Following on from mention about BBC hd specs in the HD minicam thread>I looked into BBC HD requirements 6 months ago while determining what camera to use for a tv drama that was on a tight budget but needed to pass BBC spec's .
My understanding is this: HD acceptable=(minimum)3 x 1/2" sensors at 50mbp , Long Gop or 3 x 1/2" sensors at 100mbp, i-frame.
They will accept smaller codecs/cameras (ie:POV cams) as part of their percentage allowance per programme of non HD footage.(used a Z1 for underwater scene)
I ended up shooting my drama series on EX3/XDR/Letus shooting at 100mbp,long gop,mxf,1080/25psf. (we also used some pretty stunning Nikons)This passes BBC specs easily. We could not have shot the drama to BBC specs on this budget without XDR and its looking great in Online.Looks good on HD monitor and projected on big screen in Online suite.

Regards

Hi David-
Fantastic news, thanks for the feedback! I personally think that 100 Mbps Long-GOP (XDCAM 4:2:2) is still tthe best choice for picture quality and record capacity. But, if you ever need it, we just added 140 and 160 Mbps Long-GOP and 220 Mbps I-Frame.

160Mbps Long-GOP is approximately equal to 320-350Mbps I-Frame only quality. Long-GOP is the more sophisticated CODEC, producing equivalent quality at 1/2 to 1/3 the data-rate of I-Frame only.

Best-

Yup.

Which Nikons did you use?

J.

hi Justin,

24mm(f2.0),35mm(f2.0 & f1.4),50mm(f1.4 & f1.2),85mm(f2.0 & f1.4),105mm(f2.5), plus 80-200 zoom(f2.8).
Fully manual nikkors.


cheers david

hi Justin,

24mm(f2.0),35mm(f2.0 & f1.4),50mm(f1.4 & f1.2),85mm(f2.0 & f1.4),105mm(f2.5), plus 80-200 zoom(f2.8).
Fully manual nikkors.

.
cheers david

That 1.4/85 is nice. Really good on my D3. Heard good things bout the 105 and the zoom too. Think I'll check out the 1.4/35.