Welcome to my camera, lens, and compression test.

I would suggest viewing these each on different displays you have available since you might have a different experience when viewing on small screens vs larger screens.

The crux of the test is to see if MiniDV is the ideal format to shoot on or should we shoot cleaner/sharper/larger pixel and process that footage in post to the desired effect.

Mini DV has it’s advantages and downsides. Low resolution and sharpness. More difficultly to key on a green screen. Limited range to light within. But the look is cemented from the beginning and we can see what we are getting on the shoot day. There is no going back.

Shooting on a contemporary 4K camera and processing in post also has its advantages and downsides. There are a wide range of ways we can do this processing each with their own unique workflow. We could have flexibility in post to create a range of different looks. More precise green screen keying. Wider range to light. Larger files/data to store. More involved post process.

Enjoy!

MINI DV Uprez’ed to 1080 and composited with Digital Background. Exported to 1080.

Sony 4K composited with Digital Background and Exported to 1080.

Sony 4k composited with a Digital Background, exported to MiniDV Tape 525 line, and recaptured at 1080.

Sony 4k composited with Digital Background, manipulated with RESOLVE’s VHS plug in. Exported to 1080.

There are a lot of different ways we can manipulate this effect to differing degrees.

Sony 4K composited with Digital Background, manipulated with custom set of plug ins to create a VHS/compressed effect. Exported to 1080.