Optura 30 / 300 / Xi large format capture mode
 

I'm thinking of doing direct to PC/Powerbook capture from one of these cams to take advantage of it's high resolution mode.

I've read Steve Nunez's post at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ght=optura+300

From this I gather that the image is being squashed back down to 720x480. Is there a way to make these cameras capture the full resolution image in the same manner as the PDX10?

Also, what advantages does the 300 have over the 30?

Brandt,

The Xi captures hi res, native, true 16:9, or what ever you like to call it, in the same manner as the PDX10. The main difference being the PDX10 is a three chipper.

As a rule and by definition, all DV is 720x480 whether or not it is fake 16:9 or true 16:9, or captured to a hard drive or tape.

I use the Optura Xi and the main selling factor for me was the true 16:9 capture abilities. The only advantage to capturing to hard drive would be eliminating the capture process with your NLE.

Brandt,

If you're talking about recording the Optura's video in photo mode, it will give you a taller/wider field of view. But as Dave pointed out, it's still recorded as a DV file at 720x480.

According to Sony Vegas, the resulting video file is 4:3 and progressive. It looks like the Optura is using the whole CCD to create the photo mode image, so you'll see more vertically than the normal 4:3 video and it shows the same image width as the 16:9 video in tape mode.

I've played around with the photo mode a bit and it's very interesting if you have a laptop handy. Since it shows you more of the vertical image than either the normal 16:9 or 4:3 video, you can crop it to 16:9 and still get the regular hi-res image that the 16:9 tape mode gives you, and it's progressive to boot.

Dave,

What I'm looking at is a bit akin to this popular site:
http://www.techshop.net/PDX-10/

It demonstrates 1152x864 images by using photo mode.

This being the case, is 1632x1224 possible by using a similar method on the Opturas?

Optura 500/400 vs Optura 40/30
 

>> Also, what advantages does the 300 have over the 30?

** The 300 has been discontinued. But here are the main differences:

Optura 500/400
-----------------------
bottom loader
10x zoom
no accessory shoe
has digital component / pass thru recording

Optura 40/30
-----------------------
top loader
14x zoom
accessory shoe
does NOT have digital component / pass thru recording (not 100% sure, but it's not listed in the specs at all)

Otherwise, the other specs are exactly the same.

What exactly is digital component and passthrough?

That's if you want to record from an external video source using your camcorder. For example, a TV or old VHS/Hi-8 machine. Many people do this to backup their old VHS/Hi-8 tapes onto a digital/MiniDV format.

You can also pass the external video through your camcorder directly to your hard disk using the digital component in and firewire out of your MiniDV camcorder.

Here's an image comparison of the tape and photo modes from an Optura Xi. You'll see that the photo mode image has the greatest field of view.

Thank you, Michael. Both posts help.

I see what looks like a lot of aliasing on the still caps. Are these raw files from your video capture, or are they compressed?

Also, what is the resolution of the movie captured to your hard drive using phot mode?

Thanks!

Re: Aliasing
There's no aliasing in the original video. It's being added by the compression in the jpeg format. The de-interlace to progressive may have added some aliasing as well.

Re: Video capture
The Vegas video capture program captures the video at 720x480. As far as I know, it won't capture in any other resolution. It might be possible in another program or with the additional Cineform software which I don't have right now.

That's a good question though, I'll have to look into it.

How about the PDX10? I haven't seen the photo mode capture in action, but the link above seems to point to it capturing to the hard drive all of the pixels.

In the PDX10 example, he's still capturing to MiniDV 720x480 NTSC or 720 x 576 PAL. He's just calculating the on-chip resolution before it gets downconverted to 720x480/720x576.

The Opturas work the same way. The photo mode uses a higher number of on-chip pixels to create the final 720x480 video.

Okay, same topic, slightly diverging...

If the Firewire port carries NTSC or PAL resolution signal to the PC, how are the HDV cameras able to export the higher resolution images?

<<<-- Originally posted by Brandt Wilson : Okay, same topic, slightly diverging...

If the Firewire port carries NTSC or PAL resolution signal to the PC, how are the HDV cameras able to export the higher resolution images? -->>>

Completely different codec used for capture and different CCDs, despite the use of the same tape.

I've seen on a website (I'll need to track it down) how to upload a firmware update that can enable/disable functions on the camera. A real shot in the dark, but could this be viable to hack the codec, or would that reside on a non-reprogrammable board?

Yeah, that's a real shot in the dark, if you really want higher resolution, go for the Sony FX1/Z1.

Sorry if I missed this. Can someone please refresh me as to how to capture in this mode? Is there a setting in the camera? By the way, I am using Vegas Video which can take over DV control of the camera when capturing. Thanks.

Kevin,

1. Connect the camcorder just like you were going to capture a tape.
2. But, put the Optura in CAMERA mode, instead of PLAY/VCR mode.
3. Switch to photo/card mode, it's the switch by the zoom rocker.

At this point, Vegas Video Capture will record what ever the camcorder sees/hears, just press Capture Video.

Thanks!

simple tricks
 

I swear by the Optura 30 even though it's a standard defintion 1 chip camera. I've found that a great trick for making the SD footage higher resolution is to do it in my editing software, Sony Vegas. By using the project settings as HD and adding a couple of Gaussian noise and Median filters to the footage, most pixelation can be eliminated while producing HD rendered video. It obviously doesn't add detail but eliminates pixelation and makes the Optura 30 footage look as good as 8mm film footage, AT LEAST.

I'm a college student without much money, and that's why I made my first feature film using my handy Canon Optura 30. It works so well that I even had the characters in my movie using the same camcorder (I have two).

If you're interested in seeing Optura 30 footage and screen grabs (most of which are unadjusted), then check out this page on my indie filmmaking web site. The image size is reduced from the original 873 pixels wide to 600 wide:

http://murrayfilms.net/page/primary/...matography.htm

For optura footage, check the Watch Movies page for the trailer for my movie, I Love Ashley Bailey, but keep in mind the trailer is compressed and that I've since learned to get even more out of the Optura 30. I highly, highly recommend this camcorder.