Sanyo has just released a sub-$1000 consumer pocket HD camera. Doesn’t have any indie shooting features, its purely a consumer pocket cam. Like my dream cam HVX200 – this one is tapeless solid state memory cam. Die tape Die!.
But it has successfully hit the magic under $1000 price tag - heck its not even sub $1000 – its only $799. In comparison the cheapest single chip Sony HD cam is around $1,700.
Director Priyadarshan’s interview in Mid-Day about his new movie:
Many films on winning a lottery have been made in Bollywood over the years. Always in a lighter vein. It is Priyadarshan’s turn now to do one on this subject in his inimitable style… the way only he can handle situational comedies.
This one is called ‘Malamal Weekly’. Conceived by Priyadarshan himself. ‘Malamal Weekly’ is about a simple villager, who on hearing that he has won a lottery, is so overjoyed that he dies of a heart attack clutching the winning ticket in his hand. In a series of comic coincidences, a whole lot of people become privy to the secret and the film ends with the whole village trying to get a share of the winning lottery ticket.
Its one thing to plagiarize – but its totally not kosher to say its your idea. You are talking about Waking Ned Divine – a brilliant British film [IMDB Plot outline: "When a lottery winner dies of shock, his fellow townsfolk attempt to claim the money"]
Copying is nothing new – but it gets on my nerves when copy cats claim originality! His latest diwali release “Garam Masala” about a guy with 3 air-hostess girlfriends, is another direct lift off a french film in 1960s. When confronted in a rediff interview he says “Its a old film shot in 60s – after 25 years a film loses its copyright” – but Mr. Priyan “Walking Ned Divine” was released in 1998.
I wonder when film makers will be intellectually honest. Its not the 1950s anymore – when u can just go ahead and flick a flick and no one will know, times have changed, Indians have spread all over the world, now if you just release a single plot line – people around the world can smell your stink! Yash Chopra, Vikram Bhatt, Priyadharsan the list goes on…
In a way that’s true – Peter Jackson has signed up to direct the hit Microsoft videogame HALO – with MS getting 10% of all sales. I can’t imagine BillG and PeterJ going on press tours promoting the movie – it would be a riot! While I was expecting a more human drama from him to see how he fares when his ‘CGI-wand’ is taken away, but he has taken up another monster movie. I wonder what happened to his movie based on Alice Seybold’s superb debut novel ‘Lovely Bones’.
Traditionally movies based on Video games have not set the box office on fire (Lara Croft, Resident Evil etc), but this movie is being penned by Alex Garland, whose ’28 Days Later’ is one of my fav movies. He also wrote Di Carpio’s hallucinated holiday movie The Beach. PJ reminds me of Indian Director Shankar, who always tries to do something big thereby showing grandeur but losing the critical human connection eventually coming out as dressed up movie with no substance. I sure hope PJ doesnt turn out to be just a vf/x wizard.
BTW the progress of his current project ‘King Kong’ can be tracked via his blog
Traditionally movies have been so much removed from real technology to point that its laughable. This fact has been repeatedly demonstrated by fake geeks in those summer blockbusters. They type ‘Search Password’ in a black screen and get the exact password blinking in a big white box or command the computer: ‘Access Secret Files’ which responds in robotic lady language ‘Accessing Secret files’. We all have seen timebombs with bright LED displays or a laptop with serial input to alien warships or those same alien warships running Windows98.
Anyways, movies by nature are meant to be fantasies. But when you transfer that same superior technological IQ to the real word, inhabited by real geeks, you get eaten alive.
So its no wonder that it was caught with its pants down when it came to movie piracy. It just didn’t have a clue where to look. When it had a chance to encrypt the digital format in DVD, it blew it by making an amateur attempt in encrypting the files, which was hacked within a week.
Since then it has been playing a mute spectator while all of its million dollar movies were floating around the net as zero dollar .mov files.
So with no end in sight to this digital hemorrhage, it did what Cable industry did way back in 1988 - outsource it. Today, 6 of the major studios are forming a multimillion dollar high tech research lab called “MovieLab” with a sole purpose of making Movies un-piratable.
In a related note, last month Hollywood published its first set of standards for future digital content, where it padded itself crazy with all sorts of content protection.
But only a 14year old Russian hacker can tell how successful there are this time.
Is it a black XL2 ? Looks like it – but no, its the New HDV camera from Canon. Canon was holding its card tight until the last moment. When JVC and Panasonic was going media blasting with their HD Cameras everyone was looking at Canon – ‘Dude, are u going to say something?’ where is ur HD cam??‘. Now that Canon spilled the beans about its new HD Cam – there are two possiblities why it didnt announce it earlier in March at NAB @ Las Vegas (where traditionally new broadcast equipments are announced)
I think its a mix of both. Even though Canon knew of Panasonic and JVC’s plan 6 months back (coz they announced their plans back in March) its counter-offer is lukewarm at the best. But they are rushing to the market this November, one month before the Panasonic HD cam hits the market in December.
This new cam features:
Except the Interchangeable lens mount – no other featureset seems to hold interest for me. And its almost 2-3K more expensive than JVC HD100 (which has interchangeable lens mount too)
I am all ears when it comes to mexican maverick Robert Rodriguez – I just like his ideas, enthusiasm and hi-octane energy (if only his movies didn’t suck most of the time). But you’ve got to give it to this guy – he is damn versatile, from Vampire Movies, to Children’s movies (SpyKids123), to pure action movies (Desperado, OTIMexico, SinCity) to 3D movies (Sharkboy & Lavagirl). So like a buffet offering, you can really pick and choose what you want to see, he is soo quick in making movies that you can easily wait out for a better one. I was so psyched with SinCity, but didn’t even have an iota of interest in his Sharkboy & Lavagirl. Next he is shooting a double feature with Quentin Tarantino, after that he is gonna make SinCity 2 and possibly 3.
If you just overlook the content for a second, you will find his ‘art’ of moviemaking very interesting. He shoots Digital, shoots low budget, but somehow makes it look like mega big budget, shoots the whole, I mean the whole movie, in front of a green screen, shoots very very fast, his actors act for a day or 2, mostly alone, then digitally joined to the rest of the cast, scores his own music, edits his own footage, writes his material – so movie making is all a one big process for this guy – then to top it off, almost all his movies end up making money.
Many theaters have been less than enthusastic about moving to Digital Projection systems for the lack of any standards. They were too afraid to invest $100K on a digital projector only to find it rendered incompatiable or obsolete in a format war between studios. Not anymore.
In 2002 all major studios (Universal, Disney, Warner, Fox, Paramount, Pixar, Lucas, Sony) got together and gave birth to a group called Digital Cinema Initiative or DCI with a purpose of establishing and documenting specifications for an open architecture for Digital Cinema components that ensured a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control. Under the agreement, studios will share a bit of revenues they saved by going digital (from $1200 a print to a mere $10-20), with the theater chains, thereby encouraging them to invest in digital projectors.
After 3 long years they released their worldwide standards today. Its indeed a good news for digital filmmakers, as they can output to a particular spec which can be shown in any digital cinema in US (and hopefully worldwide).
So ok, now what exactly is this standard? Well, you can read it here [PDF 1.2MB] – its only 176 pages 
I will try to update this post with a concise summary.
Over the weekend, I watched 3 critically acclaimed films:
- Danny Boyle’s ‘Trainspotting’, and
- Multi Oscar nominated ‘Very Long Engagement’
- David Cohen’s multi oscar winning Fargo
Very Long Engagement – From the director of Amelie – the lesser said about ‘Very long… ‘ the better – it may have gorgeous cinematography, wonderful production values and great direction – but it was damn boring! I just couldn’t sit through it – it was dull, uninteresting and lacked any real ‘story’. It was a story of a young handicapped woman on a determined search of her lost lover during WWI. An okay sort of story, but the script just didn’t have any hooks to pull you in – it has characters who just walk into the story and disappear. Maybe Amelie was an one hit wonder for this French director.
** (2/5)
Trainspotting – I loved the idea of Danny’s “28 day’s later”, and I was sorely disappointed by his debut film – superhit ‘Trainspotting”. Another boring story of 4 junkies and their pathetic existence. The only saving grace was Evan McGregor’s acting – which was wonderful. I donno whats in this movie which was so darn good that it was Britains biggest hit.
** (2/5)
Fargo – It came out in 1996, since then there have been so many TV shows with the same story. A cash strapped husband planning his rich wife’s kidnapping to milk money out of her millionare father, and things go terribly wrong…blah blah… it was so jaded. Even an ordinary episode of Law & order or CSI:Miami is on the same lines. And the tag “Based on a True Story” is bogus – and it ticked me off. But the saving grace, as with all the films above, is fantastic acting. William Macy, Steve Buscemi and Frances McDormand were just fantastic!
*** (3/5)
Another rehash of Hideo Nakata’s Japanese Horror flick following the heels for Ringu and Grudge. Hideo Nakata who has great success with creepy modern day horrors, meaning, you don’t see his characters locked up in a vampire infested 18th century castle in nowhere land – but his character carry cell phones, live and work as normal people do in present day America or Japan depending on which version you see. Nakata’s trademarks are all over the place including the end that is not really an end. Rain always plays a dominant factor, so no wonder both Ring and Dark water has some ties to the Emerald City (Seattle).
Story: Recently divorced Dahlia lives in New York, being priced out of the sky high Manhattan market, she moves to New York’s industrial suburbs with her daughter. Needless to say, the place reeks and smells of dark creepy characters. And mysterious things happen and yada yada yada, few artificial thrills (more like sound effects) we come to the story. A misguided flash back later the last act picks up the tempo, and ends with a nice little ‘touch’.
The casting is perfect, Jennifer Connelly as Dahlia, always perfect John Reilly as apartment manager Mr. Murray and little cutie pie Ariel Gade as Cecily. Fancy aerial shots, fake dirty sets, and an ever present green cast shows all gloss and polish of a Hollywood production trying hard. The movie is built up good, and sometimes is fairly well done. But as usual the movie falls badly when the moviemakers take logic for granted. Like this, A dark stormy night, creepy sounds, a lone staircase, lights are out, you are alone, you hear spooky laughter in a dark narrow hallway at the end of it there is a menacing door, a door which the manager tells never to open. Now, unless you are stupid, you will wait till morning or call someone to go along with you or at least take some precautions – but Dahlia goes alone, ignores all the sound effects we hear, so we keep asking “Why? Why does this director, who till now has build up a realistic characterization, wants to throw it all away for cheap thrills?”
Maybe it’s the way B grade horrors work.
*** (3/5)
IMDB Tagline: Fight and you’ll never survive….. Run and you’ll never escape
This is one gun happy film, both hard hitting and brutal in its portrayal of Rio’s slum gangs. Starts out as a total mess, where you find it hard to recognize who is who or what the heck is going on. But slowly the characters come out in the front. This is based on a true story in Brazil (I missed that part) so the whole movie had me going “Man, that is unexpected, who would have thought that would happen” but apparently true life is a much better and shocking screen writer.
Some of the scenes will shock our muted sensibilities, some scenes will ring hollow if only it was not based on a true story. But life is hard, very hard for these kids – and they respond back by violence, truckloads of it. Hard work, Money, Power, Loyalty, Vanity, Friendship are all easily substituted for a Gun, with it, you have it all. “Without the cold hard steel, you are a human football, the lowest vermin in the human food chain” – thats its underlying message.
The movie is shot with some extreme camerawork you will ever see. Handheld shots, follow focus, super saturation, swipes, PIP, key contrast with racy editing and pulsating music – this movie technically has it all. It offers a distinct visual signature – maybe coz it is taking us into an unknown territory.
This movie makes it to the top 24 fo all time movies – but it doesnt rate so high for me. But definitely worth a look.
*** (3.5/5)
Maria full of Grace follows Maria, an innocent flower girl, as she steps into a dangerous world of drug trafficking. Before you conjure up blood soaked gun throttling mafia gang buster – no, it has none of that, what it has is a simple story of a strong willed girl surviving some of her darkest moments. The script is full of rich 3 dimensional characters, wonderful acting and some taut editing. Writer/Director Joshua Marston has scripted Maria’s character so well that we feel her anguish, feel her apprehensions and share her little joys.
Story: Maria is a small town girl, who supports her family single handedly. After a minor tuff with her boss, she storms out of her job only to find her family unsupportive of her decision. With pressures mounting on her from all sides (her unexpected pregnancy) – she does something dramatic – she agrees to smuggle heroine into United States as a drug mule. The rest of the story will keep you guessing.
Catalina Sandino Moreno is exceptional as Maria Alwarez in her debut feature. It is not surprising that she was nominated for the Oscars (The Oscar eventually went to Hillary Swank for Million Dollar Baby). Technically speaking – Camera is mostly handheld, and doesn’t do any gimmicks. Music is obviously South American and the background score is perfect. Debutant Writer/Director Joshua has taken time to flesh out the characters fully before jumping on to the rollercoaster of the main story. It works very well till the climax which turn out to be the weakest link of this otherwise wonderful picture.
**** (4/5)
‘Saw’ is a nail biting Indie thriller set in a single room with just 2 principle characters. One of the sleeper hits of 2004, this Australian film helmed by 27 year old debutant director James Wan, manages to keep you guessing with its riveting screenplay.
Written as an ultra low budget flick ($22,000) it got the attention of Hollywood thanks to it script. Luckily Lion’s Gate films, unlike ‘Ring’, didn’t muddle it with Hollywood ‘touches’ and unnecessary special effects. They let the film makers make the film as they intended.
As an implied terror film (much of the violence happens off-camera) it makes you more nervous. The script is very simple but has enough twists to keep your heart rate up and more importantly it plays well with your pre-conceived notions and stereotypes, then manages to outsmart you in the end. The climax is so well shot that it reminded me of Se7en (1995) and Usual Suspects (1995) but not anywhere near Se7en’s complexity nor Usual Suspects’ suavity, its still a tribute to be compared favorably with those films.
Story: Two principle characters are chained to the wall in a industrial complex bathroom with a definite purpose – they need to kill the other one to survive!. They are ordinary men, so they find it impossible to kill each other off, instead they form an alliance and try to outsmart their captor. Unlike the thrillers where we see the movie from the detectives point of view, here we see it from the victim’s point of view. It does have some sillyness usually not associated with mainstream movies – like stupid puzzles, confusing continutity and forced characterization (why does the cop go bananas?)
Technically the film is adequate. Camera is almost exclusively handheld, no expansive establishing shots, no fancy cranes/trollys. But sometimes circular camera movements are overused. The white balance seemed a bit off as the film consistently had a green cast (maybe due to fluorescent overhead lighting). Car chase scenes are shot in a static car with camera shaking (indie!) – but is effective. There is no recognizable faces except Danny Glover. One of the principle actors is one of the writers of the movie. The villain has done a good job in ‘looking’ like a villain. So no great shakes here. Music compliments the onscreen tension very well.
Direction: Debutant student director James Wan shows a lot of promise. He shows mastery in underplaying terror. He shows a natural penchant for timed terror, much like M Night, where you know something is about to happen, and you wait and wait for it, thereby heightening your anxiety. Its not a horror movie per se, as it is widely publicized – its a decent serial killer thriller.
Watch it.
**** 4/5
News: Indian Censors advocate a Ban on smoking on screen.
Are today’s youth influenced by what they see in the Media (TV, Movies and the Videogames) ? Is Hollywood to blame ?
Well, here is a direct Q&A with Mark Taylor who survived Columbine High School Shooting where many young students were massacred.
Was there a connection between the release of the movie The Matrix and the Columbine shootings?
I fear so! I saw The Matrix at the Sony Theater in downtown Boston the first week of its release. In The Matrix, Neo is wearing a full-length black leather coat. Under the coat he has hidden an array of automatic weapons. He is also carrying duffel bags full of bombs. There are probably more bullets fired than in any previous movie. The bullets are destroying any object in sight. I don’t know what the name Neo is intended to mean.
The Columbine shooting happened the same week. From the description of the killers and the clothing they were wearing, I felt like I reading about a scene from the movie The Matrix. The Columbine killers were wearing full-length black leather coats and their weapons were hidden underneath their coats also. They were carrying duffel bags full of bombs. Had they seen The Matrix?
Maybe Matrix cannot be entirely blamed for for these twisted teens – but it does provided them with a pop culture reference point. Just as easily we can pluck out various examples from history and see how movies have played a part in our lives – Uprisings, Political vendetta, Social Values etc -even how movies were able to shape today’s Romantic symbols long before we were born.
In the early 1920′s after the World War I, Diamond makers were worried sick about the free fall in Diamond prices and that it was no longer considered rare (South African mines were producing diamonds by truckload and flooding the market). They came running to the Motion Picture industry to manipulate the public’s perception.
To romanticize diamonds required subtly altering the public’s picture of the way a man courts — and wins — a woman, they started exploiting the relatively new medium of motion pictures. Movie idols, the paragons of romance for the mass audience, would be given diamonds to use as their symbols of indestructible love. Stars were seen in umpteen photos wearing solitaire diamond rings. Even through the great depression (1929) audience tried to emulate their idols by matching their expensive lifestyle.
It goes to show how powerful media images can re-inforce entire generations. For a stone that is neither a rare, nor the toughest – infact its no tougher than a Ruby or Jade (which is infact tougher) – it holds a high place in the hearts of young women (wish my wife reads this thanks to some clever piece of subconscious marketing 2 generations back, which naturally spilled over generations and reached us, and will continue…
No matter what the actual truth is, a cross section of audiences are subconsciously mere puppets to what is projected to them. They are today’s teens. If a popular hero is shown smoking wearing a shirt collar up with boots strategically placed on a motorbike with its headlights on. You can walk out of the theater and guaranteed to see a college kid standing in a similar pose in front of a girls college. The same is true with women, you can find Kajol Saree, and Karishma Chuddihars.
But some of these perceptions maybe harmless (Cooldrinks or mobile phones), but a few of them are deadly – Guns, Murder and Smoking. Teens are particularly vulnerable as they are moving into an age where they suddenly finding themselves without a character, a void which could be easily filled by mimicking other powerful influences or on-screen persona, say a Rajini or a Neo. These disillusioned copycats think that they can magically transform overnight from zero to hero, just by emulating their hip matinee idols.
But if the industry can guarantee that mature themes (blood, violence, smoking, drinking etc) will only be viewed by mature audience (25+?) then go ahead show it to people who will not easily be swayed – but spare the teens and youth by strictly enforcing the underage Certifications. Or maybe there should be an untold rule that at least Heroes don’t smoke, so that a negative trait firmly in place for the act.
There is a reason why a Shah Rukh Khan can sell 1000s of Santro’s by posing near it, or a Sachin can boost Boost. We are a nation who follow celebrities like demi-gods (in some cases Gods) – be it good or bad.
But all said and done this Ban will not produce immediate effects on our youth – but our kids will thank us.
Ismail Merchant the longstanding producer/director duo of classy independant films, died today in London. Indian born Merchant along with James Ivory, an American, made some 40 films together and won six Oscars spanning 4 decades. Infact, they are featured in The Guiness Book of records for longest standing partnership in films. Their movies were known for their high production values and low budget. Their movies usally spoke of class differences, aspirations and love. Most of their stories are adapations of novels, including their latest Mystic Masseur (2001) which was based on Nobel winning novelist V.S Naipaul’s novel of the same name. It was also one of the few movies he directed rather than just producing it.
Their Oscar winning dramas A Room with a View(1985), Howards End (1992) as well as India oriented movies such as Shashi Kapur’s Shakespeare-Wallah(1965) made quite an impact in on both sides of the woods (Holly and Bolly).
He was currently shooting a film based on an unique friendship between 2 Nobel Laureates Rabindranath Tagore (India’s first) and french writer Romain Rolland.
Sony today released another HD camcoder HDR-HC1 – the smallest ever. So now Sony has 3 HD camcoders – new HC1($1700), Fx1 ($3500), Z1u ($5000). It probably will have a 1/3″ CCD (/CMOS) given its price range. It does a 1080, interlaced of course, and a Cineframe 24p simulation.
With its pictbridge, 1-megapixel stills, Nightshot and assorted effects, it is clearly positioned as cheap HD for rich customers (else who would pay $1700 for a 1 CCD camcoder). Sweetening the deal further this camera also offers full manual controls, focus, zoom, shutter, and WB. If only it did a real 24p – it would rock. But most indie film makers would give it a pass considering its single CMOS design, and its lack of real 24p. Will Sony ever listen ? it burn its fingers with its consumer unfriendly policies in its music pods to Apple. Now, it is doing the same with its once wonderful camcoder unit and losing the race to Panasonic.
This camera will be available in July 2005.
Steven Soderberg – the stylish director known for Oceans 11/12 and Traffic - is trying a new form of distribution. If you are thinking ‘Internet ? why even I distribute my home videos in Internet’ – no, not only Internet. His next film ‘Bubble’ is going to be simultaneously released in theaters, DVD, pay-per-view TV and downloadable via the Net! Would that not eat into profits of each other ? Steven doesn’t think so. “Economically, the film business in general is using a model that is outdated and, worse than that, inefficient,” he said. “It’s worth finding out if this is going to work better.” Lets see if audience are cheapskates or if audience are willing to reward creativity. I will probably download it off the Net for a reasonable fee.
Traditionally distribution is the bottleneck for indies – many have tried internet, direct to dvd, direct to TV models. Not because the movie stinks (maybe it does 
– but because theatrical releases are controlled entirely by the big studios who decide the fate of the film even before it reaches the audience. Sort of gatekeepers who put their financial interests before the quality of the product. So it is heartening to know that a mainstream director is trying to experiment if simultaneous distribution works or not. This is not some B grade director but an Oscar winning one!
Today I came across an article being discussed in LazyGeek’s blog. The Outlook article (link) talked about the hypnotized slumber the Indian audience are being subjected to, diminishing their capacity to perceive & recognizing quality. The article touched upon certain valid points and missed others completely.
To recognize that there is a problem is the first step in trying to solve a problem. Being labeled cynical or intellectual is fine – but it takes a pair of good eyes to recognize diamonds among glasses, so if you are happy with the way public art is being fed to you – fine, but as an artist (tho a different medium) it pains me to see this decline. Here are a few statements thrown at those who try to comment on the dismal state of this wonderful medium.
I disagree – but I have to used this cliched but valid argument – ‘who is to say that alternative films have to be boring ? ‘ Anything as long as we don’t see reused templates – we need bold experiments like science fictions, fantasy magicals, short films, experimentals, simple emotional stories, reflections and pure entertainers. But before you point out that any good literature is a template (Hero overcomes odds to win a moral goal), by template I mean the same characters/structures/introduction scenes/seductive songs at regular intervals as you see in any Vijay/Vikram movie.
You may ask why do we need to change when we like what we see ? When we are always fed with fodder, we can never appreciate or even comprehend and savor the good taste of a gourmet food. I am certainly not talking about so called ‘art’ films where you watch a old man wash his face for 20mins. What I mean by ‘Art’ – is films which break the monotonous ‘routines’ and redefines the audience palette.
I certainly have been guilty of enjoying certain masala films – Kaakka Kaakka, Mumbai Xpress, purely as a form of entertainment. But that alone can never enrich the audience – its like a diet of eating only sugar – always sweet and as a kid you love it – but does that mean its good for you ?
To enrich, educate, sway, narrate, excite and open the eyes of the audience – these are just a few possibilities of cinema, which is and always will be as a mass medium. They should be responsible gate keepers dishing out a balanced diet – not to always give out bubble gums and sugar candies.
Yes, you don’t – but the medium of cinema is a socially responsible medium, and not merely an entertainment medium. If you see the history you will notice cinematic medium used to elict revolutions and as a propaganda machinery. Elephants riding bicycles don’t do that. But cinema has degraded so much that you could be forgiven for making such analogy.
The 80s, 90s brought in the bubble gum culture – mindless sugary stuff – which didn’t do any good to refine the audience taste, but just kept feeding dope regularly. Now audience is addicted, they don’t want anything new or better – they want their dose of sugar.
But it is heartening to see a few experimental movies up North (I am NOT talking about over hyped Kadal or Black). Changing the mindset of a generation takes time – but someone somewhere has to take the first stab.
Panasonic HVX200 becomes the first camera under $100,000 to record high-definition 1080/24p. The ONLY other camera is Sony’s CineAlta, a $100,000 camera which, Lucas and Rodriguez used in ‘Star Wars II’ and ‘Once upon a time in Mexico’. They both use Sony exclusvely
Also this $5995 camera does what a $65,000 Varicam does – variable frame rates! It can shoot any framerate from 4 to 60fps!.
Yes it is a wonderboy cam – it does all ‘good’ flavors of HD without its nasty after effects.
What does that mean ?
HD as HDV is popularly called, is a horrible format. Wait, before you flame me, hear it out. HDV is a consumer format, plain and simple. It has low color sampling (4:2:0) , high compressions. Also HDV specs dont have the indie favorite 24p recording. So smarter companies (read JVC, Panasonic) take the HDV standard and customize it.
JVC customized HDV as ProHDV – it made two simple changes – added 24p and relaxed the compression algorithms. Instead of compressing a group of 15 frames, it grouped only 6. But Panasonic went further and threw out interframe compression altogether and compressed each frame individually in its DVCPRO-HD format. Also it doubled color sampling from 4:2:0 it made it 4:2:2.
JVC and Panasonic has released their respective versions now. Its called HD100 and AG-HVX200
| Panasonic AG-HVX200 | JVC HD-100 | Sony Z1u | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoots in |
1080/60i 720/60p |
720/30p 720/24p |
1080/50i/60i | Clearly Pana |
| Progressive ? | Yes | Yes | No, Interlaced | JVC & Pana |
| Real 24p ? | Yes | Yes | NO! | JVC & Pana |
| Default Lens | 13x | 16x interchangeable | Clearly JVC | |
| Lens | Fixed | Real HD Manual Lens | Fixed | Clearly JVC |
| HD Flavor | DVCHD-PRO | PROHDV | HDV | Clearly Pana |
| Color Sampling | 4:2:2 | 4:2:0 | 4:2:0 | Clearly Pana |
| Recording | P2 Media & HDD | MiniDV Tape, HDD | MiniDV | JVC & Pana |
| Shutter | Variable! (4-60fps) | Clearly Pana | ||
| Audio | Less compressed | Compressed | Compressed | Panasonic |
| Compression | Within 1 frame | With group of 6 frames | Group of 15 frames | Clearly Pana |
| Form | Handycam | Should Mount | Handycam | JVC |
| Looks | Non Pro | Real Pro looks | Looks cool | JVC |
| Positives |
720 & 1080 |
Interchangeable HD Lens |
Shoots both NTSC/PAL | |
| Negatives |
Fixed Lens |
HDV Compression |
No 24p |
|
| Price | $5995 – Available Oct | $6295 – Available June | $5949 – Now! | |
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 |
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Can it get any better than this ?
Yes, how about a 4:4:4 HD interchangeable 35mm lens camera !! – enter DRAKE… more details on it when it becomes available
Panasonic
AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 Camcorder
Unveiling at NAB 2005, the AG-HVX200 is the professional video industry’s most anticipated technology breakthrough. This revolutionary, hand-held P2 camcorder provides 1080i and 720p recording with the production proven image quality of 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD. The AG-HVX200 records on a P2 card in 1080 in 60i, 30p and 24p; in720 in 60p, 30p and 24p; in 480 in 60i, 30p, and 24p either in DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO.
Now it becomes the ONLY camera to do 1080 and 24p!
The combinations becomes endless.
HD variants:
1080/60i
1080/30p
1080/24p!
720/60p
720/30p
720/24p
SD variants:
480/60i
480/30p
480/24p
Now, the only hurdle is P2 cards – they are damn expensive! Maybe sometime next year P2 cards will be cheaper. It has to, according to Moore’s law, if thats still applicable
I will be waiting to see if it does indeed produce spectacular images as its specs say. JVC still is in the reckoning coz it does one thing this cam doesnt – interchangeable lenses!.