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Admin note: please do not copy and paste articles from other sites into DV Info Net; as doing so constitutes a copyright violation. Minimal quoting of a sentence or two is okay, but not an entire series of paragraphs. Thanks in advance -- CH

I just finished reading the article. Wow that man can write! Most of it went over my head as far as the technical side goes but I got the important stuff. This made me no longer care about 4 way camera shootouts. Each camera can do fine these days, but get what you want based on your needs.

I'm just gonna get the sony edit in native hd and keep it in 60i just incase of a film out(which probably won't happen). And convert to 24p and down convert for SD dvds, which is the main distribution format anyways. Anyone of these cameras can produce a great dvd and that's ultimately the point for most of us.

He rest of the money I'll save will go into the other important equipment and then I'll see what's around in 2-3 years.

I like his writing because it is clearly non biased. Found it funny that the HD100 720p whooped the HVX200 1080p as far as real resolution goes. I hope it puts an end to the "I am only interested in 1080i as 720p isn't high enough resolution" talk.
Is there going to be a Part 2 where he gets into the compression tests?

Interesting results. I can't say I'm disapointed, since all I could see from a real life situation was some very soft looking stills from a girl sitting on a chair...

I need real life, outdoor and indoor shooting, with natural vs controled lighting, as well as motion shots. I also would like to see recorded footage results. Addam Witt's analysis was quite vague in this aspect. I would also like to see which camera could pull the best focus in, say, 5 seconds MANUALLY. Many people have said that it was very difficult to focus with the Canon. In real life situations and guerrila shooting, it is sometimes impractical or impossible to bring an exterior monitor- this could be very important (as well as for the news gattering and event coverage professionals)

As for the test itself, first impressions confirm the real nice resolution of the Canon, and should be the only test that could be realistically read from this camera, since no one familiar with it was there to get the best from the machine.

HVX proves to be lower resolution than expected and working better with 720P resolution (a bit disapointing in therms of effective lines, but this number is subject to change), but there's something not discussed and not viewable in the charts, and that is the 4:2:2 color sampling. FOr this camera to compare with the others we need real life shooting side to side. (It's like comparing my 5mp Panasonic LC-1 with the current 8megapixels sony's- They have much higher resolution but are nowhere near as good in therms of color and detail- the panasonic lc-1 is the leica digilux 2 twin sister)

Sony z1 is a very solid camera, and really feels like the natural progression of the PD Series. Its a machine that won't let you down, like a Volkswagen. But it doesn't excels in anything in particular. ( It does in low noise, but I believe that considering the other limitations, its even out)

The JVC is really a great product for independent filmmaking and some comercial work. However, as good as the results are, the lack of High resolution 60i (or 50i) makes it a camera that can only please to a certain market. It limits comercial use. It is, however ( according to these results and my own subjective view from them), the best camera for independent film production.


I'm really looking forward to Chris Hurd, Adam Wilt and the other experts (that i don't recall the name right now :) to come up with a lot more comprehensive and in depth results from their shootout... It should be happening soon, shouldn't it?