El camera (a thread for asian allen)

Alex=God

Alex=God

Active member
I have been really confused lately in my purcahse of a video camera because of people saying things like dv is dead, no its not tape is dead, oh but flash memory is good quality, oh wait sd cards suck oh but the hv series is great, oh wait its dv no its not. So I am asking a simple question. for six hundred dollars, what is the best camera I can buy? Just plain old the best camera. I dont wanna know what the best camera for 700 or 800 or 1500 is, just 600 dollars plain and simple? I look forward to your input allen
 
apart from that confusing the fuck out of me, and having no idea a good camera under 600, dv is not dead. i can record 1080i on to it, yeah...
 
i would say for 600, a used hv20/30 would probably be a good thing to get... although the tapes may be going out of use, for 600 bucks, right now, this is the best thing you could get i think. i havent really been keeping up too much with camera stuff, so i may be wrong, but its still worth checking out.
 
Tapes aren't dead yet, they will be eventually the next 1-2 years, but not right now.
 
The idea of a format "dying" is completely absurd. People still shoot skate videos using the VX1000 which was released 12 years ago, and was the FIRST MiniDV camera.

Don't let all the techie bullshit stop you from making movies. Get an HV30 and start shooting lots!
 
i could sell you a panasonic pv-gs500 for 500 dollars that is in prime time condition with a lens hood and a rode video mic.
 
True, but then again. Broadcast companies still shoot in beta and i'm pretty sure we can all agree that beta is good and dead. Just because a format is dead doesn't mean it becomes unusable. VHS is dead, but you can still use your VCR and even buy movies. MiniDV is very nearly dead.... doesn't mean that you still cant' shoot 1080i to it and it will do a pretty good job. Dead doesn't mean unusable, ity just means that something more effecient/better took the limelight. Flash is the future (no moving parts, no dropped frames, no need for real time capture, etc).
 
it aint much but its all i got

sony-hdr-fx1000.865143.jpg

 
uh...no it's not. The footage is 480i before it even touches your computer. Not the same thing. Yes, down-converted "HD" footage in SD format looks better than something that was shot in SD, but you're still ending up with shitty ass 480i, no way around it.
 
Landis, you get a 1080i picture, i dunno care how it works but you get a 1080 shot on your comp. same with 720p shots record on JVCs, they are 720 on the computer. Boo Hoo its on a tape, its still 1920x1080 resolution!
 
you sure it's not up-res'd from its down-res'd state?

Show me a miniDV tape that records in 1080i and I'll believe you.
 
As far as I know, those tapes use the same compression ratio as regular minDV tapes (25 mbps). the main difference being that the miniDV uses DCT compression (which is less reliable) whereas the HDV uses MPEG-2.

 
HDV format records 1440 x 1080 and stretches the frame(s) in compression. not 1920 x 1080. Plus HDV uses 4:2:0 chroma sampling which looks shitty in my opinion.
 
I have an HV20, it uses tapes, I use those Sony HD miniDV-based tapes, and when the files are on my computer, they are in 1920x1080 resolution.
 
Word, I believe the codec is some sort of proprietary Canon codec, which outputs .m2t files.

But if the original files are 1440x1080, would they not appear stretched when they get converted to 1920x1080?
 
i cannot believe this arguement is even happening. OF COURSE you can record hd onto mini dv tapes. I think where the confusion lies is in the compression. While both DV and HDV are compressed to around 25MBPS, DV is 480i while HDV is 1080i. Simply because they are the same bit rate, does not mean that they're the same resolution.
 
no, but it means that roughly the same amount of data is being exchanged. Just because a camera company labels it as "HD" doesn't mean it is hd. Why do you think they had to invent the term "HDV" in the first place?

and get an HV30. Best cam for the $$
 
What the fuck hahahahahaha. How is this happening. Im siding with E heath and horner on this one, you really want i think there is a page in my xh manual about it that i can copy and prove the point
 
HD is defined as any resolution higher than than 720x480... The whole HDV isn't HD argument makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

So when you are watching The Deadliest Catch in HD, which is shot on the Sony Fx1(HDV), tell me how that isn't HD?

HDV is high def, and it records onto mini dv tapes. It's that simple

.
 
I keep seeing people say "True HD". "True HD" is any camera that shoots at a resolution higher than 720x480 simply put. There are varying forms of codecs and ways that cameras handle the information, but if a camera says it shoots HD, then it shoots HD. A $400 HD camera and a $10,000 HD camera both shoot HD, the $10,000 camera is no more "True" than the $400 camera.

HD refers to frame size, it's not a codec. And if you're under the impression that the HPX shoots uncompressed HD or as you call it "True HD", you're mistaken.

And to answer the thread creators question again, go with a used HV30 and start shooting. The HV30 is a good camera, and if you know how to shoot, you'll do good things with it.

Examples of some HV30 work.

http://www.vimeo.com/3801912

http://www.vimeo.com/2372395

http://www.vimeo.com/2803679

 
This is true, but I find it strange how there is such a variety of "HD" quality. For instance, HDV generally looks like shit wheras p2 looks somewhat good...I think there needs to be a new term for cameras that actually shoot "good" HD, yadadamean?
 
You're just watching the wrong stuff man. HDV footage shot by some kid on the hill with a little handy cam does look like crap a lot of the time. There have been numerous films shot on HDV that look really good.

Crank 2: High Voltage, shot on Canon XHA1's and canon HF10's. A $4,000 HDV cam and a $1,000 avchd cam. The average HDV user would never guess in a million years that it was shot on the XHA1 because the film is shot so damn well, and in such a ground breaking way. To say HDV generally looks like crap is false, you have to look outside of NS at what is being shot on HDV cams. In the era of amazing new digital techonology, a lot of people are forgetting that it's the film maker that creates the content, and that the camera is merely a tool and is 1/10 of what makes a film good. The camera doesn't make your subject look good, the eyes behind the camera do. I think a lot of kids with no understanding of the art of film making are going out and buying HD cams thinking and expecting that their footage will look amazing, and that couldn't be any further from the truth.

Case and Point. This just proves that a good film maker can go out and create something amazing with a "lousy HDV camera". It makes me upset that the average viewer wont and can't apprecaite how much talent it takes to make a film like this. Just from watching the trailer, I'm already really excited about this film, it's a big F you to all the HDV haters out there. I'll admit, I got caught up in the whole new technology wave, but this film snapped me out of it and back to reality and into the true art of film making.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/crank2/
 
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