Shoot in HD or keep in SD

[Scott Brooks]

I've got a performance project in two weeks that will be distributed in SD. Am I better off to just shoot it in SD as opposed to messing around with HD.

Is there really much difference when shooting in HD and then converting to SD to make it worth it?

Thanks _

[Kevin Shaw]

One good reason to shoot in HD would be to have that available for future demo reels. If that's not a concern then shooting in SD will be less work, but you may still want to consider whether to shoot widescreen or 4:3 aspect ratio.

[Scott Brooks]

Thanks Kevin. Yes ... I would still shoot in widescreen format.

[Adam Bauser]

I ask myself this same question all the time. For me it usually boils down to what camera I'll be using. If the end format is standard def, I usually have access to bigger cameras with bigger chips and better lenses than I would shooting with the small camcorder-style HDV gear. I tend to think SD shot on a higher-end SD camera looks better than HDV downconverted to SD. Especially if you're talking about non-ideal shooting conditions (low light, no light, etc.)

For example, if I was shooting something I knew was only going to be distributed SD, I would much rather shoot with a DSR-500 than a Z1U.

Now, if you were planning to use the same camera for either SD or HDV capture, you might as well shoot HDV, especially if you're just planning to downconvert to SD on capture anyway.

[Brian Boyko]

Originally Posted by Adam Bauser

I ask myself this same question all the time. For me it usually boils down to what camera I'll be using. If the end format is standard def, I usually have access to bigger cameras with bigger chips and better lenses than I would shooting with the small camcorder-style HDV gear. I tend to think SD shot on a higher-end SD camera looks better than HDV downconverted to SD. Especially if you're talking about non-ideal shooting conditions (low light, no light, etc.)

For example, if I was shooting something I knew was only going to be distributed SD, I would much rather shoot with a DSR-500 than a Z1U.

Now, if you were planning to use the same camera for either SD or HDV capture, you might as well shoot HDV, especially if you're just planning to downconvert to SD on capture anyway.

If you're talking about non-ideal shooting conditions, that's definitely the way to go. However, one advantage of shooting in HD is that a downconverted SD image usually looks sharper and clearer than even a "pro" 3CCD rig.

[Arnaud Keil]

Originally Posted by Brian Boyko

If you're talking about non-ideal shooting conditions, that's definitely the way to go. However, one advantage of shooting in HD is that a downconverted SD image usually looks sharper and clearer than even a "pro" 3CCD rig.

If you talk about "pro" SD camcorders like DSR series, maybe you're wrong.
SD pro pictures are from far better than HD prosumer pictures converted to SD. The lens is doing most part of the job, the sensors performances do the rest.