Canon XL2 Vs. Sony HVR-Z1E

[owaters]

Hi,

We are looking to buy a couple of cameras to film some short films and we are thinking of going HD, however we are not sure this is the right choice yet.

We will be editing on Final Cut Pro HD so the software is compatible with HD.

Out of the Canon XL2 and the Sony HVR-Z1E, which is better?

Thanks

 

[Shaw]

Better in what way I suppose? The Z1 will give you a 4:2:0 color sampling while the XL2 will give you a 4:1:1 (Assuming you live in NTSC land). This may be relevant to color keying.

The XL2 will give you true progressive frames whereas the Z1 will not. You can, of course, convert the interlaced stream to progressive. One downside of this conversion, however, is the limits it places on creative shutter speed selection. You're really locked down into a single shutter speed so the deinterlacing will work well.

The XL2 has a loooong zoom if that matters to you.

I would suggest sitting down and 1) deciding what you need and what you do not and 2) why you need it. That will pretty much determine your choice right there.

 

[MarkG]

You kind of missed the big one: the Z1 will shoot HD, the XL2 only shoots SD .

Personally, the only reason I can see to buy an XL2 over the Z1 is if you really, really need interchangeable lenses: even then I'd consider waiting until the new JVC HDV camera is released.

Sure, you can shoot progressive, but a progressive frame out of the XL2 has about quarter as many pixels as an HD frame from the Z1. You can throw away one field on the Z1, halve the width and get essentially just as much resolution as a progressive scan frame on the XL2... plus you have an HD version of your movie as well.

 

[Oxygen Farm- digitaldj]

Here are the details of the new JVC GY-HD100E HDV Camcorder:

Main Features:
* 3-CCD compact shoulder camcorder
* 1/3", 1280 x 720 pixel, progressive scan CCDs
* Interchangeable lenses via bayonet mount
* Magnesium die-cast body
* Switchable between standard definition and high definition
* DV and HDV output via IEEE1394 port
* HD live output signal is uncompressed 720p/50 or /60
* HD recording in HDV1 format 720p/25, /24 or /30 to either or both Mini DV tape and optional hard disk drive
* HD output 1080i/50 or /60 signal off recorded video
* SD 576i/50 (PAL) recording in 16:9 and 4:3 modes

for full details and a good price see:

http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/gimme/storereframe.php?view=item&item=panasonic_ag-dvx100a

____________________

digitaldj

 

[mdifilm]

JVC GY-HD100 (HDV) won't be available till like end of Sep/Oct time frame, and then there's the Panasonic HVX100 (which is HD with 4:2:2 so for keying is much better than HDV's 4:2:0) but with all the accessories, might go up to $13k

You probably should first decide like previous posts said, what/how you plan to do with the film and decide which format is best suitable.

Editing HDV is not too much of an issue but if you want a 'fast' real-time editing for HDV, you might have to consider upgrading RAM, Hard Drive, etc. Software by itself wouldn't be enough... So that's another thing to consider. And finaly, how much of HD output is there available at festival and such?

I am saying this is because most would think shooting in HD would give you better quality etc (obviously with good lighting, careful preparation during pre-production would do the same with SD format), the bottom line is, if you are right now showing it at festival route, most will still use the standard dvd player, which is not HD, which mean, you wouldn't be seeing the 'benefit' of shooting it in HD.

Now as blowing it up for screen playing at festival, you might as well as getting the panasonic dvx100a or xl2 Yes, shooting it in SD still can come up with good quality when projected to big screen (keeping in mind, lighting and pre-production preparation is the key for good result).

I've just landed with a huge contract, a tv show, and after the 6th episode, we are venturing into HDV/HD format and so the JVC and Panasonic are the two I plan to get, but I'm also getting two new HDV/HD editing suites (G5 and PC), just to get a clean and readied system for editing to avoid crashing my DV editing suites. I think proper research and reading a lot of reviews, articles would help. If I can't get JVC one in time (Panasonic one won't be available till Nov 2005 - according to their rep, or later), then I would go with the Sony Z1 just because people have used it and it had find to be good.

Here's some resource links:

http://blog.wiredmetro.com/archives/2005/04/a_fork_in_the_r.html

http://www.urbanfox.tv/articles/cameras/c33hdv_review.html (this one has a nice comparison chart)

http://www.trygve.com/highdef.html (a feature film currently shooting with the Z1)



Johnny Wu
www.mdifilm.com