[Craig Alan]

Good point on iris adjustment. And in auto mode if you are auto focusing you can use the lens ring for IRIS. In manual mode you can use the little iris wheel as the third ring. I prefer three rings but at least you don’t have to toggle the little iris/focus switch to adjust iris. Is there any difference in the type of adjustment being made? Since the little iris is not attached to the lens maybe it’s a digital control?

I just read one review in which the AC-90 lost points since the zoom ring adjustment had a bad latency and made it virtually useless in mid-shot. The rocker zoom works fine though. Generally the reviewer found the manual controls poor but the auto functions very good – which sort of makes it a good loaner for me and a consumer level cam in general – which its price indicates. I think that the positive AC-90 comments over the 170 has to do with the 3mos sensors being more sensitive than the 3 CCDs. But CCDs have certain advantages with motion shots which might make them good loaner cams which are mostly used outdoors and without my supervision or studio lights.

One advantage for me on P2 cams is the cards are more robust, bigger and less likely for a student to steal them since they can only be used in P2 devices. If we use SD cards the kids use them in other devices, they are real small, more likely to get broken as well. On the other hand, the P2s are insanely expensive. I need at least two per cam which means over $1200 per cam.

In any case the big differences with the 250 over either one of these are a 22x lens and intra-100 codex.

The 170 shoots in DVCPro HD

The HCM150 and AC-90 shoot in AVCHD.

I know the AVC-Intra 100 holds up better for keying and is considered a higher end codec.

Most of the google stuff I find is early articles on AVCHD before it started getting added to higher end prosumer cams.

Has there been any improvement with AVCHD that would put it on par with the DVCPro HD?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Chris.
I’ve used the 170 and loved it until I got the 250s which are better. My only real problem with the 170s were the shared ring for iris and focus which is a pain during a shoot.

If money were no object I’d go for more of the 250s. Better lens, three rings.

But do you know how the AC-90 performs? Image quality (1/4 chips 3mos) and if the LCD is too fragile?

Is the lens as good as the 170?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks. Good to hear. Hopefully the budget goes through and we’ll get to play with one.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Al,

By 1×1 I assume you mean LEDs? They are really starting to take off. Yesterday I saw what looked like a diva lite-completely filled with LEDs. Dimmer did not seem to change color temp. And ‘bulbs’ were shock proof plastic. I didn’t ask if it could run off batteries, but most likely yes.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Al,

We use Pana P2 cams for camcorder factor and really like the quality. But I was asking about wider DOF using the DSLRs. We are considering the 5D or if budget doesn’t allow the 60D for a photo/video cam and was asking if you can get a wider DOF with it?

Also what would you suggest as a kit for it?

Specifics on:
Lenses,
follow focus,
mat box,
media cards,
etc.: whatever has come in handy that you learn with experience.

I never have a standing budget so when I order a piece of gear I need to have the whole kit. We have a pretty decent set of lights – kino flo-s and fresnels, and a LED lit Cyc wall which has been great for photo/video shoots.

We also use Canon HV40s for beginner cams and loaners and they do pretty well but are getting old as is tape and HDV.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Great video, Al!

You presented the subject beautifully and I found it fascinating.

I love documentaries that allow the subject to tell the story and allow the audience to feel they’ve seen something authentic rather than an op ed.

Where can I see the rest of it?

I’m researching the same kind of decision. I need a DSLR for both photo and video. I’m new to this form factor.

How much control do you have over depth of field with these cams during production? In the past that meant: could you achieve a narrow depth of field? Obviously DSLRs excel at this. My concern now is in the opposite direction. Is it possible to achieve a large DOF without needing a ton of extra lighting and overly large F-stops.

Also what is your thoughts on camera choice given the investment in lenses? I’d want a lens mount where whatever lens we buy would remain usable into the future when we update to a new cam. I wouldn’t mind being able to use them on different cams as well. We have a Sony Z7U that has a 1/3-in. bayonet lens mount. Although the HDV format is not so great, we can attach a Ki Pro to the cam and record in Pro Res 422.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

That’s true Bill. Many things that seem to be “missing” in X (or any program) can still be done. However, a NLE’s interface is all about making these operations as ergonomic as possible. It’s just a feature request. And it’s a fairly common need. Plus to me it’s less intuitive to have a compound clip automatically saved in the browser but modified clips cannot, even by choice.

To create a still and use it in some NLE you needed to export the frame and then import it. FCP X now has this feature added within the program. Very nice.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I don’t buy this, Bill. Compound clips created in the timeline are saved in the browser. If they are not saved as a new parent then all other uses of them are modified with each future change. This was modified behavior from when X was first written. I can copy and paste sections of my timeline to other projects. But because it’s a database I can’t save a single clip with a different “favorite” section (modified I and O points, color correction and other filters) to the browser? And just for the record, I rarely have this need. Rarely used it in 7. But sometimes when I perfect an edit early in the timeline and then decide I’d rather use that clip later in the timeline or want to reuse that clip later in the timeline, I want to store it somewhere and the browser is my storage cabinet. I can live without the feature but its non-existence has nothing to do with X being a database.

Yes it’s all references. And you cannot delete your source files without having those references go offline. But seriously how it is referenced in different windows of X is just a matter of programming. There is nothing about databases that does not let you save a clip edited in a timeline in the browser. This reminds me of early posts in the computer age where people would tell less experienced users that once they understood that it was all a matter of ones and zeros then they would “get it.”

Now I am interested in what part of your workflow that you used to do in the timeline in FCP 7 you now do in the browser in X. I suppose that with the feature that allows you to open a clip in the browser in “the timeline” you could preedit entire sections of your project. Haven’t heard from anyone who is working this way. Like I said people work different ways. There are writers who write their whole screenplay on 3×5 cards and the script itself is just a matter of assembling and inserting them in Final Draft. If your inspiration comes from the characters interacting with each other, you will not be working this way. You might still use 3×5’s to keep track of locations and scenes but you will be working in script pages for the flow of each scene. For me the browser is where media is stored and the timeline is where the writing takes place. And I think X is capable of accommodating this workflow and needs a little work in this regard.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

“To me, the characters are everything. I begin with them, and if a story doesn’t come out of their interactions, I don’t have a book.” Elmore Leonard Interview By Jean Henry Mead.

The mantra for some time now in production circles is that the story is the thing. This is good news for producers because you can sell a story without being able to write it. You don’t need to write to have a subject or a concept.

Editing is a lot like writing. People work differently. There is the story (subject and plot) that serves up the message, the theme; and then there are the interactions, the spaces between, the beats, pregnant moments, which appear and die of their own will.

I think when you set favorites you are serving the needs of your project’s concept. No question an efficient way to organize and find the eye and ear candy among the huge amount of media that litters your browser. But these chosen ones, these segments are not necessarily the best fit in relation to the moments, the beats that they interact with on the time line. They can be, but not always.

It’s not a matter of either/or; it’s a matter of both/and.

I do think that FCP X, which clearly has its eyes, set on being popular and user friendly, would benefit by being more consistent in the mechanics of its interface. What works here should work there. This type of cross-functional consistency is what has always made Apple apps seem more intuitive. They were never really more intuitive but they seemed more intuitive to anyone with experience on a Mac. Apple simply repeated (now familiar) patterns much more consistently than other interfaces.

FCP X clearly has retained some of this tradition but has also almost self-consciously broken with it. Most of its new features prove to be very useful. Most of the features that were sacrificed for no reason would still be useful. Some have been added. They are useful. New features are cool. Renaming old ones to make them less familiar … not cool. Being able to connect clips to a story line (a track by any other name)… very useful. Not being able to connect clips to anything but the primary… not so useful. Yes there are workarounds but it’s less intuitive.

For example in the project I am working on – a model shoot set to music – I had a choice to use the sound track as the primary or the sequence of shots (which tells a story within the story) the primary. I have tried it both ways. Each has its advantages and each has moments where I had to learn what I felt was a work around to get things in the order I wanted them presented. If I could attach clips to either the primary or any other storyline, I would be spending more time composing my piece and less time learning the program.

There is no reason you should not be able to save an edit back to the browser. It’s just a missing feature. The browser is not designed to create sequences. But that said I would not mind hearing your workflow in the browser that replaces the work that before X was left for the timeline.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Well I guess its not just my students who can over-tighten the knobs. I’ve seen the type you are talking about. Even on painter’s poles. The only downside I see to that type is the latch that tightens the sections can fail. But you are right they are way easier to use. Rycote describes their locking mechanism as being better. They also describe this $200 pole as being professional quality which would be a pretty good deal.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.