XDCAM EX1 on the road blog

Mark David Williams · October 10th, 2008, 02:52 PM

I've got my film entered into Phils competition here!

Philip Bloom's Film Competition 2 on Vimeo

Yeah :)

Erik Phairas · October 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM

did you change the rules? There seems to be a lot of videos entered that don't have the music at all.. Maybe they are just using your group to get views?

this is a HORROR video I did for the video contest. My nephews helped me out a lot...

Warning... it gets graphic. LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: Play with the volume turned up loud, and the lights turned down for best results. It has the music...

http://www.vimeo.com/2021795

Sebastien Thomas · October 21st, 2008, 01:37 AM

Good one, Erik.
I'm still desapointed that nobody gives any detail like, where, with what, how long, and any trick they used to make the movie.
Some details on the first idea and how close you think you are with the first idea.

Making really short video is good in itself, but this kind of details can add a lot of value.

Erik Phairas · October 21st, 2008, 08:32 AM

I had a lot of ideas, but nothing I would be able to get on video. This one, about the haunted pumpkin seemed do-able. We shot it at Mt Charleston just outside of vegas using an EX3, editing on Sony Vegas. Took us two days to get all the shots. The effects were all old school, strings to make the vines move, reverse video and so forth. Blue screen was put inside the final pumpkin for the last effect... don't want to give it away for those who haven't seen it yet. :) The story is VERY close to what I had in mind.. everything worked. If we make a sequel it will be less music video and more horror story.

Actually, if you watch past the credits, there is a little making of montage. :)

Sebastien Thomas · October 21st, 2008, 08:37 AM

Thanks for the detail. I did watched the movie to the end, having your so small kid making the EX3 seems really big :)

I still have to fine tune my story and shoot... time is running so fast...

Erik Phairas · October 21st, 2008, 08:52 AM

No problem man.. can't wait to see it. For some reason I had trouble uploading to Philips group. The first time it failed all together, the second time the title and video information didn't show up. Which is weird because if you to go my vimeo page, all that info is there...

Phil Bloom · October 21st, 2008, 01:43 PM

just upload and let me know and I will add to group. Let me see who is entering, if there is no aquarium i will have to remove them! rules are rules.

Just put two new shorts up on my website/blog at philipbloom.co.uk

One called Return to Siberia, the other Grand Canyon.I have yet to make my (non eligible to win) entry!

Steve Shovlar · October 21st, 2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

just upload and let me know and I will add to group. Let me see who is entering, if there is no aquarium i will have to remove them! rules are rules.

Just put two new shorts up on my website/blog at philipbloom.co.uk

One called Return to Siberia, the other Grand Canyon.I have yet to make my (non eligible to win) entry!

HI Phil, what do you compress your movies to coming out of Compressor for the best results on Exposureroom? I have been faphing around with a 1280x720 4 minute movie in mp4 using H.264 to upload and it seems far too big at 450 Mb, though the quality is great.

Phil Bloom · November 8th, 2008, 04:04 PM

Done a new blog detailing all the main gear I recommend and more importantly use myself.
http://philipbloom.co.uk/2008/11/08/...ourite-things/

Paul Joy · November 9th, 2008, 07:07 AM

Hi Phil.

I'm very surprised that in regards to the brevis35 you say "if you want the most flexible, lightweight, quality 35mm adaptor out there you can’t go wrong with it" when many of the active EX1 & Brevis users on this forum seem to be having issues with it.

Is yours really free of vignetting / light fall off in lower lighting situations when zoomed to z70?

I feel quite mislead by reports of the cfXL curing all EX1 / Brevis related issues and your write up seems to be doing the same. It may have helped with edge softness, but even that isn't completely fixed.

I'd be nervous about recommending the Brevis to any EX1 owner at the moment, it's a big investment and unfortunately Cinevate do not see these issues as being a compatibility issue with the EX1, they blame it on the EX1's "inconsistent lens" so there's no refund path should you not be happy.

Phil Bloom · November 9th, 2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Joy

Hi Phil.

I'm very surprised that in regards to the brevis35 you say "if you want the most flexible, lightweight, quality 35mm adaptor out there you can’t go wrong with it" when many of the active EX1 & Brevis users on this forum seem to be having issues with it.

Is yours really free of vignetting / light fall off in lower lighting situations when zoomed to z70?

I feel quite mislead by reports of the cfXL curing all EX1 / Brevis related issues and your write up seems to be doing the same. It may have helped with edge softness, but even that isn't completely fixed.

I'd be nervous about recommending the Brevis to any EX1 owner at the moment, it's a big investment and unfortunately Cinevate do not see these issues as being a compatibility issue with the EX1, they blame it on the EX1's "inconsistent lens" so there's no refund path should you not be happy.

That's disappointing to hear. Because of my alignment being out I was zoomed to z79 and had no issues with fall off. Are they really not saying there is a problem?

Dan Chung · November 9th, 2008, 09:46 AM

Paul,

Are you using your Brevis with the flip now? and are your results the same with and without?

Dan

Paul Joy · November 9th, 2008, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

Are they really not saying there is a problem?

Cinevate understand that there is a problem with light fall-off, but they blame it on the EX1's lens. the cfXL was designed to correct edge-edge sharpness issues alone, and the closest it comes to doing that is at z70. The trouble is you need to zoom in a lot more to get past the light fall off and in the process the edge-edge sharpness is lost too. Unfortunately this in not made very clear in their advertising, which states "Designed to address the Sony EX1 optical issues" and "the sharpest edge to edge EX1 solution in existence".

From various tests I've carried out it seems the image projected onto the brevis by the 50mm lens is fine, this can be seen by zooming out and recording some footage at around z60 - z65. Once you zoom up the frame however the light fall off appears. This light fall off is not present in the EX1 without the Brevis though so it definitely has something to do with the light path through both.

Here's some examples of how the light fall off looks on my camera. Excuse the terrible images, I really wasn't thinking about what I was pointing the camera at!

http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z60.jpg
http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z65.jpg
http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z70.jpg
http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z75.jpg
http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z80.jpg
http://www.olikai.com/forum_images/brevis/z85.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

Paul, Are you using your Brevis with the flip now? and are your results the same with and without?

yes I use the flip, I haven't tried without, I think I'd need an additional achromat to do that.

Phil Bloom · November 9th, 2008, 12:57 PM

it's a shame that they didn't look at fixing the light fall off, think it would need a special achromat like the one on the letus...Perhaps they will bring out a new achromat for the flip that will do this. It is billed as the EX1 fix.

When I first got the Letus Extreme had the same light fall off you are experiencing and it wasn't until they brought out their new achromat that this disappeared. Are you sure they def won't give you a refund so you can try a different product?

phil

Paul Joy · November 9th, 2008, 01:11 PM

I have to say that Dennis,Hubert and co offer some of the best customer service I've experienced, they respond quickly and personally to emails. Unfortunately after several emails trying to solve the issues it became clear that that there was no cure though, other than using a different camera. I asked if I could get a refund and the answer was an explanation that it's the EX1 that's at fault and not the Brevis which I take as a gentle no. I haven't pushed any harder as yet.

October 21st, 2008, 01:37 AM	#648
Sebastien Thomas Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Paris, France Posts: 210	Good one, Erik. I'm still desapointed that nobody gives any detail like, where, with what, how long, and any trick they used to make the movie. Some details on the first idea and how close you think you are with the first idea. Making really short video is good in itself, but this kind of details can add a lot of value. __________________ DoP, Video/Camera assistant http://www.lecentre.net/blog

October 21st, 2008, 08:37 AM	#650
Sebastien Thomas Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Paris, France Posts: 210	Thanks for the detail. I did watched the movie to the end, having your so small kid making the EX3 seems really big :) I still have to fine tune my story and shoot... time is running so fast... __________________ DoP, Video/Camera assistant http://www.lecentre.net/blog

October 21st, 2008, 01:43 PM	#652
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	just upload and let me know and I will add to group. Let me see who is entering, if there is no aquarium i will have to remove them! rules are rules. Just put two new shorts up on my website/blog at philipbloom.co.uk One called Return to Siberia, the other Grand Canyon.I have yet to make my (non eligible to win) entry! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

November 8th, 2008, 04:04 PM	#654
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Done a new blog detailing all the main gear I recommend and more importantly use myself. http://philipbloom.co.uk/2008/11/08/...ourite-things/ __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

November 9th, 2008, 07:07 AM	#655
Paul Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 627	Hi Phil. I'm very surprised that in regards to the brevis35 you say "if you want the most flexible, lightweight, quality 35mm adaptor out there you can’t go wrong with it" when many of the active EX1 & Brevis users on this forum seem to be having issues with it. Is yours really free of vignetting / light fall off in lower lighting situations when zoomed to z70? I feel quite mislead by reports of the cfXL curing all EX1 / Brevis related issues and your write up seems to be doing the same. It may have helped with edge softness, but even that isn't completely fixed. I'd be nervous about recommending the Brevis to any EX1 owner at the moment, it's a big investment and unfortunately Cinevate do not see these issues as being a compatibility issue with the EX1, they blame it on the EX1's "inconsistent lens" so there's no refund path should you not be happy. __________________ Blog: www.pauljoy.com Company: www.videotrader.co.uk

October 10th, 2008, 02:52 PM	#646
Mark David Williams Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hertfordshire UK Posts: 414	I've got my film entered into Phils competition here! Philip Bloom's Film Competition 2 on Vimeo Yeah :)

October 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM	#647
Erik Phairas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 628	did you change the rules? There seems to be a lot of videos entered that don't have the music at all.. Maybe they are just using your group to get views? this is a HORROR video I did for the video contest. My nephews helped me out a lot... Warning... it gets graphic. LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: Play with the volume turned up loud, and the lights turned down for best results. It has the music... http://www.vimeo.com/2021795

October 21st, 2008, 08:32 AM	#649
Erik Phairas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 628	I had a lot of ideas, but nothing I would be able to get on video. This one, about the haunted pumpkin seemed do-able. We shot it at Mt Charleston just outside of vegas using an EX3, editing on Sony Vegas. Took us two days to get all the shots. The effects were all old school, strings to make the vines move, reverse video and so forth. Blue screen was put inside the final pumpkin for the last effect... don't want to give it away for those who haven't seen it yet. :) The story is VERY close to what I had in mind.. everything worked. If we make a sequel it will be less music video and more horror story. Actually, if you watch past the credits, there is a little making of montage. :)

October 21st, 2008, 08:52 AM	#651
Erik Phairas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 628	No problem man.. can't wait to see it. For some reason I had trouble uploading to Philips group. The first time it failed all together, the second time the title and video information didn't show up. Which is weird because if you to go my vimeo page, all that info is there...

November 9th, 2008, 09:46 AM	#657
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	Paul, Are you using your Brevis with the flip now? and are your results the same with and without? Dan

November 9th, 2008, 12:57 PM	#659
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	it's a shame that they didn't look at fixing the light fall off, think it would need a special achromat like the one on the letus...Perhaps they will bring out a new achromat for the flip that will do this. It is billed as the EX1 fix. When I first got the Letus Extreme had the same light fall off you are experiencing and it wasn't until they brought out their new achromat that this disappeared. Are you sure they def won't give you a refund so you can try a different product? phil __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

November 9th, 2008, 01:11 PM	#660
Paul Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 627	I have to say that Dennis,Hubert and co offer some of the best customer service I've experienced, they respond quickly and personally to emails. Unfortunately after several emails trying to solve the issues it became clear that that there was no cure though, other than using a different camera. I asked if I could get a refund and the answer was an explanation that it's the EX1 that's at fault and not the Brevis which I take as a gentle no. I haven't pushed any harder as yet. __________________ Blog: www.pauljoy.com Company: www.videotrader.co.uk Last edited by Paul Joy; November 9th, 2008 at 03:28 PM.