UPDATE: A response from Cineform in the comments below.
The following article is a review of Cineform’s NeoHD utility for removing 3:2 pulldown from the Canon HV20, and an opinion on the quality of the resultant images. Article contributed by Eugenia Loli-Queru.

Cineform is pitched as one of the best providers of a good and well-supported intermediate video format. Among their accompanied utilities you will also find HDLink, a capture and converting tool. We tested the tool for its 3:2 pulldown removal ability with the Canon HV20.

The application weighs just a few MBs and it is easily installable, although you might need to manually “register components” after installation (it’s a provided .bat file). It is comprised by the camcorder control widgets on the upper side of the window and three tabs on the lower side. Through the “Capture” tab you can view which clips are captured from the camcorder, from the “Convert” tab you convert existing captured files from your hard drive to another format, while from the “Export” tab you can write back to the camcorder’s tape.
Continue reading ‘Review of Cineform NeoHD for HV20 Pulldown Removal’

Lately we here at FreshDV have been focusing a lot (har har) on Follow Focus systems and how to best utilize them on set. I thought I would combine all our recent follow focus related articles into one big roundup post for easier reference.

*Career First AC Bob Sanchez spent a day with the FreshDV crew and provided a unique insight into the role and techniques of pulling focus. That is available as a three-part video series entitled The Art of Pulling Focus:
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 1) - Kendal Miller interviews Bob Sanchez on what it takes to be a First A/C on a production set.
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 2) - A continuation of Part 1, Bob explains the tools and techniques he uses on a daily basis.
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 3) - Go behind the lens as we block out scenes and Bob demonstrates his technique on a handheld camera rig.
*FreshDV’s review of five popular follow focus units appears in the October print issue of DV Magazine. You can read it online here.
*We have posted video reviews of those same five follow focus systems here at FreshDV, get a more detailed look at each unit.

*UPDATE: We have added a 720p HD Quicktime H.264 version of The Art of Pulling Focus Part 3 Demonstration. It is packaged up in a 450MB ZIP archive. Simply download, unpack, and play. FYI, the actual resolution of the clip is 1280×1440, as the Part 3 demo stacks two HD clips in a split-screen.

UPDATE: A sixth Follow Focus review, the SGfollow focus from shoot35, has been added as of July 13, 2008.

FreshDV’s full review of 5 seperate follow focus units is in the October 2007 print issue of DV Magazine, and also available online at DV.com. While we had the follow focus systems in our possession we also took some time to capture video footage of the units in action. In these video clips, I walk the viewer through the major features of each follow focus system, mount the units to our test rig equipped with a 35mm adapter, measure gear lash, and finally use them to drive a 35mm PL-mount cinema lens. Each unit we tested has unique strengths and weaknesses, we encourage you to view each of these videos and look for a system that meets your unique needs and requirements.

 Introduction and Chrosziel DV Follow Focus Review [8:57m]: Download
 Cinetech Titanium SL Follow Focus Review [5:32m]: Download
 Redrock Micro Follow Focus Review [5:33m]: Download
 Petroff Mini Follow Focus Review [7:27m]: Download
 Indifocus Follow Focus Review [9:51m]: Download
 Follow Focus Accessories [2:16m]: Download
 Shoot35 SGfollow focus [4:13m]: Download

You can view the video reviews in either Quicktime MOV format (links above) or as Flash video streams (embedded below). Note that the above Quicktime versions are higher resolution and quality. You may also be interested in our informative three-part series on the role of a First AC and Focus Puller, also embedded in the player below.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Follow Focus System Reviews’

Anthony Burokas has an Adobe CS3 for Mac review in print and also up at EventDV.com. He goes pretty in-depth on the Premiere Pro interface, and spends some time comparing specific features and capabilities vs. Final Cut Pro. Excellent review on a highly-anticipated new software package. And as a FCP editor, I found his comparisons extremely informative and helpful. While it doesn’t sound like Adobe will be replacing my primary NLE anytime soon, it could be a worthy addition to the editors toolkit, particularly if one needs some of the other interesting features and integration offered in the CS3 Production Suite.

Letus has released a new 35mm Lens Adapter product with a greatly improved design. The latest “Letus Extreme” product revision includes a solid metal casing, swappable lens mounts, prism flip, internal batteries, and only 1/2 stop of light loss. Quite a roster of upgrades, and the light loss improvement is impressive…but does it hold up to the hype?

Ryan Walters has written an extensive review on the new Letus unit, and he was pretty impressed. He thoroughly tested the Letus Extreme, and has shared resolution and color charts, as well as vignetting and bokeh examples. Excellent writeup. Ryan pulls no punches in outlining the adapter’s pros and cons.

UPDATE: The Letus team has also shared Video Samples and a model Comparison Chart.

(Thanks Dan)

DV has a review of the Panasonic HPX 500 in the September issue. Reviewer Jay Holben gave the camera a 4.5 rating, and was very pleased indeed with it’s performance. Most of those that have used the camera to date have expressed similar sentiment, it seems to be a really strong offering at it’s price point.

“In the “HD Normalâ€? gamma setting, I found the camera’s latitude to be 8 1/2 stops, with 5 stops underexposure to loss of detail and 2 1/2 stops overexposure to loss of detail. At 5 stops under, it was too noisy for my taste. In the “Cinelike Dâ€? gamma setting I found the same 8 1/2 stop overall latitude, but with a more even dispersement of 3 1/4 stops over and 4 1/4 stops under range. “Cinelike Vâ€? mode, quickly becoming my favorite, yielded the same total 8 1/2 stops, but slightly more high-end at 3 1/2 stops overexposure detail and 4 stops underexposure. From this point forward I left the gamma at “Cinelike V.â€? In the “Cinelikeâ€? modes, even at 4 and 4 1/4 stops under, the image remains clean with little noise.”

You can read the full review in your DV Sept print issue, or online at DV.com.

(Via Digital Camcorder News)

Shane Ross has posted a fantastic review of CalDigit’s new HDPro RAID solution. This 4 Terabyte (500GB x8) RAID5 editors dream performs in the upper 300 MB/s read speed (Shane’s average: 385 MB/s), which should catch the eye of all the uncompressed junkies out there. That’s enough for multiple streams. Write speed wasn’t shabby either. He also tested out the protection ability of RAID5:

“… I set it up to capture uncompressed 10-bit, and about 5 minutes in…I YANKED A DRIVE OUT! … But, it kept merrily match capturing…not missing a beat. When it was done I saved my project and set about fixing what I intentionally broke. I pushed the drive back in and went into the RAID SHIELD software and unlocked the drive and the software went about rebuilding the Raid. Again, that took about 3 hours. But the footage I captured was still intact and played fine.”

Currently you’ll need a PCIe computer to use the HD Pro, with PCI-X support in the works. There’s also an Express34 card interface for the unit, for Macbook Pro users. The HDPro starts at just under $4000 for 2TB, and goes all the way up to the 6TB model at $8K. Thanks Shane for the great review on what looks to be a solid offering from CalDigit.

FreshDV writer Kendal Miller’s review of the Zacuto Camcorder Shoulder Mount System is in the September issue of DV Magazine and also available online at DV.com.

“…the Zacuto system is a counterbalance for handheld cameras such as Panasonic’s HVX200 and Sony’s Z1U. Everything is built on and around the company’s base plate and rod system. The base plate—completely universal with extensive adjustments on both the horizontal and vertical axis—can be easily adjusted to accommodate any camera. You can thread together the lightweight rod segments (available in lengths from 1â€? to 12â€?) to add or subtract length without resetting the system.”

The Zacuto system is an incredibly well-engineered and robust solution for both tripod and handheld usage. It is well-suited to fully outfitted 35mm adapter rigs, and serves as an invaluable base for all your disparate-branded accessories. This is not your momma’s run-of-the-mill handheld attachment, this is a full-on base for your fully-configured camera rig. The FreshDV crew shot with a HVX200 + Brevis 35mm lens adapter (fitted with the PL-mount option), huge 85mm PL cine lens (compliments of Fletcher Chicago) and a variety of matteboxes and follow focus units. The Zacuto rig handled everything we threw at it, and made camera rig build up and breakdown a joy. We were particularly impressed with the extensibility of the unit…Need some extra space on the front of the rods? No problem, just thread on another rod extension. Need a place for the external monitor? Use the Zamerican arm, a multi-articulated support arm whose joints can be locked in place using a single point of adjustment. What, you wanted that monitor upside down? Unlock, rotate with one hand, lock, done. It really is that simple to use. And to top it all off, the gear is beautifully machined and built. Read the review at dv.com for all the juicy details. I’ve also included more full rig pictures below.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Review of Zacuto Shoulder-mount System’

Anthony Burokas has posted a lengthy review of Panasonic’s “Professional” AG-HSC1U, a compact camcorder that records AVCHD to SD media cards. The HSC1U is the “Pro” big brother of the consumer HDC-SD1, and comes at a $1000 premium. A few highlights:

*The included 4g SD card limits you to 40 minutes of HD video and 5.1 audio recording at best quality.
*Comparing footage vs Sony HDR-FX1 HDV, the AVCHD shows more compression artifacts.
*”Dismal” battery runtime, charger curiously uses swapped colors to indicate charge status. Green means stop?
*Stereo mic in, component, AV, and HDMI out. USB 2.0 to transfer footage.

Anthony concludes by stating “The camcorder is okay, but, aside from color space, the Pro model offers nothing more than a higher price tag- currently about $1000 more than the consumer HDC-SD1, which retails in the $800’s now. The current implementation of AVCHD on this camcorder is a far cry from anything else that tries to call itself professional, let alone actually is.” He also takes a look at the VW-PT2 SD Media Storage device (featuring a 40g hard drive). A very informative review.

Simon Wyndham has written an excellent hands on review of the Panasonic HPX-500 well worth the read if you’re interested in learning more about this camera, go ahead and take a look.

SIMON SAYS:
With Blu-Ray discs managing to break into the top selling echelons of Amazon.coms’ charts, high definition has entered a new phase of mass adoption. This has meant that the demand for camera operators with their own high definition cameras has increased drastically even in the space of the last year or so. To enable owner/operators a way into professional high definition shooting Panasonic initially released the HDX900.

The 900 offered a good route for those who already owned or used the standard definition SDX900 and who were established in a DVCpro workflow. While the HDX900 offered a smooth upgrade path it was still a tape based camera, and as anyone who hasn’t been living underground for the last 5 years or so knows tapeless is the way the industry is going.

Thus we arrive at the new HPX500 camcorder. The HPX500 has been designed once again to allow a smooth upgrade path for those wishing to get into low cost HD production. One set of customers Panasonic appear to be targeting with the 500 are existing operators of HVX200’s who may be looking to move to a more professional style of camera.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Camcorderinfo has released their initial analysis of the Red images (the insanely high ISO framegrabs that Red Digital Cinema has been sharing over the past few days at Reduser Forums). They have tested the images using specialized software called Imatest, and reported some issues with color rendition. I would caution you to take the color test charts with a grain of salt however, here are a few items that I feel are worth clearly clarifying.

The images that the Red crew have shared to date are in a colorspace which Imatest unfortunately cannot properly accomodate. This would explain the discrepancies and odd desaturation they noted in the color charts. They also mentioned that the images looked underexposed. Which they were, as clearly noted in the Reduser threads…for instance, the 8000 ISO image was intentionally underexposed by 5 stops! (This is a good time to remind people that in photography each successive f/stop represents a doubling (or halving) of light. So 5 full stops under is quite a bit of underexposure.) One area that CCI did test effectively were noise levels, and they were duly impressed, stating “…at the low resolution they were posted at, we found the red camera’s noise levels were literally off our charts for quality.” Which is a finding that is in line with what many others are reporting. And that smooth image quality is even more surprising when you consider that those Red frames were shot with gain turned up. Revolution indeed.

 Redrock Follow Focus Update [2:13m]: Download
 Redrock Follow Focus Update [2:13m]: Download

FreshDV writer Kendal Miller reviewed the Redrock microFollowFocus last year, and one of the issues he noted was excessive play in the gearbox of the unit. Following his review, Redrock updated the Follow Focus in the fall of last year. We knew they had made some major changes, but we just recently had a opportunity to work with the new unit. We were impressed. Here is a short video segment where I highlight the differences between the two revisions, and the notable improvements that have been made in gearbox performance.

View the video podcast via our FreshDV iTunes Podcast Feed or the Download links above.

The latest gearbox revision can be purchased direct from Redrock as a $65 upgrade for existing follow focus owners. And of course the $645 Follow Focus bundle includes the latest revision.

 16x9 Inc Mattebox Carry Bag [1:10m]: Download
 16x9 Inc Mattebox Carry Bag [1:10m]: Download

When 16×9 Inc sent us a Chrosziel Follow Focus and Mattebox system for review, they also provided a handy little soft bag and carry case for the units. The bag was so cool that we had to do a short video segment on it. Here’s a peek. Note that this is not 16×9’s “Shooters Bag”, which by the way is an equally useful carry case.

Click the Download links above or watch via our FreshDV iTunes Podcast Feed.

Digital Media Network has begun a new three-part article series on Professional tapeless formats and codecs.

“…where to begin? Flash memory, hard drive or optical disc? Long GOP, wavelet or intra-frame codecs? The answer is of course never straight forward, any choice of format is invariably (or at least should be) a weighing up of Pros and Cons in concert with the particular needs and nature of the production being served. There is no “Bestâ€? format, only the “Bestâ€? format for the production you’re making and the way you like to work. In this light we present a detailing of some of the key pros and cons of the popular and on-the-horizon tape-less formats to make your next choice a more informed one.”

(Via Digital Camcorder News)

Killer Camera Rigs (The Complete DIY Guide)
By Kendal Miller
FreshDV.com

$39.95
Dan Selakovich
www.dvcamerarigs.com

This review is for all those out there like myself who take great joy in saving a few bucks and creating and customizing your own rigs. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the book “Killer Camera Rigs,” now might be a good time to do so. This book is distributed as an e-book which while you may print it and take it out to your workshop, might be easier to use if it were actually in print. The guide assumes you have some degree of competence with basic hand tools and power tools…and if you don’t, chances are that this may be over your head.
Continue reading ‘Killer Camera Rigs (The Complete DIY Guide)’