Remote Control Camera Suggestion

We are getting ready to implement a remote control camera for our next stake conference. Does anyone have a suggestion for one that plays nicely with the web casting software and works reliably?

Just curious if you've had a chance to read through this thread, Sony EVI-D70 Camera Control?

I too am researching what type of camera to install at our building. We have looked at the Sony. I would like to know what other people are using, and what is working well for them. Seems to me it gets quite complex once you go with 2 or more cameras. We must have a control box, and a video switcher, and 3 monitors to name some of the hardware. Then there is the cabling. Running RS-422 to control camera and RG59 for the composite video. It starts to get expensive and complicated. If the future is to have stake centers do webcasts between buildings, then I would think the FM group or technology groups would come together and design a robust modern solution, and push this out to all stake centers. A standardization would really help in long term costs and maintenance.
What about HD? Is this not an option? Even if we do not utilize the full HD capabilities right now? Seems its getting harder to find a SD camera with composite (baseband) video out anymore. If I go out and spend a few grand on this equipment, and then two years from now, the technology is all wireless, or HD digital, then we will have to go through the exercise all over again. Shouldn't we be proactive and look into the future?

As for the types of camera. I was told that IP cameras would have too much of a latency in the video to work well. Not sure if that is the case with all of them. If we use HD DVI or HDMI, then there is the issue of putting in video amps to get the signal over 100' (in my case).
I recently found a JVC camera that has a composite video out and has a WPS (wifi) feature for controlling the ZTP. But I would still require a video switcher at the control room to switch between the 2 cameras. and I still would need to run long composite video cables (RG59)

Then there is the issue of what type of projectors to use to present the content. We have been using low cost consumer conference room types (Dell) that are designed to project no more than about 20ft on a 6'x8' screen. These just do not have the Lumen needed for a 10ft screen in the cultural hall!
Any suggestions on better projectors?
As I have perused this website forum for help, it appears that the level of expertise in pro end audio/video is not in our midst. I have experience in this area, yet do not consider myself to be an expert. I was hoping to find some expert help for our issues. Am I looking in the wrong forum?

davidssommers wrote:What about HD? Is this not an option? Even if we do not utilize the full HD capabilities right now?

Might want to read the Approved HD hardware & software? thread.

davidssommers wrote:Then there is the issue of what type of projectors to use to present the content. We have been using low cost consumer conference room types (Dell) that are designed to project no more than about 20ft on a 6'x8' screen. These just do not have the Lumen needed for a 10ft screen in the cultural hall!
Any suggestions on better projectors?

Talk to your FM group. In most cases they should be providing one projector per building.

Consider the following:

Budget - In addition to a remote camera purchase, a budget also needs to address other necessary purchases. Do you want to purchase everything at once or will you have to spread purchases out over a few years? What are you wanting to do? - just be able to control the camera and push the picture and sound to another building or make the viewing experience "as good as General Conference"?

Quality - The quality of the camera image is the most important factor in the overall presentation. However, if the rest of your system has issues, you will negate the camera's quality. For example, all of the following play a significant role determining how good or bad the picture on the receiving end is; improper cabling and/or distribution, a cheap capture device, building distribution (RF) problems, inferior Internet bandwidth, poor quality projectors or monitors which are not adjusted properly (or downright defective), lighting that washes out the picture, etc. Why spend a significant amount on a camera and not address every factor in the broadcasting chain? Evaluate what you have now and what needs to be addressed or fixed. You can do this with the resources you currently have and go from there.

Zoom Ratio - Where do you plan on positioning the camera? If it is in the back of the chapel, a 12x or less will result in lots of distractions from people seated behind the speaker still being in the picture. If you can get 18x power or more, you will be able to crop out heads and only have a head-and-shoulder's shot. Only consider optical zoom ratios as digital zoom is not useful.

Control - Various camera's control systems can be anywhere from useless (it may have a fixed optical lens and only a grainy digital zoom) to professional, I hope you don't don't think that just because a low cost security camera is PTZ, it is a good choice. Consider additional benefits and features (such as servo control - graduating adjustment control) and operating more than just PTZ control such as color adjustment (to match the color of multiple cameras), overriding focus (when automatic will not work), iris (our chapel's white wall is TOO bright), etc.

Format - Analog composite video has been just fine for decades and if a system is done correctly, can achieve professional results. If you are investigating HD component or HD HDMI or HD-SDI, then the rest of your equipment will need upgrading as well. If you really want to do a HD broadcast, every piece in the system will most likely need upgrading...so just add a zero the end of your budget figure. Ask yourself if anyone will appreciate it? Will anyone REALLY notice the difference?

The church recommends the Sony EVI-D70 as their suggested remote controlled camera, and I agree. It can be controlled right out of the box with an I/R remote, but also with a computer or with a remote control box (remote joystick control). I currently feel that there isn't a much better product out there for the money. The Sony has great PTZ servo control capabilities and just about every single setting can be controlled remotely (servo pan, tilt, zoom, focus, color balance, detail, iris as well as shutter speed, white balance settings and on and on). The camera is perfectly matched to Sony's RM-BR300 servo joystick remote control box and up to 7 of these cameras could be controlled from the same unit. The camera's zoom ratio is 18x which if placed 75' from the pulpit (back of the chapel or chapel overflow), you can get a great head-and-shoulder shot and crop out the distracting background with a little extra optical zoom left over without getting into digital zoom. On the down side, it is only 470 lines (resolution) and the supplied I/R remote has very limited features. It also can tend to blotch colors on diagonal objects (purple or yellow on the rim of the choir seat).

The AZ Gilbert Greenfield Stake has been using Sony EVI-D70 cameras for several years now. Even though this a low-end camera (as far as video quality), the PTZ features have made it a perfect choice for remote, hidden operation. Instead of upgrading cameras, I chose to work on improving the quality of the system as a whole. So now, even with the Sony EVI-D70 cameras, we get comments like "It was just like General Conference"

@Michael, thank you for your insights and opinions.
In keeping with the prophets theme,,,, good, better, best. Our A/V system is barily in the good range! and Yes I am looking at the entire system as a whole. cleaning up things as I go, like multiple video splices and RF to RCA cables. My goal is to have the "best" system possible at a conservative price. I want people to be able to focus on conference and not be distracted by poor image quality and terrible distorted audio. General conference quality? Yes, eventually, if we look proactively to the future of this venture. I am researching the Sony EVI-D70, and I am also looking into sending the videio signal via UTP (with transmitter/recievers at each end) instead of a long run of baseband composite. We want to put the main camera at the back of the chapel hung from the ceiling. From there its at least a 100' to the control room. The other camera would be at back chapel left on tripod.
I also do not want this system to be so complicated that the people running it must have degrees in broadcast communications! And spend days setting it up. I believe in keeping it simple. That being said, as soon as we introduce a two camera system, we now have to not only a joystick PTZ controller but also a video switcher, and 3 video monitors. That gets complex and takes up a lot of room. I have looked at a couple low end consumer switchers. Wondering if any of you had experience with the Roland V-4EX system. It looks appealing because it has a built in video display that can show all 4 ch. This would eliminate the need for the monitors. Any other "real world" experience with other switchers?

And as for projects and the FM group. Yes, they have been providing 1 project per building. These are low end Sony, not designed for a large culteral hall 15' video screen.

russellhltn wrote:

davidssommers wrote:What about HD? Is this not an option? Even if we do not utilize the full HD capabilities right now?

Might want to read the Approved HD hardware & software? thread.

I did read the "approved hardware" doc.

davidssommers wrote:Then there is the issue of what type of projectors to use to present the content. We have been using low cost consumer conference room types (Dell) that are designed to project no more than about 20ft on a 6'x8' screen. These just do not have the Lumen needed for a 10ft screen in the cultural hall!
Any suggestions on better projectors?

Talk to your FM group. In most cases they should be providing one projector per building.

The FM group does not know much about high quality video projection. They think "budget" and therefore put in low cost Sony consumer projectors that look OK, but not good, or better or best. IMO.

Hi luv2hoop. There are many top quality remote control cameras, some of which are:-

1. Genuine Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control

2. Hähnel Giga T Pro ll

They have a 100m RF operating range, adjustable self-timer & dual time-lapse interval settings.

@marylyon. Those Nikon and Hahnell, are not what we are referring to in remote control. We mean PTZ video cameras over RS-422 wire. What you are referring to are for still photography work. different subject.

FYI to all that read this.

We finally chose the Sony EVI-D70 cameras. They work OK, but not great. We bought them not for their quality, but because they were cheap in cost compared to professional PTZ cameras. We initially had purchased one D90, but its image was horrible so we returned it for a D70. If I could do it all over again, I would pick CMOS video cameras and figure out how to get the audio and video of an HDMI to our control room.

davidscott59 wrote:We initially had purchased one D90, but its image was horrible so we returned it for a D70.

I'm confused. In the other post you said you returned them to match your existing cameras. But here you seem to indicate that the D90 is inferior to the D70.

thanks