Why Blog About Hybrid Photography?

I chose to start blogging and posting videos and still images as I work on the HDSLR format (digital single lens reflex that shoots HD content). I'm currently on assignment in Sarasota, Fla., covering the Baltimore Orioles spring training 2011. Packed with the equipment are a Nikon D3S (720p HD) and a Sony HDR-SR7 camcorder (hard drive based consumer HD camcorder) as well as a Nikon D3. Along with these posts, I'll try adding reviews about gear I've had, as long as it pertains with the type of work that I'm doing, which is shooting still images for a newspaper and website, and also shooting and editing short clips for my newspaper's website.

My first sports action short has been edited and posted today. Here it is, in the Baltimore Sun. It was shot with the Nikon D3S hybrid camera at 720p (and downrezzed to 480p). The lenses were the Nikon 400mm 2.8 AFS vers. I non-VR lens (some with a 1.7x converter) and also the Nikon 28-300mm VR f/ 3.5-5.6 lenses. Vibration reduction was used. The camera was either used on monopod (400mm) or handheld (28-300mm). When the short is moved at the end of the month, I'll upload the clip to keep here.

But why write about work? There's a boatload of gear and accessories available right now as manufacturers and individuals try to develop the golden bullet in needed gear for a journalism field that's growing and evolving faster than the equipment that gets released. And let's face it: most of the gear is way overpriced, duplicated, or simply not that great. You can purchase a system that you feel is terrific, yet is far too expensive and tech-driven, than someone else's rig that's a fraction of the cost. I'm simply trying to weed through all of this myself. Hopefully, we can all help each other by sharing our experiences with shoots and equipment to find a central place where we can access information to make more informed choices that will help us in the field.

Feedback: Sony HDR-SR7 Camcorder

It's been a couple years since we were issued the Sony HDR-SR7 hard drive-based HD camcorder. It served its purpose. But it was one of those cameras that could have been better. It's definitely not for the hybrid shooter, even though the SR7 captures both still and video. I say, "video," because it looks like video. It captures interlaced frames only; you have to use MPEG Streamclip to be able to output the 480p .mpg files as .mov files and produce in Final Cut Pro. And MPEG Streamclip is definitely a free app worth keeping. It's a valuable application that can analyze your video files and export in a host of different formats, at all kinds of bit rates. Get this (for Macintosh and Windows) before you edit another shoot.

The SR7 has a built-in microphone. Don't bother using it too often. Get two different microphones (if you want to buy the camera): The ECM-HGZ1 Shotgun Microphone and the ECMHW1 Bluetooth Wireless Microphones were in our arsenal. Both accessories are proprietary. The shotgun is better than the stock, but it still doesn't isolate with quality sound. The bluetooth is nice, but Sony now has released the ECM-AW3 Wireless Microphone Set which can be used with any camera that has a mini jack input so get this, instead of the ECMHW1. Either set will extend you to up to 150 feet from your subject. 

We love the ease and simplicity of the Bluetooth technology. The sound seems much warmer than the shotgun mic. Be aware though, that each AW3 unit holds a single AAA battery, so size can be an issue since the microphone is larger than that. The lavaliere mics are easily hidden, if you need that, but are you ready to plunk down $500 for a simple wireless set? And the other drawback is that the AAA power lasts perhaps three hours. Either invest in rechargeables, or prepare to spend lots of money on replacement batteries. 

The still images taken with the SR7 are only barely adequate. They look jaggedy and the color doesn't look deep. You can only capture three images as you're recording video, before the buffer fills. The camera shoots in several different resolutions, WVGA (854x480) and 1080i (1440x1080 interlaced). Because it shoots high definition in AVCHD, Final Cut Pro has to be used to extract the streams as clips. So there was a compatibility issue. And it also hurts that you need the camera's base plate to extract from the hard drive. Why, oh why, didn't Sony simply put a USB port on the camera? 

And the widest the camera can get simply isn't wide enough for me, so I got a wide angle converter (not the Sony proprietary one, its sharpness lacked. I also wound up getting a 3X teleconverter to screw onto the front of the SR7 because I couldn't reach as far as I would have liked in telephoto.

The image quality on Auto setting doesn't cut it with me. Auto white balance seemed too blue, the images seemed too light, and the tonal range between white and dark seemed too limited. The image quality truly suffers in dark settings too. But it sure keeps you on a low profile if you're working for a media organization. 

Feedback: The Panasonic AG-HVX200

The HVX200 was a groundbreaking camera, seizing the moment to shoot HD in multiple formats on removable media, using variable frame rates. This was our first camcorder since an old tape-driven Canon made in the 1990's, and I was issued one to learn, partly because it finally  offered removable media (expensive P2 cards) for tapeless shooting. But there were lurking problems with the HVX which made it a big problem with news-gathering while also shooting with a DSLR. 

It's size was large enough to make carrying it difficult. Hand-held shooting couldn't be maintained because of the weight factor on the arm and wrist. It had no interchangeable lenses, so there was little we could do to shoot ultra-wide or extremely long. Adding accessories like microphones helped make it even more cumbersome. The depth of field factor was too great for me. Footage still tended to resemble video. It was very expensive. And complicated to operate (for a still photographer). With the downturn in the economy, a $6,000 camera was the last thing that we wanted to continue purchasing. 

Which brought us to outfitting everyone with the  Sony HDR-SR7 camcorder, a consumer model not really designed for daily news-gathering. And the cameras slowly but surely failed. My camcorder's built-in hard drive seized up when I  mounted it onto the cable of a demolition crane. But I didn't dare put the HVX anywhere near that crane. Although I created some nice shots using the slow motion and time lapse, I knew that the days had ended with our attempt at using two completely different camera formats. The HVX might have been a fine camera for second unit shooting for news stations but not for newspapers. 

My Hybrid Shooting Started With the Lumix FZ10

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10 started my journey into run-and-gun hybrid shooting. Looking back on the image and movie quality (or lack thereof), I wouldn't give it a second thought today. But neither would I think about returning to the Kodak (Nikon) NC000 digital camera, either (but heck, the FZ10 can completely beat the pants off a Nikon NC2000!). At the time these cameras debuted, they provided what was needed, and then some. Back in 2003, dpreview called the FZ10 a "new standard of excellence," and it truly did the job for me, while I used it.

This camera was my "go-to" camera. If I needed just one thing to take, I wanted this, because it could perform when I truly needed it. The FZ10 was in my arsenal when I headed to New Orleans to wait for Hurricane Katrina. It shot stills and movies, had a 12x optical zoom, and was so low-profile that no one could tell that I worked for a newspaper. In the week since the hurricane hit, I sent short clips via satellite phone, and the footage and still images generated tons of views online, and some photos and clips were also picked up on worldwide outlets and TV organizations, like CNN. It was the one body I dared take to the Superdome and to the Convention Center when things had gotten out of hand - I wanted something that kept me anonymous, and carrying two Nikon digital bodies and several lenses were inviting trouble, I determined, as reports of crimes persisted.

Looking back on my decision, I still feel I made the right choice. There's no telling whether I might have been stopped by authorities before getting into the Superdome because I never attempted to announce that I worked for the media. In a post 9/11 environment, I didn't want to take that chance. All I know is that no one did stop me from doing my job with the FZ10. And looking around the dome and Convention Center, I didn't see any other media. Many TV outlets seemed content on being escorted, or using aerial views to do the reporting. But I felt that the story needed to be captured by looking at the place from ground level.

These days, people are adding gear onto already big-enough cameras like the Canon 7D and Nikon D3S. But don't these cameras need to be more compact? I still can't switch between movies and stills on-the-fly with the Nikon system, and Canon's just as difficult too. But the Lumix system ~ who have the idea right ~ just needed a twist of a mode dial to change whether you wanted to fire jpegs or .mov files. Canon and Nikon need to learn from how quickly the user can shoot whatever they want without all the extra baggage.

Hybrid Shooting: Spring Training

Nikon D3S short: Spring Training Sights and Sounds (720p HD)

Take a look at this short of spring training just captured in Sarasota, Fla. This was all shot using the Nikon D3S hybrid camera. Shot in 720p/24 (my favorite setting), so make sure to watch it in HD, which shows the detail of things like the laces on the baseball, stitching of the cap of the photographer, and overall image quality that you should rely on by getting the right lenses. Microphone is a Rode VideoMic Pro (which has several sound recording settings) Camera was a bit unsteady, since I only used a monopod for the 400mm shots. All focusing was manually performed, no AF was used.

Opening scene: Non-VR 17-35mm lens set on the ground.

Photographer and camera: 28-300mm Nikkor VR lens (notice the movement kept stable with VR as the guy put the camera to his face.)

Two teammates playing catch: 400mm f/2.8 Nikkor ED-IF, non-VR lens

Other scenes: Made with the 400mm lens and a Nikon teleconverter TC-17.

The post-production was converted from the D3S 720p AVI format using MPEG Streamclip for an output of 1280x720, Motion JPEG-A @ 50 pct progressive and edited on a Mac using Final Cut Pro. Footage was tweaked in FCP with a Technicolor plug-in enhancement.

Which Camera Platform Would I Pick Today?

Canon, Nikon, and Lumix (parent company, Panasonic) have made some interesting strides into creating a true hybrid camera, but which should you choose? First, make a list of what is most important to you. Basic things, like raw, uncompressed still imagery, high ISO quality, and lens accessories are a necessary list to begin with. These days, the megapixel rating just doesn't cut it: you can have the most megapixels that a current model could have, yet your still and cinema image quality could suffer from extreme digital noise.

With competitive technological breakthroughs resulting in better cameras being developed even before the latest model reaches the shelves, one camera could be king one day, and back of the pack the next. Between 35mm and M/43 (micro four-thirds), right now, my choice would be to stick with the 35mm Canons and Nikons. I'm partial to Nikon, and would choose the Nikon D7000 as my one camera that I'd carry on location. Canon has some great models that capture terrific digital film and still images, but they've been less than stellar with their changes in lens mounts, while Nikon lenses can be mounted on bodies from 20 years ago.

But with having two Nikon bodies - a D3 and a D3S hybrid - what would be my third, true hybrid camera to choose? Right now, I think I would settle on the Lumix DMC-GH2. Over the Nikon D7000? Yes. The reason being, the D7000 has no built-in EVF (electronic viewfinder). Lack of an EVF is the reason people find themselves adding accessories to live-view 35mm DSLR's. But the GH2 has the EVF, is smaller and lighter, has interchangeable lenses (albeit, not many), and operates well as a still image shooter. It also sports a killer AF system on the 14-140mm lens, which also shoots at variable frame rates with no rolling shutter.