Behind the Camera
Viva la Revolution!

Opinion by Bill Johns

There's a revolution going on with DV, and I have a few observations for you to ponder. I have used three MiniDV cameras and one Digital8 consumer model. Well, okay, they’re all pro versions of consumer models, but the end result is the picture -- and BetaSP users have reason to be antsy. I’ve shot with BetaSP, but not digital, so I’m sure it’s well ahead in quality, but I was amazed at how close the Canon XL1’s image is to BetaSP. I went on to shoot two features and various videos with it.

Recently I was hired to film some documentary footage in Northern Ireland and shot with the Sony VX1000. Although I did no exhaustive study in their differences a few became quickly evident. The VX1000’s viewfinder gave a poor representation of the light levels actually being recorded. Many times I was freaking out because it seemed that the AGC (automatic gain control) was kicking in no matter what I had the aperture set at and the viewfinder showed increased grain and washed-out shadows. However, in the final edit, the shadows were nice and dark the way I wanted them -- sometimes too dark since I was overcompensating for the viewfinder. By comparison, the Canon is WYSIWYG although slightly cropped.

Both have the appalling electronic focus systems where you can never rack focus since the focus is always different every time you touch the ring, but to make it worse, the push button auto-focus on the Sony seemed to always snap back out of focus every time I let go of it, making it almost completely useless. You see, being a filmmaker I always use manual focus because of the drifting in and out that’s inherent in auto systems, but the color viewfinders are not as sharp as the B&W ones so I’ve become accustomed to spot focusing on a subject with the momentary button. On the Sony I always had to refocus after focusing, the Canon however, snaps to it and stays put.

Many DV’ers end up editing their own projects and making their own masters and unless you have a FireWire (IEEE1394) DV system, you will find it impossible to dump your master back to tape with the Canon… there’s no analog input. This also makes it difficult to harvest any VHS or other format of footage you may need to dub to the DV. The Sony however accepts both S and composite inputs.

All in all I prefer the Canon XL1 for the focus and viewfinder reasons, but image-wise I can’t tell’em apart, so who cares. Of course all of this may seem academic since the DV market is like the auto industry; a new model every year, and the cameras I’ve mentioned, although staples in the industry right now, may not even be available much longer. However, the DV tape format is plenty sharp enough to last for quite a while, so the main thing to watch out for is the CCD (charged coupled device). It actually captures the image. A three chip camera, (one for each primary color) will nearly always be sharper than a single chip camera. That is, until the next wave of chips with higher resolution come out, then there will be a pricier 3-chip version of those too.

But you can’t win in the race for the finer image; there will always be something in development. So get something to shoot with and shoot. When it comes to electronics you’ll always regret buying the latest technology, but there’s no other way to get anything done. And if you’re going to be successful, you can’t get bogged down in the paralysis of analysis. You have to act. Go out there and make movies, learn by doing.

In the weeks ahead I’ll be focusing on getting the images that will help sell and not hinder your production, but I would also love to hear your comments and questions as well…. Now go shoot something.

Bill Johns is a seasoned veteran cameraman, filmmaker and digital video commentator. Send him a note with your comments, or take a look at his Web site.

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