First field impression of XL H1 in real conditions

Alan Craven · February 6th, 2006, 03:17 PM

I got 63MB in just over 4 minutes, plus I cannot find any way to open the file. The .m2t suggests mpeg2?

Aha! Opened it with Womble mpeg editor, but it played a mere 18 seconds.

Lauri Kettunen · February 6th, 2006, 03:33 PM

Right, the problem must be at this side. The company maintaining the systems say everything should be ok from their side. I just copied the file in a completely new way to the server. Any change?

Kevin Shaw · February 6th, 2006, 04:47 PM

I got almost 82 MB the first time I tried it earlier today and only got 37 MB when I tried to re-download it recently. Nice footage, at least what I could get.

P.S. The VLC Media player works nicely for M2T clips.

Bill Taka · February 6th, 2006, 07:28 PM

Lauri-

Our daytime temps right now is around 25f so a bit warmer. Yes I do live at Yellowstone National Park and anytime you visit Montana be sure to email and we will get together and "compare presets". I started another thread about using a Sony HC1 (under $1,500) as a deck for my XL H1. I tried Firestore however found it too much for field manuverablilty and I like the idea of a compact system such as the H1. Have you considered such an option?

Ronan Fournier · February 7th, 2006, 03:15 AM

Thanks again, Lauri, for this very cute movie. It's great to see that this lens works so good.

The movie is interesting also because you shooted a very speedy bird, which seems to show HDV MPEG2 limitation...
Let me explain what I feel. IMO, but I may be wrong, the bird is not fluent. I mean it seems that some pictures of the bird are missing, so the animation is a bit like in Manga cartoons. If you see the picture frame by frame, a lot of them (movements area in the picture) are very blurry. I have the same problem when I shot squirrels with my FX1 camera.
I've shooted some birds like this one in DV (Canon XM1-GL1) and it was a bit less blurry inside the movements frames. So I'm wondering if that's not because of the long gop system of MPEG2 compression in HDV. Some frame are missing so the codec has to create them, which is problematic when the movements are so fast.
That's why I think HDV is a great format for landscapes movies, but could be problematic for wildlife if you shoot speddy animals like birds, squirrels, excited cats, etc... Or maybe is there a way to avoid this problem with the shutter speed of the camera ?
Do you see what I mean in spite of my awfull english ? Maybe I'm the only to be a bit inconvenienced by this lack of fluidity in the "animation" of the bird...

Alan Craven · February 7th, 2006, 04:05 AM

Tried again, and got the entire file, which plays for about 48 seconds?

Lauri Kettunen · February 7th, 2006, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronan Fournier

The movie is interesting also because you shooted a very speedy bird, which seems to show HDV MPEG2 limitation...

Interesting point, for I did notice the effect already on the EVF while taking the shot. My immediate reaction was, this is due to the 25f "progressive" mode but have not examined the clip in details. You may well be right, the compression may be the proper explanation. On one hand, as the shutter speed was 1/50s and the clip is a close up, the bird manages to move quite a lot during 1/50s while the CCD is off.

I have to examine the clip more precisely, and need to test what happens if I change the mode to HDV 50i, DV 25p, and DV 50i.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Craven

Tried again, and got the entire file, which plays for about 48 seconds?

Don't remember the length precisely, but 48s sounds right.

Brendan Marnell · February 8th, 2006, 06:41 AM

You've done it Lauri and it's such a joy to watch.

The colours (greens & yellows in particular)on all birds are more vibrant than -

- illustrated in Shell Guide to Birds of Britain & Ireland
- illustrated in Hamlyn Guide to Britain & Europe
- photographed in "Wings" magazine of Irish Wildbird Conservancy since 2001

That's not surprising given the various morphs (Irish green-finches are brown!) but if it's due to mating plumage it's nice to be reminded that mating starts earlier in sub-zeroland. What do you think might be responsible for the colouring? The motion was crystal clear and speaks volumes for XLH1. I'm looking forward even more to your footage at longer distances.

Recent edition of "Wings" carries 5 shots of our Golden Eagles taken by our top wildlife photographer (using Canon ESO IV with 500mm lens) ... with a hide beside a feeding-station, the best ranger to help and a full week to do it ... and what did he come up with? Six STATIONARY birds !!!!!! Of course they're a wary species but I'm beginning to think it will soon be time to learn how to show the odd snippet of vulture footage ...

You are giving me inspiration Lauri and hope. If this sort of videography is not your day job maybe it's time it was.

Dave Gosley · June 30th, 2008, 08:25 AM

Hi, does anyone have stills or frame captures showing what each of the CP configurations produce from an XL-H1?

I have been using mine to make video projects as it came - straight out of the box.
While I appreciate the natural tones and not too strong colours it gives me, some have expressed they feel my videos are a little too week on the colours.

I'd like to be able to select one of the presets which I have downloaded and put into the relevant file on my card - ..

All I want is a little more richness in colour - so I'm told..

Thanks
Dave

Lauri Kettunen · July 5th, 2008, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Gosley

Hi, does anyone have stills or frame captures showing what each of the CP configurations produce from an XL-H1?

Hi Dave, You can find the settings I had in the stickies of the XL-H1 thread. My settings are called NOMAGENT preset.

Alkim Un · July 16th, 2008, 08:11 AM

hi friends,

here I upload a 1280x720 H1 fooatage.download it before watch.

http://www.vimeo.com/1351073

this is aprxmt 50 sec. clip of panning a Bearded Vulture - most rare vulture in Turkey and in Europe - except Pyrenee mountains in Spain. I stayed 5 days in hide all day time, and wait for this bird. focusing with H1's viewfinder is hard but I achieved it, then I got it. but after I came home and looked the footage I dissapointed too much. too much backround judder and even some jumps of bird..

I used 20x lens, IS of (very imprtant), manfrotto 519 head. also I used Alister Chapman CP. and 1080 i mode.

XLH1 is great camera, produce great pictures especially on LCD or Plazma TV, but its codec is very limited. now I m looking for another codec, pana or sony ?

bur I m unhappy :(

tahnks

alkim.

February 7th, 2006, 03:15 AM	#20
Ronan Fournier Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Paris, France Posts: 201	HDV limitations ? Thanks again, Lauri, for this very cute movie. It's great to see that this lens works so good. The movie is interesting also because you shooted a very speedy bird, which seems to show HDV MPEG2 limitation... Let me explain what I feel. IMO, but I may be wrong, the bird is not fluent. I mean it seems that some pictures of the bird are missing, so the animation is a bit like in Manga cartoons. If you see the picture frame by frame, a lot of them (movements area in the picture) are very blurry. I have the same problem when I shot squirrels with my FX1 camera. I've shooted some birds like this one in DV (Canon XM1-GL1) and it was a bit less blurry inside the movements frames. So I'm wondering if that's not because of the long gop system of MPEG2 compression in HDV. Some frame are missing so the codec has to create them, which is problematic when the movements are so fast. That's why I think HDV is a great format for landscapes movies, but could be problematic for wildlife if you shoot speddy animals like birds, squirrels, excited cats, etc... Or maybe is there a way to avoid this problem with the shutter speed of the camera ? Do you see what I mean in spite of my awfull english ? Maybe I'm the only to be a bit inconvenienced by this lack of fluidity in the "animation" of the bird... __________________ http://www.songesdemoai.com/

February 8th, 2006, 06:41 AM	#23
Brendan Marnell Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 938	Tits alive! You've done it Lauri and it's such a joy to watch. The colours (greens & yellows in particular)on all birds are more vibrant than - - illustrated in Shell Guide to Birds of Britain & Ireland - illustrated in Hamlyn Guide to Britain & Europe - photographed in "Wings" magazine of Irish Wildbird Conservancy since 2001 That's not surprising given the various morphs (Irish green-finches are brown!) but if it's due to mating plumage it's nice to be reminded that mating starts earlier in sub-zeroland. What do you think might be responsible for the colouring? The motion was crystal clear and speaks volumes for XLH1. I'm looking forward even more to your footage at longer distances. Recent edition of "Wings" carries 5 shots of our Golden Eagles taken by our top wildlife photographer (using Canon ESO IV with 500mm lens) ... with a hide beside a feeding-station, the best ranger to help and a full week to do it ... and what did he come up with? Six STATIONARY birds !!!!!! Of course they're a wary species but I'm beginning to think it will soon be time to learn how to show the odd snippet of vulture footage ... You are giving me inspiration Lauri and hope. If this sort of videography is not your day job maybe it's time it was.

June 30th, 2008, 08:25 AM	#24
Dave Gosley Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hampshire Posts: 226	What are the results? Hi, does anyone have stills or frame captures showing what each of the CP configurations produce from an XL-H1? I have been using mine to make video projects as it came - straight out of the box. While I appreciate the natural tones and not too strong colours it gives me, some have expressed they feel my videos are a little too week on the colours. I'd like to be able to select one of the presets which I have downloaded and put into the relevant file on my card - .. All I want is a little more richness in colour - so I'm told.. Thanks Dave __________________ http://www.videoproductionshampshire.co.uk

February 6th, 2006, 03:17 PM	#16
Alan Craven Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: York, England Posts: 518	I got 63MB in just over 4 minutes, plus I cannot find any way to open the file. The .m2t suggests mpeg2? Aha! Opened it with Womble mpeg editor, but it played a mere 18 seconds.

February 6th, 2006, 03:33 PM	#17
Lauri Kettunen Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Kangasala, Finland Posts: 445	Right, the problem must be at this side. The company maintaining the systems say everything should be ok from their side. I just copied the file in a completely new way to the server. Any change?

February 6th, 2006, 04:47 PM	#18
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	I got almost 82 MB the first time I tried it earlier today and only got 37 MB when I tried to re-download it recently. Nice footage, at least what I could get. P.S. The VLC Media player works nicely for M2T clips.

February 6th, 2006, 07:28 PM	#19
Bill Taka Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 82	Lauri- Our daytime temps right now is around 25f so a bit warmer. Yes I do live at Yellowstone National Park and anytime you visit Montana be sure to email and we will get together and "compare presets". I started another thread about using a Sony HC1 (under $1,500) as a deck for my XL H1. I tried Firestore however found it too much for field manuverablilty and I like the idea of a compact system such as the H1. Have you considered such an option?

February 7th, 2006, 04:05 AM	#21
Alan Craven Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: York, England Posts: 518	Tried again, and got the entire file, which plays for about 48 seconds?

July 16th, 2008, 08:11 AM	#26
Alkim Un Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ankara, Turkey Posts: 136	hi friends, here I upload a 1280x720 H1 fooatage.download it before watch. http://www.vimeo.com/1351073 this is aprxmt 50 sec. clip of panning a Bearded Vulture - most rare vulture in Turkey and in Europe - except Pyrenee mountains in Spain. I stayed 5 days in hide all day time, and wait for this bird. focusing with H1's viewfinder is hard but I achieved it, then I got it. but after I came home and looked the footage I dissapointed too much. too much backround judder and even some jumps of bird.. I used 20x lens, IS of (very imprtant), manfrotto 519 head. also I used Alister Chapman CP. and 1080 i mode. XLH1 is great camera, produce great pictures especially on LCD or Plazma TV, but its codec is very limited. now I m looking for another codec, pana or sony ? bur I m unhappy :( tahnks alkim.