XH-A1 Companion Camera?
 

I have two VX2100s and plan on keeping them becacause I do a lot of dark inside events. I want to move into HD because I do some lighted studio jobs in front of a green screen.

I've pretty much decided on getting the XH-A1 and as much as I'd like two, its not going to happen. Any reccomendations on a $1000 range HD companion camera for the XH-A1? My only other HD cam experience has been with a Sony HC3. I didn't like its lack of audio inputs and will probably sell it to a friend. However, I did try it in front of the green screen in SD mode and I couldn't chromakey its footage as well as I did with the VX2100s. So of course I'm wondering if a recommened companion for the XH-A1 would be condusive to chromakeying?

Thanks

The Canon HV30 would be a good thing for you. Lots of people buy it to use for loading footage (it will play your XH A1's 24 and 30f modes), and it is a decent "b-roll" camera for situations where you don't want to use the bigger one, or need a second camera, such as mounted on the dash of a car, etc. I know one person who keys footage from a Sony A1U, which has a 1/3" single chip, as does the Canon HV30, so I'm guessing the 30 would do equally well, assuming you're picky with your lighting and all.

Canon HV30 is the route I went to accompany my XH-A1 and when I don't need it I switch it to "Auto Mode" and my wife uses it for both video and stills with some very nice results, and when we get home we plug it straight into the TV via HDMI and she can watch her raw video in wonderfull HD


Paul W. H

Thanks. The HV-30 is the one I've been looking at.

What about tapes? I didn't do a lot of HD on my HC3, but I knew I could record in HD mode to either inexpensive standard tapes or expensive HD tapes. Is there a difference in using these tapes?

I use Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ in both and have done since new and all the time they are available I will use them, Canon HD tapes were too expensive here in the UK by about 3x the Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ's when on "special".


Paul W. H

It's a good idea to always use the best tape stock you can get. I tried out Panasonic AMQ and was happy for awhile but then started having serious dropouts from two different XH A1 cameras using tape from the same case. I switched to Sony PHDVM63 tapes and have had zero trouble. They cost almost double but worth it in my opinion. Others have used Panasonics and had no trouble at all. I guess it's just the luck of the draw.

Still Not Understanding Tapes
 

What I'm still not understanding about the tapes is:

I understand that when you shoot HD onto the HD tape, you wind up with real HD footage.

Does this hold true when you shoot HD onto a regular $2.75 Sony SD tape?

The question is important to me because:

What if I'm out one day shooting SD footage on regular sony tapes (because I have some VX2100s) and a great HD footage opportunity pops up, but I don't have any expensive tapes.

Do I forgo the HD opportunity and shoot SD on the cheap tape, or do I pop in a cheap tape and shoot in HD?

Thanks,
Scott

Yes, it is exactly the same.
Some people, like me, use the cheap sony's all the time. Other people use expensive tapes.
Expensive HDV-tapes should have less or no dropouts, but that isn't for sure.
So, it is no problem to use the same tapes.
On the other hand, it is recommended to use the same tapebrand all the time. So if you want to use the cheap sony's, stick with them.
If you don't like them for whatever reason, use a tapecleaner and swith brands.

Hey Bill,

How long did you use the Panny AMQ's with your A1's until you switched to Sony? I too am seeing lots of dropouts, even after cleaning the heads... and I've been using the AMQ's. I'd like to switch over to Sony's tapes, but wasn't sure if it would gunk up my heads considering I've shot AMQ's with my A1 for about 40 tapes. Thanks for any help.

I also use HV30 as b-roll. Then a second HV30 mounted on merlin.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but what are you guys doing to match the footage. I like some of the "less video" custom presets for the A1 and don't want to have to use A1 factory defaults just to match the HV20/30.

In other words, what can I do to the HV's settings when shooting (I always use full manual).

Thanks,

Bill

I have done some color matching of HV30 to Xh-A1. The result is quite good.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=116560

I've got an HV20, two, in fact. I'm thinking about selling them off to get some money back for an XH-A1, but I'm wondering if I can use the HV20 as a companion cam.

I'm not sure though - if I shoot 24F on the XH-A1, can I capture from the HV20 without needing to do an inverse telecine?

What about the HV30?

XH-A1 24F stores as 24fps on tape. Unlike PF24 in Hv20 and Hv30 that you need to remove pulldown.

Right, but what happens if I shoot on the XH-A1 in 24F, and want to capture using the HV20? Would that work? And if it works, can it be done directly in Final Cut Pro, or is there an intermediate step, like there is with the HV20 and inverse telecine?

Brian,

The need for the pulldown removal on the HV20/30 is based on the way these cameras record the video, not playback. You can certainly use the 20/30 as a deck without any additional processes.

For my own information, what software has given you the best success in working with the HV20 footage when using 24P in a timeline?

Bill

Soon-to-be XH-A1 owner who will work w/ HV20 and HV30 owners (and owns an HC1)
 

Nice thread guys. I'm hoping to own an XH-A1 soon and plan on working with owners of the HV20 and the HV30 so this thread is helpful. I myself plan on keeping my Sony HC1 and trying to work with that also (I believe there's a thread on that was well).

Deke, I just saw your question. I probably shot about 20 hours before we got the batch with big dropouts. It's not going to gunk up your heads to switch. Just use the cleaning tape (follow the printed recommendations, which usually say no more than 10 seconds).

While I'm using the expensive Sony digital mastering tapes and have had no problems, I shot for a week recently and the client furnished the tape. They were the cheaper Sony Premium. Didn't see a single dropout. But I'm sticking with the expensive ones. Even though they're over 16 bucks apiece, that's still the cheapest part of a shoot.

I am having similar issues with Panny AMQ's in an XHA1 (2 out of 15 tapes were useless, 2 others had numerous drops). I am switching to Sony. A Panny Rep tried to tell me it had to do with the Cam and mfg tolerance...but I ain't buying it. He was giving the 'song and dance- it ain't our fault routine'.

I've been using Final Cut Pro, though I may switch to something else.

HDMI vs Canon comp D
 

Has anyone compared A1 footage played and/or captured via HV30/HDMI vs. A1/Comp-D? Also curious, will HV30 footage play on the A1?

Thanks for the link to this thread Taky. I checked it out and posted in there.

I have a question not on getting the images to match, but what would be the easiest way for me to record for just being able to edit together.

I saw the following posts:

I'm not too familiar with pulldowns and so forth yet so I just want to be able to edit easy (these are for my learning projects, when I take on something important, I'll pay attention to this). Should I not record in 24F on my Canon XH-A1 and just stick to 60i for any project I plan to work with an HV20 or HV30? I have Final Cut Express 3.5 HD.

If you read the first post of that thread, from my findings, Preset #13 is the clooest match with the stock HV30 footage.

If you are not familiar with pulldown removal, you can try shooting 60i on both, or XH-A1 30F and HV30 30P (HV20 doesn't have 30p). Or if you have an HV20, you can do both in 60i with Tv set to 1/30.

Thanks Taky. In that first post, you said Preset #13 is the closest match to the HV20. So just to be clear, it's the same as the HV30 right?

And thanks for telling me about what to record in. I wasn't sure what you meant with TV set to 1/30 though.

The CMOS sensor in the HV20/HV30 is vulnerable to vibration - resulting in poor quality footage. If you would like to mount your HV20/HV30 in a "vibration rich" environment - like a car frame or dashboard - you should take care to isolate the camera from vibration as best you can.

My $0.02