Hi, I'd like to use optical steadyshot. In Menu settings do I have to choose "Steadyshot", "Steadyshot Enabled" or "Steadyshot disabled"?
Thank you

The NX and AX only have optical steadyshot Adriano. Even the Active Steadyshot is OIS, even though it appears to be electronic (EIS). You need to have SS enabled to have it working, and I've put this under an assign button.

Once you've activated the SS you can choose hard, standard and soft settings. You'd think hard would be the most effective, but it can get 'sticky' in pans and tilts so I stay on standard, which is all but invisible in operation. I often fit a wide-converter (0.52x) and have never felt the need to select the 'wide-converter' setting of the SS.

Sony's OIS is remarkable. If you concentrate, brace yourself and hold your breath it's quite possible to hand-hold full telephoto takes. 590 mm at 1/50th sec - I wouldn't have believed it possible, but it sure is.

tom.

The NX and AX only have optical steadyshot Adriano. Even the Active Steadyshot is OIS, even though it appears to be electronic (EIS). You need to have SS enabled to have it working, and I've put this under an assign button.


Thanks a lot for your interesting reply.
1) If SS is optical, why when I use it, do I see a soft zooming of the image?
2) I have noticed AX2000 has a very good wide angle lens, why often do you need a wide-converter (0.52x)?
Thanks

The NX5 / AX2000 has to zoom in the image slightly when you turn on Active Steadyshot because the range of the OIS is so large that the image would vignette at the edges otherwise. It doesn't use any form of EIS.

Why on the specifications there is not any writings about optical steadyshot?

Because it's a standard feature on almost all cameras? The NX5 has three options - Steadyshot off, Optical Steadyshot (with Low, Med, and High settings), and Active Steadyshot.

1) If SS is optical, why when I use it, do I see a soft zooming of the image?
2) I have noticed AX2000 has a very good wide angle lens, why often do you need a wide-converter (0.52x)?
Thanks

1) 'Soft zooming of the image'? When you select the Active Steadyshot it works in combination with the normal Steadyshot and as Felix says, it vibrates the internal SS elements so much that they cause the image to vignette. The zoom into the frame is simply to disguise this 'fault', in roughly the same way overscan zoomed into the image to disguise poor power supplies in CRT TVs.

2) If you call 30mm 'a very good wide-angle lens' then you won't need a wide-angle adapter. In 1965 we thought 30mm was a pretty good wide angle, but in 2011? To add fear and fright to your monster in the woods tracking the campers you'll need a 16mm lens, and this is what my 0.52x gives me. With no barrel distortion.

tom.

1) 'Soft zooming of the image'? When you select the Active Steadyshot it works in combination with the normal Steadyshot and as Felix says, it vibrates the internal SS elements so much that they cause the image to vignette. The zoom into the frame is simply to disguise this 'fault', in roughly the same way overscan zoomed into the image to disguise poor power supplies in CRT TVs.


I'm sorry but I don't understand and I'd like to understand fine.
1) If I will select Active Steadyshot in combination with the normal Steadyshot, will I get degradation of image quality (a little bit)?

2) If I like to get Standard steadyshot, on the settings do I have to enable steadyshot?
In other words on my settings I see:
ENABLED STEADYSHOT
STANDARD
STANDARD

or I have to see:
STEADYSHOT
STANDARD
STANDARD

3) If I'd like to get Standard steadyshot, do I have so see "act" on the screening?



2) If you call 30mm 'a very good wide-angle lens' then you won't need a wide-angle adapter.


You are right but it is the best wide angle lens among semi-pro cameras.
When you you use a wide-converter (0.52x) the image degradation is acceptable? Is it Sony VCL-HG0872X?

I'm sorry for my questios but the secifications of my AX2000 is not good because it is a translation from english to italian.

On my NX5U steady shot is assigned to a button on the side of the camera. Pressing the button will give three indications on the LCD. " OFF", steadyshot off, press again " nothing is displayed", steadyshot on press again " ACT" steadyshot active is on.

In the menu you can set what level steadyshot is going to operate at when selected.

Ron Evans

Ron Evans
... but what I don't understand is: on the steadyshot settings do I have to choise "STEASYSHOT" or "ENABLED STEADYSHOT" to get "STANDARD STEADYSHOT"?
Thanks

There are two ways of setting steadyshot.

1 Set it in the menu system

2 Assign a button and use the button to set the steadyshot

I have set button 1 on the side of the camera as steadyshot and in the menu set steadyshot to off, steadyshot to standard and active steadyshot standard.

ON the LCD OFF will be displayed in the bottom left corner next to a little shaking hand. WHen this is displayed steadyshot is OFF. Press the button again and normal steadyshot is active unfotunately nothing is displayed in this mode, I would have like them to show ON next to the hand, press button again and ACT is displayed next to the hand and active steadyshot is active. The level that is set is governed by the settings in menu

Ron Evans

There are two ways of setting steadyshot.

1 Set it in the menu system

2 Assign a button and use the button to set the steadyshot

I have set button 1 on the side of the camera as steadyshot and in the menu set steadyshot to off, steadyshot to standard and active steadyshot standard.
Evans

... but in the Menu if I set STEADYSHOT (not ENABLED STEADYSHOT but STEADYSHOT), always I will get a standard steadyshot for every time, even if I don't use the button assign and don't see any icon on LCD display?
that is:
STEADYSHOT
STANDARD
STANDARD


ON the LCD OFF will be displayed in the bottom left corner next to a little shaking hand. WHen this is displayed steadyshot is OFF. Press the button again and normal steadyshot is active unfotunately nothing is displayed in this mode, I would have like them to show ON next to the hand, press button again and ACT is displayed next to the hand and active steadyshot is active. The level that is set is governed by the settings in menu


1) If I assign a button and if I use the button to set the steadyshot, when ACT is displayed I always see a little zoom of the image. is it meaning that steadyshot is not standard?

I hope you will explain my 2 questions precisely please.
Thanks a lot.

It is confusing.

I don't have my NX5U with me now so this is what I see in the manual:

The "STEADYSHOT", "SET" you have three options:
"STEADYSHOT" (standard steady shot on)
"ACTIVE STEADYSHOT" (turn on active steady shot)
"OFF" (no steady shot).

In "STEADYSHOT TYPE" you can select HARD, STANDARD, SOFT or WIDE CONVERSION. This had nothing to do with turning it on or off.

In "ACTIVE STEADYSHOT TYPE" you have the options of STANDARD or WIDECONVERSION.

As stated above, if you assign a button to steady shot, pressing the button toggles between "OFF" (off icon), "STEADYSHOT" (steady shot on, no icon) and "ACTIVE STEADYSHOT" (active steadyshot icon). The steadyshot types set in the "TYPE" are what you get here.

Hope this didn't add to the confusion.

When ACT is displayed you are in Active steadyshot NOT standard. Active steadyshot results in a small zoom because the moving lens used for the steadyshot has greater movment in active mode.

For standard to be switched on there is nothing displayed on the LCD. I know its very confusing if there is nothing on the LCD you are in standard steadyshot with the level set in the menu ( you have to set this)

Ron Evans

You are wonderful guys. ;)
Now my ideas are clear.
But I have to ask last questions, then I will have understood everething.
When in Menu I set STEADYSHOT, I see STEADYSHOT and ENABLED STEADYSHOT.
If I chose ENABLED STEADYSHOT, I will not need Assign Button anymore because active steadyshot will run permanently. Is it right?

Will Active Steadyshot deteriorate video quality? I have just made a test and I have a feeling there is less video quality (a little bit). I see less sharpness. Is it my feeling or reality?
Thanks a lot

You can use the menu to set any of them permanently. I do not advise this though especially active steadyshot. IF you use a tripod turn steadyshot off. IF you are hand holding the camera then standard steady shot is fine. if you are in a crowd and will get pushed or want to walk fast with handholding the camera then use the active mode. That is why having it on a button is more useful as you will be able to see the mode you are in and change if you need to.

Ron Evans

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I'm using for the first time Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX, can you tell me if every time I have transferred files from Memory stick to hard disk I have to format the Memory stick or it is sufficient to delete those files in the Memory stick?
Thanks

You can just delete them but do so in the camera NOT the PC. I also only use the Content Management system to transfer files to the PC.

Ron Evans

Yes, just delete the files using the camera. Current thinking is that you'll kill your flash memory card faster if you reformat each time.

Can I delete all the files in the Memory by PC or do I have to make it by camera only?

''Will Active Steadyshot deteriorate video quality? I have just made a test and I have a feeling there is less video quality (a little bit). I see less sharpness. Is it my feeling or reality?''

It an unavoidable reality - using Active SS 'zooms into' the image slightly to hide the cut off corners (that only occurs when you shake the camera pretty violently). So instead of recording 1920 x 1080, it records something like 1880 x 997 (I'm guessing here).

Easiest way to see this is to connect your NX5 to a good big TV using HDMI and use the TV as a giant viewfinder. Switch between SS off, SS and Active SS and note the loss of fine detail in the ASS setting.
Also note that you lose the 29.5 mm wide-angle - you're left with something like 32mm.

Sony are alone in having no on-screen display symbol visible when SS is turned on (I nearly said active!), and this shows their faith in the very near total transparency of the technology. All other makes warn you when you've got IS turned on and in the days of EIS this was an important warning.

However, I feel Sony should now change their tactic, and that's because in the old days SS was a fairly mild correction whereas now SS can now be softened or hardened considerably, and we should be warned. I have assign button 2 set up to toggle SS because I need the 'pip' on the button to find it quickly. Tripod pans shouldn't be attempted with SS on, even in the normal mode.

Next you say, 'When you you use a wide-converter (0.52x) the image degradation is acceptable? Is it Sony VCL-HG0872X?'

No, the 0872 does what it says - the 08 is a 0.8x and the 72 is a 72mm fitting. That lens is good, but it's big, heavy, expensive and just too feeble.

My 0.52x is made by Bolex in Switzerland and converts the 29.5 mm to 16mm. It's a single element, an aspheric, and it's pretty expensive. Being a single element it gives chromatic aberration and does indeed lose you corner sharpness - far more than when used on my Z1 for instance. Odd that.

But when you're using a 16 mm lens it's the perspective distortion you're using it for, and if the audience complain about corner sharpness you've really lost them. But it's wonderful inside huge cathedrals where all the pillars remain dead straight, regardless of where they are in the frame. And it still allows me a 15x zoom before the image blurs suddenly.

tom.

My 0.52x is made by Bolex in Switzerland and converts the 29.5 mm to 16mm. It's a single element, an aspheric, and it's pretty expensive. Being a single element it gives chromatic aberration and does indeed lose you corner sharpness


Tom, I have always used wide angle lens from Sony and Century Optics but I'm curious to use 0.52x made by Bolex. Could you give me your suggestions? I above all make my shots in the rainforest and inside huts of indigenous peoples, in your opinion could it be useful for me? How much sharpness it it at the center of lenses? Where can I buy it and how much it costs?
Thanks again.

You should delete video files in the camcorder. The file structure needs to be updated on deletion.

I've also read in the card specs that their life time is affected by the number of times it's removed and reinserted in the slot. Maybe 10,000 cycles is too much to worry about. Especially when a 60 minute video transfers in 10 minutes in my laptop slot as compared to 20 by USB.

Oh well. Enough dribble.

BTW, I find active steady shots maintain enough quality to make it worth it when you can't shot with a tripod. But then, I'm a shaky old man.

Yes, just delete the files using the camera. Current thinking is that you'll kill your flash memory card faster if you reformat each time.

I would think the guidelines are similar to those for still cameras that use flash memory. With still cameras it is much faster to simply reformat the cards in-camera after each use rather than deleting files. There is minimal chance that anyone is going to shorten the life of the cards using this method. My primary experience is with CF cards in still cameras but I have flash cards that are well over 5 years old which have been removed and formatted 5-6 times or more per week year round. The life cycle for these cards is many many thousands of cycles. You will likely not live long enough to "wear out" a flash card.

Tom, I have always used wide angle lens from Sony and Century Optics but I'm curious to use 0.52x made by Bolex. Could you give me your suggestions? I above all make my shots in the rainforest and inside huts of indigenous peoples, in your opinion could it be useful for me? How much sharpness it it at the center of lenses? Where can I buy it and how much it costs?
Thanks again.

All the wideangle converters I've used (Century, Kenko, Raynox, Tecpro, Zunow and so on) have given me barrel distortion. If they don't then they're so mild (the Sony 0.8x comes to mind) they're not worth the hassle of lugging about, storing and fitting.

The aspherics made by Schneider

www.wittner-kinotechnik.de: Katalog (http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de/katalog/08_aufna/b_optike.php)

work beautifully but are - as far as I can see - uncoated, but maybe you should look here:

WVL , Widelens , Wide angle , Wideangle converter , professional lens , zoomlens , wideangle adapter , wideangle converter (http://www.lenswvl.com/)

But read up on the world's best wide-converter and talk to Bolex in Switzerland:

CHANGE THIS TO THE ITEM TITLE (http://cinematechnic.com/products/zeiss/Mutar_f=6mm_Zeiss.html)

tom.

All the wideangle converters I've used (Century, Kenko, Raynox, Tecpro, Zunow and so on) have given me barrel distortion. If they don't then they're so mild (the Sony 0.8x comes to mind) they're not worth the hassle of lugging about, storing and fitting.


Two years ago when I used a different camera I purchased a Century wide angle lens but I used it very little because it gave me a bad image quality. I can accept a little barrel distortion if the quality of image remains good (sharpness and colorimetry).
How much Bolex wide angle lens deteriorates the images?
thanks

The Bolex Aspheron has been designed to fit the Vario Switar 12.5 - 100mm zoom. The fact that it works on a lot of other cameras (not the EX1 though, which was a major reason I went with the NX5) means there are compromises simply because it wasn't designed for anything else.

It's a single element with a very powerful -10 dioptre (approx) power, so there's chromatic aberration (CA)introduced due to the laws of optics, not the laws of Bolex. The Aspheron was sharpest on my VX2k, then slightly less sharp on the Z1 and fitted to the NX5 it's really not good enough for critical, stationery camera work.

Each camera in that chain gained a wider and wider wide-angle end to the zoom, such that when the Aspheron's fitted to the NX5 you have a very impressive 16mm (equiv) focal length. With no barrel distortion you can film anywhere, and horizons, tables, pictures, doors, telegraph poles all remain straight and true.

I have a lot of other wide-angles and some are zoom through, some are sharper, the multi-element ones have invisible CA but what do I shoot through? The Aspheron, every time. It's strikingly, frighteningly wide. As a single T* coated element there's very little flare introduced, but you have to have spotlessly clean elements when working at a focal length of 2.2mm.

tom.

As a single T* coated element there's very little flare introduced, but you have to have spotlessly clean elements when working at a focal length of 2.2mm.


Damn! I will use it in rainfores and it is very hard to get clean elements. In your opinion what other wide angle lens can I use on my AX2000? For me the most important things are: sharpness and less chromatic aberration. Even if it is not enough wide angle it is ok.
Thanks for your suggestions.

As I say, you can use any wide-angle lens that will screw or bayonet on, but the compromise is feebleness and barrelling. But you should look at the Sony version, because it sounds like you'll need to use it with a good 16:9 hood.

Just to clear things for me:

If I am using my cam on a tripod I want to see (Steadyshot) "off" on the display - is that right?

thanks
Kramer

Yes, it is right. You have to push twice on Assign button if you like to see steadyshot "off" on the LCD screening.

Yes, I know how to set the Steadyshot setting to off, but is this the desired setting if I use
my nx5u on a tripod?

thanks
Kramer

Sure, it is.

grazie mille

Yes, that is correct. OFF on the display for tripod use.

Ron Evans

That's correct. But (and there's always a but) if your tripod is on an unsteady floor (and wedding marquees spring to mind) then Steadyshot can help. If you're using long telephotos and your tripod head isn't much good, SS can help here too.

To find out if you need to switch SS off, HDMI your camera to a big TV, put it on the tripod and do as smooth a pan or tilt as you can with the SS in your normal position (hard, normal, soft). Doesn't matter what focal length you do this test at.

Notice any tiny 'blips' that break into the pan? That's the SS working.

tom.

Thank you for your help.

Kramer

All the wideangle converters I've used (Century, Kenko, Raynox, Tecpro, Zunow and so on) have given me barrel distortion. If they don't then they're so mild (the Sony 0.8x comes to mind) they're not worth the hassle of lugging about, storing and fitting.


Hi Tom,
I have just seen on Internet Tokina WIDE ANGLE LENS FOR SONY HDR-AX2000 . It seems to have good lens. I am leaning towards it. It is very cheap and I'd like to biuy it. I'd like to make a try. In your opinion will I make an error? I'd like to make a test and if I don't like it, I can get rid of it without sorrow.
thanks

Perfect - try before you buy, there really is no substitute Adriano. Tokina have a very good name in optics so you may be satisfied, but I can pretty much guarantee you that it will barrel distort down the wide end. Not that this will matter in your rainforest footage though. Do you have a link to the Tokina you're interested in? And can you fit a hood to keep the water drops off the front element?

tom.

This is the link that I met: Tokina WIDE ANGLE LENS FOR SONY HDR-AX2000 Camcorder su eBay.it Lenses, Camcorder Accessories, Cameras Photo (http://cgi.ebay.it/Tokina-WIDE-ANGLE-LENS-FOR-SONY-HDR-AX2000-Camcorder-/330469429050?pt=Camcorder_Lenses&hash=item4cf1834f3a)
I don't know if there are any hood for it.

72mm attachment thread - so it should screw straight onto your AX2k. Be very careful though as the Sony's front element is right up against the filter threads, so if the Tokina's rear element is protruding in any way the two elements might touch as you screw them together - with disastrous results!

The Tokina is a 0.5x zoom-through optic so I'm betting you'll get wild barrel distortion. The more you zoom towards telephoto the less obvious this will be, but as soon as you zoom just a little bit it'll be time to take this lens off. Use it just for the times when you MUST see wider, regardless of the consequences. Because of the distortion and extra flare this won't be a fit-it-and-forget-it lens, no way.

I'd sure like to try it on my NX5 and compare it to my Aspheron (0,52x).

tom.

I 2nd that tom! Adriano great find!! I'm so tempted just to buy it and try it at that price 100$ is almost a no brainer. I would need this for certain wide angle situations as tom said regardless of distortion or not. It does look to have substantial distortion however given the picture examples on that link. Tom do these converters soak up any light?

These converters are generally three element designs. Sometimes the real cheap ones are two element, but the Tokina name should ensure it's a three element (the spec gives no clue).

If they're fully multicoated they absorb so little light it's un-noticeable - maybe 1/8th of a stop tops. You need make no adjustments whatsoever. Some people have told me they 'make the camera more light sensitive'. Duh, they fit the wide-angle and it 'sees' a lot more sky, changing the green field view at f/4 into a sky-filled shot asking for f/8.

tom.