Freelance camera operators at a loss for which model to choose
Jul 27, 2009 12:19 PM, By Michael Grotticelli
Smith with anchor Brian Williams during a recent taping for “NBC Nightly News.”
The JVC GY-HM700 camera (street price: $7000, with Canon 14x ENG lens) provides a file-based workflow on SDHC (level 6) cards that Smith said allow him to turn around segments faster than he ever could with tape. “Speed makes all the difference in news,” he said.
The other advantage of the SDHC cards is as a low-cost archiving solution. Video files have to be stored on an affordable media. Some have suggested hard drives as an interim step, but Smith said he unless you “refresh” that drive every so often by inserting it into a computer, “that data could be gone in two or three years, unless the magnetism on the platters is refreshed.”
His SDHC solution affords him the ability to save his original footage on the same card he recorded it on. “These cards are about the same price as a Betacam tape (about $20), so it’s seems to be the only cost-effective way to archive at this point in time.”
At about $18, an 8GB SDHC card in the JVC camera will hold about 30 minutes of 720p HD footage. And it can be bought at any electronics store. Smith orders his cards on Amazon.com, which come with a free USB reader, so no special adapter is required to enable him to immediately begin working in FCP edit software on his laptop. For Avid editing, Smith has to transcode the files before he can begin working. There’s a free plug-in from Sony that performs this function quickly for the latest Mac-based Avid software. (He spent $80 for a different plug-in that allows him to ingest footage into NBC’s older generation Avids.)
And as for the small size of the cards, which some feel is too small and carries the risk of easily misplacing them, JVC recently introduced a ProHD Media Storage Kit for SDHC media cards that are stored in 3in x 5in sleeves made of static-resistant plastic. (It looks like your mother’s old recipe file card box.) Pelican also offers an SDHC card case for around $20.
With all of the networks cutting back on the use of freelancers, due to budget constraints, and depending more on their O&O stations and producers with cameras, technical standards have become a secondary factor when deciding which camera to use.
“Because of the environment we now operate in, more and more people are expecting a bargain, so now that I have to own gear again, I don't want to make the $50,000-$60,000 investment that I used to make with the bigger cameras,” Smith said. “And this little JVC camera makes better pictures for $7k than any $50k Betacam I ever used.”
With his network TV freelance work declining, Smith has been shooting more industrial work. Such is the life of a freelancer, you go where the work is.
“Like most freelancers, I had to make some tough choices that kept me in business yet didn’t break the bank,” Smith said. “The images I get with the JVC camera are stunning and the media it records to is very affordable. It’s also a lot lighter in weight than the previous cameras I’ve owned. That’s the kind of solution freelancers are looking for in today’s tough economy and highly competitive environment.”| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
