A few HV20 frame grabs at DVinfo.net

Wes Vasher · March 30th, 2007, 09:12 PM

Have been shooting quite a bit with this camera and it's pretty amazing. It's exceeded my expectations. I've uploaded some frame grabs here...

Flickr HV20 Frame Grabs collection

Ken Ross · March 30th, 2007, 09:20 PM

Nice detail and color Wes. These cams continue to amaze me.

Charles Papert · March 30th, 2007, 09:21 PM

Thanks Wes, obviously the video side of the camera has been occupying most people's attention but it's good to see what the still capability is, definitely a far cry from the poor imagining in camcorders of the past. Beautiful cat also!

Wes Vasher · March 30th, 2007, 09:29 PM

Charles, those are actually all frame grabs from video. The full motion video just blows me away. I haven't even tried the digital still camera part of it yet, actually just got a mini-SD card in the mail today so hopefully soon. My point and shoot (Canon S400) recently died for the second time so I'm thrilled at the manual controls that this camera has in still mode. Just having the manual focus is really going to be nice.

Wes Vasher · March 30th, 2007, 09:32 PM

Another note on the still capabilities of the camera is that I'm going to use this for stop-motion animation for sure. I've tried stop-motion with my point and shoot and it just doesn't work, not enough manual controls. And I can't justify a DSLR just for the occasional stop-mo hobby animation. So I always go back to my DV camcorder connected to a computer, cumbersome but I have some manual control. With the HV20, you get all the nice manual controls in still mode, plus a photo button on the remote so you don't have to disturb the camera... nice.

Chris Barcellos · March 30th, 2007, 09:55 PM

Amazing shots Wes...

Wes Vasher · March 30th, 2007, 10:04 PM

Thanks Chris! I just did some tests of the still image capture and it's really good. I did a quick stop-mo using the remote and that works nicely. The image quality is super. I'd upload video but my web hosting is pretty weak.

I added a still picture and video grab comparison so you can see what the full still mode captures. The still pictures look pretty darn good.

Still mode comparison

Glenn Thomas · April 1st, 2007, 07:43 AM

Very nice! The frame grabs appear to look slightly better than the stills.

Owen Meek · April 1st, 2007, 02:36 PM

have those images been photoshop tweaked or is that raw straight out of the camera?

image quality comparable with $3000 camera!

Wes Vasher · April 1st, 2007, 02:41 PM

Thanks Glenn and Owen. Glenn, I agree, frame grabs tend to look a little nicer than digital stills but I think this is a product of the compression used. Some stills I've taken have had horrendous JPEG compression on them, and all my stills are taken in the highest quality mode so that's a little dissapointing.

Owen, I don't think I did anything to any of these in Photoshop. Everything's in camera! A lot of times in my hunt to avoid clipping I underexpose also, such as the dark shot of the cat looking directly into the camera. I'll say it again, use the Low Sharpening filter and the video just sings.

I find a frame that doesn't have pull-down added, then export it from MPEGStreamClip to 1440x1080 TIFF, then resize it in Photoshop to 1440x810 then upload it to Flickr which doesn't allow me to upload that large of an image. But Flickr's resizer seems to do a decent job.

Eric Sipe · April 6th, 2007, 02:07 PM

Wes, your shots make me want to spend the 2200 less on the A1 and just go with the HV20. What is your background in video/photo to get these amazing shots from this camera? HAve you hooked it up to an HDTV, does it look remarkably well? Do you have any comparison to an A1 at all?

Hopefully I am not asking too many questions, but your post here makes me think twice about my future investment

Ken Ross · April 6th, 2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes Vasher

Thanks Glenn and Owen. Glenn, I agree, frame grabs tend to look a little nicer than digital stills but I think this is a product of the compression used. Some stills I've taken have had horrendous JPEG compression on them, and all my stills are taken in the highest quality mode so that's a little dissapointing.

Owen, I don't think I did anything to any of these in Photoshop. Everything's in camera! A lot of times in my hunt to avoid clipping I underexpose also, such as the dark shot of the cat looking directly into the camera. I'll say it again, use the Low Sharpening filter and the video just sings.

I find a frame that doesn't have pull-down added, then export it from MPEGStreamClip to 1440x1080 TIFF, then resize it in Photoshop to 1440x810 then upload it to Flickr which doesn't allow me to upload that large of an image. But Flickr's resizer seems to do a decent job.

Wes, I think many people underexpose their shots when using zebra stripes. If you look at pro footage with megabuck cameras, there are many many times they have areas overexposed so as to get the main subject rendered properly. I would use zebras judiciously.

Chris Barcellos · April 6th, 2007, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Ross

Wes, I think many people underexpose their shots when using zebra stripes. If you look at pro footage with megabuck cameras, there are many many times they have areas overexposed so as to get the main subject rendered properly. I would use zebras judiciously.

I think you at least need to set zebras at 100. The testing I have done shows this camera will blow out quickly.

Wes Vasher · April 7th, 2007, 07:21 AM

Thanks Eric. I'm no pro shooter but I have shot Super 8, 16mm, and all the video flavors for my own videos and some televised shows. It's very easy to shoot really ugly video with the HV20 but with a little practice with the manual controls you can get a nice picture quickly. If you are shooting a setup where you have control over your lighting and subject matter you can get amazing video. I don't have an HDTV but I have a really nice CRT (Apple Studio 17") and the video looks absolutely stunning on it. Everything I shoot has the low sharpening filter which I think makes a world of difference.

Ken and Chris, both good points to keep in mind.

Herman Van Deventer · April 7th, 2007, 07:56 AM

Talking of Pushing the boundary's !!!!

Beautifull shots ! / Go my man --- GO !

Herman.

March 30th, 2007, 09:12 PM	#1
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	A few HV20 frame grabs Have been shooting quite a bit with this camera and it's pretty amazing. It's exceeded my expectations. I've uploaded some frame grabs here... Flickr HV20 Frame Grabs collection

March 30th, 2007, 09:21 PM	#3
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Thanks Wes, obviously the video side of the camera has been occupying most people's attention but it's good to see what the still capability is, definitely a far cry from the poor imagining in camcorders of the past. Beautiful cat also! __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

March 30th, 2007, 09:55 PM	#6
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Amazing shots Wes... __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

March 30th, 2007, 10:04 PM	#7
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	Thanks Chris! I just did some tests of the still image capture and it's really good. I did a quick stop-mo using the remote and that works nicely. The image quality is super. I'd upload video but my web hosting is pretty weak. I added a still picture and video grab comparison so you can see what the full still mode captures. The still pictures look pretty darn good. Still mode comparison Last edited by Wes Vasher; March 31st, 2007 at 08:23 AM.

April 7th, 2007, 07:21 AM	#14
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	Thanks Eric. I'm no pro shooter but I have shot Super 8, 16mm, and all the video flavors for my own videos and some televised shows. It's very easy to shoot really ugly video with the HV20 but with a little practice with the manual controls you can get a nice picture quickly. If you are shooting a setup where you have control over your lighting and subject matter you can get amazing video. I don't have an HDTV but I have a really nice CRT (Apple Studio 17") and the video looks absolutely stunning on it. Everything I shoot has the low sharpening filter which I think makes a world of difference. Ken and Chris, both good points to keep in mind. __________________ Clips \| Stills

March 30th, 2007, 09:20 PM	#2
Ken Ross Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New York Posts: 1,945	Nice detail and color Wes. These cams continue to amaze me.

March 30th, 2007, 09:29 PM	#4
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	Charles, those are actually all frame grabs from video. The full motion video just blows me away. I haven't even tried the digital still camera part of it yet, actually just got a mini-SD card in the mail today so hopefully soon. My point and shoot (Canon S400) recently died for the second time so I'm thrilled at the manual controls that this camera has in still mode. Just having the manual focus is really going to be nice.

March 30th, 2007, 09:32 PM	#5
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	Another note on the still capabilities of the camera is that I'm going to use this for stop-motion animation for sure. I've tried stop-motion with my point and shoot and it just doesn't work, not enough manual controls. And I can't justify a DSLR just for the occasional stop-mo hobby animation. So I always go back to my DV camcorder connected to a computer, cumbersome but I have some manual control. With the HV20, you get all the nice manual controls in still mode, plus a photo button on the remote so you don't have to disturb the camera... nice.

April 1st, 2007, 07:43 AM	#8
Glenn Thomas Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 320	Very nice! The frame grabs appear to look slightly better than the stills.

April 1st, 2007, 02:36 PM	#9
Owen Meek Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 69	have those images been photoshop tweaked or is that raw straight out of the camera? image quality comparable with $3000 camera!

April 1st, 2007, 02:41 PM	#10
Wes Vasher Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 440	Thanks Glenn and Owen. Glenn, I agree, frame grabs tend to look a little nicer than digital stills but I think this is a product of the compression used. Some stills I've taken have had horrendous JPEG compression on them, and all my stills are taken in the highest quality mode so that's a little dissapointing. Owen, I don't think I did anything to any of these in Photoshop. Everything's in camera! A lot of times in my hunt to avoid clipping I underexpose also, such as the dark shot of the cat looking directly into the camera. I'll say it again, use the Low Sharpening filter and the video just sings. I find a frame that doesn't have pull-down added, then export it from MPEGStreamClip to 1440x1080 TIFF, then resize it in Photoshop to 1440x810 then upload it to Flickr which doesn't allow me to upload that large of an image. But Flickr's resizer seems to do a decent job.

April 6th, 2007, 02:07 PM	#11
Eric Sipe Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Lakewood, CA Posts: 42	Wes, your shots make me want to spend the 2200 less on the A1 and just go with the HV20. What is your background in video/photo to get these amazing shots from this camera? HAve you hooked it up to an HDTV, does it look remarkably well? Do you have any comparison to an A1 at all? Hopefully I am not asking too many questions, but your post here makes me think twice about my future investment

April 7th, 2007, 07:56 AM	#15
Herman Van Deventer Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: cape town South-Africa Posts: 251	Wes Talking of Pushing the boundary's !!!! Beautifull shots ! / Go my man --- GO ! Herman.