HG or HE modes vs Minidv?

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Denwa

Well-known member
I always shoot in PH mode with my HMC150, but I have an unpaid gig for a friend to cover a film festival fund raiser. Storage is going to be an issue as the main event is 6.5 hours (bands) and a 1 to 3 hour after party.

I don't think the laptop he is supplying is going to be overly quick for transfers and I'm not sure when I am supposed to get time to do them.

One of the other cams there is an XL2 so it will be HDV and he has his HVX200 as back up but prepared to use minidv (SD).

So we were wondering what the quality of the HMC150's HG or HE modes is like. Is it any worse than Minidv? Especially for a DVD or Web output?

Not sure if we will go that way but I'd like to here some real world opinions on what the lower end modes are like compared to Minidv.
 
HG is about the same quality as HDV, in half the space. A 32GB card would store about six hours of HG footage.

Best way to know if you're satisfied with it is to just go shoot some and play it back on your TV and see what you think.
 
16 GB cards are actually pretty cheap. The main issue with the lower bitrate modes will be with lots of movement in the scene, so that might be your main problem, but the resolutions is miles better than DV so for a static scene it will be much better.
 
OK, thanks. I guess motion will be more of an issue with a low bit rate h.264 codec (avchd) than minidv, but the resolution will be better.

Not my normal work flow but it is a free gig and about 6 hours longer than I was expecting when I agreed to help him out. (He's the president of the local film festival and also a video guy).

Buying a bunch of SDHC cards at $50 a punch for a nopay gig doesn't seem the best route either. :)
 
I've played lot with HE and HG... and was surprised at how good even HE mode is, especially when downconverted to SD. Can't recommend it if you're shooting handheld or a lot of fast camera motion, but if the camera's fairly locked down or doing some slow tripod moves, it actually holds up OK. HG of course even more so... I've shot a number of things in HG in a pinch with pretty good results. (Caveat... all these tests with 1/30th shutter for "fake progressive" - which is easier on the codec than "normal" 1080i... for a fundraiser, 1/30th may be the mode you want to use anyway... great for low light).

So... HG should definitely work for rough event coverage. HE might... but if I were you, I'd test that out myself and see what I think!

-Barry

'Course if you're doing this for free, maybe the film fest president would be willing to spring for a coupla $40 Transcend 16GB cards....
 
Yeh I've always wondered ... in terms of picture quality, which lower quality mode is ideal when it comes to shooting a footage similar to the picture quality coming from a prosumer 3 CCD mini DV camera. HG or HE... or visual aesthetically it is up to the individual and it is incomparable. I think it is hard to compare or just simply incomparable and therefore I take duration+size of the storage as a priority -- Although it hurts to know that I may be able to afford as many SD cards as I want in lets say in 5 years time! And sucks when I'm really not too sure if I'm ever going to use the HE and HG mode and if I do, will I end up in disappointment for not choosing PH mode in the first place since what I captured could have won me an Oscar and it deserves the highest quality mode.

With HG,HE and PH modes, it may be used as an advantage in adding value to my video service for now. Higher bit rates = Higher $ charges.

So what does the acronym HG, HE and PH means anyway? HE = High Explosive???
It confuses me at times and I wish Panasonic could have used numbers and alphabets like 15BT, 20BT,24BT etc instead.

Ranting -- :)

My experience: I wouldn't recommend the lowest bit rates if you are shooting movements on a stage like a rock concert. The moving images which was shot in Auto stutters but many times better than a stop motion movie and looks uncomfortable when converted for viewing on the DVD player. (Was shooting lowest quality mode at HE 1080/50i cos I finally ran out of SD card and had to use my cellular phone SD card!)
 
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It's not a simple comparison because it depends a LOT on what you're shooting. On a still image, the HMC's HE image will likely be a lot better than a DV cam. Shooting handheld in a leafy forest with a lot of action, I'd bet on DV over HE mode. The range between "still image" and "rainforest action" is what you have to think about...
 
Thanks,

Yeah.. I mentined cards to him but all I got was a blank stare (it's a non-profit froup so everything is by commitee).

So.. they are getting what they pay for. :)
 
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