Camera for filming HD footage?

[tfortier]

I have a hv20 and I dont know what you mean by tracking problems... it record in HD, thats it! Of course you will get jelly image feeling if you move the camera very very fast because of the sensor but its the same for all camera. Just do your camera shake in post!

You should look at the Canon 5D mark2.. its 3000$ but its very cool for real cinema depth of field. Sad it cant do 24fps. They will release a new firmware soon, maybe it will fix that.

[Halford]

I own an HV20 and never been so happy. The camera is extremely good price/quality balace.

and when you film in film mode you get full progressive frame, never had an issue to track it.

Yes indeed, I'm not going to lie, there might be delay/jelly issue due to the rollin shutter... but I saw the problem only once on a forum, a guy filming a lamp and moving freneticaly from one side to the other....sincerely... I'm never going to film that way, and with any camera you'll have tracking issues on that situation...

HV20 very good camera.

Hal.

[Darkherow]

Thanks alot for you replies. What I meant by tracking problems was I was refering to the rolling shutter problem(sorry if I wasnt clear), wasnt sure what the exact problem was but you helped me understand it more clearly thank you. So would it still be a problem when panning the camera from left to right with the HV20/30 to get a clean plate? I would have intended to do camera shake in post too so that wouldnt be a problem. Are there currently any cameras that dont cause the jelly issue? Or is it not a big issue and it is worth getting a HV20/30 for VFX work and it is fine to capture a clean plate(trackable not meaning the footage grain) with the HV20/30? Hope you dont mind the long list of questions just want a better understanding and help any others interesting in filming HD footage.

[Halford]

every setup has his pro&cons... no camera are problem free.

About the rolling jelly issue, I never encountered the problem. you will have to push it to see it smashing on your screen. If you plan to do pans, just bare in mind to turn off the image stabilizer, that will not help if you plan to move the camera. (many forgets about it and then complains that the movement is a bit strange).

If you know you plan tracking, just help your video with settings trackers on your set.

time ago there was a matchmover demoreel posted, the guy showed many tracking and as well some rolling problem / fixes... it was very well done.

personaly I do not regret my purchase, I would buy it if I did not have it.

my 2c.

Hal.

[tfortier]

Have a look at the new canon rebel T1i. It do hd 30p in 720p with all the canon lenses for a mere 900$. Sadly they limited the 1080p footage to only 20fps... ridiculous but they wanna sell the more expensive 5D mark2.

[Darkherow]

Thanks for your advice. Although I am a bit new when it comes to cameras and have some understanding of fps and usually I use 24/25fps but just to clearify it does mean how much motion is captured? And for 20fps does seem really odd. I hope it is not annoying to ask but what does 30fps have over 24/25fps (I also want everything in PAL format being in UK). Thanks for mentioning the Canon rebel T1i but being a camera recording onto a Hard Drive wont filming time be more limited compared to a DV cam?

[biliousfrog]

Thanks for your advice. Although I am a bit new when it comes to cameras and have some understanding of fps and usually I use 24/25fps but just to clearify it does mean how much motion is captured? And for 20fps does seem really odd. I hope it is not annoying to ask but what does 30fps have over 24/25fps (I also want everything in PAL format being in UK). Thanks for mentioning the Canon rebel T1i but being a camera recording onto a Hard Drive wont filming time be more limited compared to a DV cam?

You're best to go for a cam that records to a hard drive rather than tape as it's cheaper (no need to constantly buy new tape for each project), faster for reviewing (no rewinding) and safer (no tape degredation). It also means that transfer from the camera is MUCH faster as tape needs to be transfered in realtime ie. an hour of footage will take an hour to transfer.

The new Canon cam looks pretty good (500D in the UK) but is still an SLR that shoots video. I think that I'd prefer it over an HD camcorder as I like the film-like look that 'proper' lenses give, plus I have some Canon EF-S lenses for my DSLR, but it is quite limited in it's functions...such as image stabilization which is standard in almost every camcorder.

The 20fps frame rate is fairly pointless and it seems to be disregarded by all the reviews I've read over so far. The camera is basically a 720p video camera. The 30fps frame rate just means that motion is crisper and smoother than 25 or 24fps. A lot of people swear by 24fps as it is the standard film rate and gives a 'film' look, ie. slightly softer with more motion blur. The higher frame rate would actually help with motion tracking as there'll be less blur but some people will find it a bit too crisp.

The difference between 720p and 1080p is minimal on a TV screen and they're both used across broadcasters...in fact 1080i is used by many channels in the US along with 720p. It's not really much of an issue anyway as it's highly unlikely that you'll actually finish up with an HD format, probably just PAL or even a smaller, compressed web size format.

[aglick]

In my experience, for tracking purposes, it's more important to consider scene construction -composition/lighting/framing. And smooth camera moves.

Tracking is made harder no matter what camera you use if these things are handled or considered up front.

If the production design calls for dim lighting, consider placing high-contrast markers that can be rotoscoped out during compositing. This could make tracking/solving the camera match much easier...

my $.02

[Darkherow]

Thank you for your advice, however with recent cameras, are the Hard drive filming time is it better than for a DV filming time? Although Im aware Im not filming an epic but it could benificial to have more footage rather than less. However if Hard drive cameras are better then I have found some new canon cameras coming out soon or already out-

HF 11
Legria HF 100 / 200
Legria HF 10 / 20

which are all Full HD cams with-

5 recording quality modes.¹
MXP: 1920x1080, 24Mbps;²
FXP: 1920x1080, 17Mbps;²
XP+: 1440x1080, 12Mbps;
SP: 1440x1080, 7Mbps;
LP: 1440x1080, 5Mbps

Hope people dont mind my ignorance in asking as how does the bit rate effect things? The cameras all have 25p in cine mode and not sure how good that maybe even though it is at 25 fps but not sure what other frame rates unless I miss something in the description.

I understand and appreciate the advice given in planning your shots with the camera and I do take it onboard and will put into practice until I can get a camera. Thank you anyways and on another note I do have other questions on computers that I will pm you, if you dont mind at a later date Boxxlabs, just some basic questions for running certain progammes and what suggestions type questions.

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