XDCAM

Sony XDCAM Camcorders Join Forces to Capture "Once in a Lifetime" Event

The event was the "Gathering of Mustangs & Legends" Air Show in Columbus, Ohio, which brought together a collection of more than 50 legendary World War II fighter pilots - who shared tales of their exploits - and the largest gathering of P-51 Mustangs probably since the end of the war. The crowd was treated to a stunning aerial demonstration of historic P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft, current U. S. Air Force aircraft and breathtaking aerobatic demonstrations by world-famous pilots including the world champion woman aerobatics pilot Patty Wagstaff.

"We used the PDW-F350 and F355 camcorders primarily as the "A" cameras to capture the beauty shots and fly-bys because of the greater creative flexibility they afforded us, as well as being able to swap out lenses for those long and compressed shots, and for some very wide dolly and jib shots. We got some beautiful backlight shots of the early dawn coming through the frosted canopies while still holding detail in the shadow areas; some really gorgeous stuff".

"To capture some of the most dramatic footage, we attached a fisheye lens adaptor to the XDCAM-EX1 and mounted it inside the cramped cockpit of Patty Wagstaff's plane, literally inches behind her head, for some outstanding POV shots. We were able to capture Patty's entire 12-minute demonstration. You're not going to find any other camera that could have done this so well. It was a very tight spot and we weren't going to be able to mount anything too gigantic that would have been able handle the stress of 10 G's. There is no high-definition camera of this quality that I know of that has ever been able to shoot under those conditions."

"It was simple to color match the PDW-F350, F355 and the EX from the get go, so the footage cut together well - very seamless. If I wasn't looking at the timeline in the Final Cut Pro edit to figure out which camera was which, there's not any way that I would know. In terms of sharpness and contrast, it's amazing how well the two looked side by side."

Jody Eldred Director/Cameraman

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