••Why do You Guys Continue to Shoot on the EX1?••

One of Dan's posts...

"
Hey guys. I'm only a year into cinematography, and now I totally feel the pain of not having my own lighting kit (always renting on my gigs)

I only have 1500 dollars budgeted for lights though.

The next short I'll be doing will have both indoor and outdoor photography, both which will of course need artificial lighting.


What should I get? I want a well balanced kit..it seems like you can only buy either daylight or tungsten kits..

I need to pull the trigger on a kit in the next three days to have it delivered in time for the shoot.

Whats the best quality for the money?

I need suggestions fast"

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=154921
 
DanHD said:
The ex1 will be obsolete with the release of the Scarlet.

Long live RED!
Click to expand...

Hi Dan

Er... I beg to differ.

The main reason why this "digial revolution" is happening is that in Feb next year, NTSC analog television broadcasting will go away, and the stations will all broadcast digital video signals.

Right now, those digital signals are in 720p and 1080i. Also 525i, but that's another matter.

So while all of the older SD cameras are now obsoleted, any 16:9 camera that can make images capable of being mastered into broadcastable HD signals will continue to be useful until they expire.

Like the DVX of yore, there are many videographers using Z1/s, V1s, even HC1s and if their stuff is excellent, they are making air, and will continue to do so until the national television broadcast standards are revised again -- which won't be for quite a few decades yet.

And since the definition of broadcast HD is still not standardized into one system, like NTSC 3.57 was, some stations are using 720p, others 1080, etc., and so really all of the cameras associated wtih those formats are still viable - you might say that the only true definition of HD is that which has more resolution than SD.

Since I converted my tiny boutique facility to HD at this time last year, I've converted shows from 720p to 1080i and vice versa. I've upresed SD to HD, and companies like Aja and Blackmagic make this task a lot easier than the digital standards converters of yore did, between NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

What this means is that I can use my 720p24-only camera, to generate a 1080i2997 HDCam SR broadcast master, with not a lot of difficulty and expense. Not none, but not a lot.

Which means my JVC HD110 still has professional life in it, even if the broadcaster is calling for 1080i.

And also, incidentally, that my 1080i60 camera can generate footage that can be transcoded into 720p24 to cut in with my JVC originated footage.

This kind of flexibility was unheard of back in the day. You shot 24fps in the US and 25fps in the UK, and that was that.

Well that's all but goen away now.

The rulebooks only basically state that SD will go away in Feb 09. So SD production will, eventually, go away, at around the speed that the old 4:3 TV sets get replaced by the new 16:9 ones, I'd say.

So while your DVX won't be worth much to a broadcaster by this time next year, your Z1 will still be usable, and your HVX and all of those.

And your EX1 too.

Now it may not have all the latest bells and whistles - it may not indeed have the highest resolution on the block in a few years' time - but right now it does 1900x1200, with HD-SDI out, intervalometer, high speed (only 60fps but there's always Twixtor) - what more do you need to tell a story in pictures? Does it really *need* to be Red or Scarlet colored? No. It does *need* not to be SD, but otherwise, anything that does the job will do.

Considering that most of our best movie stories were shot on film at 24fps on gear that was developed in the 30's, I think we have it real good these days.

We should be making exponentially more awesome programs than ever before.

Why not? Well, think about it. Movie making isnt just about the camera. It's about the vision. You can't buy eye training from a box. Auto focus won't get you auto excellent performances. Histograms don't mean great stories and breath-taking scripts.

The word processor and laptop have revolutionized.... typing. Not writing, typing.

What have all these new broadcast cameras revolutionized? YouTube? Reality TV?
 
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not to breathe life into an old thread, but id say your exactly right there emotepix, is it just conusmer fantasy that makes guys buying their first invariably prosumer cam, too excited about where it places them on the imaginary pecking ladder?

Certainly its just a joke for anyone to seriously imagine hd video cams becoming obsolete when were still transferring into hd broadcasting. Many SD cams will still be used, and broadcast SD cams too im sure.

Take for example the great television series HBO/BBC 'Rome'. It looked great didn't it, and we all know what HD camera that was shot on...
 
I got my ass totally and utterly kicked with rolling shutter on an EX1. Try shooting at a concert with 1,000 camera flashes going off every half hour. It sure does well in low-light but god forbid anyone take a picture near by.
 
doondoon said:
I got my ass totally and utterly kicked with rolling shutter on an EX1. Try shooting at a concert with 1,000 camera flashes going off every half hour. It sure does well in low-light but god forbid anyone take a picture near by.
Click to expand...

I hear you there.
 
doondoon said:
I got my ass totally and utterly kicked with rolling shutter on an EX1. Try shooting at a concert with 1,000 camera flashes going off every half hour. It sure does well in low-light but god forbid anyone take a picture near by.
Click to expand...
And ambulance strobes. I had a great low light shot that was as steady as could be. But rolling shutter. rolling shutter. rolling shutter. Only time it burned me but we were looking at using the ex for concert films...we better look at that idea again!
 
Yup, I agree. I'd think twice about taking anything with a rolling shutter out into flash photography land.
However, those shots can be fixed up in post (although it is simple, it is painstaking) so it's not a total waste.
In fact, I'd be weighing the cost/time of having to insert hundreds of post flash-frames up against that of having to add more lighting/use more expensive P2 cards, how much low light backstage work, etc.
Depending on the shoot, my Excel sheet might still tell me to go with EXs instead of slower CCD based cameras. Or maybe use P2s for the stage with and EX1 for backstage reality...
BUT I'm an indie producer, people, with my own post facilities. If I were simply a cameraperson or a gun for hire, then you're right, no way would I hand a tape over that I knew would take tons of post fixing to get right, not without a very long discussion with my clients first.
 
You can use the EX1 at pro concerts, just don't aim at the audience.
Some concerts do not allow cameras, so you're safe there.
 
Anyway, back to topic. I for one continue to use my EX1 with Letus because it gives me the look I want at the price I want. When that changes, so shall I. I shoot mainly dramatic scripted with a little reality and some how-to stuff (both of the latter requiring a "video" look, so no DOF adaptor for those shoots) and no shots involving fast moving jello makers or people with flash cameras, so I'm good to go.
 
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