Over the past couple of years I have come to know my old and trusty Sony Standard Definition, 16:9 widescreen, digital DVCAM format camera quite well. Backwards in fact, and she will still continue to serve my business very well over the next few years.

Over the past couple of years I have come to know my old and trusty Sony Standard Definition, 16:9 widescreen, digital DVCAM format camera quite well. Backwards in fact, and she will still continue to serve my business very well over the next few years.

But, she was lacking.  Lacking in the performance side of things where I was going to have to spend at a minimum of $30,000 to address. In this economic climate - well, any economic climate really - going for such an upgrade as a news stringer was, shall we say a 'courageous decision'.

I sat down and thought hard about the lacking in my current camera. The low light level performance was poor, very poor, considering the use of external lighting was not really an option in a church for a wedding service or in the early hours at a house fire let alone a social function.

Harsh contrasting sunlight was also a problem where it was difficult to have the person being interviewed in the right light - think of the police officer at a crash scene, where the shadow under his cap was as black as the ace of spades. Or even the bride and groom outside the church with harsh shadows on their faces as they are swamped by relatives and friends.

Not long enough

The lens system was crisp, but the zoom, in terms the 35mm stills user could equate to is really a 35mm - 350mm. Not quite wide enough and long enough.

Few lens makers have listened to the end user and make the wide angle wide enough to use decently.  Converters are great, but expensive and often sit in the bag, even when urgently needed. Simply put, the new camera would need to have a Fujinon or Canon lens.

The lack of adjustable gain above 18db was another issue, but unfortunately so was the high level of introduced noise, which meant post production noise reduction - and longer production times thus stretching deadlines.  This is a major issue as clients demand decent vision quality and usually its wanted 'yesterday'.

Sound fidelity was never an issue, neither was the ability to select mics - radio, rear, front or even line input, but the selector panel was. The old camera has it on the back down the right side and the lettering was way too small to read at 3am even with torchlight, by the roadside... even with glasses on.  Come to think of it, it is too small even in bright sunlight!

Not big enough

 Next, the size of the chips came into line for attention. My current camera has a 3CCD array which is brilliant, especially under the noonday sun, but the new camera has to have either a ½ or 2/3 inch array to provide the quality required, even for 'just run of the mill work'.

1/3 inch chips while they work well, simply don't give the stand out image of the larger chips.

In short, my list evolved to have the following as MUST have;

• A means to ensure colour rendition close to the human eye as possible,
• Dynamic Latitude; to enable automatic contrast control to avoid black shadows on faces, or washed out highlights. (Think souped up backlight)
• Dynamic Contrast Control; to prevent white breakup when shooting high intensity subjects,
• Black stretch and compress, to enable luminance control without altering hue.
• Halo correction; to remove the black halo around subjects,
• Dual Pixel readout; to enable the gain setting to be doubled when set to 18 or 24db without noise being introduced.
• Programmable gain above 18db, and right up to 42db (120 times normal) all with low to no noise.
• Low smearing of bright highlights, such as police and fire brigade beacons with the severe vertical lines.
• Native 16:9 in aspect ratio and offer electronic "4x3 safe" marking in the viewfinder.
• Be able to use BOTH standard size DVCAM tapes or the more readily available and cheaper MiniDV tapes.
• An Idiot mode as well as user programmable presets to cover situations from 'run and gun news' to planned press conferences and weddings.
• Automatic tracing white balance for news on the run, as well as the ability to use built in presets for tungsten as well as 1/8 and 1/64 neutral density for daylight, to enable depth of field control - fuzzy backgrounds.
• A single switch backlight or spotlight key as well as the ability to select full manual Iris.
• Have firewire (IEEE1394 in and out) so it plugs directly into the systems used by Nine and Win News when raw vision is required immediately,
• 2/3 inch 3CCD chip array with at least 980x582 pixels each, (which is larger than the SD XDCAM at ½ inch)
• A larger viewfinder with a CRT offering at least 600 line resolution to ensure accurate focusing, let alone the ability to work away from the face.
• A horizontal resolution of at least 800TV lines
• Shoulder mounted, as these are more stable than hand held when working sans tripod
• ... and have a single optic, to cover wide to tele, with at least the 35mm equivalent of a 24mm, right through to 800mm+.  

DVCAM, P2 or XDCAM?

 As my entire production facility is set up primarily for DVCAM  and MiniDV ingest, the possibility of XDCAM did arise, as the camera could plug straight into the desk knowing the NLE was ready willing and able.

But as we all know using the camera for playback is less than ideal, causing great wear and tear on the camera unit. Besides, there are naff all second hand XDCAMS or players available. Those that are available are almost as dear as a new camera and lens.

I thought about the possibility of upgrading to High Definition, but with all the factors addressed, and to be honest, I would need to look at at the top line XDCAM, or Panasonic P2 cameras which would set me back $50K plus for the body alone.

It also had to be a sensible price, able to use a Fujinon or Canon lens, DVCAM format and seamlessly fit in with my system.

So I started to hunt around for Sony tape based cameras. The DSR-450 is the current model, and retails for around $18,000 body only. This was the most suitable for me, but the price was a still a bit stiff. I thought about its predecessor, the Sony DSR-570 and going for a second hand one had to be a lot more affordable in a family business.

This camera is a true legend, being a stable workhorse of the BBC, with many dramas being shot exclusively on the 570, let alone news and doccos. If it's good enough for the Beeb. it's good enough for me!

It was built with the same goodies on the MUST list - the list of things that made it a true UP-grade from the present.

And then at $11K second hand including Fujinon lens, I took the big step and bought it. And I have never looked back - except to see the bank manager who now always has his hand out wanting money.

Why not High Def?

With such a huge upgrade, specifications and money, the question no doubt will be "why didn't you go for Hi Def ya daft bugger?"

I agree, it's a good question, especially as Australia is one of the most accepting of new technology, and is one of the biggest purchasers of HD widescreen television sets in the world.

Digital broadcast standard definition television uses interlaced vision. Progressive images as used in HD TV, especially where motion is captured, do not translate well into SD interlaced.  This is seen to great annoyance on standard CRT sets and monitors, and to a lesser extent on LCD and Plasmas.

Many will argue with that bold and brash statement, but the fact is I regularly get to see vision shot on a $10K HD camera in progressive, converted to standard definition interlaced, MPG2 and put to air. 

Watching footy on that camera brings me to tears, and I know it annoys the heck out of the station's management as it simply looks like a cartoon with legs flickering at a million miles an hour.  As one colleague said "it's like its shutter was set at a million".

Certainly good for 50% slow motion renders, but woeful for normal speed.

HD TV has SD basis

While true HD has its place and will become the way of the future, we need to accept that 99% of media outlets, and domestic television sets are simply not geared for HD as yet.  As such, standard definition, digital broadcast television will be around for many years yet.

This is especially true when you consider the SD standard is 576 horizontal lines, interlaced. Directly translated, the HD minimum standard, as used in Australia is 576 lines progressive. This means little difference in what I would have to supply to the networks.

When it comes to news gathering, many of the nation's broadcasters are adopting the Sony XDCAM format, simply because it is so flexible downstream of the shoot, offering low resolution MPG4 files to be quickly viewed by a journalist on a separate PC, in a separate area from the cut suite to construct and write a story, while the higher quality files sat safely on the XDCAM disc ready for cutting.

However, talking to a few engineers highlights that news and current affairs will mostly be shot - still in SD, albeit in MPEG2 at up to 50Mpbs.

Just a jump to the left

At the other end of the financial scale, the small XDCAM and HDV cameras are there in the marketplace at a sub $10,000 price, BUT they do not work as well as my 'must list'. These do a HDV version of my current setup, even down to the same performance in low light. Such a move for me would not be an upgrade, just a jump to the left.

The big question all my clients ask me is "do you supply widescreen?" No one has asked for Blu-ray or HD as yet. Instead, I get lots of people asking for help to convert their HD as it won't work on their TV, DVD or PC. I also get a lot of people wanting their DVD vision converted to stream on the web. It's become a case of LOW Definition becoming the marketplace.

Few organizations use HD for news gathering, and believe it or not, most HD cameras used in the industry according to the BBC, are setup for drama with the 'film look, where the image has the detail softened. 

The use of HD is cheaper than shooting on film which makes it more financially attractive for independent film makers seeking to sell their product to television especially, considering a 35mm Arri costs $2000 a day in Sydney, and that's without the lenses, while an HD with lens costs around a quarter of that.

That's right.  Dramas are being shot on HD cameras, but having their crispness and detail reduced to below SD, so it matches the graininess and characteristics of film.

The vision out of the DSR-570 is as close to unmitigated HD as you will get on screen, without actually being HD.

As NLE software develops, it will be easier to up convert an already razor sharp and crisp image to an acceptable HD file in the not too distant future.

I realize the term 'up convert' will inflame many people, but the reality is already here. DVD players are already available under $150 that will take a Standard DVD and up convert it on the fly so the image screened on the Plasma or LCD is 1080p, which is regarded as true HD.

Its only a matter of time before the up conversion capability will be done in the NLE without a render being a weeklong affair.

Hard to deliver

 On the subject of client delivery, we are in a curious state of hiatus.  There are a plethora of HD cameras available in the consumer, prosumer and pro markets, but there is little in the way of being able to do anything with the HD vision other than plug the camera into the lounge television and watch it from there. Which is a bit like the VHS and Hi8 days.

Presently, there are few Blu-ray burners, and blank discs can only be imported.

Burning to standard DVD, placing it in the lounge player and watching it is not quite easily possible.

Certainly, it is emerging that it is possible to convert a short film to AVCHD, burn it to a DVD-ROM and SOME Blu-Ray players may play the vision.  Note I said SOME, not all or most.

Presently if clients want a HD version, it usually is delivered as a data file on disc or memory stick.

Life work balance restored

Meantime,  the ability to shoot a news story at any time of the day or night, and be able to provide superb vision quality and get it down the pipe to the newsroom as quickly as possible has me astonished. Additionally, the positive comments from clients tell me this was a move in the right direction.

That and the fact I no longer have to spend hours tweaking the vision to rid it of noise, or colour correct means I have more time to spend with Angela and the kids. And that has to be a plus!

By Ben Longden

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