[Daniel Schultz]

Sorry for that late reply.
I believe the “check card” message comes up randomly. It came up when my card was in the camera for me.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Something worth considering as well is reliability of SDHC cards. If you search this forum or DVX User you will see a number of people who’ve gotten the “check card” message, which usually means whatever’s on your card is not recoverable. Granted, a high percentage of these problems are from people using cheap cards, not formatting them in the camera, or other user mistakes.

It happened to me once. I formatted it properly in the camera and lost forever what was on the card.

Since then I’ve invested in higher quality cards, and have gone to the extent of formatting the card in the camera 6-7 times before using a new card (Someone at B&H told me that a company representative recommended doing this, because a card was more likely stable if it passed this test).

But even so, it’s made me nervous every time I do an important shoot. I worry I’ll lose everything. So as soon as the shoot’s over, I copy the contents of the card on a computer, and back everything up in several places.

It’s left me with the feeling that, if I had it to do over again, I’d consider paying the extra $1K for the HPX170. Since I’m not really trusting the SDHC cards as long-term archiving, I needed to invest in that. (RAID mirror hard drive for short term, and Blu-ray for long term) So, in essence, I’m using my SDHC cards in the way P2 or SxS cards are used–as a temporary holding place to quickly offload. I’m not trusting the SDHC cards as a safe, alternate way to archive.

I love my HMC150 camera, and to be honest, I’ve never used the HPX170. From what I’ve read, it’s similar in many respects, aside from a few features, the P2, and the 4.2.2 color space.

I think Noah may likely disagree with this, but thought you might be interested in another (albeit much less experienced) opinion. But it might be worth doing some searches with the “check card” keyword.

Thanks,

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Here’s the tripod I got for my HMC150.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/458997-REG/Libec_LS_38M_2A__LS_38M_2A_Professional_2_Stage_Aluminum.html
Overall, I like it a lot.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Thanks, Criag,

Helpful comments.
Thanks for taking the time.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Dennis,

Your comments are really helpful and specific and useful.

Thanks!

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi Dennis,

Appreciate the feedback.
I had a kino flo on Bob, the Math Man.
But for some reason, he doesn’t appear to have a key light on him, now that you mention it.
Interesting.
Is that because everything–background, foreground, Bob–are about the same exposure?
Perhaps he needs something a little stronger and slightly less diffuse to make him stand out?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi John,

It’s been ages since you helped me with this classroom problem.
Thought I’d share the results with you. Thanks again for all your patience!

https://www.scholastic.com/administrator/education-videos/education-leaders/

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

You will hear many rave reviews on the book by Barry Green.
I own it, and read it all the way through when I bought it.
It’s a marvelous reference for beginner and intermediate. I still refer to it months later.
It breaks everything down in actual, understandable english.
So, yes, it will have been worth it (even though it seems insane to pay that much for a small book)

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

And to add one more question to the last post, this time regarding festivals or other theatrical venues.

How, in your opinion, would footage from the HMC150 hold up to HD theater blowups, or transfer to film?

And with that end-result in mind, would you recommend shooting 720/24p or 1080/24p?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

I have the same question, and will try to be more specific.

Let’s consider, say, PBS/POV. If all other aspects of a film are high quality and up to their standards (cinematography, editing, content, lighting, color correx, sound, etc), would the fact that it was shot on the HMC150 be a fatal stumbling block to their accepting it? I guess it would be the 4-2-0 color space vs the 4-2-2 color space of a camera with P2 media, like the hvx200 or hpx170.

Does that help? It’s important for me to know, because I’m about to embark on a project that, eventually, if all else went well, might be pitched to national venues along the lines of PBS and HBO documentaries.

Thanks for you thoughts.

Dan S.