Do remember, if you are buying a complete kit (not just upgrading
your curent camera) that the cost of the camera may just be
half of what you need to spend. You need a tripod to keep
it steady, microphones and a way of connecting them to the camera,
batteries, battery charger, lights, a good lens, filters and something
to carry them all around in. Luckily, we have a guide
to help you with those decisions too.
WHAT IS ON OFFER?
JVC
was the first company to launch an HDV camera, the JY-HD10. However,
it only has a single CCD imaging chip and so hasn't really attracted
the attention of programme makers. Sony has two smaller,
single CMOS chipped HDV cameras, the
"professional" HVR-A1E (with XLR inputs) and the HDR-HC1E
(a consumer version, without XLRs), however, this page will concentrate
on the 3-chip professional versions.
In
September 2004 Sony launched the
HDR-FX1, its "consumer" 3-CCD HDV camera. If
you have been happy using the VX2000 (and VX2100) then you should
definitely look at this camera. Unfortunately, it does not have
XLR sound inputs - this is one of the reasons why it is labelled
a consumer camera. The more professional version is the Sony HVR-Z1, which
was launched in February 2005 and has the much needed XLRs.
If you are a seasoned PD150 or PD170 user you'll find this is
a natural progression. This is a documentary makers' camera.
It records in HDV (1080i), DVCAM and DV formats - plus it can
also be easily switched from PAL to NTSC, very useful if you
have clients all over the world. The Sony Z1 does not
produce true progressive images (see below) but uses cineframe
- which isn't quite as convincing as the real thing. But, it
does produce good quality 16:9 interlaced pictures and has already
been adopted by the BBC and used for broadcast programmes such
as Full On Food.
JVC's
3CCD HDV camera, the GY-HD100 went on sale in August
2005. The European version, the GY-HD101, is
slightly more expensive because it has full FireWire i/o (input and
output), which attracts an EU levy. However, it is worth paying the
extra if you want to use the camera as an editing deck too. The HD100
and 101 take interchangeable lenses, which is usually very desirable
- assuming there is money left in the budget to buy them. At
the IBC 2005 exhibition JVC had around eight of these cameras all
with different lenses and accessories to show how versatile it
can be. It is made from die cast aluminium and is pretty robust.
Uniquely, in this group, it has a proper adjustable shoulder mount.
So, from a handling point of view it should be more comfortably
to operate. It can be a bit front heavy but if you opt for the
IDX battery option - it will help balance things out. Certainly, one
of the critisisms of this camera is battery life. The JVC batteries
will only give you an hour of operation. The IDX option (2 batteries,
a charger and an adapter) will cost you an extra £800 - but they
will last for up to four hours each. If you are used to professional
cameras like the DSR500/570 then you'll feel at home with this camera
and its lenses.
Panasonic
has also announced a new camera, the AG-HVX200. This has been
launched in the USA and should be in the UK soon. Some people mistakenly
think this is an HDV camera. It isn't - potentially it is better! It
records using the DVCPRO HD format (as well as DVCPRO). It's other
interesting feature is that it records
onto P2 cards. These are removeable flash memory - which
makes for a quicker workflow because there is no need to transfer
from tape to computer hard drive for editing. You just plug in
the flash memory and off you go. Unfortunately, P2 cards are very
expensive approx $1,700 for an 8 GB card (as of June 2005). As
the P2 cards come down in price (and go up in capacity) then this
could be a very interesting camera. Until they you could
buy the Firestore
hard disk recorder. The camera records 1080i and 720p
(including 720/50p) - in fact if it really does all the variations that
they have listed in the marketing materials this will be an amazing
package. It was due to be launched in Dec 2005 but, at IBC we were told
it will probably be March 2006 before we see the PAL European version.
We
finally have an HDV camera from Canon, the
XL H1. This is the long-awaited successor to the
XL2 (although Canon don't expect to stop producing the XL2). It
is HDV and 1080i. Like the Sony Z1, it does not have true progressive
scan. So, those of you that wanted that (progressive) film look
may be disappointed. One of its most interesting features is HD
SDI output (Y Cr Cb, 4:2:2). This uncompressed output looked
incredibly good at the press launch in London - but SDI output
will probably only be used by someone using this camera
in a studio, using green screen or on a bigger budget producion.
Certainly, if you shoot multicamera this may be the one for you.
It has genlock to
sync up your cameras (essential if you are going through a vision
mixer) and timecode in/out, which will enable timecode to be synchronised
very accurately across multiple cameras for multicam editing later.
The XLH1 is the most expensive camera on this page. Canon believes
it will retail around 9,000 Euros (about £6,000).
All of these cameras are now on sale somewhere in the world. So,
if you are thinking of buying a camera this year - I've added
a comparison
table below - based on information currently available.
If money isn't burning a hole in your pocket here are a few things to consider before buying...
i for interlaced - p for progressive.
Interlacing is a clever technical trick used to minimize picture flicker on your TV. With interlaced scanning, a TV frame is composed of two fields. One field is made up of all the odd numbered lines, while the other field is made up of all the even numbered lines. These interlaced fields are usually refered to as 50i for PAL shooting (60i in NTSC) and the frame rate is very similar to how the eye sees the world (giving a natural-looking motion blur). If you have an old fashioned (CRT) TV - and watch the news and docs then you are watching interlaced pictures.
Progressive scanning scans the whole picture frame from top to bottom (like reading a book). If you watch programmes on a Plasma screen, LCD or DLP (Digital Light Projector), then you've already been watching pictures displayed in a progressive mode (although not necessarily recorded progressively).
With cameras, progressive scanning usually leaves us with 25 frames,
often refered to as 25p (30p in NTSC). This gets some people very
excited, because film is also shot at 24 (or 25) frames per second.
A camera that shoots true 24/25p will give you a film look without
all the costs associated with film production.
If you are on a low budget and want
to make video look like film make sure the camera shoots true 24p
or 25p. The JVC HD100 and HD101 does. The Sony Z1 and
Canon XLH1 do not. The Sony has a cineframe option and Canon
just calls it Frame and refer to it in its specs as 25f (to
distinguish it from true progressive - 25p). See Adam Wilt's
site for his explanation on what
Sony's cineframe is all about. The jury is still out on how
Panasonic will process 24/25p.
For a very good explanation with animated pictures on progressive
and interlaced pictures see www.avdeals.ca/classroom/Proscanexplained.htm -
it is more biased to the American audience but the explanation
should still be of use to us PAL people. There is also a good
explanation of interlaced and progressive scan at Avis communications.
I'd also recommend you look at the excellent Ken Stone site for more info on 24/25p and editing (with Final Cut Pro)
525 (480), 625 (576), 720 and 1080
These numbers all refer to the number of picture lines that make up your TV image. Standard definition (SD) PAL is 625 lines (576 active lines) while NTSC uses 525 lines (480 active lines). For the size of CRT TV that fits in most people's living rooms - this number of lines has given us good, watchable pictures for quite a few years (at least it has in PAL). But, TV sets are getting bigger, so pictures need to be better (ie have more lines) in order to really impress the neighbours.
High definition (HD) uses either 720 or 1080 lines. Here the number
of lines has nothing to do with the legacy of PAL or NTSC transmission
systems.
In fact BSkyB (in the UK) has announced that it will broadcast using
both 720p and 1080i in its subscription service being launched
in 2006. There are other higher definition recording systems available
(aimed initially at digital film production) that go above 1080i,
while 1080/50p or 60p is what many European broadcasters hope will
become the norm for high-end TV production within a few years.
The new cameras on this page will all shoot in SD and HD. The
question really is which HD do you want to record in? 720p (ie
JVC and Panasonic) or 1080i (Sony, Canon and Panasonic).
There is some good basic info on TV lines at www.internetcampus.org/tvp009.htm and www.internetcampus.org/tvp008.htm
COMPARISON CHART
This comparison chart compares the most most important features when choosing a camera for picture quality.
|
Sony HDR - FX1
|
Sony HVR - Z1
|
JVC GY - HD100/GY-HD101
|
Canon XLH1
|
Panasonic AG-HVX200
|
|
HDV, DV (SP and LP) |
HDV, DVCAM and DV |
HDV and DV |
HDV and DV
HD SDI uncompressed output
|
DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO50,
DVCPRO25 and DV
|
1080/50i (or 60i)
(Cineframe not true progressive)
|
1080/50i and 60i
(Cineframe not true progressive)
|
720/24p, 25p, 30p,
576/50i, 50p, 24p
(true progressive) |
1080/50i and 60i
25f (frame mode not true progressive)
|
1080/60i, 30p, 24p
720/60p, 30p, 24p
480/60i, 30p, 24p (US)
1080/50i, 50p, 25p
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Sony HVR-Z1, the JVC
GY-HD100/101, the Panasonic
AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 camcorder and, the most recent addition,
the Canon XLH1. This is our comparison and review
of these cameras with a beginners' guide to what to look for in a
camera.