Cool Camera Shootout

Zacuto's Great Camera Shootout '08

I recommend this video, which includes a good camera shootout.
The cameras/formats tested are:
35mm Film
Red One
Panasonic HPX3000
Panasonic HVX200 (with three 35mm lens adapters)
Sony EX3
Panasonic HPX170
Canon XH-A1
Canon 5D Mark II
Nikon D90
There's a long discussion at the start which you can skip through. This shootout I feel gives a good comparison of what you can get with these different kinds of setups, especially if you are going for a filmic or cinematic look. I recommend downloading the 1280x720 h.264 movie if you want to see more detail than you get with Vimeo's flash player. That's a good thing about Vimeo is that they give a higher-quality download option for their movies--just scroll down the page and look for the download link on the right column.

I'm most interested in the comparisons between the EX3, the HPX170 and the Canon XH-A1. The cheapest camera, the XH-A1, looked really good, and I really like how the HPX170 renders colors, more natural than the Sony camera. This test doesn't tell everything, by any means, (e.g., the EX3 is supposed to do better than its competitors in low-light), but it's a good place to start thinking about different cameras and what kind of images they create.

Panasonic Announces HVX200-lite Camera

Panasonic Aims for an AVCHD Future with AG-HMC150

After giving so much love to Sony's new HD cameras, I have to acknowledge Panasonic's newest announcement, the AG-HMC150. It looks like a HVX200 but without the DV tape transport and using SD/SDHC memory cards and not the more expensive P2. No price, but I'm guessing that it will be cheaper than the HVX200. It's expected to start shipping in the fall.

While it would be great to see some great competition for Sony, I have my concerns about this camera because of the AVCHD codec. You'll always hear marketing claims that AVCHD is supposed to be more "efficient" than MPEG-2--that's why AVCHD's bit rate is in the teen's and HDV's is usually 25 Mb/s. The only problem is that so far AVCHD cameras don't come close to HDV in image quality. Apparently, Panasonic will be offering some new "professional" bit-rate quality on the camera, but the lack of detail on this feature makes me skeptical.

Camcorderinfo.com, which has reviewed a lot of the AVCHD cameras out now, has this to say about the prospects for the AG-HMC-150.

Extensive testing of AVHCD camcorders in the consumer range by CamcorderInfo has shown that manufacturers have yet to produce a camcorder that can match HDV in overall quality. However, the lens and processing systems have so far remained strictly consumer-grade. The AG-HMC150 is the first AVCHD camcorder to come equipped with an imaging system this advanced, and may help overcome some of the image quality issues.

Expect to hear more news about this camera at NAB. If you want to know more about AVCHD, my latest wrap-up of AVCHD news is here.

The Hazards of CMOS Sensors

SENSOR ARTIFACTS AND CMOS ROLLING SHUTTER
An interesting write-up at DVX user on artifacts from CMOS sensors. All camcorders have traditionally used a CCD as the image sensor, but CMOS is making some serious in-roads. Sony in particular has really jumped on the CMOS bandwagon for its new prosumer/low-end pro cameras, like the V1 and the new PMW-EX1. Panasonic's offering on the other hand are sticking with CCD's. It's not surprising that the DVX forum, devoted to Panasonic's HVX-200 and the DVX-100, would have a few nasty words about the CMOS.

The CMOS artifacts they point out are smear, wobble, and partial flash. I've run into problems with fluorescent lights on CCD shots in stuff shot abroad. Nasty flickering in the video. With CCD's adjusting the shutter speed can help (see this previous post). But even this tip may not help if you are using a CMOS chip and get the partial flash artifact. In CMOS, the flicker will only affect certain parts of the frame at certain times. Similarly, flashes of light (e.g., from photographs) often only appear in parts of the frame. Read the article to understand why and see some scary examples.

The other scenarios where CMOS can be a serious problem are aerial shoot and shoots from a shaky platform, like a moving car.

[via FreshDV]

Adam Wilt on HDV Cameras

"The Rashomon Effect" (registration required)

Adam Wilt does a write-up on a comparison of the HVX-200, the Canon XH-A1, and the new Sony HVR-V1. Interesting look at what is being offered in the HDV world. The V1 is an interesting new product that is a strong addition to the current crop of HDV cameras. Adam says that it is very sharp, sharper than the Z1. It has a true 24 frame per second mode (unlike the Canon and the Z1.) And at 24 fps, the V-1 seems to have the sharpest picture in the low-price HD camcorder world. It's also smaller and lighter than the Z-1 and the A1. The big drawback is that it's slower than the other HDV cameras--so either more gain or more light needed when you are not in daylight.

Adam Wilt also wrote a full review of the V1 for DV.com (registartion required.)