P2 vs tape test

[Jaime Valles]

I'm actually glad they put in the MiniDV tape transport on there, because of the native 16x9 recording to tape. Monday I'm shooting a widescreen wedding in MiniDV and handing the bride's dad a few $5 tapes, and tuesday I'm shooting an indie horror film in 1080p/24 capturing directly to a laptop. And I'm doing both on the same $5999 camera!!!

It costs Panasonic next to nothing to have the MiniDV tape transport in there, and it's better to have the option than not.

[Barry Green]

Exactly agreed.

[Jan Crittenden Livingston]

Hi Robert,

You wrote: Jan Crittendon

It is Crittenden.


>said at the recent DVExpo in NY that the HVX200 will *NOT* record DV to the P2 cards, only to MiniDV tape.

I can't argue what you thought you heard, or how what I said sounded like this but indeed it can record DV to the P2 card.

>First it would further improve the ruggedness of the camera.

Frankly the transports are very rugged, I think if you go over to the DVX100 area and ask, most of the folks there have never had a problem with the transport.

>Second, the camera would be lighter. Probably not a large reduction in weight, but I notice the difference even when I shoot with different size batteries and have to do hand held stuff.

It may lose about 5 ounces.

>The MiniDV tape feature on the HVX200 seems to be a marketing compromise that diminishes, in my opinion, the mission of this camera.

Everyone has their opinion but in mine I find that the DV tape drive offers more advantages than disadvantage to the potential customer. It allows a person to continue to work in the DV arena as they practice and hone their skills in HD or even DVCPRO50.

Best regards,

Jan

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by Jan Crittenden Livingston

Hi Robert,

Everyone has their opinion but in mine I find that the DV tape drive offers more advantages than disadvantage to the potential customer. It allows a person to continue to work in the DV arena as they practice and hone their skills in HD or even DVCPRO50.

Best regards,

Jan

Even though I try to record to disk with my DVX100a whenever possible, nothing beats having a tape deck. I, for one, am very glad this camera has one.

My guess plenty of people will say "I will never use it" and ending up having a shoot depend on it at some point.

[Robert Rock]

Don't forget that DVC Pro is DV25 Spec. The difference is how the tracks are recorded onto tape, and it has locked audio like DVCAM. as far as the "digital bitstream" it is still just DV25 (more or less). Same Rez, Same sampling, etc. Panny just made a "few special modifications for themselves" to keep the format robust enough for day to day ENG work, but it is essentially just DV25 just like MiniDV.

The lines between the "Pro" and "consumer" formats have been graying for awhile now. The difference here is, and should be the sampling and bitrate for the DVC Pro 50 and HD capabilities of this camera. This cam could potentially / eventually kill DV25 altogether. 50Mbps DVC Pro and 100Mbps HD. HDV at its best is around 25Mbps (1080i) but still gives a pretty awesome picture in the right hands.

Fact is, until you connect a camera with 1/2 or 2/3 inch CCD's or CMOS sensors to these various formats, you probably won't see that much difference. Unless, you're doing a lot of compositiong, then the DVC Pro50 and HD should win hands down. (or use a 35mm lens adaptor like P+S Mini35)

I love the concept of this cam, and I believe that the DV transport is a necessity. Certain projects will probably call for it, and I read somewhere that the cam is supposed to downconvert to DV on the fly, so doing a rough cut on a low powered editing system is an option for you if you don't have full time access to a high end system.

I believe that Panny designed this cam to blur those format lines even further, and to make true HD acquisition available to all. Besides, who hasn't had a shot that screamed for slow mo, and you couldn't do it because of the capture rate of the format you were using.

Just my two bits.

Rob

[Jan Crittenden Livingston]

Originally Posted by Robert Frank

Thanks Chris! Sorry for the misinformation!
Jan said that would involve 2 different codecs and a conversion. Maybe she thought I meant HD and DV at the same time?

I must have heard that you meant at the same time especially with the 2 codecs as part of my answer.

Sorry for the confusion,

Jan

[Robert Frank]

Originally Posted by Jan Crittenden Livingston

I must have heard that you meant at the same time especially with the 2 codecs as part of my answer.

Sorry for the confusion,

Jan

No problem at all. I'm glad I was wrong about this!

It certainly is good news that the HVX200 will record DV to P2 cards.

I believe that feature will help videographers who are still mostly in the DV world make the transition to the HVX200 as much as the DV tape transport in the camera will.

More importantly it will get those same end users to be comfortable with the P2 workflow, which will contribute to the P2 system becoming the normal workflow.

Also, the ability of having longer DV format record times, rather than recording in HD and down converting is a big plus that makes the P2 workflow more practical.

Athough it will be tempting to shoot HD all the time!