One of the things people outside the video production industry have often said to me over the past few years is “oh, you’re still shooting on tape”. Fact is that professional tape was and is cheap and reliable. Tapeless production was only available on very high end cameras. Consumer cameras moved away from tape in the main long ago, but quality, capacity and reliability weren’t critical. However, for the professional all of those things are vital requirements. Indeed tapeless cameras are now just starting to make serious inroads into our industry.
In July we acquired a new Sony EX1 camera to add to our arsenal of equipment. Having been shooting with it for 3 months now we’re now really enjoying the benefits. Not is the camera tapeless but it also shoots in a variety of web friendly HD formats such as 720p which looks great on computer screens and gives excellent results when downscaled to SD or played back on an HD screen
One video production shot on the EX1 using the 720p format was for the ETC International College which we delivered a few weeks ago. The video can be seen on Youtube (ensure you click on the HD button if you have a fast enough connection).
The EX1 offers many exciting production possibilities and we have a number of other videos that have been shot on it that have already been delivered or are nearing completion. Having the control to be able to shoot and edit in a progressive format is a bigger pleasure than I ever thought it would be. No more de-interlacing. No more waiting for tapes to transfer in real time. Joy!
