Are you Ready to Make the Switch to HDV?

I was in my early teens in the late 1970s when the VHS/ Betamax wars were raging. My best friend Robbie took the plunge and bought a Betamax. Indecisive, I waited.

Early adopters run some risk, as anybody with a Commodore Amiga in their basement will probably tell you, but they also come away with some significant advantages. With more cameras on the market, and a host of editing programs to choose from, HDV isn't going anywhere in the near future. But the question is when to take that step; still largely missing from the HDV loop is a playback solution. While people wait for HD-DVD or Blu-ray to make some decisive victory, people hesitate over buying HDV cams or upgrading their computers. We'll take a look at some of the risks and some of the benefits of being the first person on your block to be shooting in HDV.

Defining Your Needs

Let's first take a look at several groups of people who may benefit from making the switch to HDV.

Gadget People/Hobbyist

Are you the person on your block that had the first automatic garage door opener? The first VHS camcorder? The first microwave oven? If you enjoy the sheer uniqueness of new technology, you're probably don't need much of an excuse.

Independent Filmmakers

For a long time the Holy Grail of some DV users was to find a way to make their digital video look like film. Some video cameras offer a 24-frame progressive scan mode for easier transfer to film, but many people want that "film look" all the while realizing that their product will never be projected in a theater, but rather will debut "direct to video." For this constituency is Sony's CineFrame30 (CF30) which doubles one HD interlaced field and discards the second. This simulates a film look by effectively slowing the frame rate (in fact, it's very similar to the "slow shutter" mode on some SD cameras, but since it's HD, the quality is much more superior).