Questions...

[srproductions]

Hi Guys!

I am about to purchase the HV20 along with a few accessories, and I have some questions. Just incase it matters, I will be making indie films.

1. I am going to purchase the Azden SGM-1X shotgun mic, plugging it into the HV20 via a Stereo Mini - XLR Cable. Will this work OK? Also, how can I mount it to the top of the camera?

2. One of the main selling points of this camera was true 24p. But, I heard that when you capture, you have to do some sort of pulldown to get the 24p. Could someone please explain this and tell me how to do it in Final Cut Studio?

3. What kind of matte box should I get for the HV20? I cannot spend very much, but I need something to make it look a bit more pro until I get my Letus35.

Sorry for all my stupid questions! Thanks!

[Zak Forsman]

depends on the NLE but in FInal Cut, you have to do the pulldown after you capture the media. an extra step, but it's very, very fast. and very easy. in Final Cut, highlight all your clips. then under the TOOLS menu select CINEMA TOOLS REVERSE TELECINE. a short time later a batch of new clips will appear. i've toggled between the 29.97 and new 23.98 clips on a broadcast HD monitor and there is no perceptible loss in image quality.

CAVEAT: now, you may have to do one clip manually, directly in Cinema Tools to set it to 23.98, because the automated process from FCP just goes with whatever frame rate cinema tools was last set at... and the default is 24, not 23.98, which is what you want.

[Erik Bien]

My $0.02 -- avoid Azden microphones. If as I assume you're on a starving indie budget, RODE mics are generally regarded as better "bang for the buck" mics than Azden. I have a RODE VideoMic with their "Dead Cat" fuzzy windscreen and I like it a lot; it's self-powered via 9V battery, outputs "dual channel mono" on a 1/8th inch stereo cable (so it'll plug right into the HV20 with no adapters needed) and the shock mount screws right to the camera's hot shoe.

I also picked up a Samson AirLine wireless lavalier: it's only a single-channel UHF system (so if something else is using your frequency, you're boned) but the Tx and Rx are each as small as a box of matches and they run for 8 hours plus on a single AAA battery. Not cheap at almost $300, but about as good as it gets before you get to Sennheiser/Lectrosonics wireless at twice the price or more.

For connecting XLR mics, does anyone know if Canon's MA-300 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/256059-REG/Canon_8032A002_MA_300_Dual_XLR_Microphone.html works with the HV20? Since it connects via the "Smart Accessory Shoe" same as the DM-50 microphone which others are apparently using, I don't see why it shouldn't work ...

[logic108]

Well just in case you didn't think of it, you'll absolutely need the mini sd card for exposure related issues.
I'm wondering if a Cokin P mount might not act as a cheap and reasonable matte box? Something to consider.