fox and wood ant

Dale Guthormsen · August 19th, 2007, 02:58 PM

Ian,

I am a tad jealous, spent some time looking for a fox den this spring to no avail. here the coyotes kill them if they get a chance.

I enjoyed the footage but it was a tad dark. I am sure it looks a lot better at full resolution!

Curiously, how do you like the tameron lens??

Ian Thomas · August 19th, 2007, 03:54 PM

Hi Dale

Yes it is a bit dark but the light was fading, I have not seen it in full res yet
as i have down converted to SD

The tameron was very good with the XL1, XL1s and the XL2 but with the XLH1 some shots can look soft and focus is very critical

Its a very steep learning curve with the HD camera and i think needs time to master and i still don't seem to be able to get the same quality as i did with the XL2 in SD

Ian Thomas · August 19th, 2007, 04:13 PM

Dale

I had trouble finding a earth this year i saw the vixen many times but she moved them a few times not because of disturbance don't no why

it was while filming badgers i came across them looks like it was there last time together as they seem to have spilt up now, i hope they do survive it was lovely watching them

Steve Siegel · August 19th, 2007, 05:31 PM

Lovely stuff, Ian. Amazing what you can do right near home. One question.
You did the fox piece in standard definition, and the mouse/vole in hi def.
For your Internet audience do you really see any advantage in the XLH1?

Per Johan Naesje · August 20th, 2007, 02:31 AM

Ian, sorry for my late response but I have had a bad internet connection lately!

I think you did well in the poor light and I have also discovered that youtube compression make the footage darker than the source file is!
There is a preset over at the XLH1 forum which I have used in my "Pond of Bears" film. When the bears is swimming I used +12db gain with the night preset and it come out pretty well.
Even if you can view grain in the image it's always better to be able to show details of the object, which I think disappeard in you film. And you can always notify the audience that it is shoot in poor light during the evening/night.

The preset can be downloadet here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=66776, scroll down to Chris Hurd's second post. It's the PRESET07.CPF: LOWLT12 -- for shooting in low light with 12db gain.

Ian Thomas · August 20th, 2007, 12:51 PM

Steve

For internet audience up to now no i can't, but when you see it on a hi-def
tv it looks awesome much better the sd,

Having said that i my not be getting the best out of the camera for internet use as the footage of mine on youtube is poor compared to the original

Thanks for your kind remarks

Per
I know you have used both the XL2 and the XLH1 have you found that downconverted to sd from the HD camera is not quite as sharp as the SD camera, i find some shots from the HD camera look stunning while some look abit flat,

Sorry for sounding thick but when you download the preset as it then got to be transfered to the camera vi the card that comes with the camera, don't really understand that bit

Thanks
Ian

Ian Thomas · August 20th, 2007, 01:49 PM

Per

That bear footage is awesome

Ian Thomas · August 20th, 2007, 04:02 PM

This is some more shots from the XLH1 downconverted to sd on badgers on a late summer night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_eKsZPEKggr

Ian Thomas · August 20th, 2007, 04:04 PM

sorry try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_eKsZPEKgg

August 19th, 2007, 02:58 PM	#16
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Ian, I am a tad jealous, spent some time looking for a fox den this spring to no avail. here the coyotes kill them if they get a chance. I enjoyed the footage but it was a tad dark. I am sure it looks a lot better at full resolution! Curiously, how do you like the tameron lens?? __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

August 19th, 2007, 03:54 PM	#17
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	Hi Dale Yes it is a bit dark but the light was fading, I have not seen it in full res yet as i have down converted to SD The tameron was very good with the XL1, XL1s and the XL2 but with the XLH1 some shots can look soft and focus is very critical Its a very steep learning curve with the HD camera and i think needs time to master and i still don't seem to be able to get the same quality as i did with the XL2 in SD __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions

August 19th, 2007, 04:13 PM	#18
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	Dale I had trouble finding a earth this year i saw the vixen many times but she moved them a few times not because of disturbance don't no why it was while filming badgers i came across them looks like it was there last time together as they seem to have spilt up now, i hope they do survive it was lovely watching them __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions

August 20th, 2007, 02:31 AM	#20
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Ian, sorry for my late response but I have had a bad internet connection lately! I think you did well in the poor light and I have also discovered that youtube compression make the footage darker than the source file is! There is a preset over at the XLH1 forum which I have used in my "Pond of Bears" film. When the bears is swimming I used +12db gain with the night preset and it come out pretty well. Even if you can view grain in the image it's always better to be able to show details of the object, which I think disappeard in you film. And you can always notify the audience that it is shoot in poor light during the evening/night. The preset can be downloadet here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=66776, scroll down to Chris Hurd's second post. It's the PRESET07.CPF: LOWLT12 -- for shooting in low light with 12db gain. __________________ - Per Johan

August 20th, 2007, 12:51 PM	#21
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	Steve For internet audience up to now no i can't, but when you see it on a hi-def tv it looks awesome much better the sd, Having said that i my not be getting the best out of the camera for internet use as the footage of mine on youtube is poor compared to the original Thanks for your kind remarks Per I know you have used both the XL2 and the XLH1 have you found that downconverted to sd from the HD camera is not quite as sharp as the SD camera, i find some shots from the HD camera look stunning while some look abit flat, Sorry for sounding thick but when you download the preset as it then got to be transfered to the camera vi the card that comes with the camera, don't really understand that bit Thanks Ian __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions

August 19th, 2007, 05:31 PM	#19
Steve Siegel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Posts: 840	Lovely stuff, Ian. Amazing what you can do right near home. One question. You did the fox piece in standard definition, and the mouse/vole in hi def. For your Internet audience do you really see any advantage in the XLH1?

August 20th, 2007, 01:49 PM	#22
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	Per That bear footage is awesome __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions

August 20th, 2007, 04:02 PM	#23
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	This is some more shots from the XLH1 downconverted to sd on badgers on a late summer night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_eKsZPEKggr __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions

August 20th, 2007, 04:04 PM	#24
Ian Thomas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: York, North Yorkshire, England. Posts: 472	sorry try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_eKsZPEKgg __________________ Ian Thomas. Thomas Video Productions