XDCAM used for weddings
 

Hi

I have a few questions

1.Are these cameras suitable for recording weddings

2. Which model would you recommend for shooting weddings anything from 4hrs to 10hrs coverage depending on wedding

3.I know the discs come in 23gig is that the largest size they are in at the moment

4.How many times can you re-use a disc

5. What happens if i am taping and i bump the camera just a slight tap against a wall for example will this effect the recording

Regards

robert

1.

Yes these camera's are suitable for shooting high-end weddings. Why not?

2.

If possible get one of the newer models. The PDW-F335 or even PDW-F355 if your budget is big enough. They are better in low light situations.

3.

No, the new PFD-50DLA (50 GB) records twice as much as the PFD-23A (23 GB). For these new discs you must have one of the newer camcorders, or a PDW-700 (XDCAM HD422), because the first generation doesn't support them.

4.

According to Sony.
Erase/write/read cycles (times): bigger or equals to 1000
Read cycles (times): bigger or equals to 1 000 000
Estimated shelf life (years): bigger or equals to 50
Estimated archival life (years): bigger or equals to 50

5.

Nothing happens. The recording just goes on. In the picture you will see the camera shake because you are hitting a wall. I tested this some years ago at my dealers place with an SD camera, the PDW-530P. He grabbed the camera pushed the record button and started shaking it like a madman until the sweat dropped of his forehead. We watched the footage and could not find a dropped frame. There is also somewhere a video from Sony where the are testing it with some sort of speedboat on a wild river. Suddenly the boat turn 180°. The XDCAM keeps rolling but by the Digital Betacam who is filming this test the tape comes of the heads. I'll try to find this clip.

Here is already another test: http://www.25psf.de/Deutsch/XDCAM/RUETTELTEST_V2.mpg

At the bottom of this page you will find a short piece out of the boat clip. There is a much better version somewhere with audio and comment.

http://www.sony.jp/products/Professi...feature05.html

I'll keep searching for it.

I have shot two weddings using my f350. Yes in the evening it's a bit of a struggle if it's a dark room but shooting on this format is terrific and way more reliable than tape.

HI,

I ´ve done wedding videos with F330 (and held a small presentation about it on IBC 07 Sony booth).

Well - you need a (low) headlight if you shoot dancing / party in case the DJ (or the band) has no or insufficient light.

In case of church ceremonies I found that XDCAM HD holds up very well - only v ery dark (german catholic) churches need one more iris stop - or 3dB gain.

Fortunately Sony announced a software update for this winter - XDCAM HDs will have less noise under low light conditions.

What I like about XDCAM HD and weddings:

a) reliable media - dont worry about shaking the cam , you can use the cam like an action cam , jump with it, run with it and everything else. THe cam records to a cache memory - and there is no mechanical "head" touching the disc surface - both leads to outstanding performance!

b) Use the "cache pre recording" - point the cam to a subject and WAIT. If anything starts (Organ starts playing, doors open) just hit "RECORD" - the cam automatically saves up to 12s BEFORE you hit record to the disk as well - PERFECT for situations where you used to waste tape to catch the action.

c) Dont worry about Memory Cards, Harddrive Space or whatever - simply buy a few boxes of Discs - done. Ready for archiving.

d) 4 Channel audio: 1+2 onboard mic (AGC) , 3+4 wireliss mic

Unfortunately you must place the receiver outside the cam - but I am used to work this way ;-)

e) Same day edit: Simply copy proxy files to your laptop and start editing the most important scenes. If you´re done, your NLE will only transfer those portions of the video that are needed within your edits. Thats fast!

I´ll transfer the churchs "for better/for worse" to a selfplaying foto/video frame - so people will see it on the same day.

uli

What day you were on IBC? I was there at sunday. I've seen an XDCAM HD presentation from Alister. Very nice with that big hail! ;-)

If you have a Sony WRR-855 or Sennheiser EK 3241 receiver, you can mount them onto the camera with the CA-WRR855 camera adaptor.

Hi Ivan,

I was there only on Monday 12 and 5 pm. I was invited by Claus Pfeifer (prod. specialist sony germany) - I already went with their xdcam HD roadshow last January.

Time of invitation was too short to prepare serious footage, so I showed some stills (powerpoint). Alisters and Nigels presentations have been more impressive ;-)

The Sony Booth was HUGE...

I´ll receive a Audiotechnica 1800 dual channel system within the next days for testing - I´ll have a look on the mount as well...

uli