Camera for broadcast wildlife for BBC

[Per Johan Naesje]

For the price of only one Panasonic AJ-HDC27FE you got near 9 Canon XLH1, comparing recommended price for those two products!
The thread subject was: Camera for broadcast wildlife for BBC (HDV). I think we are a bit off topic in the discussing right now?

[Brendan Marnell]

Originally Posted by Per Johan

I haven't been using my XLH1 for so long yet. But before that I have been shooting wildlife with XL2 for a long time. Comparing those two, I must say that the H1 is several "lightyears" ahead in getting the details of the scene.

I wonder Per if you could post a good clip taken with your XL2 and a good clip taken with your H1, to show us the difference in quality. (I imagine that the clips would have to be comparable as to telephoto distances, weather conditions, lighting etc.) It's difficult to visualise what you mean about "getting details of the scene", but I'd like very much to know.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

It would be very difficult to see the difference in quality from clips shot on the XL2 & XL-H1 by simply viewing greatly compressed footage streamed via the web and viewed on a PC screen, so I can't see how Per can show a real-world comparison.

Both shown on a normal SD widescreen TV would be fairly close, but the H1 would begin to show its strengths only if both were shown on a high quality HD screen...and even in 2007, very few people actualy own one (compared to the population in each country owning a TV).

I can't see the BBC rejecting well-shot and interesting work produced from the XL-H1 and it is probably the very best HDV camera in that price range (BBC and Discovery networks etc still accept a lot of stuff shot on the Z1 for example). If your budget can stretch, then go for full HD camera - such as the Red etc, rather than HDV.

[Rupert Smith]

For the record Johnny Kingdom " A Year on Exmoor " was shot by myself on a Sony WSP450 2/3" DVCAM with a Canon J9 Broadcast lens and occasionally an XL2. Virtually all the wildlife footage was from a Canon XL2 shot by JK himself (some using 35mm still lenses) and also infrared footage recorded on a 1/4" chip sony minidv handicam. All mastered on to Digibeta for delivery. Yes the wildlife footage was wobbly on the end of the 20x zoom and the focusing dodgy at times but 3 million viewers tuned every single week for 10 weeks to see it!
Delivered on digi you'll have a reasonably hard job to spot the difference between the xl2 and the 450 most of the time.
In this case content was king and the shooting format almost irrelevent.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Rupert Smith

...but 3 million viewers tuned every single week for 10 weeks to see it!

In this case content was king and the shooting format almost irrelevent.

Just what I was trying to say.

Thank you Rupert, for providing full information on the cameras and equipment used. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Mick Jenner]

[QUOTE=Rupert Smith]

In this case content was king and the shooting format almost irrelevent.

[QUOTE=Tony Davies-Patrick]

Just what I was trying to say.




Ditto above

Mick