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Axo1ot1 · Nov 17, 2002, 05:40 PM

I just read some specs on this camera and I think I may be falling in love. Does anyone know if it has been reviewed by a reputable publication (online or off)? Also it doesn't seem to show up on FCP's supported devices list. Does this mean that FCP won't import at 24 p? Is there any indication that Apple is working on an update?

direktor · Nov 17, 2002, 08:04 PM

I own one. I would tell you to go to 2-Pop to find out more about it, but I'll write here because the noise level on this camera is so high right now, it's unbelieveable.

So far, it's only been reviewed by Mark Foley of Videography magazine. It's a good and fair review, but if I remember right, he doesn't get into the 24P stuff (which warrants a seperate article (or 4) alone.

Here's the deal with 24P the way the DVX does it:

-It captures true 24P or 30P (not like the Canon cameras faux 30P)

-It adds extra fields to the 24 frames it captures on the fly to make a 60i stream.

-60i is exactly what normal camcorders capture, so then this stream gets encoded and written to tape just like regular DV video.

-Because of this, it is compatible at a basic level with ALL DV editing systems.

---------------------------------

Now, you can after capture, remove those extra fields the camera added while shooting and get back to a pure 24fps video stream. If you shot 24P standard (one of two 24P modes), you can do this in After Effects or Cinema Tools. To do this causes ONE generation of recompression to the DV stream.

Panasonic invented a new way of writing 24P to tape where there is no recompression involved, and it's called "24P Advanced". The method to get your true 24fps is simpler, just dropping one frame out of every 5, and it is this method that FCP is slated to support soon.

Panasonic and Apple issued a joint release on all this back in the spring when the camera was first announced. People are expecting this to be in the next FCP update, and very soon at that, since the camera is now in peoples' hands.

But for now, you can buy the camera, shoot 24P and edit right away with no problems. People ask why you would do this, and it's purely an aesthetic choice.
For me it's an aesthetic difference of huge proportions. Properly shot, etc, it WILL fool people for film.

I shot a music video last weekend with the camera, an almost final cut with color-correction (in full res DV) is available at:

http://homepage.mac.com/nweaver/.Movies/OzzyWebDV.mov

The clip is about 16 seconds long, 58 meg.

Axo1ot1 · Nov 17, 2002, 10:23 PM

Wow, now I'm really drooling for this camera. That article was really good. Can anyone suggest a website to get one for cheap?

dtriska · Nov 19, 2002, 03:05 AM

Originally posted by direktor:
I shot a music video last weekend with the camera, an almost final cut with color-correction (in full res DV) is available at�

Damn, that looks good.

CIA · Nov 20, 2002, 02:33 AM

Bought one! Just waiting for my check to clear at promax. (my credit cards only go so far!)
I will report back as well about this camera.

scottiB · Nov 20, 2002, 06:46 PM

Damn, that looks good.

I'll say. Wow.

Axo1ot1 · Nov 21, 2002, 03:45 AM

Damn...It looks like I'm not gonna get mine until christmas or maybe later

I need to get a loan. I have like 33 projects I need to shoot and my only camera is low end/on the other coast in a box waiting for my lazy ex-roommate to ship it

Axo1ot1 · Nov 21, 2002, 04:13 AM

For those of you that have used both, do you like the XL1s or the DVX-100 better? I really want the aesthetic of 24 fps, but the canon is a really nice camera too.

Axo1ot1 · Nov 22, 2002, 04:32 PM

bump

direktor · Nov 22, 2002, 09:03 PM

Originally posted by Axo1ot1:
For those of you that have used both, do you like the XL1s or the DVX-100 better? I really want the aesthetic of 24 fps, but the canon is a really nice camera too.

The DVX is a better camera almost all the way around, on these points (I owned an XL1, sold it for the DVX):

-Resolution, Resolution, Resolution-The XL1's chips are almost 4 years old. The DVX puts way more pixels to the screen, and it shows. It's not a small thing; to me the difference is drastic.

-The manual focus (even though it is still a slip-ring deal, actually works very well, unlike the XL1 (and PD-150)

-Built-in XLR jacks for audio.

-Wide-angle out of the box. No need for 3X wide zoom or WA adapter.

-Timecode can be set, manipulated, etc.

-DV input->tape capability, live analog->DV passthrough also.

There's lots more, but those are the biggest. The biggest con of course is no interchangable lenses, but after owning the XL1 w/ 3X wide, it's a non-issue. The wide zoom stayed on my camera almost 24/7. Not to mention that the need for interchangable lenses at this price level is more of a percieved want, more than a real-life want. You can get adapters that are high quality enough to get you where you want to go with focal length without issue, and much less expense.

Axo1ot1 · Nov 24, 2002, 04:27 AM

Cool...Where do you guys buy cameras? I wnat to get it inexpensively as possible but I don't want to get some POS aftermarket no-warranty camera. (yes, I've had this happen to me

) I guess I want to order it from out of state so I can avoid taxes. What woul you guys do?

CIA · Nov 24, 2002, 12:48 PM

Promax.com, they are supportive of the Apple platform. That's why I got mine there...