I thought I would give the HV20 and M2 a try today. I need to spend some more time with it, but for the most part combo looks good right off the bat. Frame Grabs are 1920x1080 (1mb/each)

I did a "with M2/without M2" test here. HDV 24PF mode, Shutter Priority at 1/48, AWB. I used a 50mm Nikon SLR at f2.8 on the M2. The subject (my shoes) were about 2 feets from the Nikon so DOF is very very shallow. The "without" shot used the same camera settings.

I did not do any grading to the frame grabs so they should look flat. If you do a "Save As" in your browser, the JPEGS should save to your desktop... '-O

http://447productions.com/HV20:noM2.jpg
http://447productions.com/HV20:M2.jpg

I did a "with M2/without M2" test here.

http://447productions.com/HV20:noM2.jpg
http://447productions.com/HV20:M2.jpg

Which is with and which is without??? LOL I kid! Looks great man. Must be nice to live in a place where the sun shines!

The 2nd shot might be the sharpest DOF machine shot I have seen for the part that is supposed to be in focus. Did you sharpen it in Photoshop ?

Did you sharpen it in Photoshop ?

Nope. If I did, that information would have been included in the initial post.

hi , please send some rig pics !
thx

awesome example

I think I need to be educated as to the whole 33mm world!

Taylor stopped by and I snapped this pic of his rig:

http://www.redrockmicro.com/assets/images/hv20.jpg

Looks great! Quick question though.. Are you using an external LCD, or have you found a way of flipping the HV20's LCD?

I'm not usually impressed by DOF adapters but this frame grab looks quite good.

Yes, I'm also curious about how you handled the image flip. I would consider the HV20/Redrock combo, but unless there's a good way to handle the flip, I'm going to stick with my FX1/Letus Flip and put up with the softness. Thanks for the great pics!

Most probably have a external monitor solution anyway (flipped), as critical focus on 35mm adapters is not always easy. Though Taylor really nailed it in these framegrabs. Nice shot man.

For those who want to run-n-gun, there is a HV20 LCD flip hack akin to the HVX200 and GS400 flip hacks. It's explained with nice big pictures over at Cinevate (http://www.cinevate.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=518)

Great link, Matt! Thanks, I didn't know about that.

illusion of better dynamic range! where the picture is clipped its blue sky on the second frame grab.

Hello Taylor
Would you please let me know the full price of your set if I would have to buy it from scratch? Everything: cam, M2, rings, lenses...
Just to have an idea...
Thanks a lot... :)

The little HV20 is looking hotter as an adapter cam every day. The 24p pulldown thing is driving me crazy but grabs like these really show the cam's potential.

Clearly the chip is there. The biggest challenges with the HV20 are simply how to use a consumer-oriented camera in filmmaking. You really have to dig to figure out how to disable all the auto functions, and the lack of precise controls (zoom numbers, etc.) make consistent setup a little more involved.

I think where it will shine is in mainstream applications/shooting scenarios. Where it may be a little more challenging is in the fringe shooting cases, such as extreme low lighting, high latitude shots, etc. where you don't have the kinds of controls available in more pro-oriented cameras.

It also seems to be a pretty meaningful step down the path of a simpler camera and more everywhere else. I almost think of it as a "shooting raw" kind of acquisition tool, where the cinema look (35mm lenses, cinema gamma, etc.) is done elsewhere instead of the camera. Fortunately, the tools are there to make this a reality today.

Taylor stopped by and I snapped this pic of his rig:

http://www.redrockmicro.com/assets/images/hv20.jpg

Awesome pics Taylor. Thanks for posting them.
Brian - a couple of questions about using the M2 with my HV20:
1. I'm going to add a Beachtek adapter for XLR inputs. (Probably the DXA-2s). You probably don't know this specifically yet, but I'm wondering what effect adding an adapter will have on lining up the M2 with the camera. The DXA-2s for instance raises the camera 1.25" above the tripod mount. It looks like there's enough room with the M2 but just checking.
2. What's the deal with using Canon EOS lenses with the Brevis (or any other 35mm adapter.) You cannot manually set the apeture on these lenses so how is that adjusted? (I ask b/c I have several Canon EOS lenses and would like to not have to buy new lenses.)

Hi Peter

as you can see from the pic you need to raise the camera anyways 5/8" (3/4" is shown in the pic, but it looked a tad tall when we took it out). It depends on where you mount the Beachtek - if it's beneath the rods, it would be the setup you see here. You could also mount it between the camera and rod system, which just means you would need to raise the rods a bit.

On the canon EOS, the electronic aperture in the lens means you shoot wide open. There is a thread on the redrock site about a mod Tatt Si has been working on that allows you to control aperture, which is here:

http://redrockmicro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3137

Peter - after thinking a bit, it's probably better if you put the beachtek beneath the baseplate. It will make for a rock solid setup.

Cheers

Brian

On the canon EOS, the electronic aperture in the lens means you shoot wide open. There is a thread on the redrock site about a mod Tatt Si has been working on that allows you to control aperture, which is here:

http://redrockmicro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3137

OMG - just looking at that guy's setup makes my eye twitch! I think I'll just buy a couple of old Nikon or Minolta lens that have manual apeture adjustment ;-)

Which baseplate are you referring to in your previous post?

Hi!
just wondering if someone could breakdown the advantage of this setup for a newbie like myself...

is this so you can get seperate better aperture/shutter adjustment?
where do you get one of these?

thanks!
-Josh

How much would an M2 kit for the HV20 cost, and would i need to venture to any 3rd party website to get anything that Redrock might not have like a ring for the HV20's small thread screw mount????

Hi Michael

A complete kit including rod support system, adapter, lens mount, and achromat, along with a quick release plate is $1295.

you can get the step-up ring (I believe it's 43-55mm and then 55mm-72mm) at adapterrings.com

Cheers

Brian

Thanks so much for the info! I am thinking of selling the XL2 for an HV20 with one of your adapters! I have seen great results from these 2 (HV20, M2) both together and alone (M2 with other cams like HVX) and its very cool to even think that technology has brought us to a camera about the size of a small shoe to give images as good as a camera 4x its size!

Mike

Hi Mike

yeah, it's a really fascinating camera. One one hand it's got this amazing image. On the other hand it's a consumer camera, so you end up focusing less on all the settings and knobs, since there basically aren't any :)

I am working with Alex Nikishin (the camera op from ILLEGAL) on any fine-tuning of our setup this week, and expect to have some clips from our work.

Michael, if you do work with the bare cam, selling your XL2 for an HV20 might be a bit disappointing. As an adapter cam, it's great...but wouldn't compare to the XH-A1 in terms of "bare" cam shooting with respect to image controls and audio. As Brian has mentioned already, the the HV20 is just an imaging engine (http://www.cinevate.com/images/hv20d.jpg) (like any cam) when used with a 35mm lens adapter, so it's shortcomings are not that evident in that mode.

I thought the Letus35 flip enhanced took care of the flip maybe i got it wrong

forgive my ignorance.

but i'm very interested in purchasing an HV20 to put a lens adaptor on it. what's the difference between the the M2 and the redrock micro? other than a nice comfy shoulder mount.

Hi Luca

Redrock Micro is the company - M2 is the cinema lens adapter (as in the micro35 version 2)

Cheers

Brian

i just now realized this.
what i meant is what's the difference between the M2 and the micro35. this one:
http://rebelsguide.com/dl/hv20-hh.jpg


this picture has been popping up just about everywhere.

Ah yes, the concept rig. The current M2 rig itself is in there, we just added a few things such as the ability to mount the camera upside down, and a handle on top. It also shows our shoulder rig concept. These are all add-ons to the existing M2 adapter.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Brian

oooooo it's still a concept rig. ok well i'd definatly be interested in something like that. would it fit bigger cameras as well? like an XL2 or a panasonic hvx200?

Yep - it fits them all.


Brian