We recently had the opportunity to check out Cinevate’s Ballare dolly solution. The Ballare is almost entirely constructed of aluminum, and as such is quite rigid. It breaks down into a relatively small size for transport, and weighs around 45 lbs. It can run on schedule 40 PVC pipe, or any other 1″ or 1 1/4″ track. This was a pre-production model, and it is my understanding that since our test Cinevate has integrated a few of our suggestions into the production model, like a more robust pushbar design. For a detailed look at the dolly system, download the attached video or watch online at FreshTV.

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

Geeks.com sent us over a Kodak Z885 for a review, one of their 8 megapixel digital cameras they carry on to their store.

Description
The Z885 is an 8.1 MP camera, with a 2.5″ LCD screen. It features a 5x optical zoom, 32MB internal flash storage, SDHC support, digital stabilization, JPEG capture, MPEG4-SP VGA capture, A/V output. It uses two AA batteries to power. In the box we found the camera, batteries, a USB cable with a proprietary port on the camera side, a hand-strap, a dock for Kodak’s printers, a CD, and a getting started guide.

The top of the camera has a dial button where you can select between “Favorites”, “video” mode, scene mode, auto mode, manual mode, ISO mode and image stabilization mode. Next to the dial you will find the on/off button, the flash, the burst/timer button and a mono speaker. On the back side you will find the zoom in/out rocker button, a “delete” button, an “info” button, the 5-way operational joystick, menu, review and “share” button. On the side you will find the USB port and the SDHC port. A mono microphone with no windscreen is found next to the 36ñ180 mm (35 mm equiv.) f/2.8ñ5.1 lens and the flash.

Usage
The usability of Kodak’s cameras has been improved a lot in the latest generation of their cameras. It’s very easy to figure out what is what and how to get there. The software allows for presets of white balance (although no custom white balance is possible), several algorithms for focusing and exposure, sharpness levels, redeye removal support, sensor orientation, power management and color mode (high color, natural color, low color, sepia, black and white).

There are over 20 scene modes for those who can trust the camera to pick the right settings, although the true benefit of using the Z-series from Kodak is their manual mode. In it, you can select focusing distance, ISO, exposure, aperture and shutter speed.

HDR photography
My favorite feature of the Z-series is exposure bracketing. With it, the camera captures three images with a single shutter click, but at different exposures. Then, you bring these images to applications like Photoshop or Photomatix and with some lite manipulation you can add new details to your picture. Or, you can artistic with it and create some crazy looking pictures like the one below. I believe that this Z885 camera is the cheapest camera on the market that supports exposure bracketing. You will have to pay $450 to get the Powershot G9 if you want the same feature from a Canon, for example.

Before and after:

Video
The Z885 only shoots VGA video at 30fps, or at QVGA resolution. Quality is not too bad and it has the added bonus to save the video in MPEG4-SP of 3.5mbps instead of MJPEG. This means that you will fit more VGA video with this camera than any other camera in the market that uses MJPEG. Unfortunately, there is no exposure compensation for when shooting video. If VGA is not enough for you, you can consider upgrading to the Z1085 or the Z1285. These 10MP and 12MP versions of the Z-series have all the features of the Z885, plus 720p 10mbps HD recording (the Kodak V-series have a 13mbps high quality HD mode, but they don’t have any manual settings).

Conclusions
The Z885 is a good camera especially for the mere $110 it costs. Picture quality is pretty good, it has manual controls, battery life is acceptable, stabilization, and even exposure bracketing. You can’t go wrong with all that and at that price. The only feature we would have liked added (except HD video with exposure compensation support), would be custom white balance.

Rating: 7.5/10

FreshDV guest-contributor Eugenia Loli-Queru is a Senior News Editor at www.OSNews.com. You can catch up with her online at eugenia.gnomefiles.org.

When Holophone announced the H4 SuperMINI some time ago, I was very intrigued by this unique product offering. The SuperMINI is a on-camera microphone system that captures six discrete channels of audio and mixes it down into two channels on your camcorder. Holophone also offers true multi-channel surround recording products, but those of course require some method of recording all the channels discretely…this solution puts relatively affordable surround sound recording in the hands of a single videographer in the field with a minimum of hassle. There was a review by Carl Mrozek in DV recently, you can read it online. Looks like a very interesting niche product.

ARRI 300/650 Fresnel Combo Kit
Reviewed By: Jessica Creech

As many microfilmmakers know, lighting is often one of the most sacrificed elements in a low-budget production. Whether that is for lack of knowledge, inadequate equipment or an improper understanding of lighting’s impact, it seems that this line item gets cut from budgets all too easily. Knowing that the funds of microfilmmakers are limited (me included), I set out in search of an all-around kit that would provide the most value in terms of cost and versatility. The results of that search let me to ARRI’s combo kits. The model I’ve chosen to review is the 300/650 Fresnel Combo Kit (although others are available). Take a few moments to read our review that explains the full extent of its capabilities and I believe you will find it well worth the investment. Continue reading ‘ARRI Fresnel Lighting Kit Review’

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.

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’

Digital Camcorder News has posted a review of Premiere Elements 4. Here’s an excerpt:

Adobe makes it easy to create quick, appealing home movies with the latest installment of Adobe Premiere Elements. A slick interface, better integration with Photoshop Elements, and better support for Flash-based sites like YouTube make Adobe Premiere Elements 4 a great choice for video projects, but the current lack of AVCHD support makes it a product I cannot fully endorse for anyone wanting to edit non-HDV video.

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’

Over at VideoUniversity, user Shawn Lam has posted a number of pictures from his brand new Sony HVR-Z7U as well as a detailed description of overall design and features. It’s quite informative. Here’s a few key points that caught my eye (a few have been noted previously):

* Menu scroll dial is on left side, not back.
* The CF recorder module covers the battery when attached to the proprietary connection port.
* Tape transport door is in vertical configuration, opens to the back.
* Connections on back include Component, Composite, LANC, Headphone and 6-pin Firewire (yes, that is the big plug). A HDMI port exists on the left side of the body.
* As stated in previous documentation the top handle has a second cold-shoe, towards the back. It comes dissasembled but can be added with a screwdriver.
* A/C Adapter is a fake battery that occupies the entire battery port. The charger handles two batteries and has a LCD status display. Like the EX1, it makes you choose between charging the batteries or powering the camera, not both at the same time.
* Shawn says “7 LBS 2 OZ with tape, large battery, and CF recorder attached.”

Read on for the pictures and more details. B&H has the Z7U listed at $6,299.95. You can read more of FreshDV’s Z7U and S270U coverage here.

Cinevate Brevis Flip 35mm Lens Adapter Review (Part2 of 2)
By Matt Jeppsen

Cinevate
www.cinevate.com
(647) 723-2664 (Canada)

The following is Part 2 of FreshDV’s two-part test and review of the Cinevate Brevis flip adapter. Today we cover Image Performance and Workflow, Accessories and Miscellaneous and finally Summary and Conclusions. You can read Part 1 here. Download the supplementary archive of all referenced charts below.

Image Performance and Workflow
Having a flip option solves one of the biggest issues in the 35mm adapter shooting workflow. Without an adapter that inverts the image correctly, users are forced to find inventive ways to monitor and frame their images. Many arrive upon the solution of a production monitor like the Ikan or Marshall, mounted upside-down on an articulated arm. On some cameras you can use a strong neodymium magnet to engage an LCD’s forward-facing flip, while others even do minor surgery on a camcorder to engage that switch. I should note that with any 35mm adapter it is highly recommended that you use a high-quality external monitor to check critical focus…when you are shooting wide open on a fast telephoto lens DOF can be as shallow as mere inches and minor focus errors will ruin a shot. That being said, it is not impossible to use only your camcorder’s LCD, particularly when it is as sharp as the EX1 or even the Z1U. And using an adapter that flips the image really opens up this option for users.
The other area of workflow that the flip improves on over the Pre-flip is post-production. When shooting with a non-flip adapter, footage has to be manually inverted in your editing software. This is relatively simple to accomplish, but can introduce other challenges. For instance, when you place inverted footage on a Final Cut Pro timeline, the thumbnails on the clips remain upside down. This is a minor annoyance, but it really can impact the speed of editing if you have learned to lean on that particular feature. Shooting with the Brevis Flip is elegant in the sense that you don’t have to mess with these workarounds and patches. It just works.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Hands-On Review - Brevis35 Flip Adapter (Part 2)’

FreshDV took a close look at a number of popular follow focus units in 2007. We also spent some time working with the Bartech Focus Device (BFD) from Bartech Engineering. The BFD is a wireless remote-controlled system that drives the 35mm lens on your camera rig. It allows Steadicam operators to move freely, can help control a camera mounted on a jib, or simply frees up space next to the operator in tight shooting locations. Bartech’s system is designed to work a variety of motors, but they recommended that we review the system with the M-One motor from Palomar Engineering. We found the M-One to be a compact and lightweight design with incredible torque and accuracy. Bartech claims that they have not found a lens that the M-One motor cannot move. It can move very fast when you need it to, but most importantly it responds to remote commands immediately and without drift. In the following video review, Kendal Miller shows how the Bartech BFD system assembles and mounts to your camera rig, and takes the unit through it’s paces.

Traditionally, remote focus solutions are pricey. There are only a few options available, and the BFD package is arguably the most affordable professional solution on the market today. It is also surprisingly well built, as you will see in the video. If you tuned in last year for our extensive NAB 2007 coverage, you may remember Bartech’s Jim Bartel from this segment. You may also be interested in our informative three-part series on the role of a First AC and Focus Puller.
Continue reading ‘Bartech Remote Follow Focus System Review and Setup’

Cinevate Brevis Flip 35mm Lens Adapter Review (Part1 of 2)
By Matt Jeppsen

Cinevate
www.cinevate.com
(647) 723-2664 (Canada)

The following is Part 1 of FreshDV’s two-part test and review of the Cinevate Brevis flip adapter. Today we cover an Introduction, Imaging Elements, Design and Construction, and Setup and Configuration. Read on for Part 2 which addresses Image Performance and Workflow, Accessories and Miscellaneous and Summary and Conclusions.

Introduction
The last few years have seen an explosion in the use of small-format HD and HDV cameras for production. So-called “prosumer” and even some consumer-oriented camcorders are in wide use by amateurs and professionals alike. One market that has also been growing in leaps and bounds are 35mm lens adapter systems. This review takes a detailed look at the latest revision of Cinevate’s lens adapter line, the Brevis Flip. In addition, we will examine the latest in their series of swappable imaging elements, the CF1Le diffuser.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Hands-On Review - Brevis35 Flip Adapter (Part 1)’

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.

We are still knee deep in footage and image tests of the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 camcorder, so stay tuned here at FreshDV for continuing coverage as we make sense of it all. Today we present a 8-minute video demonstration of the EX1 camera body and external controls layout. I walk through each button and feature on the body of the camera and explain what each function is. For a detailed analysis of the regular camera menus and picture profiles, check out our previous coverage of the EX1. You can download the hi-res Quicktime video manually, subscribe to our audio/video podcast feed, or watch the embedded Flash version below.

Continue reading ‘XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Camera Body and Controls Layout’

Mocha AE Planar Tracking
by Kendal Miller

Imagineer Systems
Retail: $289
FreshDV Score 5/5

Fresh Points: Finally an affordable planar tracking solution for After Effects! An incredible set of tracking tools that brings a professional solution for solving complex tracking problems to the After Effects compositor.

Stale Points: I would prefer to see more seamless integration directly into the After Effects user interface.

IMAGINEER SYSTEMS:

Mocha-AE is custom designed and priced for the After Effects community, this stand alone 2D tracking tool packed with features that make the effects compositors life easier. Now compositors can avoid the guess work and inaccuracies that result from hand tracking challenging shots, speeding up the process of generating solid 4-point tracks, giving position, scale, rotation, shear and perspective matched tracks and exporting the data to Adobe After Effects. Version 5,6,7 and CS3.

Based on Imagineers unique 2.5D Planar Tracking technology, mocha-AE helps solve problematic shots that traditionally break point based trackers, such as footage with objects moving out of frame, lack of detail, motion blur and heavy grain. mocha-AE’s innovative AdjustTrack tool helps remove drift and enables the compositor to extract offset tracking data for areas that go off screen.

mocha-AE allows tracking to be completed in less time, with higher accuracy, giving you an unfair advantage versus your competitors!

Continue reading ‘FreshDV Review: Imagineer Systems Mocha AE’

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.

(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.