While high-end digital video cameras have become regular showstoppers at NAB, this year they will share the spotlight with a variety of HD camcorders priced under US$10,000.

The march to HDTV in the U.S. is finally compelling TV stations to launch HD newscasts, which in turn is opening up sales opportunities for camera manufacturers. HD newscasts are already on-air on American stations such as Denver’s KUSA and Washington, DC’s WUSA, and Canadian counterparts will inevitably follow suit.

However, both of these stations skate around HD for ENG work, using 16:9 SD camcorders in the field, simply because HD camcorders cost too much.

‘For the time being, we are using 16:9 Panasonic DVCPRO SD camcorders for ENG,’ explains WUSA news director Randal Stanley. ‘When the time and price is right, we’ll step up to HD in the field.’

Mindful of this, manufacturers are slated to launch budget-priced HD camcorders at NAB2005 to persuade news directors that they no longer have to compromise. JVC will unveil its much-anticipated GY-HD100U (see story, p.17), while Panasonic ‘will be showcasing an under-US$10,000 DVCPRO HD camcorder,’ says David Craig, Panasonic Canada’s product manager for DV, DVCPRO and HD. The camera uses Panasonic’s P2 recording system – instead of tape or discs, P2 records video onto solid-state SD memory cards.

Panasonic’s AJ-HDC27 VariCam, described by Craig as the company’s ‘flagship camera,’ will also return to NAB2005, showing off its ability to shoot at rates ranging from four to 60 frames per second.

Also on display will be the AJ-SPX800 camcorder equipped with five P2 card slots. To enhance its versatility, Panasonic has developed software that lets the camera shoot at 24p for a more film-like look. Its ‘proxy video option’ records a low-resolution version of its video capture that can be transferred to and viewed on a laptop, desktop or PDA.

Meanwhile, Sony will have more than 20 cameras on display at NAB2005, including the venerable 24p HDW-F900. In the way of budget-priced HD, Sony has just introduced the $7,250 HDV-based HVR-Z1U. Equipped with three CCDs and capable of shooting in 1080i, the HVR-Z1U records HDV compressed HD video on conventional DV tape.

For pure star quality, keep an eye out for the Sony HDC-F950. Designed to shoot uncompressed 10-bit 4:4:4 RGB digital 24p, the HDC-F950 was used on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and the comic-book-come-to-life Sin City, currently in theaters.

‘When you are shooting a film like Sin City, visual details are everything,’ says Jimmy Lindsey, the film’s camera operator. ‘You need the kind of crisp and sharp details that the HDC-F950 captures.’ The video from both shoots was recorded onto Sony HDCAM SR-format SRW-1 VTRs, which will also be on display at NAB2005.

Under its ‘HD Highway’ banner, Sony will also exhibit its HD version of the XDCAM Professional Disc system. In addition, the manufacturer will display its new HDC-X310 multipurpose HD camera, an attractive option for studio work with its optical interface that allows cable runs to be increased to a maximum of 3,300 feet.

‘We will also show a new class of HD studio cameras that can process in 1080p and output video in either 1080i or super-sampled 720p,’ says Brian Young, Sony of Canada’s strategic marketing manager, adding that these new cameras don’t have official model numbers yet.

Thomson Grass Valley will be displaying the single-format HD LDK 4000 (720p or 1080i), for producers who have settled on an HD format, as well as the LDK 400 ITW, a 14-bit camera that records in various SD formats. The latter offers good low-light sensitivity (f14 at 2000 lux) and switchable 16:9/4:3 aspect ratio.

But the camera most visitors at Thomson’s booth will want to see is the Viper, which shoots in uncompressed FilmStream RGB 4:4:4 Log 2.37 HD video. On the heels of the Tom Cruise thriller Collateral, the U.K.’s Dragonfly Films recently used the camera to shoot Silence Becomes You, starring Alicia Silverstone. Stephanie Sinclaire, writer/director/producer on Silence, describes the format as ‘somewhere between 35mm film and digital video, but with a quality all its own.’

DALSA Corporation of Waterloo, ON, which made a big splash at the past two NAB shows with its Origin 4K digital motion picture camera, will not have a booth this time around. However, DALSA GM and VP John Coghill will participate in the ‘Shooting Gallery: New High-End Digital Cameras’ session at NAB’s Digital Cinema Summit on April 17.

Instead, DALSA has been inviting potential customers to its new demonstration center in Los Angeles, where they can actually do test shoots with the Origin and then see the results projected.

‘The people we want to reach are in L.A.,’ says DALSA spokesman Patrick Myles. ‘That’s why it makes sense to focus our efforts there.’

-www.panasonic.ca

-www.sony.ca

-www.thomsongrassvalley.com

-www.dalsa.com