24p settings

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Guys, after so many weeks of testing, measurebating, gaining confidence and then loosing it again, fighting all sort of doubts (V1E vs A1, and recently the new XDCAM EX) - I'd like to tell you (as well as many others, who might be lurking into this forum sitting on the fence themselves) that finally, I came to terms with the V1E completely, and this time - hopefully - for good!!!

I must admit that gaining access to the HD broadcast (Discvery HD) helped a lot in this process. Instead of inspecting every pixel of my V1E footage with my nose virtually inside the 24", 1920x1200 screen (which was the most silly way of assessing the camera performance), I started simply watching the contents - just like we do with any Discovery HD great programmes. I adopted a relaxed position some distance away from the monitor and this alone helped to forget about line twitter or marching ants. It suddenly turned out that even with sharpness at 10, the 25PsF is completely fine video - while turning it down to 3 is also a good idea with some contents and with a specific look in mind, once you stop treating it as a measure to avoid artefacts, imposed on you by the camera so called "flaws"...

The bottom line is: the V1 is a wonderful machine indeed - no more doubts about it. And yes, it can have phenomenal latitude, if only you can tune it up to the task, in the right way using the gamma curve, black compensation and knee. Also, regarding low light, it can produce absolutely clean video in places I was afraid to even start shooting, because I was assuming there wasn't enough light. Again, with the right gamma and blacks handling, as well as colour gain tweaking - I can freely use up to 12 dB of gain when needed, and the result is no worse than some low-light footage on Discovery HD! Of course, if a shooting is crirtical I can always use some lighting and not use gain at all...

I have done some price calculations to compare my V1E rig with what I'd have to pay for the XDCAM EX. Assuming it's price is $8,000, to ensure the right workflow of editing and archiving, I'd have to buy the PDW-U1 drive as well, which would make it an $12,000 investment (not counting anything else). Well, I already have: the V1E, plus the Manfrotto 525/503/523Pro, plus a very nice XLR stereo shotgun by Edirol, plus the Sennheiser wireless set. After finally settling down with it, I'm going to purchase the HVR-DR60 disk drive, the HVL-LBP led light, the VCL-HG-0826K wide angle converter, and some nice bag. All this for much, much less than the $12,000. Having the disk drive, the tedious capturing is done away with saving a lot of time and tape transport wear and tear - while the material is instantly archived on $3 tapes.

Oh, and for run&gun filming, or those casual vacation/family events shooting - you can use the V1 almost like a handycam, it's so light and handy! There is no other camera of this size and lightness, that would produce better video - period. And with the XDCAM EX bigger and heavier than even the Z1 and A1, there is not going to be soon.

So, I'm really happy I've made up my mind.