Recently, when I reviewed Sony HC1, I said it’s the smallest, most compact HDV cam. It would seem I got it wrong, as Ikegami has had a smaller hd camera for some time now.
Ikegami HDL-20 is a ultra-compact HD minicam with some amazing features. It comes with an inpressive price tag but considering you’ll probably rent it for a day or two of “trick” photography, it’s a good option to consider.
If you’re on a low budget, however, you have little choice but to tinker with a Sony HC1 camcorder. Maybe you can remove the recording mechanism or fit it with a lens adapter.
Here’s the description found at the site:
The HDL-20 is a HDTV camera with an ultra-compact camera head incorporating two 2/3-inch 2.2 million-pixel CCDs. As external sync signal input and HD-SDI output are provided, the HDL-20 is suitable for trick shooting in special fields of the broadcasting sector. Despite the fact that it utilizes only two CCDs, the camera incorporates a newly developed ASIC for digital processing to achieve a resolution as high as three-CCD cameras.
It all sounds OK, although the last sentence bothers me a bit. If 2CCDs are just as good as 3CCDs, why am I not seeing MORE 2CCD cameras? Anyway, the important features are as follows:
- Excellent resolution (pixel count is 1920×1080)
- 4:2:2 color space
- Big, 2/3 inch sensors (albeit 2 instead of 3)
- Ultra-compact (40 x 53 x 65 mm) and lightweight (less than 200 g)
If there’s a downside to using this camera as your next helm cam, it’s the price tag. The MSRP is $30,000. Yep, that’s THIRTY thousand. I didn’t put another zero for effect. So if you’re super-rich and your MTB weighs 2 pounds there’s no reason why your helm cam should weigh more than several ounces.
This minicam is a good option for “trick” photography - as a pole cam or miniatures cam because of its 2/3 inch mount which accepts a variety of professional HD lenses (also very expensive).
If you’re like me, you better stick to Sony - their SD minicam is the Sony DXC-C33. You will need an anamorphic adapter though to make up for the resolution loss.
who sells hdl 20