AG-AC160 Bitrates versus Canon 5Dii

[danielrucci]

So looking at the specs for the Canon 5D, it looks like it records at a much higher bitrate than the AC160.

from this page: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=33049531

I see:

The 5D Mark II has a 38ish Mbps video bitrate for its 1080p30 H.264 .MOV QuickTime video files.
The 7D has an even more remarkable spec of about 47ish Mbps for its 1080p30 files. That's a 20-25% improvement in bitrate.

Whereas the maximum spec on the ac160 is 21/24 Mbps

Anyone know if 47mbits is even possible to write to SDXC cards, even if this were a firmware update possibility?

[Barry_Green]

The Canon has a higher bitrate, but the Panasonic has the higher quality compression. Bitrate isn't everything, in fact, it's not much of anything. The Canon uses a very simplistic version of MPEG4, the Panasonic uses a highly advanced version which is much more efficient. What the AC160 does with 24mbps is better, more robust, and overall superior to what the Canon does with 47mbps.

[dugmoore]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but how does this impact which SDHC card I use? If I use a Canon HDSLR, and also use an AC160, can I use the same cards? I'm in Southeast Asia, and the price difference with some of the cards is dramatic. Part of it is my fault for not knowing the language so well. The other part seems that there are new cards with a new rating system, and the salespeople tell me that they don't know how to explain the difference in English. Can anybody help me with this?

I called Panasonic USA, and they told me that there are 48 gig cards available, but none of the best shops here have them, and they haven't heard of 48 gig cards, but only 32 and 64 gig cards.

In the end, to have all of the feature available, which card is the best bang for the buck?

I'm moving from post to more shooting, and so far I love it, but the cameras can be a mystery to me at times, and I don't want to overspend on cards, or worse yet, waste money on the wrong cards.

Thanks.

[Barry_Green]

Depends on which Canon SLR you're talking about. Some use CF cards, some use SDHC or even SDXC. The AC160 can use any Class 4 or above SDHC card, although I'd recommend Class 6 or above if you intend to use the slow-mo overcranking or the 1080/60p live "PS" mode.

The new rating system is UHS, so there's Ultra High Speed (UHS) "1" and UHS-2 cards. Those are faster than SDHC Class 10.

As for "bang for the buck", there's a saying I employ here, which is -- everything you do, everything you shoot, all your actors and sets and permits and insurance and location fees and wardrobe and makeup and everything, all gets recorded down onto that one little memory card. Is that REALLY the place you want to try to save ten bucks? Get Panasonic Gold or UHS cards, or Sandisk Extreme Pros.