DVX-100’s film look still alive?

[Bill Moede]

Well, I’m trying to stay away from calling it a “film” look, rather a “cinema look” But, to my eyes the DVX100A and B do much better job at this look, with both the color, shadow detail and contrast latitude. The XL2 also looks a bit too sharp sometimes. I’ve shot similar scenes with both my DVX 100, Canon GL2 and Canon XL2, and I always see better detail in the shadows and highlights compared to the XL2 where these details are either gone to complete black or are blown out. I still love my XL2s and those Canon lenses for a lot of work, but when I’m shooting a narrative “films” I prefer the look of the DVX100.

At this point my only distribution is SD DVDs or the web so from a business point of view, gearing up for HD will be a year of so off for me yet.

For the current film I’m working on, we tested some lower end HDV cameras, which we would need to down convert to SD anyway, and it was quite clear that SD with a great lens looks a lot better than HD (HDV) with a consumer – prosumer type lens.

The guy working down hall in the the next office from me is shooting with the HVX-200 and the images I have seen from that camera have much of the same qualities of the DVX100 but with HD resolution.

[Tom Laughlin]

So, if I want to shoot a feature film with the DVX-100, do I use the Squeeze mode or letterbox to shoot it? And when I capture the video, what is the native resolution I can max out on in terms of resolution, 853×480? Can you up-res it, what are the indoe filmmakers using the DVX-100 doing to achieve the 16×9 film look for SD DVDs?

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Bill Moede]

I’m not sure what your max resolution would be. Anything I need to shoot 16×9 I shoot with the anamorphic lens adapter. I’m capturing with the FCP standard DV codec, anamorphic.

I’ve been outputting some projects at 720P using compressor and that looks pretty good.

[Al Bergstein]

I am going to jump in but preface my comment by saying I’ve not shot with the DVX-100, but do have the HMC-150 and a Canon T2i. I would say that the film look of DOF of the Canon has made me carry it far more lately than the 150, which is a great camera. They are two very different tools, but depending on what you mean when you say to shoot a ‘feature’ I would say that I would seriously consider the Canon for shoots that don’t require long takes, and hassle with the voice syncing using a high quality field recorder with mixer (I use the Mixpre and Zoom, but if I was doing a real feature, I’d be using something better).

That being said, the 150 gives superb results, but you need to work around the DOF issues, like getting the background further away, using telephoto more, etc. I’m still struggling with the razor sharp edge of HD and find that the Canon, while having the ability to give me crisp HD, also can defocus without turning into the mush I’ve seen with the 5.

I really dislike the lack of XLR in on the Canon, and the general ergonomics of it stink compared to my 150, but the trade off for DOF is worth it. And it’s pretty cheap! It’s making me rethink a lot of my shooting with the 150, which should make me a better shooter in the end.

Alf

[Tom Laughlin]

Is there a cinema DVX package that controls this? Have you seen the DVX short film “Broken”? I’ve seen people trick out their DVX-100’s with french flags, matte-bozes, follow-focus, and anamorphic lenses, would you say that based on that era and now, that that is a once over-kill for what camera do out of the box? I shoot with the Sony EX-3, and as far as making it look like film, I’ve got no clue where to start? What frame-rate and settings should I use when I shoot, and what filters would you suggest? Any specific filters from Red Giant? Any web video example links or anyone using the 35mm lense adaptors for the DVX or for the EX-3?

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Bill Moede]

I use the anamorphic adapter as it’s the best way to get quality 16×9 from the DVX-100. Other than that my camera is stock, no other add on stuff.

As for looking like film… I don’t use that term, I prefer to get a “cinema look”. Technically; 24p, and a gamma curve that will give you more shadow detail, and less noise in the blacks. And, know the limitations of the DV / video format that you shoot. With DV you only have a 4-5 stop range of exposure. Many times that means lights and / or scrims when you are shooting outdoors to bring up the light level on actors or reduce bright background levels. Or you need to limit your shot angles away from bright sky and other backgrounds. Indoors you may need to put some light in the shadows, with DV don’t let anything fall off to 100% black, you will see noise sparkles.

Once you have the tech stuff out of the way, light like a movie, shoot like a movie; cranes, dolly instead of zoom. Use only a few focal length settings, then move the camera to frame.

[Al Bergstein]

I have rails and a matte w/french flags for my 150. There is follow focus if you want to spend the $$. I haven’t yet. I just haven’t needed it. I’d probably spend it for my T2i first though. It needs it (G). A depressing lack of ability to do follow focus on the DSLRs. I can easily make do with my 150 without the extra cost.

Tom is right, I’d say, in that there are techniques that aide the ‘film’ look, rather than just equipment. Find the best of both worlds and you will achieve your ‘look’. But it might be better to just upscale your costs and get something that does it *out of the box*.

Not long ago, I looked at Noah Radner’s independent video production of Formosa, shot with the Panasonic SDX-900. I asked Noah offline if he would use that camera again if he shot it today, as the production looks very ‘filmic’. He said he would probably shoot it on a Canon 5 if he did it again. That about says it all to me.

You might be interested in reviewing his article
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/kadner_noah/formosa.php
given your interest in it. Maybe he will weigh in.

As to your question about Magic Bullets etc. that’s an issue that just depends on your editing suite. For example, MB doesn’t fully support Vegas for all it’s effects. You would be better off using After Affects if you wanted some of their ‘looks’.

Alf