
less for the same thing as B&H you should be suspicious and look them up on
resellerratings.com. In that vein, stay away from an outfit called Broadway
Video. Don't believe me, look them up via google.
Once you shoot in HD, how are you going to show it? Laptop hard drive?
Always playing out of the camera? Right now the coming thing is BluRay, and if
you use Adobe brand editing and DVD authoring, you can burn HD onto BluRay
disks that anybody can play in a set-top BD player or computer hard drive
that's
BD-capable. Those are going to be flooding the market this year. If you
edit using Apple computers, you'll have to use Adobe Encore; Final Cut and iDVD
and DVD studio PRo for the mac are not yet BD-enabled, might take a year.
-Mark S.
**************
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