The big nab news from Sony is the introduction of the HDW-F900 camcorder and the all-digital HDC-900/950 studio and portable cameras. They are the first professional digital video cameras that can be switched between 24/25/30 frames progressive and 60/50 interlace, and will undoubtedly have a profound effect on television, sports, eng, commercials, documentary, and theatrical motion picture production.

The HDW-F900 boasts new technology yielding superior picture quality. Three new 2.2 M-sensor 2/3′ 1080-line ccd imagers have extended dynamic range and reduce vertical smear to virtual invisibility, allowing videographers to shoot bright highlights in the darkest of situations.

The standard format for digital production adopted last June by the International Telecommunication Union of 1920 pixels horizontally x 1080 pixels vertically brings hd resolution on par with 35mm release film, and Sony believes those who have traditionally favored the chemical format will find this digital camera an important new alternative.

‘For some producers and directors, it is important that our high-definition acquisition systems be capable of emulating the ‘film look’ for primetime dtv program origination and for digital movie-making,’ says Laurence Thorpe, vp of acquisition systems for Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Professional Company.

Other movie-makers might specifically seek a basic image quality that ranks with 35mm film but has its own unique look, whereas others still will opt to mix film and hd origination for different scenes within the same production.

One movie-maker who has progressed from the fusion of the digital and chemical worlds to complete hd origination is none other than Star Wars creator George Lucas. Highly encouraged by the digital effects scenes in last summer’s The Phantom Menace, the producer/ director is planning to shoot Episode 2, the latest installment in his legendary Star Wars series, entirely on HDW-F900 cameras.

Sony has shipped prototypes of the camcorder to Panavision, which is equipping the model with specially developed lenses. Panavision is in the final stages of testing with Lucasfilm in preparation for production on Episode 2 in Fox Studios Australia, slated for late spring.

What finally makes the proper transfer of digital images to motion picture film possible is the new hdcam’s 24fps capture rate – emulating that of 35mm film – combined with traditional 180-degree shuttering similar to that of the film camera.

Film projects that had previously undergone a digital-to-35mm process often frustrated their creators because of the capture rate discrepancy.

If images were originated, for example, on a Sony DVW-700WSP Digital BetaCam at 25fps and then transferred to film, the one frame per second difference could actually slow the overall pace of a project to the point of distraction for the meticulous director or producer.

One solution would have been for an editor to actually go in and remove one frame of video for each second of screen time, a painstaking process that would throw the sound out of sync and then require costly repitching.

But these concerns will be obsolete with the arrival of the HDW-F900, which will benefit not only the Lucases of this galaxy, but also those producers looking to circumvent film stocks and labs, take advantage of the many possibilities of digital post and embrace the inevitably ubiquitous hd format.

All-digital studio

camcorders

The HDC-900 is a full-featured studio/ob camera and the HDC-950 is a companion portable camera with matching performance and operational features. They use the control infrastructure found in Sony’s popular bvp studio and portable cameras.

Global compatibility is uppermost on Sony’s agenda. The HDC-900/950 studio camera control units have built-in digital converters to output the alternative 720/60P hd, sdtv (480/60P/30P/60i, 576/50i/25P), as well as composite analog ntsc and pal formats. The effect of this technology on the worldwide marketplace cannot be underestimated.

‘Rental houses, especially, will encounter every need for hdtv production,’ Thorpe says. ‘Being able to offer the HDW-F900 and HDC-900/950, each switchable between all of the world’s primary picture capture rates, and especially the 24p de facto global standard, will greatly enhance their flexibility in dealing with their broad and increasingly international client base.’