Digital DV Formats:

Sony VX1000

Mini DV (Sony, Panasonic, JVC)

Pros: Tapes interchangeable between manufactures. Tape lengths up to 60min.(Panasonic 63, 66 or 80min.) Cost £4.00-10/hr. Tapes can be read in DVCPro machines too. (But most DVCPro machines will not record to mini DV format, they record on the tapes at a faster speed). Look for models with firewire or i-link both in and out for lossless duplicating tapes.

Cons 1: generally cheaper (poorer) lens than the Pro cameras: they tend to be soft at either end of the zoom. Relative exception is the Canon XL1 which has a detachable and relatively high quality lens (16x optical -5,5mm-88mm- zoom +10x digital zoom). Digital zooms over 5x start to give digital/mosaic look.

Cons 2: tapes are small and fragile. Tapes are not well suited to editing environment where they are subjected to shuttling back and forth particularly during an autoconform: tapes may snap. Usual solution is to make a digital clone (eg firewire between recorder/camera) on one of the professional DV formats, or accept a slight loss in quality by copying to Beta SP (analogue) if only an analogue edit suite is available. Give the tapes a good lead in before videoing, eg put 30sec of bars on them. The begining of tapes seem more prone to drop outs.

Cons 3: different time code facilities between models/manufacturers. The tapes initial time code cannot be set by the user, each tape starts 00:00:00:00 (00 hours: minutes: seconds: frames) the hour cannot be changed in camera. If you do a digital clone between miniDV's (eg via firewire) the timecode is not transfered, and will be different on the copy.

Cons 4: poor quality built in mics. Some resellers are offering modified mini-DV cameras which can accept external professional mics. This is well worth the cost as the internal sound recording media is the same as all DV cameras (ie excellent!) and the only let down is the internal microphones. Bear in mind a new Senheiser or AKG mic may well cost a third as much as the mini-DV camera.

Alternatively record the sound on DAT and sync up later (e.g. on Avid you would need to have slated each shot, you can't sync time code to these cameras!) The cameras mic provides a guide track which should be good enough for the initial cut. Avid has sync point editing features, MX1000 (Panasonic) and most non linear editors (eg Premiere) have an audio waveform representation that enables a fine match (or best match) to be achieved. See DV sound recording.

Cons 5: 16x9 option (when available) is bit of a cheat: the system just loses resolution (lines) top & bottom.

What to look for:

16x9 capability: Some DV cameras discard lines top & bottom to give 16x9, there is in theory something to be gained by this as there is less picture to be compressed by the camera before recording to tape - however in practice (since the cameras are optimised for 3x4?) the picture is often actually worse. Obviously this is not the case with cameras that use all the chip for 16x9, these will give a higher resolution, eg DV700.

firewire-In (If you plan on editing with the camcorder as well) 3-Chip imaging (gives superior colour and overall sharpness compared to the one chip models) - optical stabilizer (digital ones are virtually useless). OPTICAL Zoom range (most have 1-10 or 1-12, the Canon XM1 has 1-20). Do not be mislead by features such as digital zoom as it only digitally magnifies a portion of the image and becomes visable as reduced resolution. - Audio function: Try to get a camcorder that lets you adjust the audio level manually. ( XM1 does not, XL1 does) - Manual Focus: Make sure that you a) can switch off the auto focus and b) can focus using a ring on the lens not as some models where you are supposed to pull focus by pressing buttons. Lens Quality (the new XM1 comes with flouride lenses, which helps the colour rendition on long focal lengths. On the XL1 you can change the lenses and both Canon and third parties (such as OpTex) offer them. Some of the Sony camcorders come with Carl Zeiss lenses. After Sales Support. Sony, for example, offers a world wide guarantee. Important, if you are planning to travel with the camcorder. buying from a non-authorized dealer may void the international part of the guarantee Size of the camcorder. Gernerally, the bigger the steadier & sturdier. LCD screen makes framing much easier for high and low angle shots. Most camcorders have a screen, but the VX1000/XL1 don't. Also compare the screensizes (most have 2.5 inch, the PD100AP comes in 3.5 inch) and the resolution (important for manual focus. The PD100 has about 50% more pixels than the XM1). Handling. Try out as many camcorders as you can, see which button layout you prefer. Make sure that vital functions (such as manual focus, aperature, white balance) can be changed quickly and easily, ie not at the bottom of a screen menu but actual knobs or buttons. Battery life. The longer, the better. Get batteries that do not have a 'memory' effect. ie not Ni-Cads. Analog video in. Lets you record from sources like TV and VTR without loss of quality, most DV cameras don't have this facility (with: Sony TRV900, Canon XL1s (but not the earlier XL1)). Sturdiness.look for metal bodies not plastic. High speed there's only 1 at present: JVC DVL9800 upto 240fps.

Canon XL1/ XL1s: top end mini DV. Extensively used on broadcast TV for documentary, news and wildlife programs. Cost around £2½K.Cons: comes with 5.5mm-88mm lens (35mm equivalent: approx. 40 - 600mm) so a wide angle 3x zoom is a must at around an extra £900 (or £600 in US). Adapter available to take Canon 35mm manual lens, but the adaptor multiplies the focal length by a factor of 7 (10mm becomes 70mm) so can't use this as a cheap way of getting a wide angle lens, however a 300LM lens becomes over 2000mm! . If you just use the 5.5-600mm zoom, with the image stabiliser system it can be acceptably handheld. But non-manual zoom lens do not lend themselves to manual pulling focus, there are no fixed distance marks on the lens barrel. The Canon lens has taken critisism for not holding focus through the zoom, however it isn't completly true that the lens backfocus is out, the user has probably tried to focus on too close an object and the lens has gone into macro mode, pulling out then loses focus. (This would happen on any lens, it's just that on a manual lens you would know you are in macro mode). Alternativly, users have reported it is the internal lenses adjustment becoming stiff over time: solved by a service with Canon. (However there are manual zooms available for the Canon see: http://www.optexint.com/digivid/can14x.htm & Optex http://www.optexint.com/digivid/xlpro.htm at around £1000).Optex offers adaptors for nikon stills lenses, and even arri 16mm film lenses.
In low light (ie with lens wide open, f1.8 or so) the autofocus can start to hunt, but the camera has various manual settings that can be used instead. However manual focus relies on a low resolution colour viewfinder (one of the main user complaints): the autofocus can be more accurate, but you don't see it in the low res. viewfinder. But then again you can easily connect an external monitor in a drama shoot situation. Download typical XL1 still picture .
Apparent ASA ratings: the XL1 is a bit slow, typically 125asa (estimated with 0db gain, both daylight and tungsten settings), plus 2 gain settings, though these do introduce more video "grain". XL1s is around 320asa (0db, tungsten), 500asa (0db, daylight) and has an extra stop of gain over the XL1.

Standard 5.5mm-88mm lens will focus down to an object 6cms across the TV safe frame (you can't get closer than 95cms to an object [measured from front of lens & @ f2.6]). To magnify an image further requires closeup adaptor lenses (72mm dia). Typically a +2 diopter enables focusing on a frame 24mm across [30cms from front of lens], +3 diopter frame 13mm across, +5 dptr 10mm across.

Pros: Jack plugs on mic, but adapters for phantom powered/XLR mics available, (custom made for the Canon these are expensive, see Canon site or Optex. There are 2 models the (now obsolete) MA100 which feeds 2 XLR mics into the 3rd and 4th audio inputs (£120 new in 2001, and around £100 s/h !!). The current adaptor MA200 (£350) is a 4 XLR input. Both come as a modified shoulder mount for the XL1. Alternativly an in-line adaptor can be made up for about £10/channel:
Maplin do a XLR to audio jack adaptor. It is specifically for XLR mics and has a built in isolation transformer which helps eliminate the hum/pick up associated with long mic cables (provided the lead from the audio jack to XL1 is kept short). It's only £7, though the mic levels I have got have been a little on the low side, similar to the 'attenuation' setting on the XL1. PS you also need to make a lead to get from the "audio jack" to XL1 (an inline ¼" audio jack socket, 1 to 3ft of thinish coax to phono plug). Mine was made up to plug into the stereo mic socket (to repalce the sensitive Canon mic) and this may have been the cause of the low mic level.

XL1 zoom control is almost professional ! The Canon XL1 has a fairly sturdy die cast body too. Mine survived a 3 foot drop off a tripod on to a solid floor (although the viewfinder fell to bits, it all snapped together again....).

Sony PD150 (£3000) similar price to the XL1, but a more conventional miniDV style, but with the advantage, (say in a more proffessional environment (eg time-code)) it is switchable between mini DV and DVcam. Apparent ASA: I guessing here... but feels similar to XL1s, so around 350asa?.

Canon XM1 downside is it only has auto-level sound recording.

Panasonic EZ1 has a find last frame function, which ensures each take (even if the tape is removed from the camera) follows on from the last frames time code. EZ1 time code can be read by digital editing equipment including Avid. Canon XL1 has a similar function, or can rewind to the start of the last take automatically too. However as with most mini DV it's wise to continue to run off a few seconds before removing the tape, it's then easier to pickup timecode again, by starting somewhere over the last take.

Sony VX1000 (mini DV) doesn't have find last frame timecode. Time code is held while the camera is in pause mode, but this has a time out (usually just before you want to shoot) and the camera unspools the tape and can reset the time code to zero. Avid and some other editors would interpret this as a new reel, and the tape would have to be queued up for each apparent reel change. VX1000 doesn't have manual audio.

Sony TRV900e (£1450) has DV IN and OUT but can also record analogue In, most current DV cameras do not

JVC DVL9600 the only mini DV with slow motion?

Sony DSR 200 Excellent glitch free animation and time lapse modes...ideal for plasticine animation workshops with kids as they get instant results.Weak points: Pic quality..about PAR for the price bracket, let down by an average lens..the DSR300 has a much better lens and pro feel but may lack all the animation tricks. Zoom control is over sensitive so difficult to get really pro results. You can DV enable it, (PC Widget plus RT2000 edit system) but must disable it again as, whilst enabled, it wipes out sound inputs and distorts the pic in camcorder mode.

One of the best descriptions/comparisons of mini DV http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/camcorder-comparison.htm

Other considerations:
on multi-camera shoots, Sony DVs give a noticeably blue picture to both Canon and Panasonic DVs, the latter seemingly having a 'warmer' colour balance.
Filters: Try a Tiffen Soft Contrast #1 or #2. It will open up the shadows, keeping the blacks from locking up - a major difference between film and video. You can modulate the effect of the filter by controlling the amount and direction of backlighting. Also, a Tiffen Black Pro Mist #1 is great for chopping down specular highlights coming off chrome and other reflective surfaces. Tiffen Ultra-Contrast filters are good for matching contrast between wide/med/tele shots in the same scene, as wide shots appear more contrasty than tele shots do.

Non mini DV consumer DV systems:

Digital 8: Sony only system at the moment that uses 8 mm similar tapes to, and can also read, Hi8 & video 8. 60min DVrecording time on a Hi8 90min tape. No analogue LP facility. Picture resolution 500 lines max.. Audio is 16-bit PCM stereo, with NO audio dub.

Sony VX9000 uses full size (3hr) DV tapes.no DVin.

JVC has a digital format using VHSC style tapes.

GR HD1 JVC plan a miniDV / High definition wide screen camcorder for release late 2003. Though NTSC only and not true HD, it will be PC editable (in a compressed format similar to DVDs) and higher resolution than DV. see www.jvc.co.jp/english/press/2003/gr-hd1.html

DV "Professional" formats:

DVcam cheapest camera: Sony PD100 ?

Pros: Higher image resolution than miniDV, and usually better lenses! Time code can be set to any value to start the tape. Like Beta this means the tapes can be made to start with different hour numbers (up to 99) to correspond with the tape number.

Tape cost £12/hour.

Some of the DV VTRs can accurately restripe the time code track without affecting the video or audio tracks. This might be irrelevant to ENG situations where only one or two clips are required but a bonus to long edits with many tapes where even only one tape has been unconventionally timecoded

DVCPro (Panasonic)

DVCam (Sony)

Digital S (JVC)

Summary

A simple qualative guide is (within a few %):
DVCPRO50=DigitalS
DVCPRO=DVCam=miniDV (mini/consumer DV is capable of same quality picture, however the lens, CCD and robustness of the tape will degrade the picture). All are better than BetaSP in tests, but subjectivly (and probably because of lenses and compression algorythm) sometimes appear worse. The 5:1 compression of these formats mean close-ups (talking heads) and moving images look good, often as good as DVCPRO50, DigitalS or better, however extremly detailed or complex scenes yield visibly, though not strongly, impaired video. Using the composite/Y-C output of these cameras will also degrade the picture (to BetaSP or worse) and so is not recomended to use composite/Y-C as an edit source.

Give a good lead in on tapes say a minute of bars and tone. Editing machines need at least 3 seconds of lead for pre-roll when autoconforming and won't be able to sync the very start of tapes. Don't use more than 60 min on 63 min tapes if you use the time code hours to label tapes!

how should I set up the camera to make the best of film transfer? Set the knee with a gentle slope/ramp up to the high frequencies (whites). You want to ease specular highlights on shiny objects into white, rather than let them peak out. Shoot with gain set as low as you can, and "underexpose" by playing with white stretch settings just slightly to bring the whites down in relation to your mid-range gamma. Knock the color down about 20% in very bright light like outdoor sunlight, and even indoors or in flat light if you have a lot of bright primaries in the shot/set/etc. If the camera has a skin tone setting, use it. Don't use diffusion except for a Black Pro mist and use whatever ND filters it takes to shoot closer to wide-open aperture (to reduce depth of field). You don't want your blacks to lock up, so set your black stretch accordingly, and in relation to the contrast level of your lighting setup. On a waveform monitor, what you'll be doing will look like the high frequencies are too low, but don't let anyone crank them up in transfer, because you'll lose all the detail you just gained in the highlights. Steve Bennett www.ifmp.net
Video to fim transfer

Professional DV cameras and modified mini-DV record excellent stereo sound, but usually have limited level adjustment on the cameras, compared to the remote level adjustment you would expect where a sound engineer's expertise and/or a mixer is required. If you don't record consistent sound levels on set you will spend time and money and compromise in the edit suite. The cameras may have automatic level controls (this may be all some mini-DVs have): this will compress overall levels and artificially lift low sound levels to an extent that may not be noticed on the shoot, but sound dreadful in the studio. This tends to have given (particularly mini-DV) an undeserved bad name for audio. Clever cameras have not replaced the sound engineer. The only real problem may be the umbilical cord between camera and mic/mixer. Some sound recordists may feel more at home with a Nagra or DAT where ultimate responsibility rests with the sound recordist. Having the cameraman in the loop requires an extra check -are you recording sound? -and is not as fool proof as you might suppose.

firewire

Fast serial interface protocol (IEEE1394), Sony use it (but call it i.link) for DV transfer/recorder control. DV cameras typically transfer at 100Mb/sec.At this speed special shielded cable is required, seems to be a maximum length of 20 metres, although thicker cables will run to 40 metres+). (Sony i.Link uses 4 way connector, Apple Mac's firewire uses 6 way cable (the 2 extra are to supply power to the firewire device).

Firewire allows lossless duplicating of tapes.

Firewire allows lossless editing (ie on-line DV) using Mac/PC capture cards with firewire input and using DV compression as the editing medium. eg Miro/Pinnacle DV500, Matrox RT2000, Canopus Rex & Raptor, FAST.. Downloaded to a computer 1 gig holds approx 5 min of DV.

Firewire links: Enabling DVin on cameras: 1 adaptive.telecom.at 2 http://www.xs4all.nl/~bbouwens/dv 3 http://www.cis.tu-graz.ac.at/wb/dvin other useful sites: DV-WIRE is a newsletter from Digital Origin http://DigitalOrigin.com for JVC (GR-DVL20/30/40/9*, DV3, DVM5, DVX*) see widget by DV2000 (France) tel 0033 386 614744.

Enabling Codes for VX1000 for VX1000 cameras with serial no >40000. Set camera into player mode, using full battery, connect L-control RM95, set to Adjust: LCD will show 1:00:00 If not bring it down with 00:00:00 PAGE:DATE:ADRES search+&- : play&stop : ff&rew (on RM95) 1.00.00 press play-button once 1.01.00 press pause deep (now you're in the program, beware, don't fiddle!) press + brings 1 to d d.ff.00 (ff (on screen) shows automaticly) press ff (on RM95) untill 00 changes in 11 (44 shows up automatically) d.44.11 press stop bring 44 down to 14 d.14.11 press pause (in fact camera now has DV-in now but to close...) press + to bring d down to 1 01.01.00 press stop once 01.00.00 diconnect/ switch off everything, battery out for 15 seconds! DV-IN will show if you connect DVcable now! Use RM 95 for VTR4 codes or use VTR2 code (old Hi8 remotes)

Useful DV Video Commentary

Side by Side VX1000 and Cannon XL-1

DTV Group - Inside the DV Spec

Using the VX1000

VX1000 Underwater Housing

A DVC Forum Page

http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/42121 Canon GL-1 forum

Camera accessories: Optex, Keene (batteries, lenses accessories)

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last updated 12/6/03