Friday, March 21, 2008

EX1 Misfocusing Explained

Some PMW-EX1s show back-focus changes when internal ND filters are used

[Updated 2008.03.29] I noticed in my unfair comparison of three cameras that the EX1’s outdoor shot wasn’t in focus. I was puzzled: I had zoomed in and focused carefully, then zoomed out and shot. Was back-focus that far off? It hadn’t been when I last checked it. Hmm…

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Three three-letter cameras: EX1, F23, RED

An unfair comparison of three entirely different cameras

On March 7th, Tim Blackmore and I visited Videofax, a San Francisco camera rental house. Videofax is unique in the area (as far as I know) in having both a RED ONE digital cinema camera and a Sony F23 HDCAM-SR camcorder. Videofax’s Leigh Blicher kindly invited us to come by and take a look, following the DCS RED Event the previous weekend. How could we refuse?

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Exporting stills from FCP

Correcting for FCP’s assumptions, and a surprising discovery.

I recently had a chance to compare the PMW-EX1 with a RED and an F23 (about which, more will be said in coming days). I collected quite a few video clips from the cameras and I’m going through the process of exporting still frames from the two Sonys, using Final Cut Pro. As I want to capture the full exposure range in the stills, there’s more to it than just parking the playhead on a frame and doing File > Export > Using QuickTime Conversion. As it turns out, there’s also a surprise.

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

PMW-EX1: XDCAM Transfer 2.5.1 for Mac Released

Fixes clock-mode timecode import bug; qualified for OS X 10.4.11 and higher

Sony has released XDCAM Transfer 2.5.1, software used to import XDCAM clips into QuickTime and Final Cut Pro. This version fixes a bug where PMW-EX1 recordings made with CLOCK-mode free-run timecode were not being properly imported, and it is qualified to run both on OS X 10.4.11 and 10.5.x.

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

PMW-EX1 Update 2

Corrections and details

• Adam Van Voorhis of Boston Camera says that the EX1 does indeed supply Y/C video, using the same VMC-15FS cable that works on the HVR-V1.
• Reader Mark Weiss ran a formal audio analysis for line-level inputs, with interesting results.

My EX1 review has been updated with these tidbits.

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Traveling with batteries, Pro Apps Updaters, etc.

Stuff to watch out for; tips ‘n’ tricks

• FAA rules on lithium battery transport
• Apple Pro Apps - save those updaters!
• PMW-EX1: XDCAM Transfer 2.5.1 for Mac Released; fixes CLOCK-mode timecode import bug.

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

HPA Tech Retreat - Day 3, etc.

Cameras, compression & concatenation; displays, distribution, & demos

Day 2 Revisited

Larry Thorpe and John Galt argued for a more nuanced view of camera resolution, such as MTF (contrast) readings at 200, 400, 600, and 800 TVl/ph, as well as a subjective description, in addition to the standard measurement of the limiting resolution and report on aliasing (see Day 2 pictures). I will be modifying my review methodology accordingly.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

PMW-EX1 - use regen timecode

Free run TC may confuse XDCAM Transfer

A post on the Cinematography Mailing List yesterday indicates that XDCAM Transfer may not see all the clips on an SxS card if the EX1’s timecode was set to “clock” mode, one of the free run options. Sony is reportedly going to address this issue with an updated version of XDCAM Transfer. For now, it appears the safe thing to do for now is to leave the EX1’s timecode in regen mode. UPDATE 2008-03-06: Version 2.5.1 fixes this bug.

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