Canon’s new HV30, the update to the revered HV20, is the only camera in this price range to offer three major framerate modes: 60i, 30P, and 24P. Canon has suggested that the 30P mode is ideal for online video creators, since most online video is cut to 15 frames per second and that allows the encoder to simply remove every other frame, resulting in better quality video. Or so goes the theory. Camcorderinfo recently tested this assumption with Youtube, and has provided side-by-side examples of their test footage so you can compare it in realtime. Check it out.

The HV30 is available at B&H, currently at $899 with the $100 instant rebate. Purchases made via that link help support FreshDV at no additional cost to you.

David Perry has posted several framegrab comparisons that show the low-light abilities of the PMW-EX1 and HVR-Z7U next to the venerable HVR-Z1U. Aperture and other settings are not stated, but it is implied that they would match across the cameras (it would be nice if we knew what gamma curves were engaged, if any). Update: For an alternate take on these images, read this post by a respected Sony HDVinfo member (full thread here).

B&H has the Z7U in stock at this time, listed at $6,299.95 and the EX1 listed at $6449. At this time you can also order the S270U, listed at $8,499.95. All purchases made via those links help support FreshDV at no additional cost to you.

(Via Daniel @ VU)

In a recent DV column, Stefan Sargent rips into the notion that a “film look” is desirable. It’s an interesting take on the old discussion of 24p vs 30p vs 60i, “film” plugins, and production choices in general. Here he quotes Larry Jordan:

“I’m completely ambivalent about the benefits of shooting 24 fps material. Just because Hollywood has been shooting film at 24 fps for years doesn’t mean this is the best format for your video … I’d suggest you consider spending your money on a 1/4 warm black ProMist camera lens filter and improving your lighting, both of which will do far more to improve your look than shooting 24 fps.”

He also points out the extra FCP editing steps required to get decent 24p footage out of the V1U and HV20, and outlines his workflow when shooting with that camera.

Need a sunshade or top flag for your camera, but not quite willing to jump into a full-featured mattebox solution? Here’s a Do It Yourself solution that works with camcorders equipped with a hard lens shade. With a little time, epoxy glue, a inexpensive universal shoe mount, and this el-cheapo french flag, you should be able to put something together without much hassle. Here are the full-size images and a few brief assembly notes. It’ll run you around $31 for the parts, before shipping. Not bad for a simple shade solution.

TechThoughts and shooter Marshall Levy have teamed up to test a variety of different CF media cards for reliability and speed with the new Sony Z7U HDV camcorder with the CF card recorder option. What they discovered is that there is definitely a difference in media quality between brands and cards. In testing, about half the cards showed sync issues with the tape recordings (starting up to 3.5 seconds later), and some showed dropout artifacts. This is very interesting data.

The following article is a review by FreshDV guest contributor Eugenia Loli-Queru.

Geeks.com sent us over for a review a Kodak V1233 12MP cheap digital camera that has a 720p HD recording capability. Along with it, they also sent us a 4 GB SD card to test the camera with.

The V1233 uses a 1/1.72in CCD that captures 12.1MP pixels JPEG images. It features a 3x varizoom, an electronic image stabilizer, and a 2.5″ LCD screen. It comes with 32MB flash storage and it accepts SDHC cards up to 8 GB. The camera sports a microphone and a flash. This model is largely the same as the V1253, a $40 more expensive model. Their only differences are the larger LCD, stereo mics and higher video bitrate that the V1253 enjoys. Delve in for more.
Continue reading ‘Kodak V1233 12MP and 720p HD Camera Review’

Zacuto is a full-service camera rental house in the Chicago area that also makes camera support systems. Their gear is customized to various camera packages and configurations to help shooters work more efficiently and effectively, whether for their own rental packages or for personal purchase. Some months back we had the opportunity to tour the Zacuto facility. At that time we also shot a short overview of the Basic Studio and Handheld Redrock M2 Adapter support configurations. In recent months they’ve also rolled out new packages and options designed to work with the Letus Extreme 35mm adapter and other recent HD cameras (like the new Z-Riser for the LEX and Red). The following 20-minute video takes you through the build-up of a Basic Studio HVX200 support kit, as well as the more in-depth build-up of a 35mm adapter support configuration designed for handheld use. So if you are a Zacuto rig owner and are looking for some instructional tips, or if you are simply new to Zacuto gear, we hope this video sheds some light on the subject.

Download the QT video, subscribe to FreshDV’s audio/video podcast feed, or watch via streaming flash below.

 Configuration and Setup of Zacuto Support Systems [20:30m]: Download

The Sony HVR-Z1U and HDR-FX1 HDV cameras are basically an identical camera with the exception of a few key features. They are built on the same 3-CCD system, tape transport, and 4.5mm to 54mm lens (32.5mm to 390mm equivalent 35mm FOV). Z1U is the “pro” model and adds XLR audio, a 50Hz mode, and a number of additional menu settings and firmware-related tools (addl. Cine gammas, etc). For a complete breakdown of the two models, check this chart.

The point of this post is not to address the featureset of two HDV cameras that are getting somewhat long in the tooth, it is to talk about something that I haven’t found anywhere online before. One of the differences between the two cameras is the fact that the Z1U shows a numeric zoom scale on the display. With the lens at full wide it displays Z00, shows Z50 at about half zoom, and Z99 at full telephoto. In contrast, the FX1 simply displays a visual zoom scale indicator on screen. The only way to accurately return to a certain focal length is to use the physical zoom ring, which has a limited scale of mm markings on it. This scale matches the markings on the Z1U’s ring, which can be correlated to the internal numerical percentage scale. In recent testing it became necessary to determine what that correlation was, so without further ado here are the equivalent Z-numbers that relate to the Z1U’s zoom ring markings (and therefore also correlate to the markings on the FX1).
Continue reading ‘Sony Z1U Equivalent Zoom Percentage Scale on the FX1′

This DVinfo user has fitted his camera with the HV20’s full zoom-through Canon WD-43 wide angle converter and a Canon XHA1 lens hood gaff taped on. It’s a unique solution that looks surprisingly sleek.

Stu Maschwitz has a in-depth post up where he talks about the latitude of current Digital Cinema cameras, and how the Rec709 colorspace (i.e. video) handles highlights vs film’s highlight handling. Where it gets sticky is how a clipped highlight in video maps to the highlights on film. If you are shooting with the Red One or another such camera and wish to output to film at some point, this is a must-read. Short on time? Read the compact summary. Here’s an excerpt:

“Shooting with RED One and monitoring Rec709, if you put 18% gray at 45% IRE, you’ll capture 2 stops over 18% gray, plus some headroom.
Want to match Panalog? Underexpose by 3 stops for 5 stops over 18% gray, plus headroom.”

For more experiences with the Red One from the field, read this Studio Daily article on the production of 3 Days Gone. Two interesting notes…they used a P2 recorder on set to capture and review dailies, and ProRes proxies of the 4K footage for editing.

As with any new technology, there is a learning curve and some pain for early adopters. One of the issues with the CompactFlash media workflow introduced with the new Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U camcorders is the fact that CF cards are formatted in FAT32, therefore they have a 4GB filesize limitation (that’s about 20 minutes of video). Much like Panasonic’s method of spanning P2 cards, these new HDV camcorders simply split the recorded M2T clips at 4GB for rejoining later. Sony has released a software utility for PC users that can address this rejoining process, as well as provide renaming assistance if you’ve managed to record clips on different cards with the same filename. My understanding is that it’s basically a standalone import utility that will automatically re-join split clips as it pulls them off the cards. You can download it here.

There is also a new Final Cut Pro plugin from Sony that enables access to the CF media from FCP’s Log and Transfer function. Again, this is a very P2-like workflow. One minor difference is that the Log and Transfer Preview is inactive. Once files are selected, the software wraps the M2T streams into Quicktime and automatically joins 4GB-spanned segments as it transfers the clips. I have to say that I am quite impressed that Sony has delivered this particular plugin so soon. It looks like a simple and trouble-free workflow for Mac editors. You can download both versions and instructions here. We have continuing coverage of these two camcorders here.

This is a very short but very interesting demo of an experimental technology that Adobe’s Photoshop division is playing with that allows you to selectively control depth-of-field and focus points in post-production. Maybe someday we’ll see this trickle down into VFX.

Sony’s HVR-Z7U is finally in stock at B&H, pre-orders should ship out in the order they were received. We have previously covered this camera thoroughly here. And if you’ve missed the first Z7U user reports you should definitely read the comments on this recent post, particularly in regards to it’s reported lack of rolling shutter vertical skew. That is good news indeed.

The following is compiled from a comment by FreshDV reader “Adam” that was so detailed and extensive I decided to promote it to a post. You can view the original comment thread in context here.

FreshDV reader Adam says:
Mine arrived last week and here are my initial observations, cobbled together from various posts I’ve made elsewhere. It’s light and heavy at the same time, in a good way. Very light for its size, but still a good 50% heavier than my FX1. The bulk is comforting. With the big battery on the back it’s nicely balanced, but we’ll see how I feel after several hours of shooting. Shoulder pad is, as others have mentioned, unbelievably hard. They couldn’t stick a pad on it? Also, while it has a huge lens shade, they give it a cheap plastic lens cap and no place to put it while shooting. It just dangles there. At least my old VX2000 had a clip so you could stick it to the hand grip while shooting. For this price they couldn’t give you the “barn-door� lens shade like the FX1? Even though it isn’t mentioned anywhere in the literature; the way the leash attaches to the hand-grip, you just pull the other end of the leash and it snugs the cap up against the grip. The leash is still dangling, but at least the cap isn’t banging around while you’re shooting. Still would love a lens hood with the barn doors, but I understand why they don’t have one (yet). On the FX1 and FX7 hoods (neither of which fit), the locking set screw for the hood itself is on the opposite side from the barn-door switch, which means the set-screw bangs into the forward hand grip beside the lens when you try to lock it on. If they can design a hood with both of these pieces on the side by your left hand, it would work.
Continue reading ‘Sony HVR-HD1000U User Report’

HD Expo and Panasonic are offering a free two day camera production workshop for ASC, IGC, SOC and other guild members who have been affected by the Writers Guild Strike.

“The P2 Workshop is being offered at no charge to guild & association members in a show of support for the cinematography community, and will offer career-advancing training that can be utilized once crews return to work. The workshop prepares the professional cinematographer with sophisticated knowledge and understanding of this dynamic tool set that is changing production models. The P2 Workshop is an informative, professional-level class that will introduce attendees to the next generation of solid state, P2 HD camera systems and support equipment. It will impart an understanding of how to integrate the benefits of non-linear, file based IT compatible technology into a production workflow.

The two-day session is set for February 29 and March 1, 2008 at Panavision in Woodland Hills, CA. Several industry stalwarts have lined up to support this educational event including Panavision, Fujinon and Birns & Sawyer. Panavision is contributing the use of its stage, screening room facilities, support gear and staff. Birns & Sawyer will provide camera and support equipment, and Fujinon is donating lenses and sponsoring lunches for participants.”

Registration forms are available online, and you can contact HD Expo at 818.842.6611 with any questions.