is the 7D 1080i ( 1440 x 080) AVCHD?
 

Hi gang. I am a still photographer who has a client asking for a couple clips from an upcoming shoot. His specific requirements are that the camera shoot 1080i ( 1440 x 080) AVCHD.

Just checking here to see if the 7D will fulfill this. Thanks...

No it does 1920X1080 30P and 24P, but most NLE that do 1440X1080 should be able to do 1920X1080 too.

The 7D does not shoot 1080i but rather 1080P (1920x1080) & 720P (1280x720) which is a much better codec than 1080i (1440x1080). The 7D will get the job done but you will have to convert the files to 1440x1080 for the client in post or just give him a better codec and tell him to downgrade it himself.

thanks for the feedback guys. i appreciate it.

First, 1080i is not 1440x1080. You might want to ask them why they want 1440x1080?

HDV is 1440x1080, which is actually a 4x3 raster (or close to it). You multiply the horizontal (1440 non-square pixels)) by 1.33 to get 1920 (square pixels) a 16x9 raster.

There's no real good reason for them to want a 1440 clip from the 7D, you would be throwing away good data that they are only going to try to get back anyway. They can easily drop a 1920x1080 image into an HDV timeline and not lose anything.

Also, the 7D shoots H.264 not AVCHD and I'm not sure how you can encode AVCHD from H.264. I don't think MPEG StreamClip will do it. But again ask them what they are using this for. If by chance they're using FCP you can encode it to ProRes(LT). If it Vega, Premier or Edius someone else will have to address that, I use FCP.

The best thing you can do is talk to them to get a better understanding of what they're trying to do. The fact that they asked for an HDV or 1440x1080 clip makes me think they don't know what they're doing...

AVCHD does have some modes that are 1440x1080i. AVCHD supports multiple modes: 1280x720p, 1440x1080i, 1920x1080p, and 1920x1080i. So if the client asked specifically for 1440x1080i AVCHD, such a thing does exist. In the Panasonic AVCHD lineup, I think the 6mbps HE mode and the 9mbps HX mode are both 1440x1080i.

In any situation when dealing with a client, you should never just assume, you should verify and deliver exactly what they're asking for. The question is why would they want 1440 AVCHD -- that's the lowest-quality form of AVCHD. If they have a valid reason for wanting it, then give it to them, but if it's a case of them not knowing what they need, you can consult with them to get them the best for them which may coincidentally work for you as well.

If it's a situation of that they don't care about how it's originated but they require their deliverables in 1440x1080i AVCHD, you can use a program like Nero to convert your footage into AVCHD-compatible output files.