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As a contributing editor for this magazine, I get a lot of requests for information, questions about new or upcoming technology, and even consulting gigs from our readers and others in the business. I think it is great that I have been given a position to help out the people that make this video and media business click. With that in mind, here is my latest camera review on the Hitachi SK-777.
Hitachi Denshi's 23000-W has been a solid performer with many features (more than just about any operator might ever use) but it was lacking in several departments. Where the Z series leaves off, Hitachi's SK series of cameras picks up. The SK-777 was introduced at last year's NAB and began shipping by the third quarter of 2000. It is a step up in price from the professional Z series of cameras and a leap up the ladder in quality and performance.
What's New
The primary upgrade that the SK-777 delivers is a new CCD block. The new chips are 640,000 pixel (NTSC) Frame Interline Transfer type that provide a very high-output resolution. When coupled to a high performance digital recorder, the images one will obtain from the SK-777 are incredible and could easily be up-converted to an HD. The FIT chips bring a new performance (that I had been actually asking for in the Z300OW) when it comes to dealing with strong light sources such as sunlight glinting off of water or windows, flash bulbs, headlights on vehicles, or my personal favorite: sunsets. Visual picture defects like "lag" and "vertical smear" from these bright light sources are virtually or entirely suppressed by the use of the FIT chip design. These chips are also native to the 16:9 widescreen format, but the camera is easily switched to conventional 4:3 picture mode for current television producers.
Another feature found on the new camera is a compatibility with just about any dockable video recorder currently made, as well as some old standards that are now out of production. This forward and backward compatibility was designed to help producers who want to make the jump to wide-screen, but cannot yet afford to convert entirely to digital. This way, they can upgrade step by step rather than going...