Question on SD vs HD for amateur videographer

[wcj786]

I am new to diving and am looking at getting into video underwater. My question is that since I am a newbie, and do not currently intend to make video a career, is there a big difference in the quality I would receive from HD vs. SD? I realize that one is 640x320 while the other is 1920x1080p/i. What I am asking is because of the water, would the actual quality between the two be enough to make me want to purchase a HD camcorder like the Sony SR12 or Canon HF10, along with their respective housings and lighting, or should I start with an SD camcorder. The prices are quite a bit different from what I see for the housings, and I will only be diving on vacations (although that is basically 5-6 weeks per year).

I would be taking the video in tropical locales such as the Andaman Sea (Thailand), Diego Garcia (snorkelling only), Florida, Cancun, etc. I believe the average vis would normally be around 65-100 ft.

Any responses would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[drbill]

SD (mini-DV) is 720x480. I made the switch to HD a year ago this month. I am less than pleased with the results from the Sony HC-7 camcorder I bought. When I am shooting close-up and the lighting is strong and even, it can give very good results. However, when I'm filming at any distance where the lights are not effective (say beyond 3-4 ft), I've seen better results come out of a mini-DV camcorder than what I've gotten.

I use the Backscatter Top Dawg housing (around $800-900 new). It has a LANC connector and allowed me to use the new HD camcorder in the same housing as the 8mm, Hi-8, digital-8 and mini-DV camcorders I've used in it before that.

If you just want something nice to show your friends and aren't going to try to sell the footage to a major network, I think you'd be happy with the mini-DV set-up. Then, if you want to move up AND are using a housing like the Top Dawg, you can do it without needing to buy a brand new housing.

 

[CompuDude]

There is definitely a difference, but the amount of money and gear needed to produce great footage on HD is (currently) enormously larger than the amount of money and gear needed to produce great footage on SD.

Also there is the question of delivery... if friends are downloading off of your website, they can see the HD quality. If you are uploading to YouTube, no one can see the HD quality. If you have the equipment to burn Blu-Ray discs, and your friends have Blu-Ray players and HDTVs, then they can see the HD. If you are shooting HD and down-converting to DVD, there will be a small improvement but not enormous, IMO... for showing off video to friends, probably not worth the large increase in funds you will need to lay out.

At this point, unless you have HD capability all the way down the line (not many do), I feel money is better spent buying high quality SD gear than intro level HD gear.

 

[wcj786]

Thank you for your replies. I will look into an SD setup that will work for me.

 

[Empty V]

Personally I am definitely not a fan of HDV(it's not real HD even though everyone calls it HD) and I know I piss a lot of people off because of it. I shoot with a Panasonic SD camera(DV-NTSC 720x480) and will take that over ANY HDV camera on the market. It's also a $3500 camera so it's a huge step above the consumer HDV cameras that most people shoot u/w video with. Even though it's a 7 year old camera it can definitely shake a stick. Good luck with your purchase and don't believe everything you hear about fake HD(HDV).

Billy

 

[BubbleBlower07]

I am new to diving and am looking at getting into video underwater.

My first bit of advice is to make sure you really enjoy diving and also get your skills down before purchasing anything (you may already be there, so you can ignore it )

My question is that since I am a newbie, and do not currently intend to make video a career, is there a big difference in the quality I would receive from HD vs. SD? I realize that one is 640x320 while the other is 1920x1080p/i. What I am asking is because of the water, would the actual quality between the two be enough to make me want to purchase a HD camcorder like the Sony SR12 or Canon HF10, along with their respective housings and lighting, or should I start with an SD camcorder. The prices are quite a bit different from what I see for the housings, and I will only be diving on vacations (although that is basically 5-6 weeks per year).

I would be taking the video in tropical locales such as the Andaman Sea (Thailand), Diego Garcia (snorkelling only), Florida, Cancun, etc. I believe the average vis would normally be around 65-100 ft.

Any responses would be appreciated. Thanks.

I think I am going against the trend here, but I like having the HDV camera as oppossed to DV. Of course a couple of things to keep in mind is your budget and also travel concerns, how big a rig do you want to carry? (Though again you can get good smaller SD cameras)

Keep in mind what others said is true - there are are SD cameras that will blow away the consumer HDV cameras, HDV is not true HD and having a housing that can be used with many cameras is a plus down the road for switching out cameras.

You may be able to find a good 3 chip SD cameras (some used ones out there and there are housings) but you need to shop for them and really take a good look at the specs. If your choice is either HV10, HV20 or the Sonys from the HDV side of things, or a SD camera in the similar price range you are usually better off with the HDV.

With computers so fast nowadays it is not that difficult to edit the material or change it for use on DVD or the web. Though some may perform better or worse in low light/noise you can still get alot of very good shots. 16:9 shooting and video is the way things are heading (though some SD cameras can do 16:9) so (at least to me) 16:9 now looks more "normal" to me. Also if you want to drop the HDV clip into an SD timeline and crop out areas you can get quality that is better than SD.

HDV is usually 1440 x 1080 on the Sony's etc, though some shoot 1920 x 1080.

You may want to do some searching for UW video shot with some of the HDV cameras. As Drbill mmentions in good light and close they can give very good results. I have also gotten very good results with range outside the 3-4 foot range with natural light. And it looks really good on my television when it is all said and done.

But remember Ansel Adams shot with a Brownie, so it is not just the equipment, it is getting to know how to use it.

Either way you go, UW photo and video is a blast, so have fun

 

[Empty V]

My first bit of advice is to...Either way you go, UW photo and video is a blast, so have fun

This is some excellent advice.

Billy

 

[Papa_Bear]

HD regardless of 1920 or 1440 x 1080 the color saturation and lines of resolution blow SD away and it is the way of the future! If you want to buy behind the curve you can get some good deals on 3 mega pixel cameras! On the internet it won't make a difference! You should be shooting for a U/W library so that all those dives count! The big difference is the capture! If you can capture from the HDMI you will get uncompressed 1920x1080 video! HD has come down enough and there are good choices from not only Sony but Canon that do well in lower light and allow for HDMI connections! So now lets say you just want to show your friends, well hook the camera via HDMI to the TV and bingo beautiful pictures in Real HD right on the TV! Learn to edit in the Camera! Wait for editing and burning to come down in price and it will, but in the meantime you're getting better quality on tape! BTW go Mini-DV Tape!

 

[drbill]

Hey, I produced some great stuff hooking up two VCR's... at least that's what my clients said.

I find editing in the camera nearly impossible underwater unless you have a reasonably simple story preconceived. Some unexpected event always "interferes" or an unexpected critter enters the viewfinder. You know, I'm shooting a story on abalone... and a great white enters the field. That's part of the "fun..." the unexpected.

 

[BubbleBlower07]

If you can capture from the HDMI you will get uncompressed 1920x1080 video! !

I agree with the things you said generally, but the HDMI connections is mostly worthwhile when capturing live via the HDMI, once on tape not really different, it is compressed to the tape.