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Author Topic: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014  (Read 20203 times)

bcooter

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #20 on: March 30, 2014, 02:09:58 pm »

I asked a Panny person that question directly and was essentially told, "No, no AF200"

Would have been good - imo

Probably because of this

http://panasonicprovideo.tumblr.com/
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Morgan_Moore

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2014, 05:23:58 am »

Genius. Release a camera that no-one will buy instead of release a camera that everyone would buy.

C500 is tumbling in price - I think a very good cam indeed.

S
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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

MrSmith

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2014, 04:09:19 pm »

New sony A7 with 4k is all over the rumour sites, more details on Sunday
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billy

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2014, 06:28:16 pm »

yeah t
New sony A7 with 4k is all over the rumour sites, more details on Sunday

the sony a7s looks interesting. It seems optimized for video because of the 12 mlxl sensor, if it has the 14 stops of DR during video capture AND decent Autofocus like the GH3 and 4 then I might be into it.
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Peter McLennan

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #24 on: April 21, 2014, 07:18:25 pm »

I guess we all have our independent opinion of what "low cost" means.  For me, it's under $2000 for a capable video camera that doesn't completely ignore the needs of the sound department.

I looked at a bunch of hardware at NAB and the Sony FDR AX100 checked most of my boxes - not the least of which is a complete range of built in ND filters.  This idea of a variable ND filter for each lens, just so that you can shoot at 1/50th in sunshine is a non-starter for me.  I ain't gonna be changing and maintaining filters in the field whenever I change lenses or locations. 

The AX100 non-interchangeable 10:1 zoom lens is, at nearly 350mm equivalent, certainly long enough, but like most cameras of this type, sorely lacking at the wide end.  It's about 30mm equivalent.  :(  A 0.7X zoom-through adaptor was promised but not shown.

The AX100's weak point IMHO is the side-mounted mini jack for audio input.  There is a hot shoe-like interface on top for a compatible mic, but it's a proprietary thing and won't accommodate, say, a wireless mic input.  My 15 year old TR400 has survived with its mini jack intact only because I'm very very careful with it.  One inadvertent sideways tug and it's toast.

That aside, the image quality was quite amazing, albeit only viewed by me on the small side viewer. I did see some live video on a larger monitor, but this was shot from the Sony demo set, lit to about 100fc.  In other words, not a test at all.  The real truth is found by aiming the camera at the ceiling of the LVCC.  That is a black hole if ever there was one. The open-truss ceiling's painted flat black and it's studded with high intensity sources, all pointed straight down, just guaranteed to flare the crap out of any imaging system.  The ceiling would probably read about EV 2 on my spot meter.  From what I saw, there's little to demand in terms of low light performance with the Sony unless you're prepared to spend several times the AX100 asking price.

The build quality was very reassuring and the video specs inarguable.  4K at 30P or 24P and 2K at 60P with the XAVC codec do it for me.  There's also a slow motion 120fps choice, but at what resolution or using what codec wasn't answered.

The other attractive aspect of the AX100 is its form factor.  This camera is very easy to use and especially easy to hand hold.  Something lacking in the DSLR-derived other cameras.  And, of course, Sony's SteadyShot is in a class by itself.

It may be that the Panasonic GH4 offers more picture quality (certainly a higher maximum data rate) and and easier stills acquisition. And the production XLR adaptor is a much better choice for mic inputs, but you'd not get much of a lens for your $2K budget after you bought the Panny even without the adaptor.

And you'd still have to buy and maintain and use on every shot and on every lens those #%&#@ variable external mount ND filters. Oh, and if you suddenly go inside to shoot, you'll have to remove them and store them somewhere and keep them ready to re-install when you're back shooting exteriors.  Ain't gonna happen.  With the Sony, it's a simple body-mounted selector: 2 stops, 4 stops and 16 stops of ND, right there, right now.

In short, I loved it.  Too bad I'm retired.



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JB Rasor

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Re: Choosing a Low Cost Production Camcorder In Early 2014
« Reply #25 on: April 24, 2014, 11:13:54 pm »

On the topic of 4k, have any of you seen this article: http://www.eoshd.com/content/12140/discovery-4k-8bit-420-panasonic-gh4-converts-1080p-10bit-444
If the internal 4k footage of the GH4 can be down sampled to 10-bit 4:4:4, that'd be quite great indeed.

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