As promised, herewith some still clips of footage that I took on my first shoot with the XL H1 in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

I used Steven Dempsey's Panalook custom preset which is nothing short of AMAZING!!!!

I find that the XL H1 really delivers the most exquisite footage under the right lighting conditions, in my opinion it's the perfect camera to film in a controlled environment where you can properly light your subject and if done correctly the film resemblance in color is truly amazing. Ideal for features, television commercials and documentaries. As an ENG camera where speed is a factor in capturing live action and where you don't always have good lighting the camera does not produce the same pretty pictures, in fact the difference is dramatic. The focus in speedy set ups is tricky especially when filming at night and the viewfinder is nothing short of a pain in the butt!!! But that said, the camera blew me away with some of the footage that I was able to get.

A big improvement from the XL1s is the seal on the tape compartment... I used to have problems with the XL1s and dust getting into the camera but that's no longer an issue.

I'm still not sure about the 24 or 25 F frame-rate... haven't had time to test it properly and my initial tests gave me stuttering video footage... but I'm sure, or rather hope that it's something that I'm doing wrong.

Anyway, enough ramblings, herewith some stills captured off video footage...

(Please note that the pictures have been resized and is not in full resolution)

Mozambique
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/skywalkers.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Satilima.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Gathering.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Blues.jpg

Zimbabwe
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/There.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Rifle.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Giant.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/sun.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Watersedge.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/alone.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Dragonfly.jpg

South Africa
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Zebra.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/King.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mismatchedmind/Gail.jpg

Beautiful... thanks for sharing these Didi!

Yes, those are beautiful shots. I'm finding Steve's Panalook to be the most used custom preset on our camera as well.

Nice Stuff Didi,

Steve's Panalook is my default setting.

I'll be taking mine to Costa Rica for a month in January. I know that equatorial sun can be brutal except early and late. Were you using any filtration or polarizer?

Ken

Hi Ken

I did use a circular polarizer to cut glare, the rest of it comes down to filming early morning and evening during the magic hours when subjects are side-lit by the sun.

What's Gail Porter doing there? Has her not grown back? Beautiful images, I would love to see some footage.

What's Gail Porter doing there? Has her not grown back? Beautiful images, I would love to see some footage.

Gail is the presenter on a documentary we are filming on the translocation of 12 elephants that have been rescued from a farm in Natal, South Africa for The Murry Foundation in the UK. Her hair has started to grow back slowly which is good news!

Excellent still's Didi, looks like you sure made the most of the light!

What are the main factors that create such a big difference in results based on controlled, versus run-and-gun shooting?

is it just a lighting issue? and do you think is it unique to the XLh1?

Dean

What are the main factors that create such a big difference in results based on controlled, versus run-and-gun shooting?

is it just a lighting issue? and do you think is it unique to the XLh1?



I'm looking for answers from all levels of experience to that question, Dean.