There isn't much footage on the web, shot with the Fujinon TH13x3.5BRMU. So I figured some people might like to see this short video I filmed yesterday at 'Egmond aan Zee'.

Make sure to watch it in the highest quality and to expand the player:
YouTube - GY-HM700 with Fujinon 13x wide lens (Egmond aan Zee) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxrX1bV1G7c)

Enjoy!

Hi Derran

It looks good. I tried the Fuji 13x last month and was disappointed with the amount of CA on strong back-lit subjects like window frames, tree branches and the edge of buildings. Your footage looks okay-ish in regard to CA. I only had the lens for a couple of hours. Have you figured out its optimum performance range in terms of iris and focal length?

Thanks Antony. From what I've heard, the CA should be less noticeable with the Fujinon 13x lens in comparison to the stock Canon 14x lens for example. I only have the wide lens, so I can't compare the two in the exact same circumstances. What type of lens do you have on the camera?

When I was filming yesterday, it was quite hazy and there were a lot of high contrast situations. I was happy with the footage that came out of the camera.

What exactly do you mean with "optimum performance range in terms of iris and focal length"?

Hi

I've tried the old stock 16.5x lens (horrible) the new stock Canon (okay-ish) and the 13x so far. I only own the 16.5x Fuji from an old HD100.

By optimum iris and focal length settings, I mean that every zoom lens will have optimum performance characteristics. For example, the old stock 16.5x lens is at its worst at the end of the zoom range, with terrible, terrible CA but performs quite well roughly in the middle of the zoom. Tim Dashwood reports that the newer Fuji 17x and the new bundled Canon 14x have optimum performance characteristics that are quite different from each other. Regarding iris, I find that the old Fuji 16.5x only gave nice sharp pictures around F4 while the Canon XF305 I have here will perform well from F2.8 to about F5.6. Of course, diffraction will set in early (around F5.6) on any 1/3" lens anyway. I really didn't have long to test the 13x, so I was wondering if you had determined where the optimum performance of that lens actually is. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the explanation.
I haven't found the optimum performance range of the lens yet. The thing I did notice, is that CA would appear at really strong back-lit subjects (like you said) and mostly on the far edges of the screen. Not really sure, but this could be more of a camera thing.

I think the lens makes the camera more light sensitive. With iris full open you get the same bright footage as with the Sony Z5 when iris is full open and the footage is also sharper. I'm actually considering getting a ND filter for the lens. The build-in ND filters didn't seem to be strong enough for some extremely bright outdoor scenes.

So far no complaints about the lens. And it's really nice to work with!

I haven't used the Fuji 13x lens, but the basic tests I've done with my Canon 14x shows good control of CA between 8mm-30mm and is very good between 15mm-30mm. Full wide or Tele are prone to CA and strong back light situations should be avoided(not always practical). I did demo the camera with the Fuji 17x5 and it seemed to have more issues with CA than the Canon.

In terms of MTF, the 14x seems to perform well from f1.6 to f5.6 with noticeable diffraction starting at f8. I was happy to see the lens perform well at f1.6 which is helpful to minimize the DOF.

The camera really needs more ND to keep the lens from stopping down too much or maybe JVC could do a firmware update to give the option of -6db gain...that would be great.

Yes I agree Scott. Would like to have more ND on the camera and your -6db gain solution, might just do the trick. It's something that JVC can do with a firmware upgrade. Hopefully JVC also reads this forum...

Perhaps they can also come up with some kind of Chromatic Aberration Compensation, like on the HPX300. Although I don't think it will ever happen, it would make this fantastic camera even better!

Made a new video with the GY-HM700E and Fujinon 13x lens.

Colorful Fields - Holland:
YouTube - Colorful Fields - Holland (GY-HM700E with Fujinon 13x wide lens) (http://youtu.be/lsh_yuporfs?hd=1)

Filmed last week in 720p50 XDCAM EX. Typical Dutch landscape with lots of tulip / bulb fields.

Derran,
Some really lovely footage there. The quality of image is superb (and lovely composition too).
I have only just bought my 700E, with the Canon lens and am having lots of problems with digital noise in the blacks, even in good light. I am trying many different settings to try and find the optimum setting, with limited success.
I couldn't detect any noise with yours, are you able to share your settings so that I could give them a go with the Canon and see how it reacts?
Keep up the good work,
Keith

Keith,

Shooting in native 720p is the best way for this camera.
1080p is Noise!

Hi Pascal,
Yes I have noticed it is worse at 1080, however I am still getting some noise at 720. I have adjusted the toe and master black, currently trying to find the optimum settings.
Coming from the Sony Z1 and PD170 before that, I haven't used a camera like the JVC before, and I feel like a proper beginner again. Hopefully as I get more experience with it, I will find it's optimum level.
Thanks for your reply
Keith

Hi Keith,

I also use the Canon lens on the HM 700.
The settings i use are from this thread.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/jvc-gy-hm-series-camera-systems/469154-scene-file-hm-700-a.html

Her also an example from a musicmovie i made with this settings.

YouTube - Amanda de Koning - We dansen heel de nacht (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYH2oOVKTKQ)

Try these settings, it works fine for me.

Gr, Pascal Verlinden

Looks really nice quality footage. Thanks for that Pascal. Will get to it.
Keith

Derran,
Some really lovely footage there. The quality of image is superb (and lovely composition too).
I have only just bought my 700E, with the Canon lens and am having lots of problems with digital noise in the blacks, even in good light. I am trying many different settings to try and find the optimum setting, with limited success.
I couldn't detect any noise with yours, are you able to share your settings so that I could give them a go with the Canon and see how it reacts?
Keep up the good work,
Keith

Thanks Keith.
I will write down my settings and post them here. Hopefully this will solve the noise problem for you, so you can enjoy filming with the camera again! Did you have time to try out Pascal's settings?

Hi Derran,
Thanks for your reply. I did try out Pascal's settings and they certainly made the greens look better!
There still appears to be some noise evident in the blacks, hopefully I will get there in the end!
Keith

The scene file that Pascal linked to, (the Oprina settings,) are basically what I've been using on my 700u w/Canon lens since I got it back in October. I loaded all the presets I could find on here into the camera, and then went out and shot some test footage.

I wasn't expecting the Oprina settings to work as well as they did, because Eugen has the Fujunon lens, but that's what I've essentially ended up using.

It's a good, solid general setup that can be fine tuned a bit to preference, and far better than the factory settings. I hope that will address your noise issues, (and yeah, stick with 720. 1080 isn't as pretty as hoped on the 700.)

But I am interested in seeing what image settings others are using. Mike started a thread back in March of last year as a place to share Scene and Picture files, but it never really took off:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/jvc-gy-hm-series-camera-systems/475404-gy-hm-700-your-setting.html

I'd really like to see some more activity over there! I'll try to post the ones that I've accumulated up there in a little bit.

All the best!

I also uploaded the video to Vimeo:
Colorful Fields - Holland (GY-HM700E with Fujinon 13x wide lens) on Vimeo

Settings I used:
-----------------------------------
Detail 2
Master Black Normal
Black toe Compress
Compress Level Level 1
Point Level 10%

Knee Manual
Level 90
White clip 100
Gamma standard
Master level -1
R Level 2
G level -1
B Level 1

Color Matrix Cinema Vivd
Adjust
Mg&R Mg Level Normal
Mg&R R Level Normal
R&Yl R Level Normal
R&Yl Y Level Normal
Yl&G Yl Level Normal
Yl&G G Level Normal
Yl &G Mask Range 10
G&CY G Level Normal
G&Cy Cy Level Normal
Cy&B Cy Level Normal
Cy&B B Level Normal
B&Mg B Level Normal
B&Mg Mg level Normal
R Rotation Normal
B Rotation Normal
G Rotation Normal
Color Gain 5
DNR On
-----------------------------------

My settings are very different compared to Oprina settings, so I'm interested to test out the other.

That is some beautiful color, Derran. Thanks for sharing your settings, I'll tinker with that a bit with the Canon lens, and see how it looks.

I can tell you that you might want to avoid using Vivid Cinema on your Color Matrix setting with the rest of the Oprina setup. No one, (including me,) seems too happy with how that looks.

OK thanks!
I will start with the complete setup from Oprina and work from there and see what I would like to change. It's really nice to see how much we can change the look with these settings and get a completely different camera.

I just made the adjustments to mine. I have the Canon lens as well and normal cinema set on mine. Hopfully get out this week and test these settings as well. Steve

Thanks for posting your settings Derran.
The colours are lovely on the Tulips. Will give your settings a go.
Keith