Camera Test: we shot F900, Varicam, HVR-Z1U, XL2 & DVX100A side by side at DVinfo.net

Mike Curtis · March 3rd, 2005, 03:05 AM

Hey all -

I don't have specific analysis yet, it'll be trickling in over the next few weeks, but on Monday we finally pulled off a camera test I've been meaning to do forever: we shot Sony Cinealta (F900), Panasonic Varicam, Sony HDV (HVR-Z1U), Canon XL2 and Panasonic DVX100a, all side by side, all simultaneously. We got about 30 shots - indoors, outdoors, locked off on sticks, handheld, panning on sticks, low light, wide/medium/close-ups, everything we could think of we could accomplish in a day.

I also recorded the HD-SDI output of the F900 and Varicam directly to disk - so instead of 1440x1080 8 bit compressed, I have 1920x1080 10 bit uncompressed from the F900. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to record the HDV camera's output uncompressed to disk, a necessary adaptor wasn't available in time.

I've posted a couple of links already -

http://www.hdforindies.com/2005/02/m...-today-it-went

has a general overview of the shoot

http://www.hdforindies.com/2005/03/p...d-from-mondays

has a link to pictures from the shoot and talks about what's next

Keep reading HD For Indies for further updates -

http://www.hdforindies.com

-mike

Colin Wyers · March 3rd, 2005, 05:17 AM

The link doesn't work right in Firefox -- just shows up as straight HTML. (I'm guessing your server isn't set up for MIME properly.)

Derek Serra · March 3rd, 2005, 05:36 AM

Looking forward to your results, Mike. Hopefully they will put an end to the constant opinionating and conjecture from people who have never used most of the camera's being tested.

Greg Boston · March 3rd, 2005, 10:36 AM

Colin,

It means he didn't include the necessary VBBS codes around the url text in his post to make it an active link. Some browsers will sniff out urls and email addresses by looking at the syntax. I'm using Firefox now also but IE won't always make those url texts an active link either.

-gb-

Kyle Edwards · March 3rd, 2005, 01:30 PM

Looking forward to some screenshots and videos.

Colin Wyers · March 3rd, 2005, 06:03 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Greg Boston : It means he didn't include the necessary VBBS codes around the url text in his post to make it an active link. Some browsers will sniff out urls and email addresses by looking at the syntax. I'm using Firefox now also but IE won't always make those url texts an active link either. -gb- -->>>

No, what I mean is when you try and open the page, it just spits out the HTML instead of rendering it. Firefox doesn't "guess" at a page's content the same way IE does. If there's not an HTML extension on the end, and the server doesn't send the right MIME type, Firefox won't render the code.

Mike Curtis · March 3rd, 2005, 06:07 PM

It's an issue with Blogger templates and my server and Unicode vs. Latin character sets or something, I need to fix it, someday.

Basically, use IE or Safari, not Mozilla or FireFox.

Hey, it's a free blog, ya gets whatcha pay for.

: )

-mike

Chris Hurd · March 3rd, 2005, 06:41 PM

Thanks, Mike...

I've linkified the url's in your first post above, plus your Blog is perma-linked from our HDV Resources page. Much appreciated,

Dmitry Kichenko · March 3rd, 2005, 09:41 PM

Very useful indeed.
I doubt you'd be presenting most of the material for free ;), but you could at least show us the comparisons of the image quality between the cameras, without all of those deinterlacing tests and everything.
Looking forward to that, and thanks in advance!

March 3rd, 2005, 03:05 AM	#1
Mike Curtis HD for Indies Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: United States Posts: 87	Camera Test: we shot F900, Varicam, HVR-Z1U, XL2 & DVX100A side by side Hey all - I don't have specific analysis yet, it'll be trickling in over the next few weeks, but on Monday we finally pulled off a camera test I've been meaning to do forever: we shot Sony Cinealta (F900), Panasonic Varicam, Sony HDV (HVR-Z1U), Canon XL2 and Panasonic DVX100a, all side by side, all simultaneously. We got about 30 shots - indoors, outdoors, locked off on sticks, handheld, panning on sticks, low light, wide/medium/close-ups, everything we could think of we could accomplish in a day. I also recorded the HD-SDI output of the F900 and Varicam directly to disk - so instead of 1440x1080 8 bit compressed, I have 1920x1080 10 bit uncompressed from the F900. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to record the HDV camera's output uncompressed to disk, a necessary adaptor wasn't available in time. I've posted a couple of links already - http://www.hdforindies.com/2005/02/m...-today-it-went has a general overview of the shoot http://www.hdforindies.com/2005/03/p...d-from-mondays has a link to pictures from the shoot and talks about what's next Keep reading HD For Indies for further updates - http://www.hdforindies.com -mike __________________ Mike Curtis HD For Indies - Hi Def Filmmaking & Post for Independent Filmmakers http://www.hdforindies.com mike@hdforindies.com

March 3rd, 2005, 05:36 AM	#3
Derek Serra Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Posts: 76	Looking forward to your results, Mike. Hopefully they will put an end to the constant opinionating and conjecture from people who have never used most of the camera's being tested. __________________ Derek Antonio Serra Indie Filmmaker www.indv.co.za

March 3rd, 2005, 06:07 PM	#7
Mike Curtis HD for Indies Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: United States Posts: 87	browser troubles: why. It's an issue with Blogger templates and my server and Unicode vs. Latin character sets or something, I need to fix it, someday. Basically, use IE or Safari, not Mozilla or FireFox. Hey, it's a free blog, ya gets whatcha pay for. : ) -mike __________________ Mike Curtis HD For Indies - Hi Def Filmmaking & Post for Independent Filmmakers http://www.hdforindies.com mike@hdforindies.com

March 3rd, 2005, 06:41 PM	#8
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Thanks, Mike... I've linkified the url's in your first post above, plus your Blog is perma-linked from our HDV Resources page. Much appreciated, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

March 3rd, 2005, 05:17 AM	#2
Colin Wyers New Boot Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Davenport, IA Posts: 13	The link doesn't work right in Firefox -- just shows up as straight HTML. (I'm guessing your server isn't set up for MIME properly.)

March 3rd, 2005, 10:36 AM	#4
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	Colin, It means he didn't include the necessary VBBS codes around the url text in his post to make it an active link. Some browsers will sniff out urls and email addresses by looking at the syntax. I'm using Firefox now also but IE won't always make those url texts an active link either. -gb-

March 3rd, 2005, 01:30 PM	#5
Kyle Edwards Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: LI, NY Posts: 274	Looking forward to some screenshots and videos.

March 3rd, 2005, 06:03 PM	#6
Colin Wyers New Boot Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Davenport, IA Posts: 13	<<<-- Originally posted by Greg Boston : It means he didn't include the necessary VBBS codes around the url text in his post to make it an active link. Some browsers will sniff out urls and email addresses by looking at the syntax. I'm using Firefox now also but IE won't always make those url texts an active link either. -gb- -->>> No, what I mean is when you try and open the page, it just spits out the HTML instead of rendering it. Firefox doesn't "guess" at a page's content the same way IE does. If there's not an HTML extension on the end, and the server doesn't send the right MIME type, Firefox won't render the code.

March 3rd, 2005, 09:41 PM	#9
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	Very useful indeed. I doubt you'd be presenting most of the material for free ;), but you could at least show us the comparisons of the image quality between the cameras, without all of those deinterlacing tests and everything. Looking forward to that, and thanks in advance!