What should i use? Varicam, HDX400, F900 or what?

macgregor

macgregor

Veteran
Hello. I am shooting a shortfilm very soon. We will transfer it to film at the end, so i would like to record as better as possible.

We were thinking in the sony HDV but i have seen we have some more money so we could rent some serious HD camera.

I find the Panasonic HDX400 interesting in price. I do not need the variable frame rate of the varicam. But i find that even when the DVCPRO HD records at 1080p the CCDs gives something around 720p. Why?

I found this in the official brochure:

Picture Elements: Total:1370 (H) x 744 (V)
Effective: 1280 (H) x 720(V)

Then why is the image upresized to to 1080? And why is it not recorded at 720p? And why is not there a 1080p camera?

Will Sony give me any better option? Is the F750 really giving 1080p? Any big difference in quality with the F900?

Thanks a lot!
 
Hey, if you can afford it, go with the F950 or the F900. There are several films out today that use these cameras, adn to the general public, no one ever knows they weren't shot on film. But just remember, when pricing out these cameras, the rental cost of the camera is not the only thing to consider. You have to consider Work stations, decks, tapes, and have someone with the experience to run it. That stuff can end up costing way more than the rental cost of the camera, so don' t forget to factor it in.
 
With the cost of transferring to film, have you considered shooting on it in the first place. I don't know what your budget is of course, but if you're transfering to film anyway, why not shoot on short ends? Just a thought.... have no idea what transfer costs are in Spain.
 
I will finally go with the F750. It has the same CCDs as the 900 and the price is excellent. I will rent 3 more lenses (i don´t need more).

Shooting in 35mm is impossible with the budget that we have. The cost of the complete HD set for 4 days will be around €1500. Each tape costs around €50. Now think the price of doing the same in 35mm. I am not the director nor the producer. I allready had to fight for this, so imagine i had to ask €15,000 to use an Arri 535 and zeiss lenses...
 
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