Hey gang, Chase here.
Today I want to talk to you about two things, Camcorders, and wrastlin’(wrestling).
Ever since the DSLR boom years back.
Camcorders kind of disappeared I'll admit whenever I do see a camcorder I assume it's
super old and it probably has a MinDV tape in it.
But today in a market kind of dominated by DSLRs, mirrorless and other Cinema Style cameras,
modern camcorders have some modern and powerful features and some unique features that make
them more ideal in some situations than others.
Sony released 3 camcorders; Well, they announced 3 camcorders at IBC 2017.
They are the FDR-AX700, HXR-NX80 and PXW-Z90V.
I think the camcorders are best in event or like broadcast type situations.
So, I found something that was a little bit of both in the Freelance Wrestling League
of Chicago.
My friend Ivan has been shooting wrestling for almost 10 years.
He uses camcorders exclusively.
You can get a really nice aesthetic out of a DSLR or mirrorless camera but I think for
like controlling functionality I really prefer a camcorder.
I find it works a lot better for my use.
So, I bought these 3 Sony Camcorders to a match the other night.
It was pandemonium! wrestlers yelling and crowd cursing back at them.
People getting thrown over the ring into the crowd.
911 got called twice.
But in the midst of all that I was able to nerd out and see exactly why these camcorders
really ideal for a situation like that.
So, before the match even got started we were taking advantage of some of the features that
these cameras had.
We were going to have one camera up top getting wide It had to be unmanned
the first few minutes till our friend Jack can get to it.
Ivan was taking the AX700 to get close-ups of action all night.
And I took the Z90V to get my test shots.
So, one of the first things we did, was we wirelessly synced the time code.
You can wirelessly sync timecode on up to 5 of these cameras and that was super helpful
not just for syncing up later in the edit but that meant that we didn’t have to hit
record at the beginning of the night and just continuous roll to make syncing easier on
us later.
You know how that goes…
The NX80 and the Z90V have XLRs built-in top handle.
But that was really nice--we plugged the fight commentator’s microphones directly into
our wide angle’s camera.
A DSLR or mirrorless camera would likely need an additional audio module.
Or, you have to bring an audio recorder and that is just an extra piece of equipment that
had to be synced up later and 1 extra hassle that we got to avoid.
All three cameras had a big HDMI out and the Z90V has an SDI out.
It's always nice to have video outs that can go to a monitor.
Or, in this case you could go out of the cameras and into a switchboard.
And lastly, I was able to view and control all of the cameras from an app on my phone.
Iris, zoom, record which came in handy because I mentioned our camera up top had to be unmanned
for the first few minutes.
Right before the match started, I open the app, made sure it was the way I wanted it,
hit record, didn't have to leave my starting position.
And we're ready to get rolling.
The most impressive feature that this camera comes with was probably the hybrid autofocus.
All three of these cameras have 273 autofocus points that cover 84% of the sensor.
And there’s all sorts of ways to fine-tune the focus area, the speed and more so that
you can track fast moving objects.
It'll recognize and work around obstructions and the facial tracking was incredible.
Guys were running around like crazy, I was zoomed in, zoomed out.
I never touched my focus once.
I could not find a shot that wasn't Immediately put in focus when I needed it to be.
After the first match, I went back up to the balcony to play with the zoom lenses.
Because I feel like having small, compact and powerful zoom lenses is a perk almost
exclusive to camcorders.
These two gentlemen are having a very intense conversation.
And I was able to optically zoom-in 12 times (12x).
Switching to clear image zoom, bumps you up to 18 times (18x) in 4K and 24 times (24x) in HD.
It still gives you a very usable zoomed-in shot.
And if you want to go in even further you can engage camera’s digital zoom, which
takes you in 48x.
So, what's such powerful zooming options, I wanted to make sure that the SteadyShot
was on point.
It did not disappoint.
Here’s a gentleman that goes by the name of “Brubaker” AKA The Filth King.
Oh, look at this guy.
We don’t like this guy.
He doesn’t get SteadyShot.
As he enters the ring, you can see that it is really shaky.
And now we see our hero, Eric Canon enter with SteadyShot on.
The difference is very noticeable.
By the way all of these cameras come with joysticks that let you navigate from the menus
and select features, that's definitely the way to go.
They all come with touch screens as well.
Not to mention, these cameras are made so perfectly to fit right in your hand.
The heaviest one ways to point 2.2lbs (1000 kg).
Every one of these cameras is capable of 4K recording up to 100 megabits Per second.
That’s pretty good.
50 megabits per second in HD.
Well the higher-end Z90V uses the XAVC-I or intra codec.
Which is a better way to compress.
And I'm pretty sure that the Z90V allows you to record 4:2:2 when you’re in HD.
So that's a pretty good perk.
You also have the option to simultaneously record lower-res proxies if you think your
computer is going to have trouble playing back these larger files.
All 3 of these cameras come with the gamut of picture profiles that Sony's come
with.
And you're going to have Sony's new HDR profile: Hybrid Log Gamma Or HLG.
And nowadays you almost can't make a camera without having some decent high frame rate
options.
All 3 of these cameras can continuously record 120fps and it looked pretty darn good too.
The NX80 and the Z90V are able to go all the way up to 960fps.
Of course, Image quality is going to down even in that well-lit ring it was still very
dark.
But, I was having a great time getting super slo-mo shots at 120fps that look great.
That was my experience with camcorders and wrastlin’.
All three of these inexpensive cameras did a phenomenal job And they were really well
suited for that type of situation.
If you like any more information on any of these cameras, please visit their pages on
bnh.com.
I guess that’s bh photo video isn’t it?
I’ve been saying bnh.com this whole time.
bhphotovideo.com.
Keep that in there.