Among my clients and friends who are video professionals, many of those who produce commercials, corporate, and music videos have already embraced tapeless acquisition with such cameras as JVC’s high definition Everio, Panasonic’s AG-HMC150/151, and Sony’s EX1 & EX3. However, those who shoot events (Bar Mitzvahs, Quinces/Sixteen Parties, Weddings) —and some of those who shoot documentaries— are relentless in defending their need to shoot on tape. They cite the following HDV advantages over tapeless acquisition:
Ran across this today, The perfect solution is not in place BUT I think Sony is on the right track, NOT cheap but this is a good start.
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.demos.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-demos-avit.shtml?XID=O:XDCAMAVIT_StudioDaily_StudioDirectNewsletter_avit2_728x90swf:XDCAMAVIT_Tutorial
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/30 at 11:17 PM
Talking about HDV tapes…has it been established that DV tapes shouldn’t be used to shoot HDV ? The price difference is so high, are we paying for nothing ?
Posted by thinkingdiver on 01/01 at 09:49 AM
Hello ThinkingDiver:
Thanks for your question.
Most HDV shooters I know are using standard mini DV tapes to record HDV, not mini HDV tapes, and they are very satisfied. The tape manufacturers of HDV tapes state that you will get lower dropouts from HDV tapes, and more potential recordings. However, the users I know are not having issues with issues with dropouts when recording HDV on standard mini DV tapes, and they do not generally re-use the tapes. They store them as the archive. On the mini DV tape, what is recorded is a 25 megabit stream of data. The blank tape doesn’t really care if the 25 megabit stream of data is DV25-encoded video, HDV (MPEG2-TS)-encoded video, or any other type of data. Although it no longer makes financial sense, there was at one time a software application that allowed you to backup your computer data on any mini DV recorder.
Posted by Allan Tépper on 01/03 at 11:07 AM
The difference between 25 Mb DV and HDV is the long GOP structure used in HDV. Since only every 15th frame is an I frame you run a risk of loosing half a second or more if you have a significant dropout. I have actually seen few unrecoverable HDV dropouts from Panasonic AY-DVM63MQ Mini DV Master tapes used by a client. I’ve seen no dropouts using the Sony Digital Master, DVCam PDVM40N, and the less expensive Sony HDM-63VG. We shot 26 of the Sony Digital Master series for a documentary in hot and humid conditions with no dropouts. Just my experience.
Posted by leeberger on 01/03 at 04:39 PM
Thanks a lot guys, very informative !
Posted by thinkingdiver on 01/03 at 05:13 PM
I’ve seen lots of dropouts with a JVC GY-HD200 and JVC ProHD tapes and no dropouts with my Sony FX1 and Sony DV Premium tapes (cheap). So it depends on the camera. I wouldn’t shoot the JVC without a hard disc recorder (DR-100) for a long performance.
Posted by Ben De Rydt on 01/04 at 04:39 PM
