J SWEETS
I'M CB!
The SD vs HD debate has a strong presence in the filming world. On one side you haev your OG filmers who just love the look of good VX/dvx/gl footy, and then on the other sied you have the people who have made the switch from SD to HD who love the breathtaking quality some of the HD camcorders can put out nowadays. This thread is going to be for the sake of filming scootering/skating/biking only, its clear if you are doing this for an actual profession that you are probably going to have already made the switch to a newer HD camcorder.
The argument:
The people on the SD side argue that SD footage gives skating/scootering/biking videos that real OG feel that you expect to get when watching a skate video. The footage the old 3ccd SD cams put out is gorgeous.
Pros of SD:
-The good 3 chippers pput out great natural colors that the older generation (by this I mean people who have been in the sport longer) tend to love.
-Getting much cheaper now that HD is out, good SD cams are becoming pretty easy to get for a good price.
-Files arent as big, unlike the pesky AVCHD format many new hd camcorders film in.
-4:3 The only reason this is going in as a 'Pro' is because, fisheyes tend to look better when filming 4:3, it gives a more even distortion as opposed to 16:9 which tends to have much more horizontal distortion than vertical.
Cons of SD:
-Quickly becoming out of date, cameras such as VX1ks are usually going to need maitenance upon purchase since they are about 15 year old technology.
-Mini Dv, dont know if I would call this a con, but many people think its a hastle to capture footage compared to the easy transfering Sd cards or hardrives provide.
- MiniDV has more moving parts, which means the camera is more likely to break.
- Some cameras, like the DVX100p and VX1k, have parts that are no longer purchaseable online(vap units).
The vx1kmk1, the workhorse of the skating industry, these things are regarded pretty highly in the filming world. Pretty much everyones favorite SD setup.
If you dont have the money to go after the VX/gl/dvx you could look into the trv900/950 or the panasonic gs series. Both are nice and offer a good variety of manual settings to put out good footage.
HD, the soon to be powerhouse in skating/scootering/biking. The age of HD is here, and these cameras can produce some gorgeous video. Most of these camera use single CMOS sensors, while some use 3 (3mos) and evena few use 3ccd. (such as the panny sd9) These cameras can be a little more on the expensive side, but some of the breathtaking image they produce is totally worth it.
Pros of HD:
-Amazing quality, seriously, a good HD cam, like the vixia line, (im not very knowledgable on the prosumer line of hd cameras) produces great footage.
-SDcards/hdd. These two types of storage make tranferring footage much easier as opposed to SD, in which the good SD cams use mini dv.
Cons of HD:
-Price: some of these cams carry a heavy pricetag.
-Format: Many of the newer HD cams use the AVCHD formatting. These files tend to be large and some editing softwares don't allow you to use it without converting.
-Editing: You need a pretty powerful computer to edit HD. Presarios beware.
-CMOS Sensors tend to give footage the "Jello effect" Which is when your image has a slight wobble because your camera is shaking while filming, this mostly happens with DSLRs, especially with DSLRs being so uncomfortable to film with. Apparently, the new "3MOS" system (3 CMOS sensors) does not have this effect. It is only in lower-quality CMOS video cameras and DSLRs.
-16:9 Only a con because of the fisheye issue I stated in the SD Pros section above.
The HMC150 is panasonics 3ccd hd camera. It films in the AVCHD format and has stunning video. If you have the money and are serious, do it. Or its little brother the hmc40. Although, if you're serious about spending this much on a camera, you should already know your stuff and have the knowledge to make your own decision.
A good consumer HD cam would be the vixia series. All offer great video, but somewhat lack in audio. You can find cheap mics such as the ATR25 (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...BA2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323219191&sr=8-1) which can also double as a handle.
If you filming savvy mods have any input, feel free to change things around.
The argument:
The people on the SD side argue that SD footage gives skating/scootering/biking videos that real OG feel that you expect to get when watching a skate video. The footage the old 3ccd SD cams put out is gorgeous.
Pros of SD:
-The good 3 chippers pput out great natural colors that the older generation (by this I mean people who have been in the sport longer) tend to love.
-Getting much cheaper now that HD is out, good SD cams are becoming pretty easy to get for a good price.
-Files arent as big, unlike the pesky AVCHD format many new hd camcorders film in.
-4:3 The only reason this is going in as a 'Pro' is because, fisheyes tend to look better when filming 4:3, it gives a more even distortion as opposed to 16:9 which tends to have much more horizontal distortion than vertical.
Cons of SD:
-Quickly becoming out of date, cameras such as VX1ks are usually going to need maitenance upon purchase since they are about 15 year old technology.
-Mini Dv, dont know if I would call this a con, but many people think its a hastle to capture footage compared to the easy transfering Sd cards or hardrives provide.
- MiniDV has more moving parts, which means the camera is more likely to break.
- Some cameras, like the DVX100p and VX1k, have parts that are no longer purchaseable online(vap units).
If you dont have the money to go after the VX/gl/dvx you could look into the trv900/950 or the panasonic gs series. Both are nice and offer a good variety of manual settings to put out good footage.
HD, the soon to be powerhouse in skating/scootering/biking. The age of HD is here, and these cameras can produce some gorgeous video. Most of these camera use single CMOS sensors, while some use 3 (3mos) and evena few use 3ccd. (such as the panny sd9) These cameras can be a little more on the expensive side, but some of the breathtaking image they produce is totally worth it.
Pros of HD:
-Amazing quality, seriously, a good HD cam, like the vixia line, (im not very knowledgable on the prosumer line of hd cameras) produces great footage.
-SDcards/hdd. These two types of storage make tranferring footage much easier as opposed to SD, in which the good SD cams use mini dv.
Cons of HD:
-Price: some of these cams carry a heavy pricetag.
-Format: Many of the newer HD cams use the AVCHD formatting. These files tend to be large and some editing softwares don't allow you to use it without converting.
-Editing: You need a pretty powerful computer to edit HD. Presarios beware.
-CMOS Sensors tend to give footage the "Jello effect" Which is when your image has a slight wobble because your camera is shaking while filming, this mostly happens with DSLRs, especially with DSLRs being so uncomfortable to film with. Apparently, the new "3MOS" system (3 CMOS sensors) does not have this effect. It is only in lower-quality CMOS video cameras and DSLRs.
-16:9 Only a con because of the fisheye issue I stated in the SD Pros section above.
A good consumer HD cam would be the vixia series. All offer great video, but somewhat lack in audio. You can find cheap mics such as the ATR25 (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...BA2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323219191&sr=8-1) which can also double as a handle.
If you filming savvy mods have any input, feel free to change things around.
