Sony PMW EX3?

[josel]

Hi all,
I am wanting to start up a wedding video business, but wanting advice on what type of camera I should get, what to look out for and the cameras to avoid etc. I was thinking of Sony PMW EX3.

Thank you in advance

josel

[redwudz]

You may get more answers in our Camcorder Forum. Moving you.

[zoobie]

3 of those would work...1 for wide, 1 for close, and 1 for backup

[greymalkin]

just took a look..wowsers! I was reading up on it and the ex1 gives the same quality, so unless you really need the interchangeable lenses and are willing to part with 4K a peice for that feature, the ex1 is an option.

Both of these are of course way out of my price range so that will color my response somewhat .

If you don't mind me asking, what made you choose this camera over lower priced HD camcorders? I understand that 1/2" ccd's are pretty large and allow for better low-light performance, but what else distinguishes a 10K camcorder from a 1K?

[josel]

just took a look..wowsers! I was reading up on it and the ex1 gives the same quality, so unless you really need the interchangeable lenses and are willing to part with 4K a peice for that feature, the ex1 is an option.

Both of these are of course way out of my price range so that will color my response somewhat .

If you don't mind me asking, what made you choose this camera over lower priced HD camcorders? I understand that 1/2" ccd's are pretty large and allow for better low-light performance, but what else distinguishes a 10K camcorder from a 1K?

Hi greymalkin
I have Adobe Production Studio Premium CS3, and using Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro lists compatible cameras one of which is the EX1 or EX 3. here is the link
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/search_result.html?manuSearchVar=1&modelSearchV...&buttonSubmit=
I was suprised with the expense, but that is why I am asking if it is worth the money or can a cheaper camera do the same job? and is compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro.

Thank you
josel

[Nelson37]

I just know I'm going to regret asking this, but how do you intend to handle copyright issues regarding additional copies of the disk? Will you take the stance that you own the copyright instead of the actual purchaser?

Or will you be selling your video service rather than your disk-copying service?

[pippas]

what to look out for and the cameras to avoid etc. I was thinking of Sony PMW EX3.

It might be important to realise that this camera, (and the EX1) both have CMOS sensors, which use rolling shutters. With wedding videography, the partial exposure problem associated with rolling shutters (see here for details) can be a problem.

Where there is likely to be a lot of flash photography -say during the cake cutting, and the first dance - partial exposure can be a real headache.

It may not be a concern to you, but if it is you might be better off looking for a camera withh CCD sensors. Panasonic and Canon both still do prosumer models with CCD sensors.

[julitomg]

For the price of the PMW-EX3, I´d buy instead a couple of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/461818-REG/Sony_HVRV1U_HVR_V1U_HDV_Camcorder.html
And still´d have change to buy extra batteries, etc...
Are you sure you need to shot XDCAM?

[edDV]

There are many issues to consider when choosing an aquisition and editing format. In the past pro camcorders used frame by frame formats (i.e. no motion compression, only compression within the frame). This allows precise frame by frame editing with no motion artifacts.

HD editing required tradeoff due to storage requirements. Uncompressed capture is rare even for digital motion picture acquisition. There are several HD data reduction strategies.

No compromise (full 1920x1080 resolution, inframe compression only)
Formats: HDCAM-SR, AVC-Intra

Reduced resolution but no motion compression (i.e. entact frames)
Formats: HDCAM (1440x1080i, 1280x720p), DVCPro-HD (1280x1080i or 960x720p)

MPeg2 based formats (moderate compression intraframe and motion interframe)
Formarts: XDCAM-EX (1920x1080i, 1440x1080i, 1280x720p), HDV (1440x1080i, 1280x720p)

Mpeg4(h.264) based formats (high compression intraframe and motion interframe)
Formats: AVCHD, h.264 other.

For affordable wedding videography, your practical choices are:

DVCPro-HD (Panasonic HVX-200)

XDCAM-EX (PMW-EX1, EX3)
A new lower cost model is rumored for next year.

HDV 1440x1080i (various Sony, Canon)
Note that HDV is a subset of XDCAM locked to 25Mb/s.

HDV 1280x720p (various JVC)

The MPeg4 based formats you will find are overly compressed, dificult to edit and overall less productive. These should be considered a for low budget applications only.
AVC-Pro (Panasonic variant)
AVDHD (various Canon, Panasonic, Sony)

Video from Digital Camera is another AVCHD strategy. Main advantage is interchangable lenses. Production is difficult. Best to consider this for B-roll only.
AVCHD (Canon EOS 5D-MkII)

[edDV]

The above relates to acquisition formats. For edit programs like AVID, CS4, FinalCut or Vegas, you can natively edit most of these formats (research this in detail*) or you can use digital intermediate formats like Cineform or Apple ProRes422 to lower cost and/or increase productivity.

Those with high budgets and high productivity needs will edit uncompressed using large RAID video servers with SDI connection.

Smaller operations find greatest productivity with digital intermediates.


* higher end formats require RAID disk systems. Native MPeg4 editing requires fast computers yet still have low productivity.

[josel]

I just know I'm going to regret asking this, but how do you intend to handle copyright issues regarding additional copies of the disk? Will you take the stance that you own the copyright instead of the actual purchaser?

Or will you be selling your video service rather than your disk-copying service?

Hi Nelson37.
at his time it will be selling my services, but looking at the moment the copyright laws into the music industry.
Thank you
josel

[josel]

what to look out for and the cameras to avoid etc. I was thinking of Sony PMW EX3.

It might be important to realise that this camera, (and the EX1) both have CMOS sensors, which use rolling shutters. With wedding videography, the partial exposure problem associated with rolling shutters (see here for details) can be a problem.

Where there is likely to be a lot of flash photography -say during the cake cutting, and the first dance - partial exposure can be a real headache.

It may not be a concern to you, but if it is you might be better off looking for a camera withh CCD sensors. Panasonic and Canon both still do prosumer models with CCD sensors.

Hi julitomg
Never thought of the CMOS issue, I was more worried about bad lighting in Churches, Hotesls etc. Looking at the link you provided I would now have to change my mind on the camera and go back to the drawing board.

Thankyou

josel

[zoobie]

Want to make a small fortune in video production? It's easy. Simply start with a large fortune.

At this point, I'd probably rent a cam for a wedding...They may be divorced by the time I get around to editing it so I'd definitely get a large down payment.

It's too bad you don't live here. Production houses are going out of business faster than I can type this sentence...

[edDV]

Want to make a small fortune in video production? It's easy. Simply start with a large fortune.

At this point, I'd probably rent a cam for a wedding...They may be divorced by the time I get around to editing it so I'd definitely get a large down payment.

It's too bad you don't live here. Production houses are going out of business faster than I can type this sentence...

You need to find a niche.

[zoobie]

You need to find a niche.

...and then not let anyone know about it...which would be quite a feat
I thought I'd found a niche but the population here doesn't support it
I could move to a state that has 38 million people I suppose...

Since these companies are going out of biz and you're going into biz, you could probably pick up something on Craig's List International for a song...

[edDV]

You need to find a niche.

...and then not let anyone know about it...which would be quite a feat
I thought I'd found a niche but the population here doesn't support it
I could move to a state that has 38 million people I suppose...

Since these companies are going out of biz and you're going into biz, you could probably pick up something on Craig's List International for a song...

Hint: look to biz, not weddings. But they want credentials.

Wedding video can be good if you have social contacts but I've found they are poor at paying bills. Cover costs with deposit.

[josel]

Thank you all

josel