Specifications

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3.10 Portable Video Recording Systems (ENG)
When the renowned film director Steven Soderberg (known from “Traffic” and “Ocean’s Eleven”)
made the movie “Full Frontal”, much of this film was shut by Soderberg himself using a Canon
XL-1 miniDV Camcorder which now costs 3.100 US$. Later all recorded material was transferred
to a Mac G4 Macintosh computer for editing with the software Final Cut Pro, which costs 899 US$.
Michael Grotticelli is the editor of the new "American Cinematographer Video Manual, Third
Edition," available from www.cinematographer.com and on the www.sonyusadvcam.com website
he writes: “…..Soderberg is yet one more A-list director who gave digital a try, and found he likes
it. "(He) doesn't have the same concerns about the 'look' of digital that every techno-guy has,"
Kramer (Steven Soderberg´s long time producer) said of the director's XL1s experience. "There's
no reason for digital to be the poor step-child to film; like film it has its own advantages and
disadvantages. When it's appropriate for a project, digital is the best tool to tell a story in the most
efficient way. People, who are against using digital, need to get over that and accept it as another
tool in the storyteller's arsenal. The equipment is too good to ignore."
Our video equipment suggestions are designed after inspiration by this story from the real world!
The number of brands and types of cameras is exploding, and most of the high-end consumer DV
cameras are able to produce broadcast quality – but Chapter 4 we have listed some of the most
common choices, and below we give a more detailed description of selected cameras as well as a
suggestion for a full ENG (Electronic News Gathering) package for a Regional Media Centre.
3.10.1 Regional Media Centre ENG package:
Fig. 35.: SONY DSR-PD170P Camcorder
The central piece in the ENG package is the
camera – or camcorder just to use the
correct technical term. And the new DSR-
PD170P camcorder from SONY provides
high quality acquisition in the DVCAM
format, as well as in DV, allowing up to 40
minutes recording on one tape Mini
DVCAM tape or 60 minutes on the same
tape in the DV mode.
The sound has often been a problem for the DV cameras but this model has a reasonable external
microphone and professional connections for additional sound equipment. The LCD monitor gives
a very good impression of the actual quality of the recordings, so it is possible to see right away
whether the images are too dark or too light. This monitor works also in very bright light
conditions.
Generally the automatic functions of the camera work so well that it is hardly necessary to use the
manual functions. A trained cameraman, however, will enjoy all the manual functions such as
focus, shutter speed, white balance, sound levels etc.