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High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.

YES, I am available for consulting
Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com

All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.

Friday, September 09, 2005

IBC 2005 Report - news, pictures, & video of HD camcorders, including video of Panasonic HVX-200 (!)-UPDATED 

UPDATE - I think I misconstrued something Martijn typed - contrary to what he wrote in the wee hours as a non-native English speaker, I DO expect the HVX-200 to ship THIS December, in a few months. Whew!


My man in Amsterdam, Martijn Schroevers, was kind enough to take some pictures and send me a report about the latest in low cost HD camcorders from Panasonic, JVC, & Sony, as well as Ikegami's higher end EditCAM HD that records to Avid's DNxHD format. Martijn's a sharp guy, we've been talking geek for some time and I trust his read on stuff.

I have posted his IBC 2005 Pictures on my .mac page, and he was kind enough to shoot some video of the Panasonic HVX-200 and I have posted it as a QuickTime movie on my .mac page as well - it shows him picking it up, manipulating it, opening hatches, showing the buttons, etc. as he discusses it with a friend.

From Martijn:

Mike,

Obviously I did not receive your mail before I took off for Amsterdam. I'll try to answer your questions on my next visit.

The next bit is just stumbled into my Powerbook, so forgive me my typing errors and feel free to transfer this into decent English ;-)

IBC Day one, Camera's:

Panasonic HVX-200 - hands on and working!

Panasonic shows working prototypes of their HVX-200. First impression: Quite bulky. Much shorter, wider and heavier than the sony ZX1. First image impression: It looks really good on the monitors. Nice soft image with rich colors and lot's of detail. At least comparable with the Sony ZX1. At first glance sharper in the corners. I'll check later how they get the live video out, since no component output can be found... In the Apple booth they have one as well. It actually works as I saw some footage shot just outside the IBC building. Leica lens, with manual zoom and focus control. also connections for remote control. They will ship in two flavours: Next december (I'm 99% sure he meant to say THIS December -mike): NTSC version with 1080i 60 1080p 24 (YES a true 24P version!) 720p60 and 720p24. All DVCPRO 100HD. Also DVCPRO 25 and 50 and DV. First quarter 2006: PAL version with 1080i 50, 1080p 25 (!!) 720p50 and 720p25. Price will be around $6000. There is a tapedrive (mini DV) and 2 x P2 slots. The tape will only record DV. All the other formats will use the P2 slots. Connectivity: USB2 (don't know what comes out there) FireWire (just DV out) and analog composite video and audio. So no component video out. Obviously Panasonic is forcing P2 into the market through this camera, since it's the only way to get HD out of it. I have not checked on the resolution of the image sensor, but that is quite a challenge, since the only Panasonic reps who KNOW anything about this camera are Japanese. The first one I spoke to told me DVCPRO 25 and 50 would also record to the tapedrive, which was later recalled by some german Panasonic reps. The price of an 8Gb P2 card is kept secret, and will be unveiled in december. The 4 Gb cards sell for $1.200 now. With the current 2 Gb memorychip price arounf $200 my guess is the price will half when this camera ships.

JVC's GY-HD100 HDV camera

The JVC HD100 has arrived. The picture looks quite video-ish and harsh. The footage I saw that was shot with the HD100 with the mini35 setup looked much better. But that was shot outside in bright daylight and not in an exhibition hall. Here they have that setup too and inside it looks underexposed. Maybe the difference with the Sony Z1 and the Panasonic HVX200 is the difference between 1080 and 720. The incredible detail of 1080 might give the film look. After all 720 lines is not so much more than our 576 PAL lines...

Sony HDV: the new Sony HVR-A1U tiny little HDV camera

Sony shows production version of the new HVR-A1U or E one-CMOS HDV camera. Picture quality looks good, though not as good as the Z1. It's amazingly small though. The separate audio block with the XLR inputs and the microphone can be removed (as well as the lens hood) so it will be even smaller. This is a HD camera that will fit almost anywhere! For the rest just a typical Sony DV camera in terms of features and image quality.

Ikegami's Editcam HD - captures directly to Avid's DNxHD format

Ikegami goes the AVID route with the Editcam HD based on three 2.1 megapixel CMOS sensors. This camera records in AVID DNxHD to Harddisk. It will record 1080i60, 1080p24, 720p60 and 1080i50, 1080p25 and 720p50. Image quality of Ikegami camera's has alwys been superb and the picture looks great on a monitor, but the system is completely tied to AVID. This camera will sell for $48.000. The 80Gb HD pack sells for $650. Compare that with the $1200 for a 4 Gb Panasonic P2 card.

Later more.

Martijn
Posted by: Mike Curtis / 9/09/2005 05:40:00 PM
Comments:
No component video out? Damn. I was hoping for uncompressed component functionality. Maybe someone will make a device that plugs into the P2 slot and captures to something like the Firestore.
# posted by Blogger Zeke : Fri Sep 09, 06:54:00 PM CST
 
I'd read previously that the HVX100 would have HD-out of the Firewire port. That didn't make a lot of business sense for Panasonic, but all the users were happy.

As it stands, it looks like they did the expected thing and are going to use this camera to force P2 into the market. I agree that given Apple's use of 4gb ipod nanos for $250, $1200 for a P2 card is kind of insane.

I hope someone will make something to output straight to a harddisk or perhaps Reel-Stream will do their magic like they did with the DVX100a (although that product STILL hasn't been released).
# posted by Anonymous Hayden Rivers : Fri Sep 09, 09:32:00 PM CST
 
yeah, I think it is very interesting that, at this time, it appears there is no component video out for SD or HD. If true, seems to be a specific and intentional shortcoming, and would steer some of that work back to the JVC camera for higher quality (or at least compression artifact free) images.

I'm still hoping Focus Enhancements can make a FireStor type device for this camera; if they can't, it's usefulness to the indie crowd is severely curtailed - or at least the "usable package price" goes to to about $12K with 2 8GB cards and the card downloader gadget that has a hard drive in it.

-mike
# posted by Blogger Mike Curtis : Sat Sep 10, 09:02:00 AM CST
 
hmm.. i dunno, really, if the sony has it they can't afford to not have a component HD out (even though i think the practical use is limited).

fwiw, from:
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&itemId=93120&catGroupId=14569&modelNo=AG-HVX200&surfModel=AG-HVX200

• 1080/60i, 1080/24p, 1080/30p, 720/60p, 720/24p, 720/30p, 480/60i, 480/24p, 480/30p

• Some variable frame rates in 720p mode

• DVCPRO HD/50/25 and DV recording

• 1/3" 16:9 native progressive 3-CCD imager

• 16:9/4:3 switchable for DVCPRO 50/25 and DV recording, 16:9 native for DVCPRO HD

• Wide angle Leica Dicomar high definition lens with optical image stabilizer (motorized/manual mode switchable)

• ND filters

• Cam-driven manual zoom

• CineGammaTM and NewsGamma software

• Two P2 card slots

• Mini-DV tape transport for DV recording

• 3.5" LCD display

• 48kHz 16-bit 4-channel PCM audio (2 XLRs)

• HD Component (D4) output

• Composite input/output

• S-Video input/output

• Standard IEEE 1394 interface

• USB 2.0

so, that's HD component out right there..
also note that there's also a trailer on that page (prolly been mentioned here before)

chris
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# posted by Blogger freefun0616 : Mon Sep 21, 03:47:00 AM CST
 
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