Documentary feature shoot on HVX-200

[Neil Roberts]

Dear all

Firstly I just want to say how incredibly helpful an informative this site is, thank you all very much. This site has provided me with so much help already, its great to listen to so many expert opinions.

Ok Im about to set off for London to start on my doco. Our camera kit list is

1 PANASONIC AG-HVX202EN P2 CAMERA
1 P+S MINI 35MM ADAPTOR W/ LENSES
1 ZEISS 35MM T1.3*
1 PANASONIC 8.4" HD LCD W/F MONITOR
ZOOM LENS

We took the camera out for some tests in Melbourne the other day, late afternoon stuff looked fantastic, night-time stuff was the same in good light but in some situations the results were extremely dark, guessing its because we loose 2 stops from the 35 adaptor. Dont know how to get around this. Any ideas?

We are currently pulling the test footage into FCP, back out to tape and then grading in C-Reality next week then film out and watch on our Lustre. Looking forward to seeing how far I can push the grade.

Ultimately our end result will be 2K. Which brings me to my first question about 720p vs 1080p. Even though I miss out on the variable frame rates I should still shoot as big as I can 1080p?

The guys at the camera hire place said that apparently if I do want to shoot at variable frame rates I can shoot 720p and play out of the camera at 1080p, is this correct?

Also for our interviews we are thinking of recording straight to HD-Cam deck to save time, money and ease of capture. All external stuff we will shoot on P2. Has anyone recorded straight to a HD-Cam deck? if so is there any probs with doing this?

Also my DOP had real probs shooting and walking with the current set-up because we need to shoulder mount the camera, with harley rods because of the weight with the adaptor. The flip out screen ends up being right next to his head, and obviously the eye piece is on the back of the camera. We are trying to devise some way around this using an old digi-beta eyepiece to avoid glare that you would get with a clam shell monitor. Anyone had the same problems walking and shooting with this camera shoulder mounted?

Also the on-off switch may need some adjustments so the DOP can shoot on the move.

Any discussion, advice on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Neil :)

[John Froton]

Originally Posted by Neil Roberts

Even though I miss out on the variable frame rates I should still shoot as big as I can 1080p?

The guys at the camera hire place said that apparently if I do want to shoot at variable frame rates I can shoot 720p and play out of the camera at 1080p, is this correct?

I recommend shooting in 1080 for footage being shot in non-variable framerates and all wide shots containing a lot of background detail. Shoot in 720p for overcranking and undercranking and try to make sure these shots are well lit and/or well exposed and fairly close up with the in focus action. In shooting this way you should be able to uprez the 720p slo-mo or fast footage to 1080 without noticeable issues.

I don't think you can play out 720p from the camera as 1080. I believe you would need to uprez the footage in your editing program.

Also my DOP had real probs shooting and walking with the current set-up because we need to shoulder mount the camera, with harley rods because of the weight with the adaptor. The flip out screen ends up being right next to his head, and obviously the eye piece is on the back of the camera. We are trying to devise some way around this using an old digi-beta eyepiece to avoid glare that you would get with a clam shell monitor. Anyone had the same problems walking and shooting with this camera shoulder mounted?

Here is a link to someone that seems to have a succesful handheld setup with this camera. Maybe you will find something helpful here.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=73698

Good luck :)

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by John Froton

I don't think you can play out 720p from the camera as 1080.

For analog display you can, but there's no internal conversion to allow firewire transport of 720 as 1080. But if you had a display which was 1080-only, you can configure the cam to shoot 720p and cross-convert the analog output to be 1080i.

[Ash Greyson]

This must be a very "controlled" doc, I cant imagine shooting a doc with a mini35 OR on P2... but most my stuff is not in a controlled studio.



ash =o)

[Neil Roberts]

Originally Posted by John Froton

I recommend shooting in 1080 for footage being shot in non-variable framerates and all wide shots containing a lot of background detail. Shoot in 720p for overcranking and undercranking and try to make sure these shots are well lit and/or well exposed and fairly close up with the in focus action. In shooting this way you should be able to uprez the 720p slo-mo or fast footage to 1080 without noticeable issues.

I don't think you can play out 720p from the camera as 1080. I believe you would need to uprez the footage in your editing program.




Here is a link to someone that seems to have a succesful handheld setup with this camera. Maybe you will find something helpful here.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=73698

Good luck :)

thanks John, will check out the link :)

[Neil Roberts]

Originally Posted by Barry Green

For analog display you can, but there's no internal conversion to allow firewire transport of 720 as 1080. But if you had a display which was 1080-only, you can configure the cam to shoot 720p and cross-convert the analog output to be 1080i.

hello Barry, thanks for the tip. Sorry if this is a stupid question but this format is very new to me. How do I cross-convert the analog output to be 1080i?

And once I get this 1080i output is there a way of converting this to 1080p without dropping a field?

many thanks for your help mate :)

[Neil Roberts]

Originally Posted by Ash Greyson

This must be a very "controlled" doc, I cant imagine shooting a doc with a mini35 OR on P2... but most my stuff is not in a controlled studio.



ash =o)

hey Ash, its not the most portable of kit, and hey if I could afford 16mm stock and processing in London I would go that way... quotes are coming in at 16K for just 90 rolls of film man! Hopefully once we get full production funding we will be able to go film. I want a cheaper medium that will cut well with film at the end of the day, this is the most portable of HD cameras and with the mount footage looks great. We are doing alot of interviews mainly on this shoot, with some exterior stuff. The rest will be shot on the next trip.

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by Neil Roberts

How do I cross-convert the analog output to be 1080i?

In menu 6, AV IN/OUT SETUP, there's an option for component output, you can set that to 1080i and the analog output will then be cross-converted.

And once I get this 1080i output is there a way of converting this to 1080p without dropping a field?

Well, no, I wouldn't think so, I mean -- for 30p, yes, but for 60p being converted to 1080/60i, there's no way to convert that to 1080/60p. And anyway you'd have to be working with something like a Decklink card or something to be capturing it, etc.

Probably a lot easier to just do it in post.

[Neil Roberts]

Originally Posted by Barry Green

In menu 6, AV IN/OUT SETUP, there's an option for component output, you can set that to 1080i and the analog output will then be cross-converted.


Well, no, I wouldn't think so, I mean -- for 30p, yes, but for 60p being converted to 1080/60i, there's no way to convert that to 1080/60p. And anyway you'd have to be working with something like a Decklink card or something to be capturing it, etc.

Probably a lot easier to just do it in post.

great, thanks for the tips Barry :)