HD advice

FOTOG

Member
Folks, we are a small TV station getting ready to go HD in the news department. We have been 16 x 9 in Grass Valley- Aurora edit...using Panasonic 700 cameras.
The door is open and we are looking at all possibilities( within reason)

We are leaning towards EDIUS since we have it on our field editors and we are familiar with it.

We are looking at Panasonic, Sony and JVC. We want a shoulder mounted camera:

Panasonic we are pretty familiar with it....maybe the PX-5000?,

Sony SONY XD CAM hd422 PDW-850 don't really like that it records on disc and the price tag is 24,000.

JVC 890 the price is appealing, and they sell it as being able to go live with a phone card....Id have to see it to believe it....but for the price, it does become interesting

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE USING AND/SUGGEST....
 

Necktie Boy

Well-known member
Depend what quality level are you looking for? Chip size? Codec? Media?

Saying all that, JVC had geared the 7XX series, the 6XX series, and the new 8XX series toward news station. There should be a few threads about the 7XX series. The VF isn't the greatest. Low light is so-so, and the dead pixels issue. Also, I didn't know the 1/3 chips were only 720p.

The 600/650 are small handheld cameras with 1080 CMOS chip and very nice 23x zoom. The new 8XX series has the same guts, but in semi shoulder factor.

They all use SDHC media(low cost) and use the Sony EX codec. As for price, I will say it's the only camera in a shoulder mount as you ask.

As for the streaming live, it depends. How good is the 4G network in your area. At NAB, there was so much air traffic, JVC has to use a network cable to stream at the show.

Panasonic has the 370 camera. Again, there are a few threads on the board. Real lens. Real shoulder mount factor. 1/3 Chip camera. Maybe better camera than the JVC's.

As for Sony, they really don't have a low cost shoulder mount camera. But the advantage is larger chips, 1/2. The new PMW-300 is a semi shoulder mount. Sony still makes a PMW-320, which is a true shoulder mount camera with 1/2 chips.

You also have to consider if you are going to reuse your support equipment? Batteries, on camera lights, tripods. JVC uses media that is off the shelf. Sony and Panny use their own cards.

Finally, you didn't say what your budget is? That will determine what cameras you can afford.
 

mongo

Member
we recently replaced our 700s with PX-600s. re-using 99% of support gear, including some pretty decent canon glass from the old cams. (yeah, no CAC files and not made for HD, but it still looks pretty good for mid-market local).
all we bought was body/VF/SDI input option board.
2/3" and an extender is great, lack of flip-out screen is not. also wish they had the paint options that the 700s (and heck, even the new 270s) have, but we were able to get them to a pretty good look.

the guys across town have (early)JVC 6/7XXs and don't seem to like them very much, the other station has 370s that they DO seem to like. (both with kit lenses)
 

svp

Well-known member
Here's my suggestion. Yes, you could spend a lot more but I think the following is a pretty good setup for local news.

Camera: JVC 890 or Panasonic 370

Both are pretty decent cameras. We shoot on 370's and I thought they'd be more of a problem in low light but we've actually had great results. Now, we dumped the stock lens for the $13k Fuji Wide angle with 2x extender. That jumps the price to about $20k each but the glass makes a HUGE difference in quality. With that glass, the camera performs about like the Sony EX3. Just be aware if you go with the stock lens on either camera you'll suffer in quality. Overall, for news, I like both of these cameras.

Editor: Adobe Creative Cloud

Buy as many licenses as you need and just pay the monthly bill. All updates are free and I've never had an issue with Adobe Premier Pro CC. I use it all the time in the field to edit even though we are all AVID back at the station. All of the frequent and free updates means you'll always have the latest and greatest features and all codecs will work in Premiere. In the field, I'll export my stories as XDCAM EX 18Mbs files and FTP them using Filezilla and an AT&T 4G modem. I've yet to have any issues.

BONDED CELLULAR: Teradek Bond Pro

We have four of these in our news department. We use them every day and night for live shots. Rarely do we have issues. We seem to be able to go live nearly anywhere with a few exceptions. Each unit has an assigned IFB number. Photog calls the IFB, then adds the reporter as a three way call so each have IFB using our phones. This has been our immediate solution to being HD in the field without having to pay for the expensive LIVE truck upgrades to HD. Yes, we are replacing one live truck per year with a new HD one but right now the live trucks rarely leave the parking lot. Each news unit has a 1000 WATT Sinewave Inverter to power lights for live shots in the field. Its a pretty good setup.

Here's what I did last night. We were 2.5 hours from the station with just a laptop and the Teradek Bond Pro. I apologize that its not the full HD version. I pulled it from our website.

 

cameragod

Well-known member
I’d stick with Edius it is rock solid editing.
For camera I’d go with a Sony PMW-400K 2/3" XDCAM EX
I love/hate the Sony PMW-350 its light weight, low power consumption, ergonomics and colour viewfinder make it just fun to shoot with but sometimes in some light conditions the picture can bite you in the bum so maybe not ideal for newbie news shooters. The Sony PMW-400K is supposed to have all the good and none of the bad.
SXS is so much better than P2 and feels a lot more robust than SD cards although you can use an adapter to put SD in SXS.
 

FOTOG

Member
MONGO question-600's

we recently replaced our 700s with PX-600s. re-
all we bought was body/VF/SDI input option board.
2/3" and an extender is great, lack of flip-out screen is not. also wish they had the paint options that the 700s (and heck, even the new 270s) have, but we were able to get them to a pretty good look.
Mongo, have you used the WIFI options? Or have you heard any good/bad feedback. It is a selling point, but whether it is practical or not in the field is a question I have.
 

mongo

Member
waiting until the 4g/lte dongle comes out.
played around with the 600->wifi->ipad functions a while back when we had a demo unit in, but didn't go as far as trying to get it to air. the ipad stuff is interesting/useful. but as far as using the dongle instead of a live truck/liveu/etc, i'm not convinced.
(but don't tell the folks upstairs i said that haha)
 

FOTOG

Member
dongle

(but don't tell the folks upstairs i said that haha)
I wont tell as long as you know they're not on this site!!!
I agree, I'm skeptical of this but interested in the possibilities...that's what keeps me looking to the JVC 890.

The other problem is, in Western KY, cell service is not as solid as a metropolitan area.

Thanks for your help...
 

bphotog

Member
We have the new JVC890. Still working kinks out. See other thread. We put our old lens on the cameras. The stock is garbage. Have not used the air card yet. I liked the 790 and am getting used to the new one. The SD cards are cheap to get. The ingest is pretty quick with avid and final cut. Good luck on your decision.
 

FOTOG

Member
JVC 890

We have the new JVC890. Still working kinks out. See other thread. We put our old lens on the cameras. The stock is garbage. Have not used the air card yet. I liked the 790 and am getting used to the new one. The SD cards are cheap to get. The ingest is pretty quick with avid and final cut. Good luck on your decision.
BP PHOTOG, now that you've have the JVC for a little longer, whats your feeling about it now?
 

FOTOG

Member
BPhotog, you posted the above comment a month or so ago....has your feelings changed any or still not convinced?
 
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