HD Cam Wishlist

Robert Jackson · July 9th, 2003, 12:55 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Joe Russ : i doubt they will make it 24p and all these other things for 4000.....they want money and consumers dont have it (at least in the quantity of the pros).....they will most likely never compromise their profesional products value with equivalent or superior consumer technology....why would anyone pay 60,000 dollars for a camera thats slightly better than a 5,000 dollar consumer version. capitalism is crap if you ask me, but im pretty sure thats how they are operating. -->>>

I dunno. I don't see it as really eating into the sales of their big guns. The studios and big production and rental houses aren't going to switch to consumer camcorders just because they start having more of the usable features that the pro models have. On the other hand, for every one of those $60k models they'll probably sell wanna-be filmmakers 30 of the "prosumer" models and open a relationship that could sell more upscale hardware down the road. Anytime pro features start to become available in consumer lines I think it translates to a more aggressive sales model across the board.

"You've seen our Varicam, right? The same technology is available right here in our new Vari-cheap. You trust our name and when you're ready to move up to one of the big beasts we'll be waiting."

I imagine we're going to see some very exciting product introductions in the next year or two.

My own wishlist?

- Interchangable lenses on an established mount. As some others have mentioned, I'd love to see at least one very fast lens offered, even if its a prime. As film emulsions have gotten faster the big lens makers have kind of stopped thinking about fast lenses, but it would be great for video.

- A dock for some standard ENG wireless receiver built into the camera.

- A decent viewfinder, even if its optional. Canon has done a nice job with the B&W viewfinder option on the XL-1. If anything needed something along those lines, it's an HD machine.

-A nice built-in zoom motor. I still have never used a consumer camcorder that had a usable power zoom and that shouldn't be something you have to tack onto a camcorder before you can use it effectively.

Peter Moore · July 9th, 2003, 03:27 PM

This may be out of the question, but what about an optical viewfinder? Then you could actually focus properly without worrying about the resolution of the viewfinder.

July 9th, 2003, 12:55 AM	#16
Robert Jackson Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 390	<<<-- Originally posted by Joe Russ : i doubt they will make it 24p and all these other things for 4000.....they want money and consumers dont have it (at least in the quantity of the pros).....they will most likely never compromise their profesional products value with equivalent or superior consumer technology....why would anyone pay 60,000 dollars for a camera thats slightly better than a 5,000 dollar consumer version. capitalism is crap if you ask me, but im pretty sure thats how they are operating. -->>> I dunno. I don't see it as really eating into the sales of their big guns. The studios and big production and rental houses aren't going to switch to consumer camcorders just because they start having more of the usable features that the pro models have. On the other hand, for every one of those $60k models they'll probably sell wanna-be filmmakers 30 of the "prosumer" models and open a relationship that could sell more upscale hardware down the road. Anytime pro features start to become available in consumer lines I think it translates to a more aggressive sales model across the board. "You've seen our Varicam, right? The same technology is available right here in our new Vari-cheap. You trust our name and when you're ready to move up to one of the big beasts we'll be waiting." I imagine we're going to see some very exciting product introductions in the next year or two. My own wishlist? - Interchangable lenses on an established mount. As some others have mentioned, I'd love to see at least one very fast lens offered, even if its a prime. As film emulsions have gotten faster the big lens makers have kind of stopped thinking about fast lenses, but it would be great for video. - A dock for some standard ENG wireless receiver built into the camera. - A decent viewfinder, even if its optional. Canon has done a nice job with the B&W viewfinder option on the XL-1. If anything needed something along those lines, it's an HD machine. -A nice built-in zoom motor. I still have never used a consumer camcorder that had a usable power zoom and that shouldn't be something you have to tack onto a camcorder before you can use it effectively.

July 9th, 2003, 03:27 PM	#17
Peter Moore Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Arlington VA Posts: 1,034	This may be out of the question, but what about an optical viewfinder? Then you could actually focus properly without worrying about the resolution of the viewfinder.