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Sony's NEX VG10 might fill the gap... for now.



[col-sect][column]I don't own a camcorder. I shoot video on a Canon 5D Mark 2 which is actually a DSLR. It's a little more complicated in the audio department, but the image quality is astounding and the form factor is familiar. There's nothing else that shoots as wide as my 5D, and low light footage is great even at 3lux. Nothing else can do that. It's always felt like the perfect field camera

That being said, every once in a while I find myself wishing I had something in a camcorder form factor. Something a little smaller, more streamlined. I look at my budget, figure out how much I would have to save up, and start looking around at what's out there. But, after looking around I find that I'm comparing it all to my 5D. Can it get really wide? Does it have full XLR inputs? How's the low light performance? Eventually, I give up because it's not close enough to my 5D, until something else comes up where I wish I had something more streamlined and I find myself looking again.

I think I'm done looking... for now.



Today, Sony introduced the NEX VG10. It's an interchange lens HD camcorder with a 14mp Exmor APS-C HD CMOS chip-the same size as super-35mm movie film. It shoots 1080/60i(50i) in a 24mbps AVCHD format to SD. The "E-Mount" lens mount got the photo community excited earlier this year when they released the NEX-5. The E mount has such a narrow flange back (the distance between the chip and the lens mount) you can adapt any lens to it. I'm finally seeing Leica M Lenses in video's future.

If you already shoot Sony Alpha, you might like to know that Sony sells an adapter to allow you to shoot with your alpha lenses. but it sounds like you will only be able to shoot with them wide open The $199 adapter allows full aperture and AE control but only manual focus, so that's not bad for access to great Ziess zoom lenses.

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[column]The other interesting feature is the built in stereo mic. To quote Sony, the "Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone uses advanced processing algorithms to combine signals from four separate omnidirectional microphone capsules. The result is exceptionally clear stereo audio with a highly directional response: this allows videographers to capture more sound from the subject they’re shooting, and less of distracting sounds around them." Looking at the picture bellow, it looks like it's a combination of an M/S pattern and a dual mono pattern. If the processing is done right it should sound really good for a built in mic. Might be usable for close up work. It will clearly need a deadcat though.



Other than that, the VG10's specs read a lot like my old Sony VX2000: Prosumer. No XLR inputs, but a 1/8" unbalanced mic in with no phantom power. VU meter on screen. A Headphone out. LCD display and eye piece-Sony usually does very well with their LCDs. Full manual exposure, audio, and white balance. And it takes the same batteries as the VX2000! I love that Sony has not moved away from the L series battery. Thank you for that Sony. It makes up for your days of proprietary card mediums.



So what's my big hang up? I'm not a huge fan of AVCHD, 60i, or compressed/unbalanced audio. XCAM35, 24p/60p, and just ONE XLR input would have made it a deal maker for me. But we'll see. For $2000 I'm not sure there's a better product to fill the gap in my field work flow. For now. There is lots of noise that Canon will be introducing a similar product this fall, which is when Sony will start shipping the NEX VG10.

Big DPreview write up here
Press Release here

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Zen and the Art of Collaboration

I recently co-produced two pieces for Ushahidi regarding their work in Haiti shortly after the earthquake. I helped concept the stories with Sara George, Ushahidi's producer, and then we brought in Andrew Berends to direct. Andrew was already in Haiti shooting for Frontlines and had a great sense of the ground. You come into these types of projects with a particular idea of what is going to happen. You see the arch in your head. You hears the character's voices... and then you get the actual footage back from the Videographer. Andrew did an amazing job when you consider that he really had about 36 hours to pull both stories together. We got a lot of great B-roll and decent interviews.

In this sort of situation the largest hurdle to overcome is one of expectations. Sarah and I had individual ideas about how the stories should go. Andrew had his own understanding of our expectations plus an understand of how realistic those expectations where (which I will never really know). I know he had his own expectations for the projects as he sent the footage back to me, where I tried to let go of my original ideas about the story so I could find the amazing stuff Andrew found.

Lesson learned: your mind can't really be big enough in Non-Fiction story telling.







VJ vs MJ vs PJ - or The Medium is the Message.

[col-sect][column]The introduction of foreign objects in a pool has a way of stirring up the silt at the bottom. It's been like that for Journalism lately. The explosion of  internet access, shrinking consumer demand for paper news, digital photography, compressed HD video, HDDSLRs... the last 10 years have been a decade rocks falling into the journalism pool. Those who once carried one type of camera now cary two, or one and a audio kit, or a cell phone.... It's a lot to think about: learning curves distract from our ability to excel.

When the  HDSLRs came into being we all hoped we had found that ONE tool for Multimedia Journalism.  We tried with frustration to make it our only camera for the last two plus years, but it's just not there yet.

Right now, I'm putting HDSLR in the same category as a Medium Format: focal length and aperture have a much bigger effect on hyper focus and depth of field than they do on small chip cameras, they have better exposure depth, less noise, and a cleaner image.  But because of this they require more consideration while shooting, and then there is that audio issue....

When we talk about what tools we use, I think we need to start with who we really are as storytellers. Our vision of end products determine the mediums and methods we employ. This isn't a new concept for the visual end of Journalism.

Christopher Morris being hardcore as always.

Christopher Morris with a Rollei TLR, a Contax G2/28mm f2.8, and a Canon EOS 1N(V?) w/ something long circa 1990. photo by Greg Mironchuk[/column]

[column]Most of us recognize Mr. Morris's kit and why he would go to the trouble of hauling around three cameras: best camera for the focal length.  SLRs are really best at telephoto focal lengths, Range Finders excel with wider lenses; while the resolution, size, and simplicity of a TLR makes it a winner for your medium lens. People who make this kind choice are doing it for the sake the final image. By the '90s zooms could manage all of Christopher's focal length needs, but not with the clarity, contrast, and lack of distortion that he wanted.

When Morris's style has changed recently and he's elected to shoot with one camera and a 24-70mm/F2.8. Why cary more gear if you don't need to?  Now Morris also shoots Video, but it's clear that he is comfortable letting the medium (HDSLR) dictate his video style.

If your shooting video/stills/audio right now, you probably came from Photography or Videography.  In both of those fields we have been able to shoot with one piece of equipment for years.  But the pool is stirred up, the expectations are changing, the boundaries are down, and there is no longer a single piece of equipment that wins all the time.  But instead of feeling like you need everything strapped to you all the time, take a good look at your work, your ideas about story, and ask your self what you need.

For some of us, having three cameras and an audio pack is going to be the new norm and it will work if we have a vision for it.  For others accepting the limitations of a single piece of gear is what we need to be successful.  This isn't the death of straight video or photojournalism.  It's certainly isn't the death of HDSLRs for the SoJo.  This is the middle of the silt settling back down to the bottom of the pool.  It's time to figure out where you want to end up.[/column][/col-sect]

Are we done with DSLR Video?

[col-sect][column]Two weeks ago Vincent Laforet gave the VJ world permission to shoot on traditional rigs again. He did it during an interview with Dan Chung of DSLR Shooter at the NAB conference and ever since the VJ/PJ blog world has been a'tizzy about  how excited they are to get away from DSLRs and back to ENG kits like before. Cliff Etzel of Solo Video Journalist said "I’m calling it as I see it. DSLR video is a fad – at least in solo video journalism it is."



For his part, Mr. Laforet made the remarks to Chung while hanging out at the Canon Video booth at the NAB trade show in Las Vegas. Vincent, in his reluctant-poster-boy sort of way, said he felt that DLSR video has a ways to go before it can match "something like one of these." pointing to one of Canon's new solid state MPEG-2 ENG cameras, the XF300. He made points about DSLR work flow not being ironed out, no XLR, the general problems with sound sync, and the complications of form factor.[/column]

[column]And He's right about all of that, but I feel like we forgot how we got here. Does everyone remember three years ago when there was no DSLR video?.

I was shooting on Panasonic HVX200s and Canon HF20s when I needed something really small. Do we all remember that? If you guys want to leave the DLSR Video Journalism sandbox, that's cool, but I'm staying.

I can't wait for everyone to leave and go back to shooting on $7-12K rigs that push up overhead on production and insurance, weigh roughly twice as much, have blindingly inferior low light performance, poor wide angle options, and expensive propriety storage mediums; all on chipsets smaller than a nickel. I'm sure it will be a party.

Snark aside, Vincent Lauforei isn't an idiot and he's not a jerk, I hear he's a really nice guy. I think he was being honest when he said that he would rather shoot a documentary with an XF300, but if I had another $7,000 to drop into a second camera, I would probably get a 1D mark4. Vincent wouldn't because he already has two 1Dmark4s. He already has a XF300 as well I'm sure. He's sponsored by Canon. So he get's to choose the best camera for the situation as he perceives it.

But what I'm still hung up on is why you can't have both? More on this to come.....[/column][/col-sect]