Matthew Sonnenfeld
Forum Replies Created
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What kind of computer are you working? Are you on a laptop or a desktop?
I’ve had the MXO2 mini and was very disappointed in driver support. There is some cool tech in there, but it just didn’t “work” the way it should. Maybe they’ve upped their game since, but I wound up switching to the AJA IoXT. I take it you don’t have a Thunderbolt enabled laptop?
If you are thinking of the MXO2 mini though, take a serious look at the AJA Io Express. It’s an awesome I/O box with the same type of flexibility as the Matrox but has AJA quality and support which is in short, awesome.
Of the other options that you through out there, I can’t say that I really have experience with much MOTU gear for video but have had some great times with their audio hardware. Blackmagic gear is probably second in the industry to AJA but they produce a much wider product line than AJA so you may be able to find a product more specifically tailored to your needs. Blackmagic though is solid, decently reliable, and widely compatible. If you are ever thinking that you will use DaVinci Resolve, Blackmagic is the only hardware you will be able to use anyway so it may be the best place to go in terms of broad spectrum compatibility.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Hi Marco,
Again, a very thorough and informative test. I found the rolling shutter test to be particularly surprising. After having seen your texting short I was very impressed with the performance of the BMCC’s rolling shutter but after seeing your test here it really makes it revealing about what limitations we are exactly dealing with. In fairness though, BMD never claimed to make a rolling shutter marvel so I hold no ill will. The fact still remains that there are ways around everything. Someone who is used to shooting on a DSLR will use their experience with the BMCC and I believe will be very pleased.
As for the image, I was very impressed with the overall performance. I watched on a 50″ Panasonic plasma so I was able to really see minute details. The overall sharpness, highlight control, and dynamic range of the BMCC though was definitely what I had expected if not better. Low light was also surprisingly good having heard so much from BMD that it is not a “low light” camera. No, it’s not designed to see in the dark but it certainly can be pushed.
I think it goes to show that if you understand its limitations, there is a world of possibility with this camera.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Really enjoyed it Marco! As a piece, very important subject matter but handled in a fun and entertaining way! Content is after all king as they say…
As for the picture itself and as a camera test, I was very impressed with how rolling shutter performance seems to be pretty manageable if not quite good. I must admit that I was keeping an eye out for any rolling shutter artifacts and I was really pleasantly surprised with all the talk that it would be perhaps a little better than a DSLR but still, there. I’d say it significantly out performs a DSLR. That is though at least to my eye.
Also, having read your article on shooting wide with the BMCC it was great to see the resulting footage. You’re absolutely right. You can shoot wide on this camera. It’s just about knowing what tools are available and how to use them properly.
Very well done and thank you!
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Unfortunately there are no Thunderbolt adapters or PCIe cards as Thunderbolt requires that it is part of the motherboard largely due to its carrying of DisplayPort protocol. In this way it must be designed in tandem with an integrated graphics processor or even a discreet graphics processor thats on the motherboard, IE a laptop. The Thunderbolt on desktop motherboards has been designed with workarounds. I’m not sure exactly how it’s done in that case but I’m sure a quick google will tell you. Either way I know there are no Thumderbolt expansion cards and time will tell if there will be.
eSATA is actually what BMD recommends for transfers. A SATA 3 card and reader will work quite well.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Excellent, thanks Eric!
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Marco, I definitely see what you’re saying about the Wooden Camera cage not being flush. Personally I do wish it were too. But to me, the protection that a cage will give the camera is equally as important as the mounting points and just about everything else. The cage from Wooden just looks like the most protective to me. God forbid it fell, barring the protruding lens mount and the lens itself of course, the cage looks to be hitting the ground before the camera. No cage will protect the lens of course, but especially with the touch screen, I want to know that’s as safe as it can possibly be. The Wooden just seems to be the most comprehensive cage I’ve seen, certainly not the most elegant and is not without design flaws, but comprehensive. On top of that, the range of additional accessories such as the top handle and baseplate make it feel Iike a good ecosystem to me.
On the other hand, there is a lot to be said of lightness and speed and the Viewfactor and the Bebob seem to be the best combination of those. I think at the end of the day it comes down to your specific needs. As I’ve said before, it’s great to have so many options.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Thank you Kristian, this is indeed great news.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Marco, I honestly didn’t even think of a top handle. Definitely an oversight on my part. I agree with you that a cage is incredibly important. I would love to hear your experiences with the Shape and Viewfactor cages when they come in. For safety sake of the camera I absolutely want to get a cage as soon as I can, but like Eric said, the shopping is endless.
As for power, you’re right that there are many options already. And a battery plate for a V mount or an Anton Bauer would be a very versatile piece of equipment. The wide voltage range does also make it particularly friendly to different power options. With the Switronix, I like that it’s actually a battery a grip. It feels like it could be a good way to go, though the V-mount can be a good counter weight too. I guess everything has their trade offs.
Eric, yes I think that the Alphatron is expensive but compared to the other options I think that it really is the best out there. Yes the SmallHD is great but you will need to get an SDI to HDMI mini converter or some other conversion option which will give you latency in your EVF. Could get deceiving, if not nauseating. To me, the extra money for the quality, and the versatility, especially considering that it does both SDI and HDMI loop through and that it is actually made by TVLogic, makes it worth the premium price tag.
For sound mixing, I am seriously looking at the Sound Devices 302 mixer and the Sound Devices MixPre-D. In many cases, the MixPre-D will be great as it is two channel, phantom power, but the 302 is a bit more of a full featured mixer. The three channel also means you can have two lavs and a shotgun so that’s a nice basic audio setup there.
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
J.B. today posted more about the Pool Shark footage and even posted more grades including one done by a Baselight colorist. Worth checking out…
https://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/a-roundup-of-the-current-blackmagic-footage/
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Hi Steve, been meaning to ask you this the last couple of days and pardon my ignorance, but what would be the specific advantage of having SDI on the monitor? Are the signals between the two out of the IoXT not the same?
Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary