Betacam SX vs. XH A1 (HDV)
 

The colours of Sony's Betcam SX Cameras are wonderful. Is the A1 capable of giving such colours or are these only achieved using expensive Sony cameras?

I normally shoot with a Sony DSR500, and a recent interview I did with the XH A1 looked better than similar interviews I've shot with the 500. Both cameras have a huge number of adjustments to color, so you can get what you want out of either one; but it's very surprising to me that HDV shot with a 1/3" chip camera can actually look better than DVCAM with a 2/3" chip camera.

Interview Settings
 

Bill,

I will be doing interviews with the XH A1 also - could you share with me what presets and other camera configuration you used for interviews. Also - did you use three point lighting or did you use a light on the camera, or did you rely on ambient light? If you did the interviewing as well as the camera work, how did you set up the audio for the job?

I shot in 24F, with the cine 1 custom preset that I tweak just a little. I think I took the shapness down a click and pressed the blacks a click. Lighting was with Lowel Caselights with daylight lamps. I have two Caselight 4s and one Caselight 2. However, there was a window cleverly placed for a nice backlight, and one to the side for a fill, so I just keyed with one light and that was it.

For sound I used an MKH60 on a fishpole mounted on a small C-stand, in the usual position of just over the subject's head and out in front a little. This was sort of a quick and dirty thing in a very confined space, so I didn't even take the mixer; but the audio sounded good and clean.

In this case I did the interviewing. The subject was seated and I also sat in a chair just to the left of the camera, so I could watch on the LCD screen. Between questions I'd zoom in and recompose. If you want the subject facing left to right, you can do the same thing from the right side of the camera by tilting the LCD in and up so you can glance it it sort of through or over the handle, depending on the height.

The DSR500 records in DVCAM format. My query regarded the Beta SX. Is the A1 capable of giving the same colours as Sony's Beta SX cameras?

I mentioned the DSR500WS because most people seem to think the DVCAM footage from it looks better than equivalent footage from the Betacam SX cameras. You can adjust the colors for whatever look you like with both the 500 and the XHA1.