Which Camera for Big Job? HD, SD?

W

workaholic

Member
I'm new. I posted in another forum but didn't get much response. I suppose this is a technical question of sorts as well.

I have recently been offered my largest job to date. It's to shoot 4 local TV commercials. The shoot will be over 3 days and their budget is $25,000.

Should I go rent the Varicam or do you think I could do it with an SDX900 and rent that? I have no idea what kind of camera this budget warrants since I generally only do $2,000 spots with my DVX. I have training on the SDX and the DVX so I imagine if I needed to go with the Varicam, it wouldn't be a problem.

What do you think? SDX or Varicam? Or heck, would an HVX work for that budget?

Your help would be most appreciated.
 
What are the requirements for the commercials? You say local TV what are their requirements? If they are cable they will most likely want 4:3 aspect video color space ? What are the client requirements and do they justify the rental of a $65,000 Varicam? Or do you need the flexability of that level camera.

Your question is hard to respond to since you didn't give a lot of detail on the projects. You are saying SDX900 or Varicam but realize to rent these camera's you need to post security and most likely a property and liability insurance certificate for the rental house. As I say this is a tough question without more details.

But the SDX900 has all the capability unless you need special frame rates, you are familiar with it and is should rent for less. Plus you will be challenged by other issues so try to stick with equipment that you are familiar with.

My 2 cents.

Good shooting,

S Cannon
 
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It's for cable and network. They will want a 4:3 aspect ratio. The client previously shot with 35mm which is why I was thinking about the Varicam. I always attributed the SDX to 16mm and the Varicam to 35.

I guess my question is really more or less this:

Does their budget warrant anything close to a Varicam rental? I have no idea how much typical 35mm shoots are (concerning regional, midbudget commercials).

Security and insurance for the rental is already worked out and is not an issue. It will not cost me anything. I do not get many jobs of this size so I kind of want to go a little over the edge, but if the Varicam is simply not going to yield As for going with an HVX with a 35mm adapter, I don't know if I have enough time to properly experiment and learn how to use an adapter in time. It sounds like you have to practice configuring them to get good results. I will be shooting in some tight locations so I've been thinking about going with an SDX900 with a nice wide Fujinon 10X HD lens.

Any opinions?
 
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Like 35mm, if I shoot with the Varicam it will be downconverted to SD for broadcast. Because of this I will downconvert it in the deck before capture and edit uncompressed SD. No matter what I use, it will be edited in SD in Final Cut Pro.

The only thing I will be spending money on is camera rental, media, and one grip. That is it. I have an Arri soft bank II and a DV Creator kit for lights. Sound is not required.

Do you think the Varicam downconverted to SD is that much better than the SDX? I have heard it looks fantastic. I can rent the SDX for $350 a day. The Varicam is $750 a day. No matter what I use I will capture the footage into my computer using an AJA IO and a Panasonic AJHD-130 deck.
 
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I don't know anything about the SDX, but I've used the Varicam on several Ford Motor Co. spots here in Chicago, and it is really great. We shot for 4:3 and got 'center cut' transfers dumped down to DigiBeta. Can't go wrong with the Varicam in my opinion. For a low-res sample check out my website. www.mikeorourke.com > Work > JWT & Ford.

We used the variable frame rate feature at the end of the spot for some cool timlapse footage up Michigan Avenue. The interior shots of the truck were national 35mm footage, and the HD stuff we shot cut in great.
 
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