Fitz Townsend
June 16th, 2009, 01:05 PM
Ok, I'm sorry to kick a dead horse, but get out your boots and help me here.
I've been saving up for two years, and researching for the same amount of time, to buy some gear for a very light-footed video production setup. This is the fruit of a LOT of self-control, sacrifice, and planning. It's not a ton of money, but I'm damn proud that I saved it up. I would like to spend it wisely, and I would like your help. Here's the deal:
My market is classical music recitals. The price point that I've built the entire biz plan around centers around using SD workflow. Frankly, HD is going to push the cost up too far, and I'm aiming for volume, here.
I have ~$2000 budgeted for the camera purchase. I had thought to buy an HD cam and use it in 16:9 DV, knowing I would be able to upgrade my workflow to HD "later on". After reading about low-light situations, and seeing examples of cameras in that price range, I've become very concerned about noise while filming dim concerts. (These will be live events, a documentary video process, and I will not have control or input into the lighting, besides 'Turn it up!')
Having worked in audio for many years, I have to laugh to myself when I see people trying to split hairs at a budget level of this size - so much more depends on the operator. With the tools, you're getting what you pay for. But because this will be a single camera, fixed position shoot, I'm spending a lot of energy trying to determine what will be the best camera.
Given the possible lighting situations, should I completely disregard HD cams for now? I was wavering about SD cams since the product will be delivered on the web and DVD's, and clients will most likely want 16:9 - so why lock myself into 4:3 chips?
(Basically, I was considering the HVR-A1U or HDR-FX7, and now, I'm thinking about going back to the DVX100B or GL-2)
Am I going to regret purchasing a brand-new SD cam in 2009, in an increasingly HD world? With 4:3 chips instead of 16:9? Will the better low-light performance of the SD cams outweigh the "lost resolution" in letterboxing? It seems that the majority of my work will be in an uncontrolled, low-light situation, and as such, I should buy a camera suited to that environment.
I've been saving up for two years, and researching for the same amount of time, to buy some gear for a very light-footed video production setup. This is the fruit of a LOT of self-control, sacrifice, and planning. It's not a ton of money, but I'm damn proud that I saved it up. I would like to spend it wisely, and I would like your help. Here's the deal:
My market is classical music recitals. The price point that I've built the entire biz plan around centers around using SD workflow. Frankly, HD is going to push the cost up too far, and I'm aiming for volume, here.
I have ~$2000 budgeted for the camera purchase. I had thought to buy an HD cam and use it in 16:9 DV, knowing I would be able to upgrade my workflow to HD "later on". After reading about low-light situations, and seeing examples of cameras in that price range, I've become very concerned about noise while filming dim concerts. (These will be live events, a documentary video process, and I will not have control or input into the lighting, besides 'Turn it up!')
Having worked in audio for many years, I have to laugh to myself when I see people trying to split hairs at a budget level of this size - so much more depends on the operator. With the tools, you're getting what you pay for. But because this will be a single camera, fixed position shoot, I'm spending a lot of energy trying to determine what will be the best camera.
Given the possible lighting situations, should I completely disregard HD cams for now? I was wavering about SD cams since the product will be delivered on the web and DVD's, and clients will most likely want 16:9 - so why lock myself into 4:3 chips?
(Basically, I was considering the HVR-A1U or HDR-FX7, and now, I'm thinking about going back to the DVX100B or GL-2)
Am I going to regret purchasing a brand-new SD cam in 2009, in an increasingly HD world? With 4:3 chips instead of 16:9? Will the better low-light performance of the SD cams outweigh the "lost resolution" in letterboxing? It seems that the majority of my work will be in an uncontrolled, low-light situation, and as such, I should buy a camera suited to that environment.