My story about migrating through different cams

Tony Tremble · October 11th, 2006, 10:27 AM

Kaku Ito

Thank you for all the work you did and the attention to detail with which you recorded the clips. Its very important for people viewing the clips to have as much information as possible and you did not disappoint!

I wondered if you had any contacts with Sony and were able to get hold of a HVR-V1 and put it through its paces?

A series of V1 clips with copius notes would, I'm sure, be gratefully received by many people here.

As 2006 comes to a close you could really help Father Xmas decide what to put in my stocking a Canon A1 or a Sony V1. Can you help?

:)

Cheers

TT

Tom Roper · October 11th, 2006, 11:14 AM

Sony seems to put its prototype cams into the hands of professional reviewers, and the information seems to come out in dribs and drabs, slightly filtered. Hope I don't take too many arrows for saying that. It's just my honest sense of it.

Canon seems to trust putting its cam in the hands of a professional "user" (Kaku) and let the opinion stand freely on that merit.

But Kaku tells you his purpose, his settings, keeps his opinion pretty much out of it, and the clips speak for themselves, which is the way I'd rather have it. Well done Kaku!

Kaku Ito · October 11th, 2006, 06:43 PM

Tony,

Canon trials were possible in the past because of Mr. Ryohei Sekiguchi from Appex always wanting me to know what Canon cams can do, and he is so supportive of what I do. I did Sony clip postings (the action is verbalized different here already) are done because I bought them. So was Panasonic.
I could get help from Mr. Masuda at Provideo Station Shinjuku to get a loaner, but that will be when it is start selling.
Knowing Sony, they would not provide me the prototype because I'm too honest even on my articles in the magazines. I kept saying they have to put their act together in many things. You can also find some posts of mine here about that, too. But one thing they are good about is that Sony never seems to put pressure to the magazine about the truth, unless I make mistake in writing something wrong in the article.

Thanks Tom for your words.

Noel Evans · October 12th, 2006, 01:12 AM

Kaku how do you find PV station generally? As a foreigner here in Tokyo I have found them generally disinterested. Way back when I bought the DVX100a, they were initially not even going to let me touch the cam in store unless I was definetely going to buy. Wierd. They do have pretty good cam prices though.

I was recommending people to go there to buy their HVXs and there was a small list of those that did, and after that you think there would be some improved service to me, but same nonchalant disdain. So basically I stopped recommending them to foreigners.

I have since moved all my purchases to Fujiya Avic in Nakano. They are always very helpful and kind. Anyway interested to know if your experience differs to mine.

Kaku Ito · October 12th, 2006, 03:41 AM

Noel,

Just mention my name next time and you will be treated better.
But their problem is the command in English....

Noel Evans · October 13th, 2006, 06:28 AM

Kaku, I agree that would be difficult. But I speak mostly Japanese with them :P

Also, when do you intend on buying the A1?

Kaku Ito · October 13th, 2006, 08:09 AM

If you are happy with Fujia, might as well stick with it.

I'm placing the order with Appex next week.

Noel Evans · October 13th, 2006, 09:29 AM

Ok cool, Ill wait until you get yours then just rob you as your walking around Shibuya shooting! Free cam :P

David Liu · October 14th, 2006, 12:04 AM

Hi Kaku, thanks for doing such a writeup..
Just a question, how is the weight of the camera distrubuted? - When you hold the camera(right hand on the side handle). Is most of the weight distrubuted on the front?

I own a XL2, and its pretty heavy on the front. (:

Kaku Ito · October 14th, 2006, 01:28 AM

Noel, k, I will be extra carefull and tight the cam to my wrist or something.
I will also go to Fujiya Avic and pick up your cam pretending it is for you. Hehe.

David,

The weight distribution wasn't anything weird. I could not stand H1, but this cam is okay. I hear A1 has better balance because of less stuff on the right hand side (HDSDI stuff) which I'm glad because I would put my A1 on Glidecam a lot.

One thing... LCD is little too small for focusing.

Microphone from HVR-A1J worked okay with G1. I'm also planning to test the VideoMic from RODE, soon.

Jemore Santos · October 14th, 2006, 07:00 AM

Hey Noel, I bought a HVX200 off PV Station, Mr Masuda was very friendly and gave me a great price, I think it was because of Kaku's connection but all in all they helped me out great, Good work Kaku, Hope your going hard with all your shooting and mountain bike riding.

Kaku Ito · October 14th, 2006, 07:44 AM

Jemore,

Too bad we could not get together while you were in Japan.
I think I'm settled with XH A1 for awhile, especially the HDV workflow is already proven and Matrox MXO seems to be great for monitoring.
I connected MXO to my ProjectionDesign DLP projector projected to 120inch screen and it is awesome (although the model I have don't really support the full resolution but it somehow works better than AJA HDP when AJA HDP display only part of HDV footage).

Let's stay in touch!

Jemore Santos · October 14th, 2006, 08:13 AM

NP Kaku see you when I come back! I'll probably have a another cam by then maybe a HD200 or a V1 so we'll definately compare.

Take care big fella

Adam Bray · October 15th, 2006, 09:24 AM

How good was the OIS, compared to the OIS on the XL2 and XL-H1?

John Godden · October 15th, 2006, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaku Ito

snip

One thing... LCD is little too small for focusing.

snip

Kaku

If the LCD is too small for manual focus........... did you find the auto focus to work good enough for HD?

Thanks again for your thoughtful responses
JohnG

October 14th, 2006, 07:00 AM	#26
Jemore Santos Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Tokyo/Sydney Posts: 297	Hey Noel, I bought a HVX200 off PV Station, Mr Masuda was very friendly and gave me a great price, I think it was because of Kaku's connection but all in all they helped me out great, Good work Kaku, Hope your going hard with all your shooting and mountain bike riding. __________________ "eyes through a digital world"

October 14th, 2006, 08:13 AM	#28
Jemore Santos Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Tokyo/Sydney Posts: 297	NP Kaku see you when I come back! I'll probably have a another cam by then maybe a HD200 or a V1 so we'll definately compare. Take care big fella __________________ "eyes through a digital world"

October 11th, 2006, 10:27 AM	#16
Tony Tremble Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 451	Kaku Ito Thank you for all the work you did and the attention to detail with which you recorded the clips. Its very important for people viewing the clips to have as much information as possible and you did not disappoint! I wondered if you had any contacts with Sony and were able to get hold of a HVR-V1 and put it through its paces? A series of V1 clips with copius notes would, I'm sure, be gratefully received by many people here. As 2006 comes to a close you could really help Father Xmas decide what to put in my stocking a Canon A1 or a Sony V1. Can you help? :) Cheers TT

October 11th, 2006, 11:14 AM	#17
Tom Roper Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 1,891	Sony seems to put its prototype cams into the hands of professional reviewers, and the information seems to come out in dribs and drabs, slightly filtered. Hope I don't take too many arrows for saying that. It's just my honest sense of it. Canon seems to trust putting its cam in the hands of a professional "user" (Kaku) and let the opinion stand freely on that merit. But Kaku tells you his purpose, his settings, keeps his opinion pretty much out of it, and the clips speak for themselves, which is the way I'd rather have it. Well done Kaku!

October 11th, 2006, 06:43 PM	#18
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Tony, Canon trials were possible in the past because of Mr. Ryohei Sekiguchi from Appex always wanting me to know what Canon cams can do, and he is so supportive of what I do. I did Sony clip postings (the action is verbalized different here already) are done because I bought them. So was Panasonic. I could get help from Mr. Masuda at Provideo Station Shinjuku to get a loaner, but that will be when it is start selling. Knowing Sony, they would not provide me the prototype because I'm too honest even on my articles in the magazines. I kept saying they have to put their act together in many things. You can also find some posts of mine here about that, too. But one thing they are good about is that Sony never seems to put pressure to the magazine about the truth, unless I make mistake in writing something wrong in the article. Thanks Tom for your words.

October 12th, 2006, 01:12 AM	#19
Noel Evans Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 157	Kaku how do you find PV station generally? As a foreigner here in Tokyo I have found them generally disinterested. Way back when I bought the DVX100a, they were initially not even going to let me touch the cam in store unless I was definetely going to buy. Wierd. They do have pretty good cam prices though. I was recommending people to go there to buy their HVXs and there was a small list of those that did, and after that you think there would be some improved service to me, but same nonchalant disdain. So basically I stopped recommending them to foreigners. I have since moved all my purchases to Fujiya Avic in Nakano. They are always very helpful and kind. Anyway interested to know if your experience differs to mine.

October 12th, 2006, 03:41 AM	#20
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Noel, Just mention my name next time and you will be treated better. But their problem is the command in English....

October 13th, 2006, 06:28 AM	#21
Noel Evans Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 157	Kaku, I agree that would be difficult. But I speak mostly Japanese with them :P Also, when do you intend on buying the A1?

October 13th, 2006, 08:09 AM	#22
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	If you are happy with Fujia, might as well stick with it. I'm placing the order with Appex next week.

October 13th, 2006, 09:29 AM	#23
Noel Evans Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 157	Ok cool, Ill wait until you get yours then just rob you as your walking around Shibuya shooting! Free cam :P

October 14th, 2006, 12:04 AM	#24
David Liu New Boot Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 23	Hi Kaku, thanks for doing such a writeup.. Just a question, how is the weight of the camera distrubuted? - When you hold the camera(right hand on the side handle). Is most of the weight distrubuted on the front? I own a XL2, and its pretty heavy on the front. (:

October 14th, 2006, 01:28 AM	#25
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Noel, k, I will be extra carefull and tight the cam to my wrist or something. I will also go to Fujiya Avic and pick up your cam pretending it is for you. Hehe. David, The weight distribution wasn't anything weird. I could not stand H1, but this cam is okay. I hear A1 has better balance because of less stuff on the right hand side (HDSDI stuff) which I'm glad because I would put my A1 on Glidecam a lot. One thing... LCD is little too small for focusing. Microphone from HVR-A1J worked okay with G1. I'm also planning to test the VideoMic from RODE, soon.

October 14th, 2006, 07:44 AM	#27
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Jemore, Too bad we could not get together while you were in Japan. I think I'm settled with XH A1 for awhile, especially the HDV workflow is already proven and Matrox MXO seems to be great for monitoring. I connected MXO to my ProjectionDesign DLP projector projected to 120inch screen and it is awesome (although the model I have don't really support the full resolution but it somehow works better than AJA HDP when AJA HDP display only part of HDV footage). Let's stay in touch!

October 15th, 2006, 09:24 AM	#29
Adam Bray Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Houston/Austin Posts: 394	How good was the OIS, compared to the OIS on the XL2 and XL-H1?