Ken Zukin
Forum Replies Created
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Cinematography is a craft, and it takes years to develop the skillset necessary to do the job.
Buying the same Fender guitar isn’t going to guarantee you’ll sound like Eric Clapton.
Enjoy the journey. -
I own both of these cameras, but can’t say I’ve ever used them on a 2-cam shoot. I’m guessing you are talking about a Master shot, and then a tighter shot. If so, I’d use the little camera on the wide shot. If you’re talking about 2 matching telephoto type shots – say a 2 camera interview – then you are more or less asking for trouble, as these cameras really don’t match under viewing with a critical eye.
I think the reason would be the pro-lens vs. the cheaper, fixed lens, and the overall sensitivity of the larger camera vs. the small.
If it’s an important project, you might consider renting a 2nd SDX. If that isn’t in the cards, try to set up the little camera so that it’s lens is wide open to defeat the everything-in-focus look of the DVX100. It’s also been my experince that the little camera can’t handle a lot of contrast – that means you’re better off with “flatter”, less dynamic lighting.
Good luck,
Ken
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I recently purchased a Lastolite frame (from B & H), that is 42″ X 42″ and constructed of aluminum with shock cords connecting the four pieces. It’s light and simple, and only cost $42. Of course, you need to provide your own diffusion, but Lastolite also sells that too, if you want. It’s the “small” size – they make some larger ones as well. You’ll also need to buy a grip head for mounting purposes.
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Hey Matt,
Just to echo what Todd said, having a fixture that can “switch-hit”…either tungsten or daylight… is a real time saver. With a Kino type fixture as a key light, you can go into say an office and be able very quickly (with a bulb change) to go daylight or tungsten. They (flourescents) also have the advantages of steep fall-off (don’t pollute the backround), low energy requirements, low heat output, flattering / soft light, and are dimmable. Mole makes some nice units that are comparable with the Kinos, and there are cheaper, knock-off models out there as well.
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A local grip house would be the obvious answer, but that’s going to cost some money.
Assuming you have little or no budget, and that it’s a sunny day, there are a couple of ways to proceed.
You can back-light your group….that is, put the sun directly behind them. Early, low sun will be a problem. You’ll want to do this mid-day…but not mid-day in the middle of the Summer. That is, you want the Sun high, but not directly overhead.
You’ll need to find a dark backround to accomplish this….ideally, slightly darker than the group’s faces. This technique works best with dark haired people who have hair.
Then, just open up the iris an extra stop or so, and make sure you’ve “flagged” off any sunlight from directly hitting the lens of your camera. Not the most elegant solution, but the cheapest.
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The water is generally calmer in the early morning, before the winds come up. The lighting is a thousand percent better then, too.
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Everything Tom W. said in his post above is right by me. I’ll only add that in the life of the product, changes were made by Sony, much like a model of a car gets improved upon. So the more recent BVW series of decks are just flat-out better.
The good news is that since people are dumping Beta SP, for not much more $$$ than a UVW 1800 (I own one too), you can buy a used BVW 75.
Get it checked out by a reputable repair facility, as the price of parts and labor can be shockingly high.
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Understand what you are saying. Make sure your DVCPro capture stations are DVCPro50 capable.
Only the newest generation of Panasonic decks can handle the higher quality codec. I have that camera (SDX900) – it puts out a nice picture. -
Why not buy the Panasonic HVX200, if you can find one – $6K, and you own it! Or maybe the DVX100B, which is at you’re price-point. It just seems like with a thesis, you shouldn’t be required to shell out for a $70,000 tool to do the job.
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Hi Chris,
I’m probably pretty qualified to answer this, as I traded in my Lite Panel “flood” for the “spot.”
It’s a little better, but still WAY underpowered compared to the Anton Bauer cam-mounted HMI.
Nice soft light – just not enough of it. And if you have to throw a gel in front of the (daylight balanced) Lite Panel to correct for Tungsten, well, you get the idea.
If I had to choose between the flood and the spot, I’d get the spot, as you can widen the beam a bit with the diffusion filter provided.
It’s a nice little tool, but expensive, and very limited in what it can do.Ken