Mobile solution to shield V1U from Direct Sunlight

[Greg Schlueter]

Greetings All...
Anyone know of a solution to shield the V1U from direct sunlight when outdoors...? Either made-for or make-shift? I checked to see if there existed any free-standing umbrella-type contraptions... anyone want to go into business?

[Leslie Wand]

why?

here in outback aust. it gets pretty hot, not to mention BRIGHT! for years i've shot with all sorts of cameras without protection or worry.

with my latest job i have the camera on tripod but there's anything between 5 to 20mins between takes (filming racehorses), so, as a guard against the camera getting to hot for me to touch comfortably (and it does), i simply got one of those cooler bags (silver foil inside and out), and cut one of the sides so it simply sits over the whole camera.

might scare the occassional horse, but at least i can hold the damn thing....

leslie

ps. i have never had a problem with a pro camera in sunlight - exposure, yes ;-), but not the technicals such as tape transport, etc.,

[Chris Medico]

That brings up an interesting question..

Last weekend I was in Memphis TN and the temps were in the upper 90s with bright sunshine. I was outside in the direct sun using my V1 on a tripod to video some drag races. Suddenly and for no reason I could identify the V1 would not track focus on the cars and would randomly focus to minimum focus distance. I switched to manual focus and it responded to the focus ring fine but if I switched back to auto it would not maintain auto focus.

Later that evening I tried again and it worked fine. I had wondered if it overheated. I know I was on the verge myself. A portable shade screen doesn't sound like a bad idea...

Has anyone noticed any odd reactions from their cameras during use in high heat?

Chris

[Leslie Wand]

if i'm in a set location for the day, i usually take along a golfing umbrella and a heavy base (coffee shop umbrella style). i adapted the golf umbrella with a length of pipe to get it above my stand up height, and all's good.

it's just a bugger having to set it up for a couple of shots though - hence my first post re cooler bag

leslie

[Stephan Stryhanyn]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

Has anyone noticed any odd reactions from their cameras during use in high heat?

With FX7, yes - even though I had bright contrasted vertical lines in the frame (which ordinarily helps AF), repeated use of push-AF (while zoom was half-way) had the FX7 evaluate distance in a *slightly* random manner when the camcorder was hot under the sun - well, more random than I noticed when it was not hot. I don't know if that impacted PQ, though, maybe not.

Then, when fully zoomed out, I've noticed that AF can sometimes be really random, with evaluated distance down to as low as 3m when actually there is no object in the frame that's closer than 50m and there was bright vertical contrast - therefore should be infinite focus. Okay I do know this may be due to deep DOF as basically everything is in/near focus but still, coming as close as 3m is strange and must be softening the image.

I wish Sony had included an option to display evaluated AF distance at all times in the VF (like iris / shutter speed / gain / audio), so that we could at least keep a distant eye on AF behavior.

[Marcus Marchesseault]

Here is an easy solution:

Put a piece of cloth over the camera. Fabric with low lint would be nice. Synthetics probably have less lint than natural fibers. I used a t-shirt as a makeshift hood on an outdoor shoot last month.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Stephan Stryhanyn

I wish Sony had included an option to display evaluated AF distance at all times in the VF (like iris / shutter speed / gain / audio), so that we could at least keep a distant eye on AF behavior.

I second that, Stephan - in fact, this is the only thing lacking in the otherwise excellently informative data display of the V1/F7 (I noticed it first thing after replacing the Canon A1 with my current V1E; the Canon could be configured to always display both the zoom range and the focus distance - very helpful). Other than that, I still prefer the Sony's data screen to that of the A1.