Redrockmico M2 35mm adaptor

[Aaron Wells]

I’m beta testing an SGPro unit with the HVX200:

https://www.sgpro.co.uk/

Using it with Nikon lenses & so far very impressed with the look & image quality. Very little light loss. My only “issue” – images are flipped 180 degrees, so you need to take this into consideration when shooting (need an external monitor) and post (need to flip clips 180 degrees).

[Fcp Leader]

I was the DiT on a multi camera feature shoot utilizing this workflow this past June, 2005. One, register the surprize on my face when I discovered the image was upside down! I was wholly unprepareded for this. You will need a cpu faster and more recent than my tiBook to effectively handle the upsidedown image. to edit using the slower machine, I had to create severa window layouts and use custom keyboard and button bars to edit effectively. My alBook, 1.67mHz’s ATI card was able to flip the image around and go out directly as a desktop preview from FCP, so I left the upsidedown images for the post facility to manage.

Upon my discovery that first day, the DP said to me, “any edit (NLE) worth it’s salt will rotate the image on ingest,’ but I’ve got to ask the the DP’s worth their salt out there, do you want to trust the nle to not introduce image artifacts when processing your footage? In the film past, any optical would cost you one generation.

We were also recording dual system sound and using a smart slate. There is currently no way I know of to get VITC into the HVX200, or no way to get the camera’s time out to jam external equipment. Yes, you could sync in post using TC offsets, but one time code would’ve been more effecient. The Sound Devices 744T digital recorder was used, it records using the Broadcast Wave audio format. Working with QT, there is a snafu here that you’d best research.

Week two, we added a camera, making this a 2 camera shoot. Neither of the cameras would sync reliably to each other (according to the camera dept), so we dropped the uniform TC idea all together. As it was, we has 29.97 free (or Time of Day) on the sound, 23.98 RR (record run for the first three days)/free on A Cam, and 23.98 free on the B cam. No timecode matched anywhere. This is a concern for multiclipping, where TC needs to match.

If you intend to shoot multicam and multiclip, then you need to get the camera’s synced or will have to use Aux Timecode for each track, setting each camera’s clip to 00:00:00 at the slate clap, or matching one camera’s TC to the other. With all three out of whack, it was easier to reset all three (Cam A, Cam B, and Sound) to 00:00:00. If not, sometimes the angles would be offset, not visible in the formed multiclip.

Following the shoot, the editor also voiced some concern over the image, that the edges/corners seemed soft when she viewed the image on her studio monitor. I personally feel that this adaptor and nikons allows film makers to use this camera to achieve a more film like look, but at such a price. The Red Rocks costs the camera 1.5 stops of light, potentially adds softness, and when it stops spinning, looks like a gossamer, black spider’s web over the image. Consider the alternative, MOVIETube and Superspeeds. You’ll regain the .5 stop you’ve lost over the Red Rocks, and pick up 2 stops with the Superspeeds (Nikon f2/2.8, Superspeeds T1.2/1.4). Oh yeah, no moving parts, no motor to flip on every shot or 9v battery to monitor.

By the way, you’ll need an aux viewfinder like a 6 or 7″ HD monitor on your camera. Don’t trust the on board viewfinder or LCD to help you focus accurately. This production used Marshall 7″ HD monitors with compnent analog inputs on both cameras plus a Panasonic L3400 17” monitor as a confidence monitor for the director.

With all this in consideration, TC, image inversion, and additional glass, I think any production would be more productive using a real HD viewfinder, MOVIETube and superspeeds. As for the TC limitation, contact me directly and I’ll explain the fix for that.

HTH’s,

[Alex Viarnes]

I’ve been using HVX/m2 combo for a few months mostly for commercials. Once you have things properly alligned it works very well in fact I rarely shoot without it. The major drawback is the light loss; in my experience I am at 64asa. You need a lot of light for anything other than straight sunlight. You have to shoot it as if you where working with a slow film stock and need someone pulling focus, but it gives a great look that you can’t get without shooting film. As far as which product is better ? They are all nearly the same, people say this is better, no the other is better..fact is, in a blind test where all the equipment is properly set up you would not be able to tell the difference.I bought the m2 because it was a shipping product at a good pricepoint and would carry me till Red One ships.

Aloha
-A

[Leonard Levy]

There’s a lot of misleading information on this about the Redrock M2.
First of all I think the optical achromat used by the camera to focus on the image is much improved from the version he used. There is still some softness in the corners but it is generally not to bad. Depends on the nature of the image. it has never bothered me at all.
Re: speed – the Redrock supposedly loses less light than the P+S mini 35 adapter.

You can get Nikkors that are f1.4. You can also set up the rerock for PL mount with Zeiss lenses. Difference between the Redrock and the P+S = about $7000 or morePrice difference bewteen Nikkors and Zeiss maybe $15-25,000 for a set of 5 or 6 lenses let alone a Zeiss cine zoom lens.

There is no image loss flipping the image in post. its easy. Its not too hard to flip the monitors in the field,.

The Redrock makes an incredible image but it is definately softer than a clean image.
The optics neccessary to flip the image in the more expensive adapter lead to further light loss and may also introduce more image degredation. I have never compared them directly though.

Somewhere on the web there is a comparison between the P+S w/ Zeiss lenses and a Sony 900 cinealta vs an HVX 200 with the Redrock . The producers of the show ( maybe it was 24 or something) preferred the Redrock HVX combo saying it was sharper. Hard to believe and I wasn’t there.

The redrock is a bear to set-up properly and there are competitors like the Brevis which may be equal quality and may have some improved features.Its a great look.

[Uli Plank]

BTW, DV Rack is doing a great job flipping the image for it’s field monitor. For this kind of work with shallow focus you’ll want one anyway.

Regards,

Uli

Author of “DVDs gestalten und produzieren”, a book on professional DVD-authoring in German.

[Lars Wikstrom]

I have heard good things about the M2. I ordered mine last Monday and it should be here Nov. 1st. If you do order one for the HVX you need the adaptor ring and shim kit. I to got the Nikon set up and when it comes I will take it down to the local camera shot and test the different lenses before I buy.

-Lars