[Ronnie Martin]

What is your work flow? At what point do you down convert?
Also what NLE Editing platform are you using?

Thanks

Ronnie Martin

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

Thanks Craig for the update. I did not mean to put Sony in a negative light. I am a rabid Sony fan. Every video Camera that I have owned in the last 10-15 years has been a Sony. I have owned a PD170, PDX 10, Zu1, Dsr500, Dsr250, Hrv270 and now the EX-1. In the past two years we have been moving to HD and have sold our SD cameras. By far the 170 and DSR 500 have been my favorites.

I think our move to HD has been premature. Out end product is still SD DVD and will be for the foreseeable future. We got better results shooting SD and delivering SD than we do shooting HD and then down converting to SD. If the price of the Blu Ray blank printable disks ever come down so that small companies like us can distribute our work on them, we will finally be able to share the great images we get shooting HD with the Zu1, EX and 270. Currently, our main camera is the EX and the B roll is the Zu1. Sorry to ramble on so and off topic.

Take care

Ronnie Martin
http://www.dirtracingvideo.com

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

Thanks guys for all the information…
I heard at the Sony Presentation about the EX-1 at NAB 2006 that one of the great features of the EX was the fact that the media would be much cheaper that the other brands.

I guess that Sony has it all to them selves and the promise of cheaper meadia for the Ex at Nab last year was not valid.

I was a little miffed because I bought my EX-1 in November last year just as they were shipping and then found out at NAB a few months later that there was the EX-3 with a removable lens. I wonder what ever happened to the EX-2?

Sorry to be negative…. I really love my Ex and it has become my main camera for our company. I plan to also get the EX-3 shortly.

Ronnie Martin

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

How does the HQ 720p 60 footage compare to 1080i 60 down converted to SD when shooting fast moving objects? I shoot dirt racing at night where the light changes every 50-60 feet and the cars are moving at over 100mph and have been using 1440X1080i shutter at 60. The results have been pretty good except for some artifacts on horizontal lines when down converted then burned to SD DVD. The main issue that I have had is nailing focus. My perch is usually way up on a press box and I am shooting down following the cars around the track. When the light is low the depth of field is shallow. Most of the time focus is set to infinity but infinity is not against the infinity stop on the Fugi lens on the EX. It keeps changing. Is this a camera issue or pilot error on my part? The footage when viewed on my Sony HD monitor is super. It is when the down convert to SD on the timeline the artifacts occur. The Editing platform is Edius 4.61.

Thanks
Ronnie Martin
http://www.dirtracingvideo.com

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

What if you convert the PDF file to Jepeg or some other format? Then can you link to the image?

Thanks
Ronnie

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

Great Post Paul: However, the EX-1 is my main camera for sports
(dirt car racing http://www.dirtracingvideo.com) and it literally kills my wrist. Most of the time I am way above the track during the race in a spot where it would be impossible to get up a tripod and most of the shooting is in a downward position. When each feature race is concluded and the cars go through tech inspection, I climb down and get to the track for the interview of the winner. Here is where I have the problem. When I take my hand from under the camera to adjust focus my old tired wrist on my right hand wobbles and many times ruins a good shot. Things happen quickly and when the interview is over and while the still photographers are taking their shots I run back up the bleachers and climb to my perch and get ready (breathlessly I must say) for the next race. During the heat of the season I shoot every weekend sometimes both Friday and Saturday nights. I have tried the wrist brace by Hoodman but I can’t climb up the ladder on the press box with it. Were it not for the dust and debris down close to the track I would leave another camera down there for just the winning interviews. (Also it could walk off.)
I bought a brace off E-bay and found that I could not see through the eye piece and that when the sun was up focus through the viewfinder was impossible. When I contacted the seller he had vanished with out a trace. Evidently he sold a bunch of the braces on E-bay and then suddenly stopped for some reason. Maybe because it wouldn’t work with the EX-1. I must admit that the brace was well constructed and balanced enough that I could climb with it. It was called a CB105.

Thanks again

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

I also have the DSR 500. It is a great SD camera and actually gives me better SD DVDs than downconverted footage from the EX-1. However, the image on my HD monitor with the EX-1 in either mode HDV or HQ 1920X1080 is just awesome. Right now my market is a long way off from Blu Ray and I am not even sure it will take off in the next year or two. The price of the Blu Ray disk is just way to high for a product that sells for $25 US. It is a struggle even with the price of the SD DVDs. If you are producing projects that are one offs and you know that your client has a compatible player then I would go for it. As long as Sony has monopoly the price will be a long time coming down.

Sorry to digress from the topic at hand. Hopefully, I will find a solution for the EX-1 hand held. Now if we could just find a remote
focus control that would work while shooting from a tripod.
take care

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

I bought one but it would only allow me to use the fold out viewfinder. It is not much use in direct sunlight. My neck is just not long enough to see through the eye piece.

Do you have any pictures to show of your mount?

If so send them to me at ronnievideo@aol.com

thanks

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

Thanks for the info… I suspect it will be awhile before the cards from other companies come to market. I have become addicted to tapeless cameras. The capture time on my projects is cut down by 75%. In the past it took most of a day for me to capture the footage from a racing event. Now it takes only a few minutes.

I have a HVR 270 that shoots both to Tape and a CFcard. A couple of weeks ago I shot a project for a local church picking up clips at several different locations. When I started to capture the footage and remove the tape, the tape broke. Lucky for me I had the CF card as a back up and all was well. My ideal camera would be one that would shoot full HD (like the EX series) and at the same time offer a tape archive. That is what I like about the 270. However, the image quality cannot compare with the EX.

Thanks again

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions

[Ronnie Martin]

Thanks… I hope that there will be some relief on the SXS cards soon. I thought that I heard at NAB 08 that there would be other companies releasing competive prices soon. However, SOON could be a long time off.

Thanks again

Ronnie Martin
Kato Video Productions