Here’s a belated US Independence Day celebration, in a style Create Digital Motion readers are sure to appreciate: filled with the sounds of Sigur Ros, and lots of backwards slow motion. Nothing against John Phillip Sousa, of course. “Be kind to your friends in the swamp,” indeed. (What, am I the only person who knows those lyrics? I mean, aside from, bizarrely, the National Institutes of Health?)

But I expect you’ll enjoy some more chilled-out celebrations of the birth of America (as always, click through to our friends at Vimeo for HD):

The Fourth from Michael Brodner (AIM: Upstate14) on Vimeo.

Camera used:

Creator Michael Brodner writes “I shoot with a Sony HDR FX1. Got it about a year ago and love it. Although I think I like the "look" of the EX1 a little better.”

Related:

Casio Exilim EX-F1 in the Wild: Slow-Motion Invades the Mainstream

Slow Motion Pixels: Sony Smooth Slow Record Resolution Tested on HVR-V1P

If you’re confused by the Sony model numbers, these are all variations of the same basic camera we’re talking here. The HVR-V1P Jaymis uses is a PAL camera / not for US use (the US has the HVR-V1U). The HDR FX1 is likewise a “prosumer” model in the same approximate family. The EX1 Michael mentions is a higher-end Sony camera, in a difference range and currently with a street of about twice as much cash. (Yeah, that makes the FX1 look better all the time.)

My love of time-lapse meshes perfectly with my love of, well, the 5 foot carpet python I share my house with. Having a companion animal (is it politically correct to say “pet” these days?) around is great for any visual artist. More specifically, having Python around an HD, slow-motion capable video camera, well I think that’s a fantastic combination:

I am yet to create any actual “HD” material with this camera, but for web-resolution work it has been an absolute revelation. The ability to shoot a show as a single wide shot from a tripod and then pan and scan in post production means that those previously unexciting “gig documentation” tapes are now actually worth editing. Similarly, if you’re shooting hand-held HD but delivering web resolution you have huge latitude for image stabilization.

For the python dinner I had a couple of DV cameras as backup angles, and the difference in detail is frightening.

We’re all about the cheap, characterful, DIY aesthetic here at CDMo, but sometimes bigger really is better.

Quite a few of you raised an eyebrow when we topped our gift guide with the Canon HV20, an affordable (as little as us$700) HDV camcorder. Like the New England Patriots (that’s American football for the rest of the world), the Canon HV20 appears to be largely unbeaten as the best-available visualist-friendly camera. It’s small, it’s light, it’s cheap, it does HDV, ’nuff said. It’s also eminently upgrade-friendly, with indie producers adding 35mm lenses and nifty accessories. And even those of you with larger, more powerful cameras occasionally want something you can toss in a backpack or use as a backup.

But that got me wondering — is the HV20 really One Camera to Rule Them All?

I have a couple of candidates I think could be interesting.

The big rival as far as HDV appears to be Sony. The HDR-HC7, for instance, has more sophisticated manual controls than the HV20, and I like Sony’s night-shot mode for extreme infrared applications. It’s also a little heftier than the Canon, in a good way — it’s a camera I find comfortable to hold. cnet even likes the Sony better than the HV20. (camcorderinfo.com begs to differ; see their link below) Like many things in life, it looks even cooler in Japanese.

Unfortunately, "manual control" on a consumer-level Sony means navigating the horrible touch screen interface, and worse yet the HDR-HC7 introduces a bizarre new manual focus multi-function control. (Translation: some strange add-on bit of plastic that’s utterly useless for controlling anything.) All that said, I do like Sony’s cameras, despite their quirks.

Here’s the problem: the HDR-HC7 is running a street of over $1100, while the HV20 is well below $800. Is the Sony $300 better than the Canon? (Heck, is the Sony better than the Canon, period?) Tough to justify, I think.

Since my last little slow motion test I’ve had plenty of quality time with my HVR-V1P, and while I wish it had a slightly more memorable model name - or even that it was printed somewhere on the unit, so I can tell people what it is when asked - I’m having a great time with this camera, enjoying the capabilities HD resolution gives me, and still loving Sony’s Smooth Slow Record feature.

With the last batch of slow-mo clips I had some requests to further slow down the motion in post-processing. I don’t currently have any 3rd party retiming plugins, but it turns out that the 200FPS (240 for NTSC regions) is shot interlaced, so my previous tests were only displaying 100FPS progressive. To get the full motion from 200FPS on a progressive monitor I needed to slow the footage to 50% speed and de-interlace, a trivial task in any editor.

Butterfly Slow-Motion 200FPS

Even this low-tech retiming gives you an idea of how powerful 200FPS can be. I actually had an ND filter in place to keep the shutter speed relatively low and keep a bit of a dreamy look for this shoot (the minimum allowed, of course, being faster than 1/200). With full sunlight you’d have no trouble getting up past 1/1000, which would result in very little motion blur and allow very accurate motion tracking, and some exciting retiming opportunities.

200 frames per second: that’s the “smooth slow motion capture” speed of Sony’s rather affordable HVR-V1P HDV camera. It really makes slow-motion capture accessible to the rest of us. Jaymis has been testing this mode on his new camera. Here are some early results (all the more impressive if you watch through to the full-motion versions at the end):

Sony Smooth Slow Motion test from Jaymis and Vimeo.

Of course, I’m ready to go even slower, and see what happens if you edit the footage in Final Cut Studio 2 using the new slow motion options. Starting with 200 frames should help.

More on the HVR-V1P soon; consider this a teaser.

Previously: First Impressions: Sony HVR-V1P HDV Camera

After asking CDMo readers for advice and promising various parties that I’d never buy another Sony product, I walked into my local VideoPro with a definite plan of attack: Compare and contrast the Canon XH-A1 and Panasonic HVX-200, and then buy one of them.

What followed is still a little hazy in my mind, but it seems there was a sales guy who actually knew his stuff, listened to my requirements and was able to suggest an alternative which was not only better suited to my needs, but also considerably cheaper. That this alternative was a Sony - a brand I’d sworn never to purchase again - just adds to the confusion. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.

The XH-A1 and HVX-200 are both great cameras, they look good, feel good, and by most accounts shoot exceptional video, generally on par with each other’s performance. Why, then, did I walk out of there with an HVR-V1P?:

• Physically smaller and lighter
• 200FPS “Smooth Slow Record” slow motion mode
• Uncompressed HDMI output
• Good quality Sony shotgun mic included
• External battery bay (as opposed to the XH-A1’s internal one) which is compatible with Sony’s NP-F range, including the batteries I still have from my 10 year old DCR-TRV9.
• AU$1500-3000 cheaper than the Canon and Panasonic offerings

I haven’t had the time to really get to know this camera, but initial impressions are very positive.

Hello Internets! I’ve returned from gallivanting around the country and have a couple of weeks while we refuel and plan the next leg of the tour. One of the first tasks I’ve set myself is to get a better video camera, and was all set to pick up a Canon XH-A1 when I found out that it doesn’t have S-Video in or out. That cuts down my options a little for live visuals, as I wouldn’t be able to mix in this camera’s output without an expensive scan converter or going via Firewire, which introduces latency and creates cabling issues.

So now I’m in a quandry, and with that seed of doubt sewn, I’ve opened up to many possibilities: Sony’s HDR-FX1, Panasonic’s HVX series, or perhaps something compact and tapeless, like JVC’s Everio series.

I had a chat to Peter, who suggested that I ask you, dear reader. What are you using for your video capturing needs? Have you gone HD? Compact? Cheap? Expensive? Tapeless? What are you liking and disliking in today’s video cameras?