Ok, so I went to the neighborhood SAMY'S Camera on Fairfax here in Los Angeles today to pick up an ARRI 650w bulb because we burnt one out during the festival last weekend......I went to the Pro lighting dept. on the 4th floor and grabed the bulb. On the way down I said "WHAT THE HECK" and decided to stop in at that Pro-Video depot.

As soon as I walk in, WHAM BAMMMM there they have a huge 50" plasma setup with an XL-H1 plugged in via component cables while they are shooting people in the store in 24p mode.....

*sigh*

What's a brutha to do.... It was just Callling me! CALLING ME!!! The sales rep then proceeds to pop a promo tape in of some footage......WOWOWOWOWOZERS!!!!!! Now, my Z1U footage is pretty, no denying that.....but this Canon XL-H1 footage is is absolutely STUPENDOUS!!!!!(sp?) in ALL MODES!

"So do you have any in stock?" i ask.
"Yep Shannon, we got 2 left."
"DAMMIT, Why didn't you sell out...that would give me an excuse not to buy!! ummmm, ok, lemme call my wife....."

*ring* *click*
"Hey baby, how's your day going on the set of Rocky Balboa 6??"
"Ummm, fine...what did you do???"
"What do you mean, I can't just call you out of the blue and say hi honey bun sweetie pie??, i miss you!!"
Ummmm, no....you sound like you wanna buy something again!"
(I proceeded to give her the sales pitch of a lifetime...it was my best performance yet!)

Needless to say......I packaged it up....and took it home. I was the 16th person to buy one he told me. and NO he didnt give me a deal like they usually do. "SORRY SHANNON, THESE PUPPIES ARE GOING FOR STICKER!"

"Ok, whatever....Where's the bank so I can go snatch up some cash"

and thats the story folks......Check it out...I took some flicks in my living room.....

http://www.cinemahill.com/hidef/images/shansXLH1-a.jpg
http://www.cinemahill.com/hidef/images/shansXLH1-b.jpg

I was the first in America to buy the Sony Z1U (so i'm told) in January this year. Apparently I am one hundred or two hundred someting for the Canon, and I am here once again to serve my DVINFO community!

The Z1U will go on eBay or I'll put it away next to my old XL1s, DVX100a, TRV17 (haven't decided yet). When the Panasonic HVX-200 comes out, I'm gonna buy one of those as well so I can see which is best for my production style. And then I'll sell the one I don't want on eBay or something.

OK guys , so I am doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING this week, so fire your questions away! I'll see what I can do on answering the ones Pete & Chris hasn't answered already.

- ShannonRawls.com

Before you get rid of that Z1U...

I (and I suspect others) would love to see some head-to-head comparisons of the Sony Z1U vs. the Canon XL-H1 in some similar situations. I'm thinking of buying one of them, and I really want to know if the H1 is worth twice the Z1U. Any chance of getting some of the following?

Res charts for Z1U: 60i, 30"p", 25"p" vs. H1 60i, 30"p", 24"p" in identical situations?

Similar comparison for some still color shots with a tripod and/or motion shots?

Thanks in advance for anything you can provide,
Bill

Wow Shannon, that was quick. I don't really have a test or anything in mind, but I'm curious: are you planning to use the XLH1 in HDV mode exclusively, or have you given any thought to using the HD-SDI capability?

It seems to me if you have the $10k lying around to consider an HVX200 as well, you could be well on your way to square pixel 1920x1080 4:2:2 uncompressed acquisition system with the XLH1.

-Steve

Congrats, Shannon! Methinks you're gonna like it! I have no doubt it'll pay for itself before too long as well (especially if you start selling off some of those older units -- are you setting up the 'Shannon Rawls Museum of Camcorder History' or something?) ;)

Do you have any optional lenses from the XL1s? Pete Bauer did some testing and found that he thought the old XL lenses gave acceptable results with the XL H1, so you might want to try the 3x or something if you've got it.
I think that XL H1 produces the nicest footage of any HDV camera. Lookin' forward to seeing some of the stuff you shoot on it!

William,

Res charts....man.....I don't have one of those, and if I did, I wouldn't know what to do with it. LOL Give me something easier, like shoot a goldfish swimming in a bowl or something. *smile*

Steven,

I will more then likely use the camera in HDV mode. For all practical purposes HDV IS FINE....i'll say again....for pratical movie-making...HDV IS EXCELLENT. For those that forgot they loved DV and are now all of a sudden too good and upity for HDV, lemme say one more time.... HDV IS BETTER THEN DV...PERIOD!
However, I may buy one of those Wafian thingys from David Newman: http://www.cineform.com/products/WafianHR1.htm
Now, as far as $$$ laying around....oh no sir...I don't even have loose change in the seat of my car! I just put what little I have to good use to help me survive in America and live a 1/2 decent lifestyle. that's all. I am not materialistic, i don't buy fancy clothes or waste money on expensive restaurants. I leave that for my wanna-be actors to do. *smile*

Barry,

A camera Shrine? I should create one huh... I havn't sold one yet, but $9,000 grand hit to the savings account is hell noticable in my online banking! LOL I have no lenses from the XL1s, we always rented them. I will see how it pans out for this camera if a DP/Director calls for it. I'm moreso enthusiastic about a MINI/MICRO 25 solution and to see how that works out.
Best of the HDV footage? you think so? Even better then the JVC??????? Hmmmmm, i dunno, but i damn sure hope so.

- ShannonRawls.com

Congrats, Shannon. Well if you could shoot someone with alot of hair detail against a blue/greenscreen, that would be neat.

Just thought of something.....

As I look at this camera sitting on the floor doing nothing and most likely it probably won't be doing anything for a good while, I just realized that my geekness is not as high as I wish it was......

Why don't some of our beloved Camera Scientists hit me up if you're in L.A. We can hook up and do whatever. Shoot whatever. Record whatever. Capture whatever. Edit whatever. I don't mind slaping a few hours on the drum for the good of mankind.

- ShannonRawls.com

Would love to see some side-by-side low light tests comparing the XL-H1 to the Z1U and any DV cameras you have available. One shot with gain locked at 0 db on all the cameras, and one shot with plenty of gain to see what kind of image you can get in the lowest usable lighting. Preferably with a person in the shot in a room with maybe one dim light, or candles.

This weekend is totally booked up for me... maybe can squeeze out some time on friday... but I got a lot of shopping to do....

yes, please shoot a rez chart, try this

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/respat/eia1956-small.jpg
or this
http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/respat/

24F is very very much akin to the motion characteristics of the CineFrame mode on the Sony. It might be sharper, using some better field blending characteristics, it might be doing some different exposure timing, but watching the 24p footage at 60i (as it is recorded) was not Not NOT a cool thing. The motion was inconsistent in a painfully obvious way to my eye. Steady pans had a gallopy nature to them.

exposure lattitude is dissapointing -especially highlight blowout
- the detail is VERY impressive, however that this captures.
- HDV, especially if this is second or third recompression, was alarming - skies had a dance to them, a compression flicker, ALWAYS.

Check the whole article
http://www.hdforindies.com/

Thanks for the post Shannon. Could you spare a plane ticket from Northern CA. and a cozy couch to crash on? ;:) Would love to check this camera out- being an XL2 owner with a 20x and 3x wide lense, I would love to capture some images and fiddle around on the G5 with FCP 5....see what comes of it. I still find myself on the Canon/Panasonic fence. Are you seeing any mpeg artifacts with fast motion? Do you have speedy goldfish??? : )

larry

24F is very very much akin to the motion characteristics of the CineFrame mode on the Sony. blah blah blah.....

Check the whole article
http://www.hdforindies.com/

LOL
Listen to me.

And I hope I am clear as Crystal.

I, Shannon W. Rawls of sound mind and body.

Own both the Sony HVR-Z1U and Canon XL-H1 HD cameras that belong to me and only me.

I have not "seen" or "tested" or "fiddled with" these cameras at some presentation or 'show' for a few minutes.

and I can PROMISE YOU

with ALL ASSURITY

that after witnessing the picture of both cameras back to back using component(RGB) cables on my 19" DELL HDTV ....

THAT THE CF24 MODE ON THE Z1U....

IS ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOTHING LIKE.....

not even REMOTELY.

THE PICTURE THAT THE 24f (in manual mode with the shutter speed locked @ 48) LOOKED LIKE!

: beleive me :

CF24 footage looks like Re-Run doing the Pop-Lock from "What's Happening" while 24f looks like beautiful ballet dancing.

and personally

in my opinon, either the report was suspect (and I doubt that because HD for Indies is a reputable website with no reason to lie or hate on a particular company/product) or, which i beleive, the camera was set wrong and OBVIOUSLY the DVCPRO-HD created footage from this HDV camera that he watched was done wrong.

but what do I know....

I'm just a silly kid playing with toys. *smile*

Let's all wait for Barry Green, Jon Fordham, DSE, Steve Mullen, David Newman & Chris Hurd to test it first. They will tell the TRUTH and you can be sure they'll set the camera CORRECTLY.

Larry,
LOL

- ShannonRawls.com

MICHAEL PAPPAS...Yea you down below this post......I figured I'd edit this post rather then start a new one since we're next to eachother and I hate cluttering up message boards. *smile*...
Answer: ABSOLUTELY you can use my photo bro! Chris, you can too (if you wanna report on the camera and a beloved dvinfo user like you did me in January!) *smile* And let me know (chris and mickael) if there's anything else I can do for you guys.

Shannon, I'm so happy for you. The image is amazing on the Xlh1. The stuff that I shot at birns & sawyer blew me away as well others. I can't wait to see a film out from this camera.

Shannon can I possibly use one of your pics were your holding the camera for my web site's Hot News section?

Again very happy for you; you have a powerful tool in your hands..... Please keep us up to date.......

michael pappas


Ok, so I went to the neighborhood SAMY'S Camera on Fairfax here in Los Angeles today to pick up an ARRI 650w bulb because we burnt one out during the festival last weekend......I went to the

Pro lighting dept. on the 4th floor and grabed the bulb. On the way down I said "WHAT THE HECK" and decided to stop in at that Pro-Video depot.

As soon as I walk in, WHAM BAMMMM there they have a huge 50" plasma setup with an XL-H1 plugged in via component cables while they are shooting people in the store in 24p mode.....

*sigh*

What's a brutha to do.... It was just Callling me! CALLING ME!!! The sales rep then proceeds to pop a promo tape in of some footage......WOWOWOWOWOZERS!!!!!! Now, my Z1U footage is pretty, no denying that.....but this Canon XL-H1 footage is is absolutely STUPENDOUS!!!!!(sp?) in ALL MODES!

"So do you have any in stock?" i ask.
"Yep Shannon, we got 2 left."
"DAMMIT, Why didn't you sell out...that would give me an excuse not to buy!! ummmm, ok, lemme call my wife....."

*ring* *click*
"Hey baby, how's your day going on the set of Rocky Balboa 6??"
"Ummm, fine...what did you do???"
"What do you mean, I can't just call you out of the blue and say hi honey bun sweetie pie??, i miss you!!"
Ummmm, no....you sound like you wanna buy something again!"
(I proceeded to give her the sales pitch of a lifetime...it was my best performance yet!)

Needless to say......I packaged it up....and took it home. I was the 16th person to buy one he told me. and NO he didnt give me a deal like they usually do. "SORRY SHANNON, THESE PUPPIES ARE GOING FOR STICKER!"

"Ok, whatever....Where's the bank so I can go snatch up some cash"

and thats the story folks......Check it out...I took some flicks in my living room.....

http://www.cinemahill.com/hidef/images/shansXLH1-a.jpg
http://www.cinemahill.com/hidef/images/shansXLH1-b.jpg

I was the first in America to buy the Sony Z1U (so i'm told) in January this year. Apparently I am one hundred or two hundred someting for the Canon, and I am here once again to serve my DVINFO community!

The Z1U will go on eBay or I'll put it away next to my old XL1s, DVX100a, TRV17 (haven't decided yet). When the Panasonic HVX-200 comes out, I'm gonna buy one of those as well so I can see which is best for my production style. And then I'll sell the one I don't want on eBay or something.

OK guys , so I am doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING this week, so fire your questions away! I'll see what I can do on answering the ones Pete & Chris hasn't answered already.

- ShannonRawls.com

As I look at this camera sitting on the floor doing nothing and most likely it probably won't be doing anything for a good while, I just realized that my geekness is not as high as I wish it was......




You set that camera on the floor?!! LOL


Jokes aside, I can't wait to hear more as you start "fiddling" with it a bit more. I've been looking into.. and looking into.. and well, dreaming about getting a HDV camera for some time, was pretty set on the Sony, but from the reports I hear is that the XLH1 is the hot ticket.... ah just mo money mo money mo money!!

Hey Shannon; congratulations

I wonder if you can get hold of the Canon Manual lens and tell us all how much better? it is on the H1?

CF24 footage looks like Re-Run doing the Pop-Lock from "What's Happening"... - straight from the Sony vaults of unused advertising tags.

That's too funny Shannon. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in this forum over the next month or so, especially when you get the HVX200 and are able to do some comparisons. Congrats on your new equipment and thanks for sharing with everyone.

...and the #1 GOOGLE search for December 15th at Sony Headquarters in Japan... "pop-lock re-run what's happening."

What? Shannon made an impulse buy on a high ticket item?
Who would have expected that?
:)

Congratulations on the camera Shannon.
Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Shannon, congratulations! If you liked shooting with a previous XL camera, you'll love shooting with the H1 regardless of the noise level induced by naysayers who DON'T have one.

In fact, the naysaying earlier in this thread finally tipped me "over the edge" and I posted a sticky thread about policy: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56107

I wonder if you can get hold of the Canon Manual lens and tell us all how much better? it is on the H1?The black 16x manual lens resolves for standard definition only. Used in the XL H1, it is fine for shooting in either the 4:3 or 16:9 SD modes, but not HD as it lacks the resolving power required for HD. Hope this helps,

What Chris just wrote is both the official Canon position, and the informal experience of some folks (including Chris) with pre-production versions of the H1 while using the 3x lens. Not sure if anyone, anywhere has reported has reported publically on the 16x manual with the H1.

Would be interesting though, given the GREAT results I had with the 3x:
http://www.geosynchrony.com/scratchpad.htm

We really do need more folks to validate my testing and also go further, including with the 16x AND HD SDI out. I'm guessing that the manual lens will actually perform at least adequately for HDV (maybe not for HD SDI, but that's why we need objective tests!).

Say, Pete, I can't remember what all you currently own. Don't you have the 16x manual lens?

The black 16x manual lens resolves for standard definition only. Used in the XL H1, it is fine for shooting in either the 4:3 or 16:9 SD modes, but not HD as it lacks the resolving power required for HD. Hope this helps,


Chris

I was aware of Pete's SD/HD-glass resolution tests before posting the above, so yes I would still like to know the answer

Shannon, you're going to get "quote of the week" status for that "Pop-Lock" quote!

So, here's the big question for you -- can you capture 24F footage? I'd love to see some side-by-side footage where you set the Z1 next to the XLH1 and shoot some 24F vs. CF24 and e-mail me the files. Do you have an edit system that supports capturing 24F? Could you work up that kind of test?

I look forward to seeing some material. You should film the LA downtown city at night too!

Shannon, Your pics are up at the link below. Thanks for the use!

Also, there are a few photos from the HVX200/ 35mm film screening the other night at Laser Pacific.

http://www.pbase.com/arrfilms

michael pappas



Shannon, you're going to get "quote of the week" status for that "Pop-Lock" quote!

So, here's the big question for you -- can you capture 24F footage? I'd love to see some side-by-side footage where you set the Z1 next to the XLH1 and shoot some 24F vs. CF24 and e-mail me the files. Do you have an edit system that supports capturing 24F? Could you work up that kind of test?

You know... your living room seems kinda empty and barren... maybe you're spending too much on cameras? Buy a picture or something man!

maybe you're spending too much on cameras?

Is that possible?



Hmm, must have been a typo.
:)

You know... your living room seems kinda empty and barren... maybe you're spending too much on cameras?........LOL! That's exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking, no wonder there's no furniture in the room. Hahaha! :O He's got a baaaad case of that new camera smell. I suffer from that too. :)

You know... your living room seems kinda empty and barren... maybe you're spending too much on cameras? Buy a picture or something man!

A Picture?? and punch a hole in my brand new flat white painted drywalled wall??? HELL NO. *smile*......me and my wife are minimalists...and our house is being shot for a popular home magazine in January. YOU WILL NEVER SEE a wall full of family photos, beer cans all over the place, cats and dogs everywhere, coat racks, armoires, console tables, ugly lithograpgh portraits, broken floor model tv's with little ones on top of it and torn dirty brown recliner chairs with fart stains in the seat at my house.

Just vanilla white berber carpet, pure white walls, a few candles, pure white italian leather modern furniture, a silver 50" plasma(next week) mounted above a pure white fireplace, a cell phone, a laptop and a good book here baby! *smile*

- ShannonRawls.com

*shudder* I couldn't live in a world without clutter... it would clash with the inside of my head ;)

Shannon? - I just stumbled on your post here . . where have I been? You are superb! - "YOU WILL NEVER SEE a wall full of family photos, beer cans all over the place, cats and dogs everywhere, coat racks, armoires, console tables, ugly lithograpgh portraits, broken floor model tv's with little ones on top of it and torn dirty brown recliner chairs with fart stains in the seat at my house."

You are soooo funny! Made my London day here in the UK! ! ! I spilt and spluttered my coffee as I read your tirade against "stuff" ! Excellent! Talk about blowing away the cobwebs . . . Hell man .. if I was anywhere near you, I'd be stuffing the tape alongside of you.

note to self: Make a Favourite on search RAWLS DVinfo!

Love it!

Grazie

Hey shannon I would love to come by and take a look at that 24F function with a res chart on my chroma du monde, I sent you an e-mail did you get it?

hi shannon.. i would be willing to take that crappy old z1 off your hands for you.. i'm such a nice guy, i'll even give you alittle bit of money for it :)

Nick, let's do it!

Eric...it's yours!

Nick....I'll email you back

Eric...this camera is a SPECIAL one....it's basically brand new. Remember, I'm not a shooter. I'm just a producer who likes to own his own gear! *smile*

either way...both you of you guys, hit me up. *smile*

- ShannonRawls.com

Shannon I'm totally free during the day tomorrow (and ::sigh:: during the night tonight) I'm located in North Hollywood, so just let me know when and where and I'll be there. (I'm super excited about checking out the 24F, I think i may be able to get a HD Monitor as well, let me know)

Nick

You guys have to post some footage. You can upload the m2t's to my iDisk if you'd like.

Test everything you can!

<<[QUOTE=Shannon Rawls]Nick, let's do it!>>>


Shannon!

Could you email me, if my schedule will allow it, I would like to
come up from the OC and see the res tests and maybe grab some footage.

my email: Arrfilms@hotmail.com

Pappas

Mike,

Too late...we already did it.

So Shannon, are you going to put up the goods? Is that console software coming in handy in order to get the true 24p from the 24f?

We're all hoping you'll be so kind as to show us some images from the camera, no matter how mundane or amazing!

If I might be of help in any way, please PM me.

Mike,

Too late...we already did it.


DAMIT! DAMIT! DAMIT!

Shannon, could you explain the capture tool in the software for me. If I shoot 1 hour of 24f; I can capture that entire tape via the console SW and it makes it a true 24P file? Does this drop straight into FCP? Thanks!

>pappas

YES! YES! & NO!

You can record one hour of 24f footage and via Console and it will be a 24p (23.976) mpeg file on your computer hard drive. Pulldown stuff already done. I cut this file on PC Vegas no problem. As long as MAC's FCP can handle mpeg files, then yes, you can cut it there as well.

However, I just realized CONSOLE is a live recording program, not a capturing program. It does not have tape transport buttons (play, ffw, record, stop, rwd). It will only record footage coming from CAMERA mode. it will not record footage already recorded on the tape. HUGE LIMITATION i just found.
I hope I am wrong.

- ShannonRawls.com

I just came across this thread. Man oh man would my wife kill me. That is just a little too far out of the range of this hobbyist. Taking to Sony FX1 on vacation was a hassle. I can only imagine what would happen if I tried to take that monster.

But I will continue to dream. My last book contract netted enough to buy the FX1 plus some. Maybe the next one could put a major dent in the monster you bought. Or maybe I will wait and buy it from you if you decide to go with the next big thing?

My walls have no pictures on them either. But that is because the boxes have yet to be unpacked. All of the pictures and most of my household goods are in boxes. Of course, my camera and my PC are unpacked and ready to go! :-)

Shannon, even though I can't use the CONSOLE software (yet, anyway) but I can see from the windows in it that you are correct: it is live recording only (and maybe with a pre-record buffer). It is clearly a souped up version of the FREE DV-PC software for the XL2, which I was able to use, but sometimes inexplicably "lost" the camera also.

I should be receiving mine tomorrow afternoon ;-) I'll be testing it over the festive period with my mini 35, its a 300 model which I know is not recommended, but that's what I've got. So i'll let you know how I get on.

Hi Martin, could you please take some photos of that rig which we can post in our image gallery... that would be quite a sight to see!

No problem Chris I'll take some as soon as I set it up.