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Posted by Frank on 11/01/06 22:46
On Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:30:48 GMT, in 'rec.video.production',
in article <SD or HD camcorder?>,
"peter" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
>I have a trv900 which has been serving well for the past decade shooting the
>occasional gigs -- 2 to 3 times per year. I've been thinking of getting
>another camcorder so that I have a backup, and I can set up the 2nd
>camcorder un-manned as coverage while I roam/zoom/pan.
There's no way in the universe that I can take the time to thoroughly
address each of the issues that you've raised, but just very
quickly...
>However, I can't make up my mind what gear to buy. If I buy another miniDV
>standard definition (e.g. vx2100),
The Sony DCR-VX2100 is a very good consumer-grade DV camcorder. I
often recommend it to people who don't need/want balanced XLR audio,
although some folks don't mind using BeachTek-style adapters.
>I worry it may become obsolete around the
>time TV stations turn off analog broadcast in 2009.
The switch-over in terrestrial broadcasting is from analog
transmissions (NTSC) to digital transmissions (ATSC). It has
essentially nothing to do with SD (standard definition) or HD (high
definition). Your SD camcorder(s) will not become obsolete with the
switch to digital OTA (over-the-air) broadcasting.
>In addition, I keep
>wishing and waiting for camcorders to come with built-in firestore instead
>of miniDV tape drive. I hate having to switch tapes.
Well, there are lots of consumer-grade standard definition camcorders
on the market with built-in hard disk drives (not that I recommend any
of them). It's also possible to use an external drive, such as one of
the Focus Enhancements FireStore products that you've mentioned, or
similar products from other vendors, with most any camcorder having an
IEEE 1394a (FireWire/i.LINK) port.
>If I go the HD route, there are also no clear choice since there are
>multiple HD formats (sony/panasonic).
No matter how you decide to proceed on this, please do keep in mind
that all HDV-format camcorders ever made, whether 720p or 1080i, have
the ability to also record in ordinary standard definition DV mode to
Mini-DV tapes (Sony's prosumer-grade HDV camcorders all offer DVCAM
mode as well), so even if you purchased an HDV camcorder now, you
could continue to shoot DV until you decide to migrate to HD.
>Plus, I don't have the ability to
>produce HD dvds yet and many people still don't have HD TV or dvd players.
I think that it will be a few years before any hi-def optical disc
players -- Blu-ray Disc (BD) or HD DVD or whatever -- become as
commonplace as regular standard-def DVD-Video players are today.
>Plus, HD camcorders are still pretty expensive, like any other new
>technology on the market.
Well, in various forms, HD cameras/camcorders have been around for
many years now, but it's just within the last 2-1/2 years or so that
consumer-priced models (first HDV and now AVCHD as well) have become
available.
>What are your opinions?
That's all that I have time for. Perhaps others will offer some
additional opinions.
--
Frank, Independent Consultant, New York, NY
[Please remove 'nojunkmail.' from address to reply via e-mail.]
Read Frank's thoughts on HDV at http://www.humanvalues.net/hdv/
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