OK .. so as CM
(chuckmeister) says .. every
cloud has a silver lining … can you imagine it .. you’re booked
to do an all day wedding .. and two weeks before .. someone steals
both your cameras .. a VX Sony and a MX5000 Pana! DUH!
Thankfully a very helpful chuckmeister
and his contacts for PAL at rik@cameraaction.com
combined with a brilliant insurance company (Norwich Union) managed
to get me two replacement brand new cameras .. JUST in time.
The wedding was midday on
Saturday June 24th… the MX NTSC arrived at 07:15 on Friday morning .. thanks
to Meister, the VX2000 came in from
Rik in
Melbourne arriving at 12:06 the same day … PHEW!
CM advises time coding the
blank tapes prior to the wedding so I immediately load up and start
… 4 tapes for each camera. That is where you take each tape &
record 'white' noise or perfect silence and place a black
color on every single pixel position call electronic black... most
mixers have this capability. Check chuckmeister home page supervideo.com
that's covered at the Yellow sphere. OR
http://www.supervideo.com/buyersguide.htm
Now .. I had to cover a
multi-point scenario. Having had a pre-wedding meeting with the
parents of the bride .. they wanted coverage of the special sports
car that the groom would drive up to church, the guests arriving at
church from outside, and the wedding ceremony from inside. Then
photographs would be outside afterwards, and they wanted general
video of that before being at the reception hotel, 15 miles
away .. BEFORE the guests got there.
The Church on THE DAY:
Wow ! Don't tell me these new Pana
MX's can't take stills
Now that’s a number one
MUST .. liaison with the customer to make sure that you cover what
they want. I asked if a quick visit to the church ( in an old
English country village ) could
be arranged to check for ambient light .. field of view from the
intended camera inside the church .. at the time the MX … so we
tried it .. and with the wide angle attachment .. there was ample
light.
Number two .. is then to
decide your strategy, and plan for every contingency.
I thought that the church
was rather small .. so how many guests?
About 100, hmmm. Any
young children? of the noisy type? YES!
Right .. so we need to make
sure that I can pick up the clean sound from the front, irrespective
of how many yelling kids are there.
Luckily, from my design days
whilst at the BBC .. I still have my personal designed
‘soundfield’ mike. A small, unobtrusive powered unit with
excellent clarity of pickup.
It can sit on the floor near
any required pickup area .. and will capture everything with amazing
quality. So .. I decided that it would be placed to the left of
where the bride and groom were to give their vows .. on the floor.
First asking if there would be a choir .. in the choir pews .. NO ..
good then I can place the camera on its tripod ‘out of view’ of
the majority of the congregation .. yet still get a good shot of the
ceremony.
Now we still have three
scenarios to cover. The groom arriving in his car, the guests
walking up to the church .. the bride arriving with her father …
and the ceremony in the church.
I had the able assistance of
my eldest daughter .. currently studying CGI at University .. so she
agreed to do a tripod shot of the guests arriving ..with the MX,
undock and follow the bride into the church . then join me at the
front .. in case I needed a second camera for cutaways.
Daughter in background
Priest in front:
The VX2000 was on the tripod
with stereo sound coming from the mike on the floor.
I also had a ‘cheap’
Digital–8 Sony PC120E ‘hand held’ to cover the groom arriving
in his sports car, and also to get some cutaways of guests.
Now I know this is a tacky
solution , but provided there is plenty of light .. and you keep
zoomed reasonably close to the subject … that camera gives pretty
good results. Zoom wide and the lens is your letdown .. they just
don’t hold the depth of field and resolution like the 3CCD camera
lenses do.
Plenty of spare batteries
charged 6 hours plus cover per camera.… I don’t like to use AC
power on these shoots .. it’s cumbersome .. and in low ambient
sound levels … hum pickup becomes a problem with ‘semi-pro’
cameras.
So .. we are all set to go
.. plan to arrive at the church an hour before .. set up .. talk to
the priest .. to make sure he’s happy with camera and mike
placements .. a little bit of PR goes a long way.
We arrive at 11:00 a.m. ..
amidst weather forecasts of thunder and squally showers.
Small polythene bags and
‘sellotape’ handy to wrap cameras in if needed.
NOT as elegant as the
meister's Crystal Bubble weatherproof housings .. but that’s our cheap solution.
As we get out of the
‘koormeister mobile’ .. the mobile phone rings … bride’s
father .. just heard last night that we’d had our cameras stolen
..(a friend read it in the local paper!) was everything OK?? .. YES!
.. we’re at the church … don’t worry!
As usual .. the weather
forecast was wrong (GREAT!) .. out comes the sun .. blue skies …
wonderful!
Official wedding
photographer arrives .. a friend .. I ask him if he knows a shortcut
from the church to the reception hotel .. YES .. follow me .. after
the wedding .. it’s about 5 miles shorter than the main road ..
we’ll get the well before everyone else.
But stay close .. most of
the route is farm tracks ..(!!!???!!!)
The Official Photographer:
We met briefly .. I’ll
keep out of his way .. if he gives me clearance to cover some
important angles I want to get … very worthwhile .. we’re both
supposed to appear professional .. good idea to give each other
backup.
Well, we setup tripods in
the church and outside the entrance … making sure that both
cameras were level .. (check the spirit level is horizontal at two
90 degree rotation points) nothing worse than a slow pan which
causes a tilting picture!
How long is the service .. I
ask the priest .. about 30 minutes … good I have a 1 hour tape ..
that means that I can set the inside camera running on locked tripod
and get the bride arriving outside on the PC120E as well as
entering the church from two angles.
Groom arrives.
Captured by MX .. here’s a still from video
Nice Car!!!
Then the bridesmaids .. and
page boy ….
These stills were all
captured .. via firewire from the TRV120E onto the MX300 SD card….
NEAT right?
And next … the BRIDE:
LATE … by 10 minutes!
So we finally get under way
.. the vicar follows me into the church .. asks everybody to stand
.. and the dear old lady at the organ plays the bridal entrance
march.
I follow the bride and her
father in on the PC120E .. whilst making my way to the VX2000 on
the tripod.
Yes .. we have noisy kids ..
but donning the headphones hung over the tripod .. I hear the
couples vows clearly .. despite the cacophony in the background.
The priest positions himself
slightly across my line of sight to the couple .. so I lock the
VX2000 .. and pick up the MX to do some hand held shots for
cutaways .. moving sideways to get a clear view of the bride and
groom … I can edit this in later.
The VX2000 is left running
to get a continuous soundtrack.
The ceremony finishes .. and
we have the signing of the official church register … cutaways
with the MX … finally picking up the tripod, microphone and
cables and rushing out of the church aided by daughter to load up
the car .. and get shots of the guests and newly married couple as
they leave the church.
Photographer takes plenty of
stills .. then leans across … ‘ready for some fast cross country
driving?’ … then follow me .. we get into cars .. and
‘hurtle’ down country lanes at breakneck speed heading for the
reception hotel.
We arrive in plenty of time
for me to set up tripod outside and get the couple arriving .. as
well as the guests.
More photographs in the
gardens .. all the guests of bride and groom have to be photographed
in groups … I video some of the activity with the VX2000.. doing
slow pans across the large shots .. so that I can later try stills
off tape .. and see if I can make up a good panorama shot using
Photoshop to stitch the pics together.
Daughter, Ellie .. stays
with the MX, and uses its ‘low profile’ small size to get
informal cutaway shots of family chatting.
We break for lunch .. I
recharge a battery set .. just in case … then drive Ellie home ..
as she’s not needed any more.
I return and setup in the
dining room for the after dinner speeches and thanks.
Using the Soundfield mike on
the ‘top table’ hidden by the wedding cake .. running the cables
under the table cloth back to the camera tripod. I leave the tripod
folded out of the way so as not to interrupt the serving of the meal
.. and wander around out in the gardens looking for comparison shots
to try the two cameras on.
The speeches start .. my
having asked the father of the bride to come and get me from the bar
when they’re ready J
The mike picks up superb
sound yet again .. primarily from the top table but enough ambience
to get the guests reactions. I stand at the side of the table ..
VX2000 locked on the speaker .. with the MX hand held again for
‘reaction’ cutaways from the guests.
Finally, speeches over .. I
take a 4 hour break .. get myself some food and relax awaiting the
evening ‘disco’ celebration which starts at 10:00 pm.
As evening approaches .. I
compare the results from the MX and the VX2000 … the low light
characteristics of each camera are now seen clearly. The VX2000 is
stunning .. almost ‘what you see is what you get’ in the low
ambient light of the dance floor, but the cost.... loss of
resolution and beautiful Yellow everything including bride's dress,
brides face... Remember... No Light means No COLOR ! Plain and
simple.... BUT, Panny to the rescue... now we have Zero Lux
with color! How did they do that? My MX .. . now uses what
they say is see in the Dark but with Color! .
I talk to the bride and
groom and explain that I will probably video them dancing .. and
will ‘walk around’ as they dance .. any problem? .. NO .. and
thanks for asking … by the way .. have you videoed anything yet?
… YES .. but I’ve been staying at a distance so that you don’t
feel ‘crowded’ … GREAT they both say .. we can’t wait to see
the result.
So .. onto the dance floor
they go .. the disco guy dims the lights .. OH Man! .. but wait !
.. the VX2000 is still picking up what I can see .. in just the UV
‘black light’
Black light:
and some ambient
incandescent .. I walk slowly around them ..as they dance … using
manual focus (the auto has long given up – not enough light!) ..
and thanking the designers for the wonderful optical steady shot
which is making this operation very easy.
This is GREAT stuff ..
I’ll do some slo-mo of this later in editing.
Then the partying starts …
HEY .. these disco guys have got a GREAT light show .. laser type
stuff .. smoke .. and guess what? the MX now takes it all .. no
problems.
LIGHTS!
Everybody is up and dancing
.. this is such good stuff to get on video .. plenty of colourful
lighting effects .. and the VX2000 captures it all in style.
01:30 .. and I say my
goodbyes to the couple and their parents … promise of edited
results .. one to two weeks …. (I’m away in LA for a week) .. go
home to check final footage.
At home .. 2 a.m. … GREAT
stuff … brilliant cameras .. I can SLEEP!!!
WOW my meister!
Grrreat Shoot-out
MX vs VX
Conclusions...
Reflections .. time for a
sober comparison after the shoot out!
Well .. after the wedding ..
time to look at both cameras and compare results .. with the
pressure OFF!
I must say that my overall
impression of the two cameras is very satisfactory .. they’re
designed to do a good job .. and both are brilliant .. each in their
own respects … but individually .. they have different strengths
and weaknesses .. that will govern how I use them in future
assignments.
I suppose a good ‘start’
point is to look at my initial experience. Remember .. these cameras
arrived at very short notice .. and to be fair .. I HAD used the MX before, and so was aware of its features and weaknesses. The
VX2000 … well I have a VX1000 already .. so was partly familiar
with the ‘Sony’ approach … although I have to confess .. I
didn’t read the manual .. so any problems are my own fault …
what is it they say - ‘assume’ makes an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and
‘me’ ..????
So … for basic
‘ergonomic’ features … the VX2000 has a plethora of buttons
controls and sockets all over the camera body …. Which made for
one involuntary operation at least … BUT to be honest .. this is
really useful once you get used to where everything is .. instead of
the time consuming press button .. scroll through menu .. press
scroll wheel .. select .. change .. exit … method of the MX …
there is a single button push .. make adjustment .. push button ..
get on with the job approach on things like AE setting, Audio gain,
manual exposure .. etc.
I KNOW that the MX is
half the size of the VX2000 .. but the clever idea of putting a lot
of direct access buttons for user operation .. particularly behind
the flip out LCD .. so you only access them when you’re
‘on-line’ and don’t accidentally knock THOSE buttons …J
VX2000 is really user friendly.
The flip-out LCD is much
better on the MX .. it is slightly larger, and has a much wider
viewing angle. If you’re using it for ‘serious’ quality checks
.. then the MX shows you a realistic picture of what you will see
on a TV screen … the Sony VX2000 has a funny negative effect if
you’re slightly off axis .. and a high preset contrast which is
NOT what the picture looks like on a TV Monitor. So .. don’t bank
on doing a quality control check with the flipout on the VX2000.
AG-EZ50u/MX
ViewScreen
DCR-VX2000 ViewScreen
Please NOTE that the VX screen does have very
useful brightness and volume controls at its side …
Both cameras have the
‘memory still’ feature allowing taking of stills with the camera
in ‘progressive’ scan mode … direct to a memory chip which can
be removed and plugged into a USB docking unit that enables direct
transfer to computer.
MX
SD card slot &USB Reader
VX2000
Memory Stick slot & reader
:
Although both Sony and
Panasonic supply their own ‘proprietary’ b image capture and
manipulation software .. I prefer to use a ‘pro’bb package like
Adobe Photoshop 6.0.
This means only installing
the supplied drivers for the USB units .. then you ‘see’ the
memory chip/card as a new ‘removable’ drive on your computer ,
that has a folder full of .jpg pictures. Cut and paste them onto
your main hard drive ..
that ‘empties’ the memory card making it ready for new pics.
The Sony names its pictures
as DSC0001 etc … and resets each time you download and clear the
memory chip. The Panasonic names its pictures as IMGA0001 etc .. but
continues incrementing the number even after you delete the images
from the SD card. This is actually quite useful, as it means that
you can keep copying the files from card to computer … into the
same directory without having to rename them. The Sony method means
that you would over-write previous image files if you tried to copy
without renaming .. as they would always have the same name on new
files as already copied ones.
Now .. the all important
question .. how do these cameras compare on still quality ..??
… well …. Take a look
below …. Now this IS difficult .. because the maximum resolution
of the still capture on the VX2000 is half what it is on the MX
.. so the pictures HAVE to be resized on this page in order for you
to see an ‘apples for apples’ comparison of viewed quality.
Remember .. the MX picture is TWICE the size .. and if you zoom
in .. that means that you get much less ‘pixelisation’ effects
than the VX2000.
Typical print size for the
MX still at 1568x1152 (72dpi) is 21.8” x 16”.
Typical print size for the
VX2000 still at 640x480 (72dpi) is 8.8”x6.6”
Resolve that into
‘viewable’ pictures .. and the MX is horizontal A4 whilst the VX
is horizontal A5.
So .. let’s look at some
sobering examples .. taken with cameras set to auto ..and
progressive scan still capture…
MX300-1:
MX
Zoom
Full zoom .. handheld – colors are very honest .. and look like my eyes saw! Slight
vignetting on the lens .. but then this is late evening .. so low
light - max iris.
VX2000 same time &
circumstances & settings
What happened to the color?
.. Both of these cameras were set to their ‘default’ centre
settings in terms of color and sharpness.
So .. for the next still
shots .. I though to take some closer pictures with less depth of
field … and see how the two fared …..
MX300 – 2:
MX
close up yellow flowers
VX2000
close up yellow flowers:
Hmmm … .the MX looks more ‘natural’ than this
Sony 3CCD …
Right .. now let’s
try some gray skyline …
VX2000
same shot
MX
and old faithful
VX2000 and a
distracted old faithful! 
b
shy dog
MX:
NO vignetting –anti shake good
VX2000 – 5: dull – but no vignetting
:
Finally more MX flowers ..
VX2000 – 6:
Overall .. this test appears
to show a superior lens on the VX2000 .. but then let’s not
forget, that we are also comparing sensitivity .. I reckon that the
MX was probably at least two ‘F’ stops more open than the
VX2000 in order to get the same results.
VX2000 cites minimum
illumination of 2 lux, compared to the MX300 of 8 lux.
My ‘personal’ feeling is
that I prefer the MX in the majority of circumstances for the
still shot .. and another VERY important issue .. from an ergonomics
view .. it is very easy to press the still capture on the MX ..
without moving the camera body … whilst it is virtually impossible
.. on the VX2000 due in part to the long length of the camera .. and
its weight .. to take a still picture easily.
So .. in this part of the
‘shoot out’ I would take the MX for stills in terms of
quality and use-ability.
From the transfer to
computer point of view .. both are equally easy .. but the MX
again has the added feature of continued increment of file number ..
so making it easy to ‘archive’ pictures without renaming.
It's NOW one week later from
the above: I just had a look at the stuff I did while in LA ..
WOW! .. that MX camera is terrific .. I tried out some 'manual'
settings on exposure to see how it improved .. awesome .. taking a
stop out of the auto setting improved the contrast ratio and color a bit ... and the results look so good .. very clean
.. no noise .. EXTREME detail.
Hollywood Boulevard by night
came out pretty good as well .. in spite of the 'quoted' low lux
performance .. the camera really excelled .. particularly compared
to the stuff shot under the same circumstances on My VX same time
last year.
The widescreen stuff is
excellent .. in 'crop' mode .. and yes I took several stills off
of tape .. so the manual is wrong chuckmeister. Tell everyone,,,,
Please ! I will
send you the High Res images for Our web Shootout.
