buying new camera...

greetings

about to buy a camera...
being influenced by many in many different areas
hearing alot on the new sony HD which i believe is around $4000...
i have a few questions that i would love feedback if anyone has ideas:


how does the HD interface with final cut 4.5 hd
can it digitize straight in?
what are the media storage issues?
MOST IMPORTANTLY what will this do to my costs in post?
what are the issues i need to consider...

secondly, any votes on what is the best way to spend $4000
when buying a camera at this point in time? IS IT the sony HD
or another = i know one answer will be it depends on the project
or one's needs, and to address that, all i can add is that my upcoming
project involved recreations (the project that will be paying for the
new camera) and i was thinking to do this 24p/so how is the new
sony HD when it comes to 24p or true 16x9...

sorry for the wordy post but i could really use an assist...

thanks

s.auerbach wrote:

>
>
> greetings
>
> about to buy a camera...
> being influenced by many in many different areas
> hearing alot on the new sony HD which i believe is around
> $4000...

That would be the FX1?

> how does the HD interface with final cut 4.5 hd
> can it digitize straight in?

No. Not with FCP. yet...well you can get a Kona 2 card or a decklink HD card and a SATA Raid of drives and do it.

> what are the media storage issues?

Depends on how you go in. Using HDVxDV you can convert to dvcproHD and requirements aren't much more than DV.

> MOST IMPORTANTLY what will this do to my costs in post?
> what are the issues i need to consider...

Editing this stuff is the issue and can cost you lots. You need to do a lot of reading on this before you purchase. Good place to start is here:

[www.hdvcafe.com]
>
> secondly, any votes on what is the best way to spend $4000
> when buying a camera at this point in time? IS IT the sony HD
> or another = i know one answer will be it depends on the
> project
> or one's needs, and to address that, all i can add is that my
> upcoming
> project involved recreations (the project that will be paying
> for the
> new camera) and i was thinking to do this 24p/so how is the new
> sony HD when it comes to 24p or true 16x9...

The FX1 isn't true 24p. The new JVC Pro HD is and the soon to be unveiled HDX100 from Panasonic will be, but not Sony.

After NAB you will have more choices than what is out there now. In meantime read and read some more

Mike

FCP does not currently support the HDV format. Final Cut Express does, however. You can use a third-party program (Lumiere) to use the HDV video in FCP. There is also a workflow if you have both FCP and FCE installed.

Reasonable expectation is that a new version of FCP will be released at NAB in late April.

"There is also a workflow if you have both FCP and FCE installed."

What is the workflow? How can I do it?

Use FCE to capture the whole tape and then bring it into FCP using the AIC codec.

mike

im sure im going to get flamed big time for saying this, but... i say screw HD at the moment. for three reasons:

1. to do it right will cost from $10k to $200k more than SD
2. the cheaper route of HDV is kind of unproven with FCP
3. from what ive read here, the cheap HD cameras are full of compromises.

any SD FCP setup can be very easilly migrated to HD as it gets more reasonable.
so i say get you a canon xl2 (which looks excellent!) for now and work in 16:9 24p and your work will have a nice "indy film" look AND id bet about 70% of your clients probably wont know the difference anyway.

I just bought a Canon XL2. After the initial rush and then "buyer's remorse" I have found that this camera is outstanding. I have a HD TV set and the picture quality blew me through the couch.

i have used xl1's for years, always marginally happy with them. i was reluctant to try the xl2 - but none the less, i did. and im VERY GLAD I DID.

the xl2 does a fantasic job at just about everything, better audio ins, better image quality, more rugged, and still super portable...

buy 2!

Doesn't anyone like Sony DV cams anymore PDF150,170, VX2000, 2001?
All you hear about is the XL2. How is it better (considering no flipout viewfinder) than the 170/2100?

the lower cost (under$10k) sony cameras just feel really consumer-ish to me.
for that matter, so did the xl1. to me the pd170 doesnt come anywhere near the feel of the xl1, and the xl2 blows them all out of the way.

plus you cant beat having the choice of interchangeable lenses...

Quote

im sure im going to get flamed big time for saying this, but... i say screw HD at the moment.

I think better images would gathered by purchasing a Panny DVX100A, and then spend the remainder on lighting EQ and a book or class on technique (that's not to say you don't know what you're doing, btw. Technique can always be improved.)

Either way, I'd definitely wait for NAB (April 15) at this point. Surely FCP will announce some sort of native HDV support, and I hear that we'll see a couple more prosumer HDV cameras revealed.

Good luck.