30i DVC PRO my only option

serrialthrilla

serrialthrilla

New member
Hey everyone. Next week I'm starting to shoot my final piece at school. Unfortunately the only cameras that are available to us are low end Panasonic
DVC Pro(AJ D810) 30i, 4X3:furious3: Every single video done by previous graduates that I've seen was just screaming NTSC. I realise that there is not
much I can do, except for renting a Vari Cam:) After doing some research I found out that diffusion in front of the lens, enhancement circuits turned off(detail level, sharpness, etc), long focal length/large aperture, as well as exposure kept within the contrast range can make some difference.
Ok, I think this is turning out to be one of those film look posts. The thing is that I'm not fixated on making it look like film. I just don't want it to look like a.....news piece.
Wondering if I'm on the right track. Would much appreciate some suggestions.
Cheers
 
Wow! A $20,000 camera is low-end now? That's a lot of camera and I would guess that the reason everything was "screaming NTSC" is that nobody knew what they were doing. Hell, I didn't when I was in school.

Yes, there are settings in the camera that you can mess with. However, there's about 8 pages of engineering menu's (and a secret trick to finding them) with all the different gamma and knee settings, etc. I don't think you want to get into that (and I don't think the school's equipment manager will either) Besides, if you don't know what each of the settings does it will get you nowhere. With proper lighting and some post work you could get a lot farther. All the things you mentioned will help (detail, long focal length, exposure). You can also use some shutter to help get rid of that smooth video look. Forget about whether or not it looks like NTSC, you've got a hell of a tool at your disposal. Just make it look good. And don't blame the camera if it doesn't....just use what comes out to help you learn why it looked or didn't look the way you want.
-Ryan
 
Geez kids are spoiled these days, i've shot over 1000 hours on a "low end" aj-d200. Try shooting news at the beach with no ND filter, and having to use the shutter instead. Those 810's aren't shabby at all many of us "professionals" would love to be able to use on of those everyday...
 
dude, just go out and shoot a movie.

If it's good then no one will care what it was shot on. Remember, making a movie is about more then just a camera. I personally would be more concerned about lighting/sound then a camera for a film.
 
Yes we are spoiled:) In fact, I had two 810s on set and all that for
$1500(CAN) /semester! What can I say, god bless Seneca College.



BennisHahn said:
dude, just go out and shoot a movie.

If it's good then no one will care what it was shot on. Remember, making a movie is about more then just a camera. I personally would be more concerned about lighting/sound then a camera for a film.
Click to expand...



That's exactly what I did. Brought the camera to the rehersals. Rolled some tape for the test, which I still didn't have time to look at. Shoot two days latter, while trying to concentrate on the story, angels and framing, rather than on the filmic or not filmic look. I think it turned out well.
Everyone thanks for your input, I guess I just had to see for myself
what's more important and what's secondary. It's all part of the learning experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top