This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

For this test the XDCAM EX was shot in a controlled studio environment using a DSC Labs CamAlign MultiBurst resolution chart. The test pattern was evenly lit at 45-degree angles by two soft light sources, the resolution chart surface measured an approx spot value of 78 IRE. The EX1 camcorder was locked off on a tripod with the zoom set to Z54 (the EX1 zoom range is Z0 through Z99) and the iris locked at f/6.7. The electronic shutter was locked at 1/125 for progressive modes and 1/250 for interlaced 60i. Picture Profile was set to Matrix Standard, Gamma STD1, and Auto Knee. Detail and Crispening enhancement settings were at 0 except where noted (those settings are fully adjustable in single increments from -99 to +99). We present here full-resolution uncompressed TIF frames exported directly from the FCP 6.0.2 timeline in three of the most useful formats the XDCAM EX1 offers.

 1080/24p: Download
 1080/24p Detail+50: Download
 1080/24p Crispening+50: Download
 720/24p: Download
 720/24p Detail+50: Download
 720/24p Crispening+50: Download
 1080/60i: Download
 1080/60i Detail+50: Download
 1080/60i Crispening+50: Download
 All 9 charts in one Zip file: Download

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

At NAB last year Jim Jannard & Co. mentioned they had plans to create a “Pocket Pro” camera, as well as a line of 4K projectors. And it appears that we will see the new camera mockup and associated specs at NAB this year…Jim has confirmed that they are calling it “Scarlet.”

(Link via Ajit)

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

If you read FreshDV daily, you already know that we are testing a Sony XDCAM EX1 this weekend, courtesy of Midtown Video. It’s a beautiful camera that makes incredible images, I have been very impressed with it’s performance. For the most part, this one lives up to the hype.

That being said, we all know that every camera has an achilles heel. That’s just the way it works…engineering is all about tradeoffs. And the XDCAM EX1 is no exception. As the EX uses CMOS as it’s imaging tech, it is subject to rolling shutter artifacts. We recently talked about how rolling shutter artifacts are cropping up in Red Digital Cinema footage…and I noted the same issues are evident in EX1 footage shot this evening. Right-click the download link below for a half-resolution example of this strobe artifact. It was shot on the EX1 @ f/1.9, 1/48, 9dB gain at 1080/24p HQ (XDCAM35/VBR). Selecting higher shutter speeds doesn’t help, in fact the artifact becomes even more apparent. 1/32 shutter doesn’t fix it either. So it’s definitely an issue to be aware of in your production work…perhaps the EX is not the best solution for a fashion show or wedding reception…or police car strobes.

UPDATE: Quite a few people wrote in to tell me that the issue reportedly goes away when the electronic shutter is turned off. So I tested the camera with a flash in all the different formats, shutter ON vs shutter OFF. Here are two studio test framegrabs that show this issue less prominent but still present in 1080/24p footage with the shutter mode toggled off. The downloads are full-resolution frames exported from FCP timeline as jpeg-12. I haven’t spent much time digging into the footage, but the camera looks to be catching probably 40% or 50% of the flashes mid-roll. Small flashes that don’t light the whole frame slip through more easily it seems. So maybe 1 out of every 2 don’t appear to get caught.

 EX1 Rolling Shutter Strobe Artifact [0:10m]: Download
 HQ 1080/24p @ 1/48 electronic shutter: Download
 HQ 1080/24p w/ electronic shutter off: Download

(Focus on this shot is off a touch, and I’m shooting through tree branches. Not perfect. But it clearly shows the issue I’m talking about)

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

Thanks to the professionals at Midtown Video, FreshDV has an XDCAM EX1 camcorder in hand for a few days. We are shooting with DSC Labs test patterns and performing a variety of camera tests. We’ll also be using the camera with two hot 35mm adapters…the Letus Extreme and the brand new Cinevate Brevis Flip module.

My question to FreshDV readers is, what exactly are you interested in learning about the EX1 and the adapters?
Please post in the comments below or e-mail me (Matt) directly with questions and comments. Thanks, and stay tuned for our findings!
(UPDATE BELOW)
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Readers: What do you want to know about the XDCAM EX1?’

Jonny Lee, the creator of the $14 Steadicam and other unique indie-tastic solutions has come up with a Virtual Reality proof of concept program that works with a Wii Remote and sensor bar. It has obvious implications in the gaming world, particulary on the Wii platform. However, I see this as a potential tool for 3D artists and compositors. The ability to simple jog your head left or right to view and navigate around objects in a comp might be very useful. Here’s hoping someone picks up the torch and runs with this idea. You can download the software at Jonny’s site. Video embedded below.
Continue reading ‘Head Tracking for VR Displays with the WiiRemote’

Thanks to a tip from Joel Peregrine, I just ran across the Modo Steady 585 multi-purpose device from Manfrotto. This thing is a very unique little stabilizer/tripod/gizmo for sub-2 lb camcorders. It weighs just over a lb and supports up to 1.7lb max capacity. You can use it as a “gliding” stabilizer (reminds me of the Steadicam Merlin), a chest brace, and in low and high tripod modes. There is a video of the Modo in action at modo.manfrotto.com.

Guess what killer camcorder weighs 1.2 lbs? Yup. The $689.95 Canon HV20. To enhance the gliding effect, pick up the Schneider Optics .55x Wide Angle Adapter. The lens weighs just 4.8 oz and can be reversed and used as a fisheye. Sweet! You’ll just need a 58mm-43mm ring to adapt it to the HV20.

A slightly cheaper (and much heavier at 1.1 lbs) option is Canon’s WDH43 0.7x WA lens for the HV20. Note that you would be technically overloading the Modo Steady device with this lens on the HV20. Since the lens reportedly weighs over a pound, I am unsure if it would work at all with the Modo Steady + HV20.

Sony’s whole-lotta-not-much camera in “professional” shoulder-configuration camouflage is in stock at B&H for $1600. Just in time for Christmas, kids!

We mentioned the paper launch back in August when real specs and numbers seemed shaky. Unfortunately, those specs don’t seem to have improved in the ensuing months. The HD1000U is still an uuuugly, underpowered 4 lux behemoth that looks walks and talks like a pro shoulder camera, but doesn’t even include basics like XLR or full-size cassettes. To be fair, I suppose there may be a place for this model in some applications (particularly considering the price point). However, I personally feel the camera has been basically crippled out of the gate and (with the exception of DVCAM) doesn’t include any real tools or features that shooters demand.

Are we missing the boat here? Where do you see this camera taking hold in the industry, if at all?

UPDATE: Apparently no DVCAM.

The Canon DW-100 is an external USB DVD burner for PC and Mac systems that offers a unique twist…it can burn video directly from a camcorder without a computer. Details are a bit sketchy at this time, but in theory this means you could hook your AVCHD, H.264, or other difficult-to-edit-format consumer camcorder directly to the burner and author standard DVDs painlessly. Nice. As Gizmodo says…

“The DW-100 takes high-def AVCHD video from your camcorder and burns it to DVD without a computer. It’s hard to argue with that. It can also function as an external burner for any PC or Mac computer. If this works like it should, and Canon markets it properly, a device like this could do well in the current home movie market. It is expected to release in March 2008, but no price has been set.”

(Link via Anthony Ajit)

You know you want it. It’s Western Digital’s new 2.5″ notebook hard drive with a whopping 320GB of space, priced at a cool $200. Yeah, it only rotates at 5400 RPM, but what do you expect? It’s only 2007 after all! And they’ll have a 7200 RPM option out before you can say “Dang. I just upgraded my system with the 5400 RPM version and now I hate my life.” Here’s how to swap the drive in your Macbook or Macbook Pro with this new drive (or any other 2.5″ drive) using Leopard’s Time Machine.

Indie4K has a great post up on the benefits of the Birger electronic lens mount for Canon EOS SLR lenses in concert with Red’s Digital Cinema camera.

“…for the price of just a Red 18-50mm zoom, we can get the Birger mount, plus several primes and zooms. For the price of the 18-50mm zoom + the price of the 50-150 zoom, we can buy practically every current-model EOS lens we can ever imagine wanting to shoot with.”

“…the Birger mount can control focus as well as aperture, using the built-in focusing motors of EOS lenses.”

“Birger’s system will be controllable via Bluetooth. Imagine figuring out your focus marks using Red’s “magic focus assistâ€?, and then programing them into a laptop and cueing them at the appropriate times with a couple of key presses. Or imagine a “smartâ€? autofocus system based around range-finding equipment, which could rack focus to track an object through space far better than any human focus puller…”

I believe the Birger mount project started out aimed at 35mm adapter users who wished to use EOS lenses. Now it seems it’s been repurposed to interface with one of the hottest digital cinema cameras on the market. Options are a good thing for filmmakers, and it will be interested to see how this product develops. You can reserve a Birger mount here.

A few 133t H4X0rs have found a way to enable video recording on the iPhone. Right now the app only records five seconds of 15fps video to the iPhone’s RAM, but the developer says a future version will be able to record “somewhere from 15-30+ fps” with length only limited by the device’s storage. Video below.
Continue reading ‘Hackers FTW - IPhone Gets Video Recording’

ProRemote is a application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows you to wirelessly remotely control your ProTools LE workstation with realtime feedback.

“ProRemote will be going into beta next week…currently the server is Mac only but will be an easy port to Windows later on (one thing at a time!) It is nearly feature complete now and runs on jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches.”

While the Beta will be available soon, they won’t ship the final application until Apple certifies the software when the iPhone SDK is released. In a later revision the developer plans to use the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer for panning. Video of this unique one-two combo below…
Continue reading ‘Pro Tools + iPhone = Remote Control Sweetness’

Here’s an interesting short video that shows one of the issues with Image Stabilization that is not done optically.

In Smooth Moves News, Dave Williams of DVideography will be teaching an intensive two-day workshop in Las Vegas for Glidecam users. Dave is a professional Steadicam and Glidecam operator, and has been working with stabilizers for years. He really knows his craft. So if you’re a stabilizer user that doesn’t know your Don Juan from your Missionary, you might want to check out this workshop coming up on January 27-28, 2008.

See below for a detailed schedule breakdown with all the topics that will be covered. And here are a few pictures from one of Dave’s recent V-25 workshops.
Continue reading ‘Upcoming Glidecam Workshop in Vegas’

Just like our previous XDCAM EX1 coverage, we’ve got continuing coverage here on the new HVR Z7U and HVR S270U HDV camcorders from Sony. Check back here for regular updates and news. Note that newer links and notes will appear at the top.

B&H has the Z7U in stock at this time, listed at $6,299.95 (simply add to cart to see this lower price reflected). 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.

* Here’s a great video overview of the Z7U compliments of Midtown Video.

* EX1 vs Z7U vs Z1U lowlight framegrabs are up here. The EX1 has the clear edge in noise and brightness with the Z7U not far behind. That’s down in the PD170 low light levels, folks!

* Sony has released an import utility plugin for re-joining split M2T files from the CF Card Recorder. The plugin for Final Cut Pro users enables the use of the Log and Transfer import utility to acquire footage from CF Cards. Get it here. (Update: The download link now works)

* This thread at DVinfo has a few user-submitted M2T clips.

* Per DVinfo, Sony is offering a rebate for a free 8GB CompactFlash card with the purchase of a Z7U or S270U. The rebate link is not yet active, so check back soon.

* Jordan Oplinger wrote in to mention that the Sony HVR-Z7U user manual is in the wild, we have a copy mirrored here.

* Here’s a user report from Shawn Lam on his brand new HVR-Z7U. Several very interesting details.

* HVR Z7U User footage is beginning to surface. Here is one such clip at Divx Stage6. Recommend muting the music, it’s a bit overbearing. There is a mirror at Youtube. Could be my browser, but it plays back a bit jerky for me as if pulldown cadence is “off.” Thanks for JO for the tip!

* Digital Content Producer has posted a first look review of the S270 and Z7U.

* Here are a number of pictures of the prototype Z7U on display at GV Expo. You can see how the flash recorder unit hooks up, the interesting placement of a tape transport, and the free-spinning iris ring.

* Another article by IEBA about the new Z7U and S270U, this was a summary of the updates and features for EventDV Magazine.

* Anthony over at IEBA/Techthoughts has added several videos in the past few days:
- A seminar on the new models by Sony’s Juan Martinez.
- Demos of the TC/UB, Memory, In/Out, and Others menu systems.
- A demonstration of HVR S270 and HVR Z7U lens operation.

* IEBA blog has the display menus up now. (For more info on “Cam Leveling”, check out the product brochure linked below. Interesting feature.)

* Anthony Ajit passed on this link to the PDF brochure for Sony’s HVR-Z7E and HVR-S270E versions of the HDV cameras, and it offers more concrete specs and details. For instance, it becomes clear here that in addition to 1/3″ interchangeable lenses, you can also utilize standard 1/2″ and 2/3″ HD lenses using adapters. The camcorders feature standard ENG 12-pin lens connectors. Note that there is a zoom factor when adapting lenses, namely: 2x focal length for a 2/3-inch lens adapter, 1.3x with a 1/2-inch lens adapter, and 7x with a Sony Alpha DSLR still lens adapter. You should also check pg8 for some interesting features called “Camera Leveling” and “Focus Marking”…yes the camera can detect it’s horizon and display that on the LCD. Sweet. And the Skintone detail feature is now fully configurable…you can set the color manually. I should also note that the CompactFlash recorder automatically syncs with the camera when attached…it does all the recording start-stops without manual intervention. And here’s the answer to a question asked by a friend the other day…YES, you can record HDV 1080 to tape while also recording downconverted DV to card for short term SD delivery.

* Anthony Burokas has screencaps of the camera menus and audio menus (others to come).

* We previously were hoping that you could simultaneously record to tape, CF card, and firewire out to a hard disk recorder. It appears that you cannot as the Flash recorder covers up the Firewire port.

* Our initial coverage of the camcorder announcements. Features, specs and preliminary info from the press-releases.

As always, keep the links and comments coming.