An affordable, new choice for studio camera conversion

From corporate video studios to public access television to small market call-letter stations, there’s a full-court press for affordable HD studio camera solutions.  If you want full 1920 x 1080 resolution, full digital signal transport, full camera remote control and a full range of studio facilities, Sony has a surprisingly affordable new option.  A new camera control unit (CCU), the XDCU-50 enables low-cost studio configuration with the PMW-EX3, 320, 350 and 500 XDCAM EX™ camcorders.  While all these camcorders offer full HD resolution, there’s a choice of imager sizes.  The PMW-EX3 and 320 offer 1/2-inch type image sensors, while the PMW-350 and 500 step up to full 2/3-inch type imagers.  The new CCU is destined to bring big smiles to a lot of faces with an MSRP of $3,500.

Gifts For the HDSLR Shooter in Your Life

For those of us in the industry who spend most of our life engaged in activities that many of our friends and family don’t really understand, shopping for us can be a daunting task.  Although warned to just get gift cards, sometimes our loved ones insist on getting something more personal.  The result can be a gift that never sees the light of day, is re-gifted or we have to make that awkward request for a receipt which never sets well… 

Quick notes: First PMW-F3 Movie; NXCAM 35 Pro Camcorder

Things are really heating up in the large single sensor camcorder world.

REVIEW:  Canon XF305 Camera

Photo by Adam Wilt, NAB 2010

It’s hard to believe that twelve years have passed since I bought my first DV camcorder.  My 1998 purchase?  A Canon XL-1.  At the time it was just about the closest thing you could buy to a professional camcorder for under $20,000.  I remember my engineer-friends sniffing at the XL-1.  Their biggest gripe?  That DV only recorded 480 lines of video (instead of a full 486,) at only 25 MBit/sec in a 4:1:1 colorspace.  “No TV station will ever air that (expletive),” they barked.  Boy, were they wrong.

Canon kept coming out with updated versions of the XL-1, adding better viewfinders,  some excellent lenses, and finally HDV capacity.  But somehow the XL-series never seemed to gain the respect among broadcasters that their world-leading"big” lenses enjoy, possibly in part due to perceived “bandwidth bias.”
Well, Canon has knocked that final issue out of the park.

Hands-on with the Panasonic AG-3DA1 S3D Camcorder

Last weekend I attended the two-day Createasphere 3D Production Workshop Utilizing Panasonic AG-3DA1 Cameras in Burbank, and got a good overview of the issues in shooting stereo 3D (S3D) content, as well as some immensely instructive hands-on experience with the AG-3DA1 S3D camcorder.

Let’s Clean Up That Shot - Beforehand!

We’ve all gotten our footage back to the edit bay and found something we didn’t want in the frame.  Light stand, audio cable, water bottle, you name it.  What if we could remove irritants from the picture BEFORE the fact - without actually moving anything?  Check the next page for an amazing demo.

Sony PMW-F3 Announced

[Updated 2010-11-13: Added link to Jon Fauer’s preliminary report.]
[Updated 2010-11-11: Sony USA press release, shipping date, US prices.]
Sony has announced the PMW-F3, a 35mm-sized camcorder designed for interchangeable lenses. Think 35 Mbit/sec, 4:2:0 XDCAM EX; handycam form factor; new Sony F mount with a PL mount adapter; available as a body only or packaged with three new Sony cine primes (35mm, 50mm, 85mm T2.0). It will ship in February 2011.

Daily Inspiration - Graphic Animation, Subaru Style

180-degree shutter angle is the rule of thumb when shooting film & video. It almost always makes your images look better…unless you are a pro and you understand just when to break the rules. The following amazing Subaru spot is a great example of how to use knowledge of shutter angle/degrees to your benefit. It is all kinds of awesome! Watch below.

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