Choosing a Camera for Online Video Production

Hard drive and solid-state storage options such as SD, SDHC, and P2 cards offer multiple advantages over tape, including more reliable operation, faster capture, and easier scene identification in an interactive shoot. Few shooters who have ever worked with either hard disk or solid-state memory ever want to return to tape—it’s that much of an improvement. Still, with all these forms of media, you’ll need an alternative mechanism for archiving your raw footage.

SD storage is one of the best features of AVCHD, and prices for this type of storage are dropping rapidly, with 16GB cards that are capable of holding more than an hour of video now costing less than $200. On the other hand, when you consider the storage requirements of DVCPRO HD (about 1GB per minute) and the cost of P2 cards ($2,495 for 64GB), you have an untenable cost structure for many shooters.

I personally think that this is likely the last generation of HDV camcorders, since it’s a kind of bastard format designed more for DV tape compatibility than any other reason. Several higher-end Sony camcorders offer recording 50Mbps long-GOP MPEG-2 to Blu-ray Disc. This seems to be a wonderful option to me since discs are cheaper than SD media and can provide both acquisition and long-term storage. For the time being, however, HDV stored on DV tape remains a very solid option for many producers, especially those continuing to shoot in DV.

Question Five: What Other Features Should I Consider?
These are the biggies; now, let’s look at some other features you should consider when purchasing a new HD camcorder.

Focus Assist
One of the biggest challenges of HD recording is trying to achieve a sharp manual focus using only the camera’s CCD or tiny viewfinder. Some HD camcorders can zoom the preview image to 2X to assist focus, but this view is usually only available during preview, not while recording, which is like a GPS device that works when you’re stationary and turns off once you start driving.

In contrast, the Panasonic HPX170 offers four Focus Assist features (in addition to a peaking display) that stay visible while you’re recording. To start, when you enable Focus Assist, the camcorder displays a zoomed preview in the middle of the viewfinder, a histogram in the upper-right corner, and a moving bar below the zoomed image. The histogram has black pixels on the right and white pixels on the left; as you focus in, the white pixels shift to the right, receding if you dial the focus ring too far.

I found the moving bar more helpful. Essentially, as you focus on your subject, the bar extends to the right. If you go too far, it starts backing down to the left; so you focus until the bar is at maximum length. However, both indicators remain onscreen while you’re actually recording, so if your subject does something radical, such as move, you can maintain your focus.

The HPX170 also debuted a feature called Manual Focus Assist. In this mode, you manually focus with the focus ring as you normally would, and once you get close enough for the camera to discern your target, it takes over, automatically making the last fine adjustments, which you can track by watching small movements of the focus bar. The result is absolutely striking and quite comforting, as the image in the CCD and viewfinder (and, ultimately, the recording) was absolutely sharp the whole time. Note that if you want your image to be slightly out of focus or if you want to shoot a rack-focus shot, you can disable this feature and go all manual.

The HCM150 offers the zoomed preview and a histogram but not the bar or Manual Focus Assist. At the very least, unless you plan on having a large-screen preview monitor with you at all times, you should make sure that the zoomed preview stays active while you’re actually recording.

Internal Waveform
Another cool feature of the new Panasonic camcorders is an internal waveform monitor on the LCD panel, which is a much more accurate gauge of lighting than the internal zebra stripes also available on these and most other camcorders. Both camcorders also display the luminance value of the pixel in the center of the frame, so if it’s not 95-plus when you’re white balancing, you know that you’ve got potential exposure issues.

Getting exposure right is 90% of the battle, and these types of tools really make your job simpler.

Optical Zoom
This sounds like a consumer-oriented feature, but if you shoot events or other structured presentations where you can’t control camera location, a 20X zoom lens can be heaven. I’ve shot 12X and 20X camcorders side by side, and I vastly prefer the 20X zoom.

Audio Connectivity
Probably the most significant difference between pro and consumer camcorders is XLR connectivity, which is necessary for connecting microphones and soundboards to your camcorder. The first two 3CCD HDV camcorders on the market, the "consumer" Sony HDR-FX1 and the "professional" HVR-Z1U, were virtually identical except for the XLR connectivity, which was justification enough for Sony to give it the professional designation and to price it about 30% higher than the FX1.

Hot Prospects for 2009
I haven’t looked at all of these camcorders (some weren’t available at the time of this writing) but if I had to compile a short list of camcorders most likely to succeed in 2009 and beyond, it would be the following:

Sony HVR-Z5U (MSRP $4,995)
This successor to the Z1U resembles its predecessor in that it records HDV to tape, but it also uses three 1920x1080 CMOS sensors to get there and records in true progressive. A 20X optical zoom and histogram (but no waveform) complement the CMOS, and there are multiple alternative storage mechanisms, including hard disk and compact flash. Sony has a well-deserved reputation for low-light sensitivity, ease of use, and very high-quality video that I expect this unit will continue to reinforce.

Canon XH A1S ($3,999)
My Canon XH A1 (HDV) has produced the sharpest images that I’ve ever recorded, and a new 20X lens should only improve things. The update also offers more manual adjustments for those who like to craft their image.

Panasonic HPX170 ($5,695)
This DVCPRO HD camcorder succeeds the HVX200, which was exceptionally popular with the indie and documentary filmmaker crowd. It’s completely tapeless, and comes with a 5-year warranty. Its manual controls are legendary, and DVCPRO HD offers exceptional quality, albeit at a data rate more than four times that of any camcorder recommended here. With the focus assists and waveform monitor, you’ll be able to travel light, and you can flip the display to work with 35mm adapters that don’t offer flip mechanisms. P2 costs and a 13X zoom are the big negatives.

Panasonic HMC150 ($3,995)
With full-resolution AVCHD at up to 21Mbps, three CCDs, and a strong feature set, this is the first truly professional AVCHD camcorder. It highlights most of the format’s advantages, such as 3 hours of full resolution HD video on an SD card scarcely larger than your thumbnail. While not quite as robust as the focus assist on the HPX170, the HMC150’s focus aids are still much better than those offered by most competing camcorders, and the waveform is very similar to the higher priced HPX170.

Jan Ozer (jozer [at] doceo.com) is a frequent contributor to industry magazines and websites on digital video-related topics and is the author and producer of the Critical Skills for Streaming Producers family of tutorials.