HD10u Redrock M2 low light test footage downlods at DVinfo.net

Erick von Schulz · January 26th, 2006, 12:12 PM

I shot some low light test footage with the new Redrock M2 adapter using a Nikon 85mm 1.8.
I onlly had one 150 watt bulb off to my left.. no gain on the camera.

Canera was the JVC HD10u

I heard that the Redrock micro was good in low light.. After viewing the footage I aggree. I think i should ahve stopped the lens to 2.8.... Because it kind of washed me out in some of the shot..

Take a look at the color rendition.. I think it is pretty clean for a 1 chip camera. i did color correct..

Here are 2 links one is the full color corrected shot.

The other is a side by side comparison of the original, Magic Bullet and my own color correcting.

I think Magic bullet was the worst, but only due to the fact I did not tweak it... It looks kind of Sci fi...

Side by side images 9 megs
http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...7848beb0a322e6

Color corrected 25megs
http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...eb920e6524fe02

Let me know what you think.. good bad or indifferent..

Also just a note. I captured with cineform. Then color corrected one, Added magic bullet generic preset to one and then left one untouched.

I converted that to a 720P WMV 6mbs file.
Then converted that to a Divx file..... all files are in Divx format.
If you really want to see the whole boring thing about 6 minutes of footage but higher quality then use this link...

56mb test shot..
http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...5248aab6c3724d

Daniel Moloko · January 27th, 2006, 04:50 PM

Great post.

i have a hd10u, and im very interested in buying an adaptor.

what adaptor do you think its better? M2 or Letus35?

ciao

Erick von Schulz · January 27th, 2006, 07:41 PM

I would say the M2 is better in low light.. But the Letuse35 is pretty dang good for the price... If you plan on doing professional shoots or a movie get the M2.. If you are doing home stuff or personal shoots the Letus35 is fine...

Erick von Schulz · February 15th, 2006, 10:45 PM

Low light test...

Multifilmlooks wmv

http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...275f939756c58d

Angie
http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...a4d8569d48a7de

900 Mile divx file..... Pretty good looking images...

900 mile files

http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...79218e9038fc2f

Mike Vogel · February 15th, 2006, 11:20 PM

Watched Multifilmlooks.wmv and was pretty impressed with the quality "film look" especially with a one chip camera. I'm not new to video but I am new to making it look like film. I'm finding that shallow depth of field does more to make video look like film than shooting 24p (assuming you could only have one).

Thanks for the clip!

Ken Hodson · March 11th, 2006, 02:57 PM

You have become the resident HD10 35mm adaptor guru here by default Erick. So I hope you don't mind the questions.
Is the stock HD10 lens removed when you add an adaptor such as the M2?
Are you noticing better low light performance with the adaptor and appropriate high speed lens over the stock Hd10 lens?
Any chance you could post a picture of the cam with the M2 adaptor so we could see what it looks like?
Thanks

Erick von Schulz · March 12th, 2006, 12:50 PM

No the stock lens stays on the camera.. I do have a picture posted online somewhere.. I will find it and add the link......

The way the M2 and the Letuse35 works is by allowing the use of 35mm lenses with the original camera lens.. There is a spinning or vibrating glass that the camera records from.. So you get the 35mm Depth of Field... I think the camera gets way better low light performance with the adapter if you use very fast lenses.. Like any lens with a 2.0 or faster lens.. I like the F1.4 and F1.2's... by nikon.. you can still find them on Ebay and on the Net cheap.. but since so many people are using them for the 35mm adapters I have noticed the prices are rising.. Look for Manual focus lenses as well.. Forget about Auto Focus ones... unless you already happen to own some... I have seen 50mm F1.4 Nikon rimes for as little as 35.00 some as high as 200.00.. You just have to keep your eye open.. I just bought a 55mm F1.2 For 150.00 And it works incredible in low light.... Also You can get a Nikon 85mm F1.8 for under 149.00 sometimes for as little as 50.00... These are great for shallow depth of Field and gives a great movie look as well....

Ken Hodson · March 13th, 2006, 06:25 PM

Thanks for the reply. It stands to reason that the faster the lens you use with the adaptor the better the light capability, but aren't we ultimately limited by the stock lens? Or does some how the adaptor lens allow more light to be pulled in transfering a better low light image to the stock lens? I am very curious as to how the optics work.
I am constanly fighting chroma noise with our cam, and less than optimal light seems to increase it dramatically. Yet you dark footage with the M2 seems quite good.

Erick von Schulz · March 13th, 2006, 11:19 PM

Here is my opinion of what is going on with the 35mm lens adapters out there.... With the f1.4 and F1.2 lenses they gather more light and give great shadow detail and shallow depth of field.... This image is projected on the glass that the camera focuses on.. Since the camera only has to focus an an image generated from a 35mm lens with all of it's characteristics... This image is easily cptured with the camcorder and retains all the details of the 35mm lens...

The Redrockmicro is the only lens adapter out there that has almost no light loss.. I think they say it loses a stop or so.. But I have not noticed this with my own tests...

The letus35a loses at least 1 1/2 stops..

The PS technik loses at least a stop as well....

I hope this helps you...

Ken Hodson · March 14th, 2006, 01:35 AM

It does help, thanks.
So it is stated as a one stop light loss with the M2, but you don't seem to notice this drop. Good to hear. I am kind of afraid being that my cam is quite poor low light that one more stop down would really suck. I wonder how much variance there is with our cams as far as firmware or actual sensor optics. Are all our HD10's the same?

Erick von Schulz · March 14th, 2006, 03:04 AM

I don't know about which firmware.. but my camera sucks in low light... But with the Redrock I get pretty darn good low light perfomane.. I had it serviced about two months ago.. So we probably have the same setup....

January 26th, 2006, 12:12 PM	#1
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	HD10u Redrock M2 low light test footage downlods I shot some low light test footage with the new Redrock M2 adapter using a Nikon 85mm 1.8. I onlly had one 150 watt bulb off to my left.. no gain on the camera. Canera was the JVC HD10u I heard that the Redrock micro was good in low light.. After viewing the footage I aggree. I think i should ahve stopped the lens to 2.8.... Because it kind of washed me out in some of the shot.. Take a look at the color rendition.. I think it is pretty clean for a 1 chip camera. i did color correct.. Here are 2 links one is the full color corrected shot. The other is a side by side comparison of the original, Magic Bullet and my own color correcting. I think Magic bullet was the worst, but only due to the fact I did not tweak it... It looks kind of Sci fi... Side by side images 9 megs http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...7848beb0a322e6 Color corrected 25megs http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...eb920e6524fe02 Let me know what you think.. good bad or indifferent.. Also just a note. I captured with cineform. Then color corrected one, Added magic bullet generic preset to one and then left one untouched. I converted that to a 720P WMV 6mbs file. Then converted that to a Divx file..... all files are in Divx format. If you really want to see the whole boring thing about 6 minutes of footage but higher quality then use this link... 56mb test shot.. http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...5248aab6c3724d

January 27th, 2006, 07:41 PM	#3
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	M2 I would say the M2 is better in low light.. But the Letuse35 is pretty dang good for the price... If you plan on doing professional shoots or a movie get the M2.. If you are doing home stuff or personal shoots the Letus35 is fine...

February 15th, 2006, 10:45 PM	#4
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	low light test footage Low light test... Multifilmlooks wmv http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...275f939756c58d Angie http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...a4d8569d48a7de 900 Mile divx file..... Pretty good looking images... 900 mile files http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php...79218e9038fc2f Last edited by Erick von Schulz; February 16th, 2006 at 10:22 AM.

February 15th, 2006, 11:20 PM	#5
Mike Vogel New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 7	Watched Multifilmlooks.wmv and was pretty impressed with the quality "film look" especially with a one chip camera. I'm not new to video but I am new to making it look like film. I'm finding that shallow depth of field does more to make video look like film than shooting 24p (assuming you could only have one). Thanks for the clip! __________________ The Waiting List http://thewaitinglistmovie.com Did You Kiss Anyone? http://didyoukissanyone.com

March 11th, 2006, 02:57 PM	#6
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	You have become the resident HD10 35mm adaptor guru here by default Erick. So I hope you don't mind the questions. Is the stock HD10 lens removed when you add an adaptor such as the M2? Are you noticing better low light performance with the adaptor and appropriate high speed lens over the stock Hd10 lens? Any chance you could post a picture of the cam with the M2 adaptor so we could see what it looks like? Thanks __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

January 27th, 2006, 04:50 PM	#2
Daniel Moloko Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Brazil Posts: 124	Great post. i have a hd10u, and im very interested in buying an adaptor. what adaptor do you think its better? M2 or Letus35? ciao

March 12th, 2006, 12:50 PM	#7
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	Hd10 No the stock lens stays on the camera.. I do have a picture posted online somewhere.. I will find it and add the link...... The way the M2 and the Letuse35 works is by allowing the use of 35mm lenses with the original camera lens.. There is a spinning or vibrating glass that the camera records from.. So you get the 35mm Depth of Field... I think the camera gets way better low light performance with the adapter if you use very fast lenses.. Like any lens with a 2.0 or faster lens.. I like the F1.4 and F1.2's... by nikon.. you can still find them on Ebay and on the Net cheap.. but since so many people are using them for the 35mm adapters I have noticed the prices are rising.. Look for Manual focus lenses as well.. Forget about Auto Focus ones... unless you already happen to own some... I have seen 50mm F1.4 Nikon rimes for as little as 35.00 some as high as 200.00.. You just have to keep your eye open.. I just bought a 55mm F1.2 For 150.00 And it works incredible in low light.... Also You can get a Nikon 85mm F1.8 for under 149.00 sometimes for as little as 50.00... These are great for shallow depth of Field and gives a great movie look as well....

March 13th, 2006, 06:25 PM	#8
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	Thanks for the reply. It stands to reason that the faster the lens you use with the adaptor the better the light capability, but aren't we ultimately limited by the stock lens? Or does some how the adaptor lens allow more light to be pulled in transfering a better low light image to the stock lens? I am very curious as to how the optics work. I am constanly fighting chroma noise with our cam, and less than optimal light seems to increase it dramatically. Yet you dark footage with the M2 seems quite good. __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

March 13th, 2006, 11:19 PM	#9
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	M2 adapter Here is my opinion of what is going on with the 35mm lens adapters out there.... With the f1.4 and F1.2 lenses they gather more light and give great shadow detail and shallow depth of field.... This image is projected on the glass that the camera focuses on.. Since the camera only has to focus an an image generated from a 35mm lens with all of it's characteristics... This image is easily cptured with the camcorder and retains all the details of the 35mm lens... The Redrockmicro is the only lens adapter out there that has almost no light loss.. I think they say it loses a stop or so.. But I have not noticed this with my own tests... The letus35a loses at least 1 1/2 stops.. The PS technik loses at least a stop as well.... I hope this helps you...

March 14th, 2006, 01:35 AM	#10
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	It does help, thanks. So it is stated as a one stop light loss with the M2, but you don't seem to notice this drop. Good to hear. I am kind of afraid being that my cam is quite poor low light that one more stop down would really suck. I wonder how much variance there is with our cams as far as firmware or actual sensor optics. Are all our HD10's the same? __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

March 14th, 2006, 03:04 AM	#11
Erick von Schulz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 78	firmware HD10U I don't know about which firmware.. but my camera sucks in low light... But with the Redrock I get pretty darn good low light perfomane.. I had it serviced about two months ago.. So we probably have the same setup....