XDHDCam lowlight

[John M. McCloskey]

How does the 330XDHD Cam do in lowlight say compaired to the Sony Z1? Also how would it compaire to say a DSR 400 in low light? Thanks

[Greg Boston]

Better than a Z1, worse than a DSR400. Given imagers of the same size, the HD cameras give up a bit of low light sensitivity due to more pixels in the same piece of real-estate. This makes them smaller and slightly less light sensitive than their SD counterparts.

This lesson was learned by those who had shot on the PD170 and went to the Z1.

-gb-

[John M. McCloskey]

How much better than the Z1, better then the Z1 with 9 gain. I know it may be a difficult question to answer but if it is even close to the Z1 in lowlight (which is bad) that may sway my interest in the XDHD cam to look at another option. Thanks

[Uli Mors]

Hi John,

I had the same concerns - but do you know what: this comes from reading too much in the internet...

YES, HD (all HD Cams) are LESS light sensitive (do you film at night?)

I do quite a lot of weddings - having 2 stops less can be a problem, but there are so many advices how to set up the f330/350 to produce a better picture even in low light situations.

YES, the F330 is noisier than an DSR400 (S/N ratio)

But what does that mean? Its SO important to have a look at the footage ! (HD if possible). Most xdcam HD users judge the noise grain (if it shows up) to be not too bad - some say its much more "filmlike" than others...

IMHO you MUST get a loaner unit and find your own opinion on that.

I like pictures others think "unuseful" of... and vice versa.

Dont jugde the cam by comparing stills or internet mpgs - do it yourself.

I´ll take the opportunity to shoot one of my next wedding with a F330 (church, dinner) and have a try on the "real life low light" behaviour.
Before, I had a loaner unit to do some shots in a Castle (with tungsten lights) and didnt want to give it back (you never want to work with tape again).

Anyway: If you can afford it, a Z1 is a good companion - if possible, go for both ;-)

At the moment, I´d say the f330 is the best "budget" "professional" HD-Shoulder Camera in the market. Shooting HD is always a compromise between light and resolution. Get a loaner f330 and give it a try.

ULI

[Alister Chapman]

Even top end HDCAM's have a worse S/N ratio than an DSR450. As has been said higher S/N and lower sensitivity are at the moment something you just have to accept if you want to shoot HD. The XDCAMs have about the same S/N ratio as the 750 HDCAM. The F350 is about a stop more sensitive than a Z1 and a stop less sensitive than a DSR450, all at 0db gain. Noise on the F350 dosn't really become that noticeable until you get to +6db gain and even then it's a very fine grain noise mainly in dark areas. I shoot a lot of stuff in low light with my F350 and it holds up very well in my opinion.

[John M. McCloskey]

Thank you Alister, that answered the question to the T.

[Tyson Perkins]

This is abit off topic but does anyone know if this new XDCAM - the 2/3 is meant to be the HD model of the DSR-450 - having used the 450 i have to say that is a brilliant camera and i would love a comparitive model to shoot in HD for the future.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Tyson Perkins

This is abit off topic but does anyone know if this new XDCAM - the 2/3 is meant to be the HD model of the DSR-450 - having used the 450 i have to say that is a brilliant camera and i would love a comparitive model to shoot in HD for the future.

Looks wise, it appeared to be a melding of an F900 with the F350. But that's just how it looked cosmetically. I would still expect it to be a bit less light sensitive than a 2/3 SD camera. It's just the nature of the beat unless....they put some new technology sensors in that camera that can rival the performance of SD sensors of the same size. That's not out of the realm of possibility.

-gb-

[Tyson Perkins]

Yes light sensitivity and noise are what really makes the 450 stand out for me as a camera and if that could be emulated in HD - *drool*