Betacam SP vs MiniDV - A Comparison 

Thank you, sir!

Wow, thank you so much! I am a novice at this in general, and Betacam SP in particular. Yes, I definitely should have used a darker ND filter. I didn't adjust the sharpness though. I have a PVW-2800 that I could use for playback, but instead I just used the VA-510 VTR Adapter that I have in order to output composite video to my USB capture device. I don't have a compatible tripod for the Sony ENG camera, but I could have used one for the Panasonic MiniDV. I am not sure what you mean about transcoding the Betacam SP tape to digital. I have an USB capture device that accepts either composite or S-video input. Perhaps you can elaborate a little? It is very exciting to me to get advice from an accomplished professional. I really appreciate your advice. I will concentrate on the 10-second still shots next time! Thank you!!!

There should be a filter wheel on the side of the camera that gives you the following choices, tungsten, sunlight, and sunlight plus ND for really bright situations. On the side there might be ASA gain functions, zero gain will be the cleanest. You can also set up the viewfinder by using the built in color bars. Hopefully you have the color bars with the three black pluge bars. If you get zebras in the image, they probably mean the video is clipping or about to clip in the bright spots. See if you can find the menu options that can be viewed in the viewfinder. If you record directly to tape, then playback the tape through the three component connections known as R-Y, B-Y, Y, and convert that to a digital signal, the picture quality can be surprisingly good. I think there is an option to border the top and bottom of the camera acquisition image if you want to have a matching aspect ratio for transferring to digital. @@SquarewaveTechnology I hope you can find a way to tripod your betacam sp, that is when the fun begins. Super slow zooms if you want, balanced camera that elegantly can be panned or zoom and pan.

Yes, there is a filter wheel with 4 choices. I disabled the zebra function as I didn't quite understand what it was for, but it definitely would be helpful. I keep the camera gain switch on 0 dB. I do record directly to tape, and the camera doesn't have component video output, but my PVW-2800 VTR does, so I will try that. While I appreciate the aesthetics of analog video, I do want the best quality possible when digitizing the base footage. I am not sure about aspect ratio for digitizing, but I like the look of 4:3 with the older media. I checked out tripod prices on eBay...Wow. Hundreds of dollars at the minimum. I'll keep looking, as it's impossible to hold that 20 pound camera still and it's going to throw my spine out of alignment. I'm fascinated by the Betacam SP format as well as the intricacies of my Sony DXC-D30. I'm planning on picking up a DSR-1 DVCAM VTR for the camera since it's easier to transfer and the cassettes are ubiquitous and inexpensive. It's all a learning process. I am very grateful for your detailed, helpful advice! Thanks again!

I made a new video over the weekend and tried to keep your advice in the forefront of my mind while filming. I used only a MiniDV camcorder this time, and didn't use a tripod (again), but I tried to focus on the 10-second motionless shots for the most part. I am pretty happy with the results.

It's all I have. What am I supposed to do? Not sure why I keep getting harrassed and insulted just because the video quality isn't as good as it could be if I had expensive equipment. If I seem defensive, it's because I keep getting hassled. Give me a break.