PAL and NTSC - HELP
 

Hi. I just ordered a Sony fx1000 through a company in Port Elizabeth SA, which they ordered from the USA. They did not realise that cams come in PAL and NTSC format. I see with Pinnacle Studio 12 I can capture the info at 25 fps. Will there be a problem with this ? I have not done any other tests yet, but dont want to use the camera too much if I am to send it back for a replacement.

Will someone in the know let me know your opinion please.

If you can replace it easily, then I think you should. Life is easier all round if you use a PAL camera in a PAL country. It is technically possible to use NTSC, either because your output will never be shown on a PAL television (e.g. you shoot only for the web), or because you can actually convert from NTSC to PAL during editing. But the conversion process can cause serious loss of quality.

Other people may have more information

Loss of Quality??
 

Thanks Gordon. Sony also said there could be a loss of quality, which I DONT want. I do wedding and functions DVD's and want to offer the best quality. My stuff almost all goes onto dvd.

If that's what you do, you definitely need the format that works locally. Apart from the quality issues, any conversion takes time, which you don't want to waste

Hi Greg,

A decent Standard Converter with Motion Compensation would cost more than the camera and software conversion is not that good in most cases it just drops frames and you finish up with a video that staggers along like a three legged horse.

Bryan

Do you know whether you are actually getting a NTSC version? Some stores in the US also sell PAL versions, I think for international buyers. I agree with the other comments that it will be a hassle and waste of time for you to do conversions. You better get the PAL version if that is the video format in your area.

Live and Learn...
 

I decided to give the camera back as i was not going to struggle with an excellent camera that i just paid R40000 for. The quality dropped horribly when converting from NTSC to PAL and i was getting better quality from my FX7's. Also rendering was taking twice as long because the clips had to be rendered into PAL first.

The company I bought the camera from sent it back to the USA and are replacing it with a PAL at their expense. I have a wedding next weekend where i was hoping to use my new camera, so i can only hope and pray that it arrives in time.

Thanks for all your comments.