New EX Camera

I'm not looking for a small camera with an XDCam CODEC just for the quality.. my main concern is compatibility. I am sick of capturing dropouts on HDV tapes and more sick of the 3:2 stuttering motion of 24p embedded in 60i a la Canon style.

My main goals are:

XDCam format files
True 24P

If the quality is a bit better, great. But I don't need a $2000 camera for a conductor closeup shot that I cutaway to for 1% of the entire concert.
 
Cranky said:
The HV20 IS a camera with the same codec that Sony XDCAM uses, which is MPEG-2. One of the XDCAM EX profiles, 1080 @ 25 Mbit/s, is fully identical to HDV 1080, only in a different container. Knowing that Sony's implementation of MPEG-2 is more flaky than Canon's, I would consider Canon's HDV midway between Sony's HDV and Sony's XDCAM EX @ 35 Mbit/s.

I suppose -- at least I hope -- the new EX will have 422 codec as a preventive strike on a new, yet unreleased, Canon camera.
Click to expand...

Except the Sony's MPEG-2 (XDCAM SP Mode) has LPCM audio, hehehe.

Agreed on the 4:2:2.
 
I would also love to see a small XDCAM EX camcorder. Sony is still milking the four-year old A1U! An update is long overdue.

I need something that I can toss in a backpack and easily carry, but with a robust sensor & codec, manual control, and XLR inputs. It seems there's a gap in the marketplace between the high end consumer cams and the entry level prosumer.
 
I'm not currently looking for one, but if I was I'd consider the HF S100 or the HMC40 (full raster sensor and full raster images) though both would need an adapter for XLR audio.

Canon is rumered to have and XH-A1 based tapeless camera coming out too. I do like the A1's CCD sensors, manual controls and 20x zoom.
 
All of these are too large and heavy for my application. The V1U/A1U was too big/heavy to fit the location. The HV20 was the perfect size/weight. Maybe 15% larger/heavier is okay, but that would be the limit for the application I use it for. Long run time of 3hrs + is also a highly-desired feature. (I really hated the blitz tape-change sessions during intermission, where I had to come down from the balcony, wade through a crowd of thousands of people, work my way backstage, go find a union carpenter to get the 12' ladder out, ask the bassess and double basses to move, and place the ladder, go climb to the tippy top step, reach and grab on for dear life to the back shell 'shelf' space and gently change the tape without disturbing the camera.)
 
@Basspig, then maybe you should consider the HF S100. Its smaller than the HV20 and can run for nearly 3 hours on a 32 gig SDHC card at the highest quality. Plus new ones are now below $700 with a camera bag an some accessories. Canon refurbished ones are $600.
 
The HF S100 uses AVCHD, not XDCam. Adobe Premiere CS3 says the file is damaged or corrupt when I attempt to import AVCHD. Hence, I'm stuck with HDV for the time being until Sony comes out with some compact version of XDCam.
 
XDCam CODEC wrapped in MOV file? That might be just the right tool. Though 3lbs might be pushing the limits of my micro tripod, unless it's balanced well and won't tend to tip over. I must look into the JVC HM100 in greater detail.

I'm reading that it's a 30P camera, not 24P.. any confirmation of whether it does real 24P without that pulldown crap?
 
The HM100 has everyting: 24/25/30/50/60 progressive. And I think, interlaced too. The sensor is native 720p, so this may be a step back from the EX for you.

Philip Bloom made a review on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtWfVH0wX7U&hd=1 I did not like his aggressive grading, because I though that maybe he was hiding noise, but he said it was purely a stylistic choice. There are ungraded bits in his video.
 
basspig said:
The HF S100 uses AVCHD, not XDCam. Adobe Premiere CS3 says the file is damaged or corrupt when I attempt to import AVCHD. Hence, I'm stuck with HDV for the time being until Sony comes out with some compact version of XDCam.
Click to expand...

Would it worth it to get NeoScene from Cineform and convert to a more nle friendly codec (Cineform 8bit 4:2:2) and that will work with Adobe.
 
I use neoscene on both AVCHD files and files from my 7D (H.264 format in a .MOV file container). It results in bigger files, but smooths playback and editing.
 
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