Book Review: Douglas Spotted Eagle’s HDV: What You Need to Know, 2nd ed. (The Complete Guide)

Event DV by Stephen F. Nathans Douglas Spotted Eagle’s Complete Guide to HDV meets a maturing market with a book that is in fact three books in one: targeted technology overview, buyer’s guide, and—most importantly—focused field guide for DV producers making the jump to HDV. When the first edition of Douglas Spotted Eagle's HDV: What You Need to Know appeared in late 2004, many event videographers weren't sure they needed to know anything about the nascent high-definition video acquisition format. Sure, the FCC's HDTV mandate was a looming inevitability, but still a far-off one, and without an HD-capable successor to DVD in place, it was virtually impossible to imagine any reasonable client demanding that her wedding or event video be delivered in HD. And of course the idea of being able to record HD video on cheap and ubiquitous MiniDV tape using cameras with prosumer-level prices sounded quite compelling. But the only HDV camera on the market at the time, JVC's overpriced and under-featured single-chip HD10, barely qualified as a prosumer camera; if this is HDV, many event shooters likely thought, I'm sticking with my VX2000 or XL2 until something better comes along. The good news was, something much better was coming along—Sony's rock-solid HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U, and the viable market they ushered in—and HDV: What You Need to Know was a harbinger of the HDV era that began in earnest in early 2005. Spotted Eagle's book described in lucid prose and solid technical detail what HDV was and how it promised to redefine small-studio video production, sized up the products that would begin to populate the field, and explained how videographers could benefit from adopting HDV acquisition even in the absence of a mainstream HD delivery format. read more...