Sony Z/V1U and shooting action.

My buddy said they have the same data rate ( forget exactly what he said ) as a SD minidv camera, so it can give you hits as you shoot action cause its trying to capture HD images at a slower rate. (dont know if that makes sense, i dont know from tech like I'd like to, just wish it didn't put me to sleep.)

shooting martial arts...should I tell the camera op to lock it off and just capture the action rather shooting hand held ( would that even help?)

I would love to have more dynamic shots but I dont want to sacrifice the quality of the picture.

Nutshell: is there a shooting style that suits the Z/V1U more than another?

thanks!

The Z is a good camera for martial arts. You can use it hand-held or on tripod. The hits will look better if you angle the camera from behind the person throwing the punch/kick. You don't want to show the gap between two combatants in profile where it shows a clear miss.

The Z1P is not ideal for martial arts or anything that is not still.

What you mentioend above about the data close to true, the Z1P uses the [Mini] HDV Codec which captures at 2.7MB/Sec as opposed to Mini DV at 3.5MB/Sec. (Even less information)

The intense compresison of the HDV codec makes it unsuitable for anything moving fast as it may cause the image to break up and look really crappy.

Even Mini DV is better than HDV for your purpose.

Johan Polhem
Motion Graphics
www.johanpolhem.com

HDV sucks for high motion PERIOD. anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is either blind or a liar.
locking down your tripod WILL help a good bit, but anything that moves quickly IS gonna be jerky.

HOWEVER, i would think that martial arts is such a quick burst activity that, it wouldnt be as noticeable as say cycling, footbal or auto racing... what HDV blows the worst at is panning

Cool, thanks guys!

Locked off it is. I figured that it was panning that is the problem. I worked with media from this cam for a mixed martial arts job, they had it locked while guys were doing heavy bag and hand held for sparring, it looked good I didn't see any bad hits or anything. I will make sure we dont do crazy swish pans or any quick motions.

they are gonna test shoot to work the camera and go through our work flow for post.

They are in Hawaii and I am in Los Angeles. I told them to ingest the media there and send me a g-tech. I figured that's the best way. They travel here for the main post process, I will have the stuff for a week before they get here to build an open.

so I will tell them about the panning etc...

It seems this format is the only HD option for us that dont have big budget shows or don't have a lot of money for a proper HD cam.

Is Sony gonna address this problem for the HDV cams and make them "faster?" I wonder what they are gonna have at NAB.

thanks again!

m.

my knee-jerk prediction (and my prayer) is that HDV will go the way of 8 track. of course when i first heard mp3s i had the same response. seems quality takes an evolutionary back seat to price and portability.

it happened with desktop publishing, then desktop video, and now proper video acquisition.

as a side note i also have yet to see any HD broadcast that is so great [overall] that it makes up for its shortcomings - yet the whole market is in a tizzy to get it...

taste is subjective. : (

Mark19

In that price range there is also the HVX202 from Panasonic.

It not only shoots proper high Quality HD but it also shoots in slowmotion which I am sure you could appreciate.
This would be a far better choice in your price range.

Johan Polhem
Motion Graphics
www.johanpolhem.com

ah, jp. as an HVX owner i have to excitedly agree - you have a SUPERB POINT!!!

BUT one has to factor in "cost of entry" to the tapeless (p2/firestore) workflow. from a direct out-of-pocket standpoint. the HVX IS more costly than any HDV angle... (thats what kept me in XL2 land for 14 months after the HVX release)

... unless you are BILLING for log and capture time. only THEN do the dollars start to wash out.

Wayne.

Can you elaborate please.

I am in the process (finally) of getting a HVX202 with an 8GB card and an extra Firestore drive.
Hopefully next week.

What do you mean by the extra time of logging and capture?

Does it take a lot longer to capture from the P2 cards?

have you had any problems with the camera?

Johan Polhem
Motion Graphics
www.johanpolhem.com

no not at all. the transfer and import process is kinda slow, (takes about 8 min to transfer a full card on my g4 powerbook, and about 2 min to import that into FCP)

but my point is that if you shoot tape you have to log and capture that tape, but with the p2/firestore process you dont do that (not in the traditional manner anyway) so with my personal workflow i save a TON of time there.

id suggest that you also look into the p2/hd log software from imagine products. they allow you to view your p2 media before injesting into FCP thats a BIG help! the higher priced HD log products will even allow you to edit the clips. really cool stuff...

i have had zero probs with the hvx. there are things i like more and less about it. but overall, the beautiful images more than make up for any shortcomings