Digital Video Camera Buyer's Guide By John Stewart
	The digital video camera has brought a whole host of features and benefits to the EFP, electronic news gathering, studio, and videography markets. Superb image quality, no tape degradation, and the straight to digital features of the latest cameras provide compelling reasons to upgrade and consider making the move to digital. The formats run the gamut, from the hugely popular miniDV format at the entry level, to the professional DVCAM and DVCPRO formats. In this buyer's guide, we take a look at some of the latest cameras on the market as well as the feature sets that these cameras include to help you capture the best footage possible for your specific application. Canon XL1S - this is Canon’s update to the original XL1. It’s a very popular camera, with more film-style accessories being than any other low-end camcorder. It’s usability for Electronic Cinematography is limited by the low pixel counts of its image sensors and the constraints on color information imposed by the DV tape format. Ikegami HDL-V90 - while Ikegami is a well-respected name in the broadcast arena, it is less known in the film world. The V90 is Ikegami’s High Definition (HD) camcorder. With CCD resolution approximating Sony’s HDW-F900, an on-board DVCPro HD recorder, and increasing rental availability, the HDL-V90 is a viable choice for 1080i HDTV projects. The interlaced format and lack of a 24 frame per second mode make it less attractive for Electronic Cinematography (EC). Ikegami HC-400W - this is a dockable camera, which means that back half of the camera (where the recorder normally sits) can be changed out to adapt the camera to different situations. The most important characteristics for EC use: native 16:9 image sensors with good pixel counts and the ability to dock with a 50 Mbps DV tape 4:2:2 format: DVCPro. Like almost all cameras currently on the NTSC market, this is strictly a 30 frame per second camera. JVC DY-90WUCL - his is JVC’s top of the line camera for EC. It has good resolution CCDs that are shaped for wide screen use, and records on D-9 tape, which is a 50 Mbps 4:2:2 format. 30 fps only. JVC GY-DV700WUCL - this is also a 16:9 camera designed for EC. It accepts B4 mount lenses, which is widely used and opens up a lot of possibilities. It’s tape section uses the less desirable 25 Mbps, 4:1:1 mini-DV format. 30 fps only. Panasonic AJ-HDC27 Varicam - Panasonic extended a basic tool film shooters have always had to the Electronic Cinematographer with this 720p camera. It shoots in the 24 frame per second speed film uses, but can also go as slow as 4 fps and as fast as 60 fps. In addition to film-friendly frame rates, it also offers mega-pixel CCDs, and the high quality DVCPRO HD tape format. In fact, in the 60 fps mode, the Varicam can also double as a High Definition TV camera. Panasonic AJ-PD900WA - Panasonic also produces 480p-flavored hardware. Better than average CCDs in the 16:9 format feed a multi-format recorder section that included DVCPRO 50 capability. 30 fps only. Sony HDW-F900 - high-resolution 2.2 mega-pixel CCDs, a built-in 24 fps HDCAM recorder and endorsements from George Lucas and Panavision. This is the camera that made filmmakers reconsider the feasibility of shooting “films” on tape. 24, 25 or 30 fps. Sony HDW-750 - this camera employs the same 2.2 mega-pixel CCDs and HDCAM tape format as found in the HDW-F900, at two-thirds of the price. Unfortunately for the EC community, this appears to be a 30 fps-only camera. Thomson LDK 7000 - currently available as a camera only with TriaxHD outputs, this unit gives us a look at the future of camera technology. It employs CCDs with a mind-boggling pixel count of 9.2 million! The camera is capable of operating in 1080p or 720p high definition modes and can switch between 16:9 or 2.37:1 aspect ratios. Naturally, it’s capable of 24 fps operation, too. So what’s the difference between an ordinary video camera and one designed for Electronic Cinema? After all, those kids made a pretty successful witch movie back in ’99 with Hi8 home video cameras. The big difference is the quality of the image, and that arises from improved image sensors, film-compatible frame rates, better tape formats, and being able to better control the operating characteristics of the camera. The table shown below lists that critical information for some of the more popular cameras currently on the market. Brand Product App. Format Specs URL MSRP Canon XL1S EFP SD DV, switchable to 16:9 3 1/3" 250k-pixel 4:3 CCDs, switchable to 16:9, interchangeable lenses Click here No MSRP given, street price: $3700 at B&H Ikegami HC-400 EFP Dockable to DVCPro (50),DVCAM, Betacam, or MII 3 2/3" IT CCDsSD model CCD is 768x494 (~380k pixels)W model CCD is 948x485 (~460k pixels) Click here $13,800 Ikegami HDK-720P Studio HD SDI 3 2/3" 1M-pixel FIT CCDs, 720p Click here $167,300 Ikegami HDK-790E Studio HD SDI 3 2/3" 2.2M-pixel FIT CCDs, capable of multiple HD formats Click here $151,000 Ikegami HDL-V90 EFP DVCPro HD 3 2/3" 2.2 M-pixel FIT CCDs, 1080i native Click here $65,000 JVC KY-D29WUCH EFP 16:9 version of KY-D29UCH Three 2/3" 480k-pixel 16:9 native CCDs, switchable to 4:3 Click here $32,224 for complete ENG configuration with D-9 recorder JVC DY-90WUCL EFP D-9 (50 Mbps, 4:2:2) 3 2/3" 480k-pixel IT CCDs, native 16:9 switchable to 4:3 Click here $22,850 JVC GY-DV700WUCL CineLine DV Camcorder EFP 16:9 DV, "digital cinema", but still 4:1:1 3 2/3" 480k-pixel CCDs, B4 lens mount film-style gamma profiling, native 16:9 CCDs, but capable of 4:3 Click here $10,400 for the head, $1,160 for viewfinder, $3,570 for cheapest lens JVC GY-DV700WU "CineDV" EFP 16:9 DV, "digital cinema", but still 4:1:1 MiniDV, 3 2/3" 480k-pixel CCDs, B4 lens mount "Pro-DV", native 16:9 CCDs, but capable of 4:3 Click here $13,098 JVC KY-D29UCH EFP SD, dockable to D-9, DV, S-VHS & Betacam 3 2/3" 760k-pixel CCDs, 2/3" bayonet lens mount Click here $11,364 (head and viewfinder, lens & recorder not included) complete conf. are available on site JVC GY-DV500U EFP SD DV 3 ½" 380k-pixel CCDs, Mini-DV, SD Click here $7850 ($6153 without battery & case) JVC GY-DV550 Studio / EFP SD DV Studio version of DV-500U, but adds manual knee adjustment and 16:9 switchable Click here $7429 Continued on next page. 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