Buy XDCAM F350 now? ...or wait?

[Ruff]

Hi,

I am helping out a production company with some purchasing decisions. They are well established with mid budget commercials and corporate clients. Their old cameras are beging to die (Beta SP, MII and DVCPRO50). With a couple of shoots coming up they are beginning to look at a new camera. (They have been renting SD XDCAM quite frequently).

The main option is a F350 with a Canon KH20x6.4 lens. The price is NZ$50,000 with a Sony 32" V Series LCD monitor thrown in for free.

All of their editing is done in house with a Final Cut Pro system. Outputting to DVDs and national TVC's.

My question is... does this make sense? Is this a workable solution? NZ broadcasting is all still in SD, with the move to HD not expected till 2008/2009.

The other Panasonic cameras (HDX900, HMP2100 or the yet to be released HVX502 are all a lot more expensive when you factor in lenses and support equipment).

Being an in house operation, with their clients just wanting completed projects, I think the 350 could be the way to go.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ben Ruffell
Cameraman
www.ruff.co.nz

[SimonW]

If they are used to working with XD, than getting HD XD would be a good choice to make. But don't get the KH20 lens.

[Ruff]

Thanks Simon,

Any alternative lens suggestions?

I figure a standard to start, with the possibility of a wide later.

Whats the prblem with the KH20?

Cheers,

Ben Ruffell
Cameraman
www.ruff.co.nz

[Tv Shooter]

I attended an XD HD demo today.Awesome camera...the 350 is definitely the way to go,not just because of the over/under cranking.XLR output,ability to edit/feed out fo the camera and it even will switch back to the liove picture at the end of the last frame of your video.....great for when you need to roll video in the field.
The Sony rep talked with someone this morning after I asked about the 2/3" version.Yes they'll show one at NAB,no you can't buy it till fall....at the earliest.
No price point but expect it to be much higher than the F350.

[Ruff]

I had a demo F350 for a 3 day shoot recently (with a 2/3" Angeneaux lens attached). It was excellent to work with, and the pictures graded up very nicely.

My concerns are that to date only one of these cameras has been sold in New Zealand... hence the free 32" TV being bundled in! I think the crowd is waiting for the 2/3" version (I know I am). However, I am expecting a very expensive price point on it... NZ$60 to 90K?!?!?!

I am wondering if the F350 will do the job for this company for the next 3 years?

Regards,

Ben Ruffell
Cameraman
www.ruff.co.nz

[Stoney]

Great camera system for in-house productions. Not many broadcast clients are likely to own decks to play out the video, though.

Why get it now if the 2/3" is likely around the corner? Also, be wary of the really wide lenses for this camera... with the 1/2" chips the lens flare becomes a big issue due to large depth of field.

[Star Video]

Why not move to a Sony HDW730 or 750? HDCAM is the most prevalent and popular HD format. All broadcasters and post houses that deal with HD have the playback decks. It's already established, at least here in the U.S.

It's a great camera, and I actually like it better than using an F900. It's a lot lighter for handheld, uses a memory stick for easy recall of settings, and, with the 750, you get 25p progressive shooting for you PAL people, unless you're NTSC, but I wouldn't know, because I never shoot 24p HD, it's always 1080i.

Anyways, check out the 700 series, it's worth a look. I think that Sony's bpcvalue.com site and business website is selling some cameras left over from the Torino games.

[Ruff]

Hi Jacques,

I agree that the 750 is a great camera. It is however expensive, and the real killer would be the deck. HDCAM is still the high end in NZ and in the city where this production company is based, there are no HDCAM facilities (which makes it very difficult for an in house operation).

All of the TVC release dubs are now down electronically with Dubsat... so again, the need to buy a deck is reduced.

Interestingly the F350 has not really taken off in NZ with most freelancers (including myself) waiting on the 2/3" version. This means that Sony has just offered us an even better price on the F350... I think they just want to get some out there!

Anyway, they are trying out the camera today, and at this stage, with the price I think that we will go for it. After all, it will pay for itself very quickly.

Regards,

Ben Ruffell
Cameraman
www.ruff.co.nz

[Canonman]

Ben, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the images. Yes, 2/3 is nice to have, but even 2/3 HD cameras struggle with sensitivity and noise issues vs. their SD counterparts because there are so many more pixels jammed into a given size of real estate. It's almost like somewhere down the road, larger image sensors are going to be needed to overcome the SD to HD compromise.

All that aside, just the workflow of optical disc based recording and its flexibility is going to lower your blood pressure several notches.

cm