Camera manufacturers are getting so close to delivering what most of us would consider to be the ideal camcorder. But what would that camera consist of?
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Comments (3) for "Searching for the Perfect Camera"
1.
Hi Will, I enjoyed this article (Searching for the Perfect Camera). I would like to point out a that the P2 workflow does not need but 3 or 4 Flash Memory Cards (@16GB/card; 1080i eating ~1 GB/minute.) and a place to dump the cards, like a laptop (CitiDisk, P2 store or FireStore) and if you're really efficient, you could get by with only 2 cards! Also, hard drive space is now cheaper than tape or optical disk space. Equate this hypothetical weekend operation to carrying a 16mm camera and daylight loading spools into the woods. 100 ft of film is 2:45 minutes, so 6 one-hundred foot spools would equal the 16 GB card in running time. Now multiple that by 8. I love film but P2 solid state becomes so much more appealing, considering this. Here's to the perfect cam, coming soon?
Posted by Thomas Gertsch on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 @ 12:28 AM
2.
I just thought I would make a note about the Ikegami section (since that is the one I am most familiar with, I have only used the Panasonic system a little). Ikegami has recently come out with solid state recording packs as well as the hard drive field packs. Also his concern for the durability of the hard disks is not a problem. I have been using the hard disk recording units for about 5 years now and have only had two minor failures. I am shooting mainly ENG type work with some EFP. I have dropped them and kicked them (accidentally) and had not problems. I have used each field pack probably over a one hundred times. I had a sector in go out in two different field packs, which caused basically the loss of one take in one unit, on the other unit I just had to download differently and I didn't loose any footage. He also had a concern about the heat. I have shot with these cameras outside in the Texas summer heat for hours and not had any problems. Yes I am an advocate of the Ikegami system, I only wish the cameras were a little lighter. Although we are seriously looking at the new Sony XDCAM EX in the near future, and have already purchased a Panasonic HVX200 in the last month.
Posted by Steve Andrews on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 @ 03:18 PM
3.
We received a demo of the Panasonic HVX200 but can't seem to get one on the Sony XDCAM EX. I know the Panasonic can record and playback at 50mbps and hear the Sony EX only at 35mbps. Does anyone know if that is true and it there a big difference? Thanks
Sheri
Posted by Sheri Coleman on Monday, November 26, 2007 @ 04:31 PM
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