The Blog for Video 2.0
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sony releases three new HD camcorders for consumers, no budget filmmakers
Sony continues their push to win over the consumer HD camcorder market by release three new HD cams.
The HDR-CX7 ($1200 MSRP), is their first to record exclusively to a removable flash media, Memory Stick PRO Duo. Also announced today were the HDR-SR5 and HDR-SR7, two new hard disk drive high definition models. All new models use the new AVCHD codec, which is an implementation of H.264 encoding for hard disk and memory card based camcorders.
This brings the total number of sub-$2000 Sony HD camcorders to seven, over three times as many as Panasonic or Canon currently offers. Five of the seven utilize the new AVCHD codec.
It will be interesting to see if these new cameras gain acceptance in the low budget indie filmmaking market, where manual control is just as important as image quality.
The HDR-CX7 ($1200 MSRP), is their first to record exclusively to a removable flash media, Memory Stick PRO Duo. Also announced today were the HDR-SR5 and HDR-SR7, two new hard disk drive high definition models. All new models use the new AVCHD codec, which is an implementation of H.264 encoding for hard disk and memory card based camcorders.
This brings the total number of sub-$2000 Sony HD camcorders to seven, over three times as many as Panasonic or Canon currently offers. Five of the seven utilize the new AVCHD codec.
It will be interesting to see if these new cameras gain acceptance in the low budget indie filmmaking market, where manual control is just as important as image quality.
Labels: avchd, camcorder, hdv, high definition, sony
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Movie making on a budget
Most of us don't have unlimited funds. For those of us on a budget, here is my list for great budget-minded movie making gear.
Camera:
The just announed Canon HV20 looks like a real winner, but the lack of real world usage means we can't recommend it just yet. So here is the list
Under $1,000:
Panasonic GS500 3CCD Standard Definition with high quality 16:9 mode and frame mode with CineGamma.
Sony HDR-HC5 1080i HDV Camcorder, 2.1 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, 10x Optical/80x Digital Zoom, 2.7" Touch Panel LCD Screen, Carl Zeiss Lens
Under $1,500:
Sony HDR-HC7 1080i HDV Camcorder, 3.2 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, 10x Optical, 2.7" Touch Panel LCD Screen, Carl Zeiss Lens, Optical Image Stabilizer
Under $3,000:
Canon XL-2 1/3-Inch 3-CCD Widescreen MiniDV Camcorder with 24P Recording, Body Only without Lens
Panasonic AG-DVX100B 3-CCD 24p/30p/60i Mini-DV Cinema Camcorder, NTSC, with CineSwitch Technology, CineGamma Software, FireWire Interface
Under $5,000:
Canon XH-A1 3CCD HDV Camcorder, 1080i, 16:9, 20x Lens, 24f Mode
HDR-FX7 3CMOS HDV 1080i 16:9 Camcorder Kit, includes Anton Bauer ElipZ Battery Package and Camcorder Bag
Camera:
The just announed Canon HV20 looks like a real winner, but the lack of real world usage means we can't recommend it just yet. So here is the list
Under $1,000:
Panasonic GS500 3CCD Standard Definition with high quality 16:9 mode and frame mode with CineGamma.
Sony HDR-HC5 1080i HDV Camcorder, 2.1 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, 10x Optical/80x Digital Zoom, 2.7" Touch Panel LCD Screen, Carl Zeiss Lens
Under $1,500:
Sony HDR-HC7 1080i HDV Camcorder, 3.2 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, 10x Optical, 2.7" Touch Panel LCD Screen, Carl Zeiss Lens, Optical Image Stabilizer
Under $3,000:
Canon XL-2 1/3-Inch 3-CCD Widescreen MiniDV Camcorder with 24P Recording, Body Only without Lens
Panasonic AG-DVX100B 3-CCD 24p/30p/60i Mini-DV Cinema Camcorder, NTSC, with CineSwitch Technology, CineGamma Software, FireWire Interface
Under $5,000:
Canon XH-A1 3CCD HDV Camcorder, 1080i, 16:9, 20x Lens, 24f Mode
HDR-FX7 3CMOS HDV 1080i 16:9 Camcorder Kit, includes Anton Bauer ElipZ Battery Package and Camcorder Bag
Labels: camcorder, digital video, equipment, filmmaking, hdv
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Canon HV20 Released! True 24p HDV at consumer prices!
Canon today announced the US availability of their new HV20 High Definition camcorder. The HV20 joins the HV10 in Canon's consumer HDV lineup. The HV20 should deliver better low-light performance than it's predecessor but these claims have not yet been proven in real world tests.
The real gem in the HV20 for indie filmmakers is the inclusion of a true 24p mode. The camcorder will offer a Cinema mode, a one-touch, on/off setting that shifts colors to appear more like film. The setting corresponds to Custom Preset #8 (Cine V.) in the XH A1/G1 camcorders. The 24P frame rate and Cinema color mode are available independently or together. This will allow budget minded filmmakers to shoot on HDV and get even closer to the "film look".
The Canon HV20 has an MSRP of $1099 and will be available in mid-April 2007. This should be one hot little camcorder.
Labels: camcorder, Canon, digital video, equipment, filmmaking, hdv, high definition
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The slow but inevitable death of MiniDV
At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the big three (Sony, Canon, Panasonic) camcorder manufactures continued a big push away from MiniDV in their consumer camcorders. Direct-to-DVD models are now taking up most of the higher end options for consumers.
There has always been a question on how many point-and-shoot users will edit their footage. It is definitly the minority of camcorder users. Most people want to pick up the camera in auto mode, shoot some footage of the kids and then view the footage in the easiest way possible. This is why DVD-based models have gained in popularity. Most people don't care to edit down their footage into the best bits. They will scan through tons of bad video just to find those few good clips.
My issues with shift away from MiniDV are not about editing. The bigger issues, as I see it, are the elimination of a very good means of archiving and the loss in video quality. DVD-based models begin and end with MPEG2 video. MPEG2 is a delivery format that was never intended to be used for capture. It is much more highly compressed than DV, and therefore much of the information (video quality) is being lost due to compression.
The next issue is storage and archival. The footage created from DVD-based camcorders is very difficult to edit on a computer. Therefore, if the disk is damaged your video may be lost. While this could also happen to MiniDV tapes, DVDs are much more easy to scratch or become misplaced.
As we look toward the future, Sony and Panasonic are pushing AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec for High Definition) for consumer models. AVCHD is based on H.264 and MPEG4 and will probably yield excellent video quality for consumers. But these cameras used hard drives, DVDs or flash memory (SD) cards to capture and store your video. Again, a safe, inexpensive and effect way to archive our footage is missing.
What happens to users who shoot video onto an SD card and then forget to backup or move the footage to their computer? How do consumers keep gigabytes and gigabytes of hard drive space available for all their footage?
MiniDV tapes still provide the best storage method for consumers. The tapes take up very little physical space, are extremely affordable and the DV format provides excellent SD video quality for consumers (when a good midrange camera is used).
I am not sold on flash, hard drive or DVDs for video capture and storage. I worry about how many lost births, soccer games and birthday parites will result from consumers not having a good backup due to the lack of a physical tape. Time will tell. But, my next camcorder will probably be an HDV model, recording to good old fashioned MiniDV tapes.
There has always been a question on how many point-and-shoot users will edit their footage. It is definitly the minority of camcorder users. Most people want to pick up the camera in auto mode, shoot some footage of the kids and then view the footage in the easiest way possible. This is why DVD-based models have gained in popularity. Most people don't care to edit down their footage into the best bits. They will scan through tons of bad video just to find those few good clips.
My issues with shift away from MiniDV are not about editing. The bigger issues, as I see it, are the elimination of a very good means of archiving and the loss in video quality. DVD-based models begin and end with MPEG2 video. MPEG2 is a delivery format that was never intended to be used for capture. It is much more highly compressed than DV, and therefore much of the information (video quality) is being lost due to compression.
The next issue is storage and archival. The footage created from DVD-based camcorders is very difficult to edit on a computer. Therefore, if the disk is damaged your video may be lost. While this could also happen to MiniDV tapes, DVDs are much more easy to scratch or become misplaced.
As we look toward the future, Sony and Panasonic are pushing AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec for High Definition) for consumer models. AVCHD is based on H.264 and MPEG4 and will probably yield excellent video quality for consumers. But these cameras used hard drives, DVDs or flash memory (SD) cards to capture and store your video. Again, a safe, inexpensive and effect way to archive our footage is missing.
What happens to users who shoot video onto an SD card and then forget to backup or move the footage to their computer? How do consumers keep gigabytes and gigabytes of hard drive space available for all their footage?
MiniDV tapes still provide the best storage method for consumers. The tapes take up very little physical space, are extremely affordable and the DV format provides excellent SD video quality for consumers (when a good midrange camera is used).
I am not sold on flash, hard drive or DVDs for video capture and storage. I worry about how many lost births, soccer games and birthday parites will result from consumers not having a good backup due to the lack of a physical tape. Time will tell. But, my next camcorder will probably be an HDV model, recording to good old fashioned MiniDV tapes.
Labels: avchd, camcorder, dvd, hdv, minidv
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]