Camera Operating Skills

Before I came to Middlesex University, I didn’t have a very large skillset as a cinematographer. I had been operating with Canon and Nikon dSLR cameras previously, but never with professional TV cameras. Through several tutorials and research, I picked up how to use the Sony XDCAM

The Sony XD cam is a lot heavier than a regular camera. There’s packs a lot of technology into it. For starters, the sony XDCAM records in XDCAM EX format with an MGEG-4 compression in approximately 35MB/sec. the high bitrate secures a detailed image, that most modern HDTV’s can reproduce. The XDCAM have a build in ND filter, a Gain monitor, peaking and zebra stripes. The white balance and black balance can be easily adjusted with a click of a button.

A big advantage when working with the Sony XDCAM, is the ability to import the native footage straight into Avid Media Composer. The footage doesn’t need to be transcoded. A lot of professional firms operate with Avid Media Composer in post-production, because of the speed and shortcuts, but also the professional workflow of the software. It has got the ability to be hooked up to external hardware, thereby boosting its performance.

I have enjoyed working with Avid Media Composer and the Sony XD cameras so far, but it’s another thing to get used to, when you are used to shoot video in a dSLR. The lenses for the XDCAM are more limited in range than for the dSLR camera, but the footage seems cleaner and easier to work with. On a dSLR camera there are a lot of choises when it comes to lenses, and personally I like to shoot on vintage gear, because of the flexibility and price, plus you don’t need the autofocus function when filming, since it is not supported on most dSLR cameras.