AJ-HDC27FE or Sony F900?
 

Hi guys,

I am in the process of planning to shoot my feature on HD.
This is the first time i'll be using HD, and i really need some advice.

Right now , these are the 2 cameras choices.
My budget is limited, and i'm leaning towards the renting Panasonic AJ-HDC27FE as it's cheaper.

Can you guys give me some advice and feedback on which one I should go for?
I'm not sure if I should spend more for F900 as my budget is really tight right now.
Hope to get some advice. Thanks in advance.

the 900 puts many more pixels on the screen (1920x1080p vs 1280x720p) ..
the varicam IMO has more of the film look ... if viewing on HD/SD tv i don't think you'll see difference ? viewing on the BIG silver screen ( 20-40ft) those extra pixels will be seen with the 900 or missed if varicam...

but there 's more to it then that ... varicam can shoot varible speeds = do you plan to use that ? will there be any problems in post getting a deck that can play the HDcam or varicam tapes ? if you do use vari-speeds is the special "box" available to play it back ?

as with any rental house the list price may not be the price you pay = all supply and demand ..in LA you can get 900's for same price ( sometimes less) as Varicams many months of the year = simply because there are more 900 for rent .. if camera's are not going out on rental then they are more likely to give you a better week rate.

Don thanks for the reply.

I don't plan to use the variable speed feature. And the feature film is for theatrical release, so we'll transfer it to 35mm for the end product.
Over here, it's more expensive renting a F900, and therefore i'm not really sure if the extra cost is justified. Regarding in post, whichever cam we rent, we'll also rent the deck from them for the post.

So if you are in my situation, will you go for F900 even if you've to pay more?
will choosing one over the other make a noticeable difference to the untrain eye?

Thanks for the advice.

Varicam
 

Are you tranferring to film?

go Varicam or F900, unless the HDC camera will shoot 720p