I have been doing research and came across a post last night about this guys review :

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/sonyhdrfx1/fordham7.php

So is this a biased review of the FX1? I don't want to shoot something and find it has streaks or artifacting...

I should add, I want to use it for a range of projects - talking head interviews to short films...

Personally I have read reviews on just about every HDV/DV camera in the proffesional/prosumer range and I have handled just about all of them and no review was even close to dead on, they all extremely badly exaggerate in my opinion. What he might have failed to mention is the artifacting would be worse on a DVX, The DVX100B the latest model has a 4 pixel color bleed,180 horizontal chroma pixels and tons of blocking.

I have ever had a problem with artifacting even shooting a feild of red tulips as far as the eye can see. Artifcacting is over rated anyways, its not that big of deal. If you can see it on the production monitor you should get jumpy.

What is your opinion on the FX1?
If you use Magic Bullet or something to deinterlace and drop it to 24p, do you lose high definition?

Just to point out, this review seems to be written when the fx1 first came out. I believe it was one of the first prosumer hdv cams so obviously it was probably a godsend to whom ever was reviewing, so theres where a bias would come from.

I am also trying to decide between the fx1 and the dvx. I would prefer to get the z1u but at the second the money doesn't seem right.

FX1 and Z probably outsell others 4 to 1. Either there are a lot of confused people out there, or the camera is great at it price point. Try it, shoot them all or at least see them all, and make your decision. The camera doesn't make any of us good. Talent and imagination will do that no matter what you shoot...

If you read carefully, the reviewer is particulary interested in 24p "film-like" production, which is not a strength of the FX1 and is for the DVX100.

I have two FX1s and my only concern with them is their limited low-light capability. With a little work in post I can get by in most situations, but I would welcome a similarly-priced HD camera with better sensitivity. Yet almost 2 years after the FX1 shipped, there's still nothing better for the price. If you want HD on a budget, this is the camera to get.

It is interesting because I heard the director that shot 'Broken' shot it with an FX1 - and it looks pretty amazing, but after reading review that stated it wasn't very good at bringing out shadows and contrast - it must have been done in post.
Does anyone know some examples of FX1 shorts out there I can check out?

If you do a "smart" deinterlace you'll lose about 25-30% of your resolution.

Would a contrast filter help out with the FX1?

Would a contrast filter help out with the FX1?

Dunno about that, but the footage can be improved in post by tweaking color saturation and other factors as needed. Especially for poorly lit scenes, some post work is definitely helpful.

I have been doing research and came across a post last night about this guys review :

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/sonyhdrfx1/fordham7.php

So is this a biased review of the FX1? I don't want to shoot something and find it has streaks or artifacting...

I should add, I want to use it for a range of projects - talking head interviews to short films...

Hello David,

I'm fairly new to this community too but I recently went through the same decision i.e. FX1 or dvx100a/b. I tried to sus-out as much information as I could about both cameras. Personally, my advise would be that if you are not in a rush, delve fairly deeply into this forum and if you have not already done so, the dvx assistant of the standard def acquisition forum of DVinfo.com and go over to dvxuser.com. I actually did not have a lot of time to make my decision - not as much as I would have liked to. I think that in some way this is almost an apples and oranges decision so in a sense, you have to decide what is more important to you in the long and short term and visa-versa. Also think; work flow, work flow, work flow. Do you have a deck that can support HDV? How much are you willing to tweak and work in post to get what you want? What are you NLE solutions and what is you budget for purchases?

I think that this is one of the hardest decisions as far as camera options today and it seems to come up a lot; weighing the benefits and detractions of both, So it will do you well to look at this fairly in-depth I think. Even download both manuals. And good luck!

Yes, I too wish I had more time. I have a set of interviews to shoot and have to do it HD, so I rented. I am using VV5 right now and thinking of upgrading to VV6 for HD capabilities. Beyond that, I just have a firewire card and a hard drive, so I am hoping that does the trick...

The artifacting in Jon's review of my film 3 Sisters is from the first edition of iMovie HD that came out in January 2005. The Apple Intermediate Codec (to change it from HDV to a non-HDV 1080i60 codec) back then slightly darkened the video and added artifacting. The artifacts aren't noticible when the movie is in play.

www.904am.com/3sisters.php has more images and for an iPod version, visit this link:

http://www.theflux.tv/files/movies/ipodfest/3_sisters.m4v

For a short I directed and Jon shot on the HD10, read the review here (pix at www.releasememovie.com):

http://hdvinfo.net/articles/jvchd10/fordham4.php

and see it in DV here (not the best quality, sorry):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1955775334161280368&q=release+me+heath+mcknight

iPod:

http://www.theflux.tv/files/movies/ipodfest/release_me.m4v

heath

Some tips when using HDV:

1. Shoot with more light and keep the F-Stop above F4, like around F2.4 to F2.8 and keep it there for the movie. Most films, shot on HD and film, use the same F-Stop for the most part, throughout the entire production.

2. Use some software conversion software for the non-24p cameras, like www.nattress.com (Mac) or www.dvfilm.com/maker (Mac/PC).

I've used all the HDV cameras and I like all of them (except maybe the HD10/HD1), but I like the Z1 the best, even if it isn't native 24p. The DVX100 is a great series of camera and the HVX200 ain't a bad camera, but for the price, powerful features and more, I really like the Z1 a lot.

I usually shoot in 50i with CineFrame 25, edit, convert it to an uncompressed HD codec (photojpeg, 75% quality in Final Cut Pro) and then make it a QuickTime movie (NOT a conversion). I then conform it to 23.98 fps in CinemaTools and re-import into FCP and then into a 23.98 timeline/sequence. I then add music and color correct. This is a workflow developed by Graeme Nattress.

Frederic Haubrich doesn't shoot with CineFrame 25, only 50i, but his workflow is pretty cool:

http://www.lumieremedia.com/media/50i24pWorkflow.pdf (and check out http://lumieremedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=9for more workflows with HDV)

heath

Heath,
I've read many of your posts and realize that you've been shooting for a while with the Z1. I have an FX1 (along with my XL2), and we've just started editing in hdv. We use Premiere Pro 2.0. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions-
1-For editing on Pc program, do you have any ideas about workflow?
2- What do you think is the best route for de interlacing 60i FX1 footage? Do you know what the difference is betweemn Magic Bullett and the dvfilm program? I'm also trying to match the FX1 footage with XL2 30p.
Thanks
Bruce S. Yarock

1. Do a de-interlace and you should get a 30p look with 60i.

2. Use a DI (Direct/Digital Intermediate) to edit native .m2t files (mpeg2-ts), like CineForm's products (PC-only).

I HIGHLY recommend grabbing a copy of the latest edition of VASST's HDV: What You NEED To Know book (volume 2):

http://www.vasst.com/product.aspx?id=ed515883-935a-4037-aef0-0ad68139e940

We talk a lot about the HDV cameras, including the first JVC cams, and a bunch of different workflows with all kinds of NLEs, including proxies for PCs and Macs. And, of course, we cover software like Nattress and Film Maker (but not Magic Bullet, sorry).

heath

Heath,
Thanks. What you're suggesting is to use the film maker program as opposed to Mb for deinterlacing?
I'll take a look at the vast book.
Bruce S. Yarock

I haven't used Magic Bullet, that's what I mean. If you're on a Mac, I like both DVFilm Maker and Nattress. For PCs, I like Maker. I hear Magic Bullet is excellent.

hwm

Heath,
We're on pc with Premiere pro. We'll try both MB and film maker.
Bruce S. Yarock

And make sure you're using a DI when capturing. Sure, a different flavor of HD can increase disk size, but it's so much easier to edit than native HDV/m2t.

Try AspectHD for free:

http://cineform.com/products/AspectHDPPro.htm

Try DVFilm Maker for free:

http://dvfilm.com/maker/index.htm

Not sure if you can try Magic Bullet for free:

http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magicbullet.html

heath

Some tips when using HDV:

I usually shoot in 50i with CineFrame 25, edit, convert it to an uncompressed HD codec (photojpeg, 75% quality in Final Cut Pro) and then make it a QuickTime movie (NOT a conversion). I then conform it to 23.98 fps in CinemaTools and re-import into FCP and then into a 23.98 timeline/sequence. I then add music and color correct. This is a workflow developed by Graeme Nattress.

heath

Thanks for all the really specific work flow information, tips and know how!
One question (hopefully not to dumb); in converting the 50i to uncompressed HD codec (photojepeg, 75% in FCP) - this process is done in FCP or do you use nattress or dvfilmmaker to convert it?

Thanks!
Duane

It's in Final Cut Pro. When you're finished cutting, simply copy the project and open up a new timeline. Set it to 50i and then change the QuickTime settings under Sequence Settings to Photojpeg and the quality to 75% (this is not dropping the visual quality, just the compression from 10 bit, or 100%, to 8 bit, or 75%). Then File, Export, QuickTime Movie (NOT conversion).

hwm

ps-This is if you shot with CineFrame 25 on; if not, use a good de-interlacer.

Thank you Heath!

As a dv newbe it's good to have a viable workflow for CineFrame25.

Thank Graeme Nattress (www.nattress.com) who came up with it!

hwm