Most of us remember the days when there was basically one camera format – Betacam SP.  The variable then was which Betacam you owned.  They all shot standard definition 4×3 aspect ratio, used the same tape stock.  Ahhh, those were the simple times!  You shot for a client, and handed them the shot tapes at the end of the day, no file transfers or data wrangling.  And it was only a few years ago…

Then as the early 2000s rolled along, HD took a foothold.  Now you can count on both hand the number of different tape formats, plus disc stocks, and at least 4 solid state storage devices.  Not to mention the hard drives you need to transfer footage to if your client doesn’t own your flavor’s post production ingest solution.

For example, these are the HD formats that we own and use at Sloan Productions as of August 2011:

Sony XDCAM HD – shoots 1080i native, at 60i, 30p or 24p.

Records file based to recordable disks.  Can transfer files to hard drive.

Can work pretty much like a P2 or SxS solution when needed – except use a disc to record instead of solid state media – then transfer the disc to a hard drive, then recycle and reuse the disc after the client confirms that they received (and backed up) the hard drive.  My favorite camera currently.

Panasonic Varicam – shoots 720p native, in all frame rates from 4 to 60 fps: 24, 30 & 60 are most popular.  Records to Panasonic DVCPro tapes, not file based.  I love the look of this camera.

Canon 5D Mark ii – DSLR still camera that shoots 1080p native at 30 fps.  Not the best solution when wanting to also record sound in-camera, but can record it successfully with video especially if you have Magic Lantern firmware loaded on your camera, plus one of the aftermarket units that plug into the camera.  One popular workaround is using an external audio recorder, and then use a software program like Dual Eyes or Plural Eyes to sync the video in post.

I just edited a project where half the video was shot on Varicam @ 720/60p, the other half on XDCAM 1080/60i: I exported the 720p footage out of Media 100 and then re-imported it as 1080/30p (same as final program format), and it worked seamlessly.

On occasion, someone will still request old faithful Betacam SP, standard def in 4×3.  We have 2 Sony D30s that have virtually no value to the resale market, but perform this function well.  And the camera head can be docked with a DSR-1 deck to roll long form DVCAM tapes too – up to 3 hour rolls.

And for good measure, XDCAM and Z1U are switchable to standard def DVCAM mode in either 16×9 or 4×3 (Z1U also can do just plain old DV too.)

Lots of options…when in doubt it’s a good idea to talk to the project’s editor to see what they can work with.