XDcam-HD Test Day

Sunday was the first Preproduction shoot for Lanterns. I was shooting on a Sony PDW-F350 XDcam-HD and right next to it was my DVX with a Brevis 35mm imaging system. I was shooting test scenes to decide what system to shoot on for the upcoming episodes. The only reason the DVX was still in the running was the Brevis system and the control over depth of field it offers. There is no scientific testing here. There are no carefully orchestrated shots or matched camera settings. This was strict real world shooting. I promise, there are no resolution or color chart shots in Lanterns. Here are a couple of grabs from each.

These are from my DVX, and because I know what this system is capable of, I was admittedly a little sloppy in shooting. I was focusing more of my efforts on getting the best image out of the Sony as I could.

These are from the F350. Things I noticed right off bat were dynamic range and sharpness. The dynamic range it pretty impressive on these cameras, especially coming from a DVX. Down converted to DVD, the image is substantially sharper then the DVX's by a good margin. The work flow for XDcam-HD in Sony Vegas 7 is a dream as well. Just as easy as editing DV footage. I shoot in the HQ setting (35mbit/s) and there are no motion artifacts at all. (The bike shot at the start of this post is a screen grab). I made sure to shoot some really dynamic stuff in order to test this. That consisted of BMX biking while hand holding the cam.

Here is the catch. This image has no mojo. Looking at it in the edit, the DVX has rich colors and gorgeous contrast (if not somewhat limited). The Sony gives us a clean image for sure, but really lacks punch and feel. Looking at the two side by side, it is almost something you can reach out and touch. The 35mm depth of field cannot be ignored either.

So my initial impression is that I want to shoot this on my DVX. The Sony is a wonderful piece of equipment, but doesn't put out the look I want for this project.