4K and all that

For years I lugged around a Sony DSR-390 (left), it was a terrific beast. With the “gain” up, it could see better in the dark than I could! In fact I used it’s “eyes” to get back to my car more than once! It had a Canon lens on the front that was superb, and it’s 3CCD 1/2 inch sensor produced wonderful video or rather it did when it was connected to a V-Loc battery, (about the size and weight of a Canon 5DMk2 body). With a weight of 3.5kg without battery, lens, tape or microphone, it required a decent sized tripod too! It recorded digital video onto a DVCam tape, (think thin Betamax tape), which then had to be “captured” into a computer for editing. This happened in real time, so if you shot 90 minutes, it took 90 minutes to get it into the editing suite. Then the world went HD, and almost overnight no one was interested in DVCam 4×3 “square telly” footage. The camera body that I seem to remember retailed at about £12,000 when new (I purchased mine second hand!) now sells for about £200 on Ebay.

I duly purchased a Sony HVR-Z1 HDV. It could still record DVCam footage, so I could intercut with “the beast” – but it could also shoot HD footage. A weird Sony fudge of HD but HD none the less. It was much lighter, it had a colour viewfinder, a flip out monitor screen, and used smaller tapes and batteries, but still tape, so still capture in real time. I made a couple of films in HD but it soon became apparent that the other issue was computing power. Yes I could edit, but only just. 4X more resolution takes up 4x more computing power (ish!). Before I could up-grade the editing suite – the world went 4K. Now the camera that I paid £2500 for new one can pick up on ebay for £250.

I decided I was going smaller, less commercial and more for my pleasure, I duly purchased a Panasonic HC-VXF990 for £899. It’s smaller again, 4 times the quality of HD and even though it’s raincoat size big pocket, it is pocketable just, and produces images that, in good light, match the DSR-390. In poor light not so. It records it’s video onto a SDXC card, which means data can be transferred into the PC as quick as the PC can eat data, no more “real time capture”, it records surround sound, has colour viewfinder and LCD screen, uses a tiny battery, and with OIS I hardly need a tripod at all. Therefore I’ve never used it!! Yes, you read correctly!

At the time I purchased the camera, I didn’t know it yet, but I was through making movies! I haven’t made what I would call a film in at least a decade, nearly two. I never thought that would happen but it has. Life changes, situations change, I’ve changed! I can no longer be bothered with the “rat race” that is digital video. Anyone who talks about video with catchphrases like “future proofing” and “here to stay” hasn’t lived it. (Has anyone seen 16mm film, well shot, and recently re-scanned (restored) – now that’s future proofing!)

My recent experiment with Super 8 Kodachrome 40 reminded me to get out the 4K Panasonic for it’s Bi-yearly battery recharge and film two minutes of the garden, although this time I took it for a walk around Poole, and made a few stills – yes it’s also a 20MP stills camera with a long lens!