Posted by Bernie Dwyer on 11/30/06 05:18

Hi - I'm producing a short independent drama/fantasy and I've managed to
get a grant to cover some of the production costs. One item in the grant
is the hire of a high-definition camera for the shoot.

I've asked my preferred DoP to provide a quote, and he's offered a
couple of options:

1. Sony camera + selection of lenses + high-def monitor ~AUD$1800/day.
The budget just won't cover this.

2. Panasonic HVX202 + high-def monitor - only records high-def to a P2
card, but it's achievable within the budget.

3. HDV camera - Sony or Canon - only as a last resort.

I want a high-def camera for a couple of reasons - aesthetic/artistic (I
want to make a visually stunning film, and a HD camera is part of that),
and also to offer a number of people that I respect the opportunity to
get their names on a high-def film.

Using the HVX202 will mean someone will have to sit there and dump each
card to disk (PC) as it fills up. If I manage approx 1 hour of footage
per day, that works out to about 32GB of disk storage (according to the
HVX202 brochure) per day, plus four dual-layer DVDs or eight
single-layer DVDs for backup (or twice that many for redundancy). I'd
rather have it all on mini-DV tapes because I don't trust burnt DVDs for
archival purposes but I'm prepared to live with it for now. I can always
export it to tape at some stage during post-production.

My questions are:

Has anyone used this camera, and do you have stories or opinions (good
and bad) to tell?

--

Bernie Dwyer
There are no 'z' in my email address

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