Tough decision on DVCPRO50 - suggestions?

R

rc444

Well-known member
I am looking at buying either an HVX, or a second hand LDK150. The LDK shoots only in DVCPRO50, but has a much better lens/resolution than the HVX. Here are the specs for the LDK 150:

Philips LDK150
2/3 inch lens
native 16:9
700 lines resolution
Shoots only 625i PAL
($10,000 s/hand)

Although the LDK150 is not an HD camera, feature for feature (and dollar for dollar) it seems better than the HVX (although I could be wrong).

The auction for the LDK150 closes on the 24th, so can anyone perhaps give me some advice on which camera is better?

David
 
Well, if SD is fine then a 2/3 camera should always beat the HVX.
If you want P2 and variable framerates there is no choice.
 
I chose a 2/3" camera over buying an HVX (a Sony DSR450WSL 24P 16:9 DVCAM). It only cost $12K USD, after rebate, including glass. With a broadcast 2/3" camera, you'll have lower chroma noise and more sensitivity, but, obviously, only SD resolution. However, decent 2/3" glass with a broadcast 2/3" imager sure can make goshdanged-sharp SD video--about 800 lines, horizontal. I chose a 2/3" SD camera mainly because I find the noise level from ANY 1/3" camera, simply unacceptable for my tastes.

Your used LDK sounds a bit overpriced for a 60i camera (perhaps most of the price is a component of the lens, however). The price of high-end, 60i-only cameras are dropping like ROCKS. No one wants SD, and no one wants 60i-only anymore, it seems. In the US, rental houses are having real trouble unloading 60i-only, widescreen Digital Betacams (originally around $70K). If you're interested in a bargain on a 60i-only (50i, in your case), check out the market for Sony BetacamSX/IMX cameras--they're probably one of the best bargains out there on the used market, since no one wants those anymore either, ever since Sony started to roll out its XDCAM products.
 
re: last post

re: last post

Thanks for that,

BTW do you know what the bitrate of Betacam SX is compared to DigiBeta? I've always wanted to know how Beta SX is different from Digi...

Also, what's the bitrate of IMX? Is IMX like a cheaper equivalent of XDCAM?
 
BetaSX uses long-GOP MPEG-2 recording; it's kind of like a standard-def version of HDV. DigiBeta is frame-discrete compression.

IMX is a 50-megabit format IIRC, which I may not. It's frame-discrete MPEG-2.

If you want HVX features, and 2/3" chip size, keep your eyes on NAB 2007, Panasonic's going to introduce the HPX500 which is a 2/3" interchangeable-lens shoulder-mount world-compatible HD-SDI/TC IN-OUT/GenLock cam that has all the features and frame rates of the HVX.
 
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