Re: Sony Z7U 1080 24P vs !080I

Well, first off, the Z1's 24 fps mode is what Sony calls Cineframe mode. I don't fully understand it, having not owned a camera like that, but I don't believe it offers you any advantage in terms of going to film-out down the road. It's simply a 24 fps 'look' on 1080i footage.

To assist in going to film, you would need a model that records 23.98 footage with pull-down flags that your NLE can then later remove. The V1U does this on HDV and I think most of the XDCAM models offer this too.

You have 2 issues to confront here:

1) The network. I find it hard to believe there's a cable network out there that doesn't want to air anything shot on film. Or are they just saying they don't like 24p HDV? Either way, it sounds like their problem is with poorly shot footage, not a particular format. But does it matter? Will they acept it or not? If they say no, stop reading right now. There's your answer. If they'll take it, keep reading.

2) You need to find the company that will be doing any potential film transfers down the road. Getting their advice is very important. Depending on the camera you use (not everything available on all cameras, mind you) you can shoot this as normal 60i, 60i with Cineframe mode, 24 fps with pull-down flags on 60i, 24 fps without flags on 60i, or 23.98 files on a hard drive. And probably other options I've forgotten.

I'll bet you that the people who put video onto film have very strong opinions about what's best. (I have no clue there.) I would take their advice very seriously if you're even thinking about using them down the road.