[Dan Brockett]

There are many posts over on the DVX User board about this exact subject. Jan Crittenden and Barry Green have both posted about this issue and I agree with them.

I own a DVX100 and up until last week had an HVX200. I own the Century fisheye and .6 WA add lens for the DVX and I tried it on the HVX with a step-up ring. Looked like hell.

For filters, I agree with you, there are no such things as HD filters. But for add-on lenses, I disagree. Interview any video/film optics designer (talk to the Schneider guys, I did in an interview for some magazines that I write for) and ask them if there is any difference in glass designed for SD and for HD. SD glass is designed to resolve at SD resolutions of 480/576 lines. HD glass is designed to resolve HD resolutions of 1080 lines. Chromatic aberration and spherical aberration levels are significantly different between SD and HD glass, this is why the CAC technology was implemented on the HPX500.

That said, there is beauty in the eye of the beholder. Many people are successfully shooting HD with SD glass on the HPX500 in particular because it doesn’t make financial sense to put a $25,000.00 HD lens on an $8,000.00 body.

IMHO, add-on lenses are a large compromise in quality by default, regardless of manufacturer. I have always noticed degradation with any add-on lens, even the expensive ones I used to rent for my Betacam. Feel free to try it out, it may be acceptable for your purposes and your eye. But both Barry and Jan and the lens manufacturers feel otherwise. I searched on DVX user for the specific threads but could not locate, there are already many thousands of posts on the HPX170 over there, If I recall, it was not in a thread about the add-on lenses specifically, it was in some general thread about the 170 and a couple guys chimed in with their plans about using their DVX add-on fisheyes and WAs on the 170 and Jan and Barry recommended against it.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Any SD add-on lenses will look like cr&p on the HPX. Jan Crittenden has stated this numerous times. Not sure also but the bayonet mount on the HPX170 is different than the DVX.

If your Scnheider mounts on the filter threads, it will fit but will look terrible. If it mounts on the bayonet, I don’t think it will mount to the HPX.

None of the biggies (Century, 16X9, etc.) even have add-on lenses for the HPX170 on the market yet.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I regularly shoot with the EX1 and I just traded my HVX200 for an HPX170.

I agree with Steve, you are an ideal candidate for a 2/3″ camera with a removable lens. Buy a lens with a doubler and you are set to go. I think you will find any of the smaller fixed lens cams a major compromise to shoot sports, the lenses are not up to the task and add on teles just degrade an already inexpensive lens further.

One possibility might be the XL-H1 if you can’t afford a 2/3″ camera. While it has the most horrible eyepiece imaginable (you would have to budget for a 7″ decent HD monitor), it does come with a 20X lens for under $10k.

I hate HDV but for your needs, it might suffice? You are going through the same thing that all of us are, there is no perfect sub $10k camera, they all have considerable downsides along with some amazing capabilities.

If Panasonic had made the HPX170 with the lens of the XL-H1, 1/2″ CCDs with native 1920×1080 resolution with the LCD of the EX-1, then we would have the perfect sub $10k camera. But that ain’t gonna happen anytime soon.

With this economy, you will see some screaming deals on slightly used HPX500s, XDCAM350s and HPX-2000 and 3000s. If you can wait, you might score a really nice deal. People will be dumping them when they cannot pay their rent/mortgage. Sad to say.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Countryman will be powered by the phantom power on the HVX. No battery necessary 😉

I have been in audio for 30 years and I have never heard of a deep seat or shallow seat XLR connector. All three pin standard XLRs plug into any XLR connection. That’s the whole idea behind a standardized connector like an XLR connection, that it is universal. There are four and five pin XLR connectors for DC power connections and stereo signals and there are mini XLRs on the RED but other than those, all XLRs work with all XLRs.

Best,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Don’t forget to turn on phantom power on the mic input on the HVX.

I would offset your channels so that your editor has a choice and you are protected if your talent gets too loud but other than that, what you have written sounds like the right way to do it.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I would recommend the M-Audio family of Firewire audio interfaces. I have the M-Audio Firewire Solo. It was inexpensive and sounds decent. I use it with Soundtrack Pro, Peak and a few other programs and it works well. Simple two channel I/O with decent mic pre-amps.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Grinner:

Nice doc and interesting subject Did you see this on Wikipedia? He is the subject of an upcoming documentary entitled “Superfan: The Lies, Life and Legend of Beatle Bob.”

Best,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

The main problems you will run into will be phase related. I can think of no way to totally isolate a shotgun or hyper from the voice of the talent during takes. If you want ambient to blend, you need to record it as a separate “room tone” take with nobody speaking. It will take a few minutes extra but at least you will have a clean ambient track to add in with your lav track.

Best,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Craig:

In your situation, I would seriously consider renting a wireless system like a Lectro 400 series. You will be in retail environments with lots of RF, fluorescent lighting with noisy ballasts. traveling through lots of different environments.

You do need a wireless system but I agree with the others, you get what you pay for.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Phillipe:

I respectfully disagree that the EX-1 outshines the HVX-200 in any circumstances. I have owned and shot with the HVX since it was introduced and have shot thousands of hours of P2 media with it for a huge variety of jobs and environments.

I have been shooting with the EX-1 for about 6 months now. Does the EX-1 have more resolution and is it sharper than the HVX? Yes. Better lens, lcd screen? Yes. Does the SxS workflow work better than the P2 workflow? Not really. Sure you can squeeze more material onto a card with the Sony’s 35MBPS data rate but you may pay for that squeezing somewhere down the road with your workflow.

Both cameras work well for greenscreen (I shoot a lot of it with the ReflecMedia ChromaFlex system as well as traditional greenscreen) so I am not talking about color space. But to me, the hassle of having to transcode the EX-1’s long GOP format to ProRes is an extra step and hassle in comparison to native editing the DVCProHD codec, which is super clean and efficient for many needs. You may be okay in editing in the XDCAM codec but for me, it is too clunky and render intensive and the signal does not hold up as well as the DVCProHD when it comes to multi-layer composites and heavy color correction.

IMHO, there are three specific areas that the Panasonic cameras (HVX-200, 200a and HPX-170) outshine the Sony.

1. JelloVision – yes, the CMOS imager/rolling shutter artifacts can affect your footage negatively in certain situations. Shooting subjects that require long focal lengths and constant rapid panning such as auto racing, tennis, baseball, football and other sports can result on rolling shutter artifacts. I have run into this when shooting baseball and car racing myself. It is very distracting and just plain looks weird. If you buy the latest issue of HD Video Pro Magazine, I contributed some rolling shutter artifact stills to Barry Green’s article on CMOS/rolling shutter.

Shooting around strobe lights, flashes or flashing lights (events with photographers or music venues) also results in rolling shutter artifacts. Not a huge handicap for many shooters but for those who do occasionally shoot in these circumstances, the rolling shutter is a limiting factor that the HVX/HPX cameras do not have.

2. Colorimetry – Although the EX cameras are capable or reproducing good color, some feel that the Panasonic has a superior color rendering for those seeking the most filmic kinds of looks. In short, for experienced eyes and shooters, the EX = a more video-like look, the Panasonic = a more filmic type of look. And yes, I have tweaked and tweaked and tried many different setup recipes for the EX-1 and while I can get a nice picture out of it, it is missing something in the quality of the colorimetry that the Panasonic has. This one is highly subjective but if you are creating a project and trying to obtain the most filmic look, you may be better off with a Panasonic. Many non-technical people have sworn that HVX projects I have shot were film originated, while this has never happened with the Sony footage.

3. Ergonomics – The EX-1 has horrendously bad ergonomics, it leans to one side, is heavy and clunky and the menus and controls are a bit tedious to work with. The HVX-200/200a has merely medicore ergonomics. The HPX-170 has quite good ergonomics. If you shoot handheld a lot, you may find that out of all of these cameras, the HPX-170 is the smallest, lightest and has the best ergonomics. You can always mount the EX-1 on a shoulder mount, counterweight it, add lens controls, etc. and it will be fine but for out of the box handholding, the Panasonics are superior, especially the HPX-170.

IMHO, they are all great cameras and the EX-1 is a great tool. But it is not the be-all/end-all in sub $10k cameras by any means. It is not “the best in any circumstances”. The best would be to own both the EX-1 and the HPX-170. Then, IMHO, you would have the best for any circumstances.

Dan

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