XDCAM EX1 on the road blog

[philip bloom]

I have decided to start a blog on my website, initially focusing on my road test of the sony ex1.

www.philipbloom.co.uk

click on "bloom's blog"

[Barry_S]

Cool--I'll be looking forward to your experiences using it for documentary type work.

[LuckyStudio 13]

keep us updated frequently !!

[ilauzirika]

great more info about the ex1!!!

[rawfa]

You've already have the sony ex1?! Cool! Looking forward to seeing some footage.

[Aerialsfilm M*]

Really looking forward to see some footage too. If you need webspace, let me know. :)

[philip bloom]

Hi guys,

I have put the short up on my website now, you can find it through my blog. Cheers

[Ranger]

Beautiful short!!!

Great stuff Philip! I've watched it three times already. Think I'll watch it again.

Cheers

[kokonino]

Amazing shots, Philip. I'm going to purchase the EX1 and after watching your short films I think I will go after the Letus Extreme too. I see you use a variety of 35 mm film lenses and I would like to use my Leica lenses with the Letus but can't find the specific adapter for. Do you think a Leica to EOS mount adapter (I have some Canon stuff too) will work fine with the Letus? Thanks.

[Stevet]

Hrere's a quick link to Philips EX1 + Letus Etreme footage.
http://web.mac.com/philip.bloom/Philip_Bloom/Ex1_and_Letus_Extreme.html

Great work. It looks like a great combo.

Last might we watched my EX1 via SDI to a 24" LCD JVC reference monitor.
Absolutely "jaw dropping".

[philip bloom]

Amazing shots, Philip. I'm going to purchase the EX1 and after watching your short films I think I will go after the Letus Extreme too. I see you use a variety of 35 mm film lenses and I would like to use my Leica lenses with the Letus but can't find the specific adapter for. Do you think a Leica to EOS mount adapter (I have some Canon stuff too) will work fine with the Letus? Thanks.

If you have an eos mount that takes leica then can't see why not!

thanks very much by the way!

[BlueWorld]

I love the shots with the horizontal focal plane TS lens.

How is the EX LCD for focus with the LE?

[philip bloom]

I love the shots with the horizontal focal plane TS lens.

How is the EX LCD for focus with the LE?

the ex lcd is amazing for focus. glad you noticed the horizontal focal plane shots...but that was done using magic bullet looks...swing tilt.

[Elton]

That was fantastic looking, Phil. Very nice.

[Stevet]

We went out last night and a co-camera friend used the EX1. He's getting a RED and wants to buy one of these for his "B" camera shots.

We were both blown away with how easy it was to use the "JVC type" focus peaking. They were night shots and were spot on.

The EX1 SDI out to his reference monitor was excellent.

[FatDaddy]

Yes, very nice from Philip Bloom. I was wondering about the vignetting in some of the shots (just the left and right side, slight shadowing). Is it a common issue with focal lengths and adapters?

[Aerialsfilm M*]

Read Philip his beginning statement. You'll find your answer there.

[LuckyStudio 13]

All the bright blinking lights dont really bother the CMOS sensor ! cool !!

[jpbankesmercer]

I AM SOLD. and I NEVER thought I'd say that...I'm switching.

[Concept89]

Wow, after seeing that... I'm definitely saving up for one!

Amazing footage

[philip bloom]

as a full time cameraman I never enjoyed shooting with the hvx. In one week I already love my ex1. Just wonderful! Today I shoot my first clean footage with it here in northern Ireland. I will update my blog with my experiences and photos/ screen grabs as soon as I get Internet access. Currently just got it on my iPhone

[Jared Meyer]

Been meaning to say that this footage is incredible. I love to see a beautiful looking camera test, great job!

Based on everything I've read and seen, I'm 100% sold on this camera. I think I'm going to have to get one...

[ilauzirika]

as a full time cameraman I never enjoyed shooting with the hvx. In one week I already love my ex1.

Could you explain which are the main differences that make you prefer the EX over the HVX?

I'm saving for a new camera and I'm looking for opinions.

[John Kary]

Thanks for posting the footage, Philip. You captured some great footage that shows some nice test material. I would like to see you post some un-colored footage especially.

One thing that really stuck out was the stair-stepping in shots where very vibrant reds contrasted other colors. In the screenshot below, you can see it along other signs as well, but not as distractingly. Look at the top of the red sign and notice how the black-sampled pixels dig into the red sign as it goes from left to right.

Now, I realize this is a web compressed movie, but these faults don't look to be the fault of web compression. Here is a 400% zoom of the below shot @ 100% JPEG for a closer look.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9739/ex1stairsui3.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ex1stairsui3.jpg)

I'm all-too familiar with similar results in DV footage, so is this just a fault in 4:2:0 Long-GOP footage?

EDIT: After looking at the 720p version, the stair-stepping is part of the web compression. There are different processes for resizing footage and the one used introduced the stair-stepping.

[Stevet]

Wow, thanks for that image Kary !

Let's break it down:

First generation XDCAM 720P (35mb I'm assuming).

2nd generation RESIZED to HALF its original size and COMPRESSED with QT for the internet

On top of that you screen capture it to JPEG. Yet another compression format.

Display here at 400% a small SECTION of a frame.

I'm ABSOLUELY blown away, that it looks this good after all that! WOW.

Please remember when an image is resized to half its size you loose FOUR TIMES the about of pixel data. Not to mention compressed in the process (QT), and then jpeged, and then blown up 400%.

What did you expect to see?

We all could not believe how good that image still looked ! Unreal!

[philip bloom]

Could you explain which are the main differences that make you prefer the EX over the HVX?

I'm saving for a new camera and I'm looking for opinions.

Picture quality i prefer. I love the sharp focusable LCD. I prefer the ex1 workflow to the p2 workflow. The compression means I can get almost an hour of full hd on a card as opposed to the 16 mins of p2. I have no problems with log GOP.

The menus are better. The lens is wonderful. The dof is better. The camera is better in low light. Shall I go on?

[philip bloom]

shot 1080p through a letus

[ilauzirika]

thanks for the answer, that puts things clear.

[sinai]

great shots there philip , yah some clean footage would be cool to see eventho your grading looks stunn...

[John Kary]

On top of that you screen capture it to JPEG. Yet another compression format.

Display here at 400% a small SECTION of a frame.

I'm ABSOLUELY blown away, that it looks this good after all that! WOW.
100% JPEG is visually indistinguishable from the original... Regardless, the 400% is not up-sampled. I did the screenshot, zoomed in 400% in Photoshop, did a screenshot of that, then dumped that to 100% JPEG. There's really not any noticeable recompression from what wasn't already in the encode.

Even so, the stair-stepping was blatant in the encoded version. I did the blow-up so everyone would see what I was talking about.

Philip, could you please post a full-res image of that scene with the signs so we can see it uncompressed?

[Concept89]

Picture quality i prefer. I love the sharp focusable LCD. I prefer the ex1 workflow to the p2 workflow. The compression means I can get almost an hour of full hd on a card as opposed to the 16 mins of p2. I have no problems with log GOP.

The menus are better. The lens is wonderful. The dof is better. The camera is better in low light. Shall I go on?

I understand picture quality, as I see much cleaner low light shots and much less mosquito grain from many "graded" shots. But I have a question about... workflow and compression....

What's the difference between P2 workflow and EX workflow? And besides that, this is a REAL nasty noob question: because the footage is compressed in 35 Mbps, wouldn't this give the HVX the upper hand in uncompressed video as it records in 100 Mbps? I am so confused about using Long GOP MPEG-2 and. DVCPRO-HD. What are the strengths and benefits? Weaknesses?

[Stevet]

100% JPEG is visually indistinguishable from the original... Regardless, the 400% is not up-sampled. I did the screenshot, zoomed in 400% in Photoshop, did a screenshot of that, then dumped that to 100% JPEG. There's really not any noticeable recompression from what wasn't already in the encode.

Even so, the stair-stepping was blatant in the encoded version. I did the blow-up so everyone would see what I was talking about.

Philip, could you please post a full-res image of that scene with the signs so we can see it uncompressed?


The video you blew up the image from was something around 700x400 COMPRPRESSED QT file. Philip just mentioned the original was 1920x1080. OF COURSE it will look like it has less resolution, hence the stair-stepping. ESPECIALLY taking the down rezzed version and magnifying just a small section of the frame 400% !! That's like taking a 16bit audio file and converting it to 8 bit and comparing sound quality and signal to noise.

[Elton]

Anybody seen the 720p version? Unreal.

[philip bloom]

i am away on a shoot with the ex1 shooting clean. So I don't have access to the rushes from that test short.

The ex1 is performing wonderfully. Stunning pictures and lovely DOF

I will write in more detail in my blog soon. The only downside so far is shootings stuff on the sticks on the end of the lens is very wobbly as its very windy today. My 350 with its weight would have coped better but the ois of the ex1 compensated well

[Stevet]

I've seen it. Real nice. I'm sold on that adapter too.
Although, I'm interested on what Philip has to say on the Brevis test.

[philip bloom]

I actually can't use my Brevis on this trip. The problem with the ex1 as I found with my F350 you need an enormous amount of spacers between the achromat and the adaptor to get focus due to the 1/2" chips. This is not an issue with the Letus due to the longer path caused by the prism and the distance of the GG to the achromat.

I am about 1 cm short on my spacers. VERY annoying!

Stupidly I dont have ilfe '08 on this macbook pro, i forgot to update it. So my blog cant be updated until I get home on Wednesday. What I can do is post some stills from today's shoot. All clean out of the camera, no adaptor and no colour correction

image five looks like it has vignette issues...its not...its the lighting! It was on full wide

[philip bloom]

more grabs

[LuckyStudio 13]

Phill,

No vignetting issues at all with your cam ??

[philip bloom]

last two screen grabs.

very pleased with the image. Had a couple of minor workflow issues but I will be speaking to Sony tomorrow to ask about it. Other thank that it really has been a superb experience today. My first paying gig with the ex1. I asked them to trust me and they have. It looks like it will have paid off!

[philip bloom]

and a few more...

[philip bloom]

Anybody seen the 720p version? Unreal.

cheers Elton!!

[Barry_S]

Is that the Giant's Causeway? I used to spend periods of time working in Dublin and one of the guys I worked with was from Northern Ireland. He kept trying to get me to go up there to shoot, bit I never had the chance. Looks cool.

[Stevet]

Philip, those images are absolutely jaw dropping!
Thanks for posting ! Very creative.
They are so clean with great clarity.

[hawaj]

thanx Philip

[Stevet]

Philip's EX1 720P:
http://www.aerialsfilm.com/bloom/ex1%20letus%20720p.mp4

[philip bloom]

definately got vignette today with ois on

[Aerialsfilm M*]

Auwsj.. I have to say, you are the third person that first said to have no vignette at all and then suddenly noticed vignette. Honoustly, I believe it is common on all EX1 camera's.

[Stevet]

I'm willing to believe a lot of them have it, but there was one person who posted the test and it was free of any vignetting.

Sony is aware of it, and they are working on a solution.
I imagine this means sending the camera in.

[Aerialsfilm M*]

Well, it certainly made me buy an XHA1 for now. I might change my mind within one year and get that EX1 or its update anyway. We'll see. Anyway, it's a bummer for all you guys that have one already. It should have worked out of the box, and I don't understand Sony couldn't get that right from the start.

[Stevet]

I agree with that, 100% !

[philip bloom]

my bandwith has been overloaded so my site is down. There should be a link for 720p version in this thread otherwise go to www.adapterplace.com and click on sample videos.

Vignette wise I noticed it on one single shot. It is very very minor and I know sony will fix it. Don't let it put you off the best sub 10000 dollar camera out there!

[philip bloom]

my website bandwith is overloaded so is down. Please go to adapterplace.com to see it or find aerialfilms link on this thread


Vignette happened once and is veryvery minor. It will be fixed. So don't let it put you off the best handheld camera out there

[Elton]

Not surprising your bandwidth was chewed up so quickly. That is a wonderful demonstration of the potential of the EX1 and the LetusExtreme. It's nice when great technology gets put in the right hands.

Thanks again for sharing and I'll be following the blog.

[philip bloom]

http://www.aerialsfilm.com/bloom/ex1%20letus%20720p.mp4

[mico]

Philip can we get your impressions of the wobble skew that has been shown in another thread. Have you handheld the cam in cars or trains on your shoot and if you haven't can you do some when you have a moment of free time. I know you are working. I don't mean to burden you with anything else. Just an 'if its possible'.

Thanks

[ahusain]

Philip can we get your impressions of the wobble skew that has been shown in another thread. Have you handheld the cam in cars or trains on your shoot and if you haven't can you do some when you have a moment of free time. I know you are working. I don't mean to burden you with anything else. Just an 'if its possible'.

Thanks

i've handheld the ex1 with one hand while walking down a hill with the lens mostly wide and i didn't see noticeable rolling shutter distortion. i can hold it pretty still though. :) my guess is if you tried a long focal length handheld you'd see issues. but WHEN does anyone shoot like that? when do professional cameramen try not not to hold a camera still?

i had used an hv20 for 2 months before i noticed any rolling shutter distortion. and then only when i read about it on message boards (actually after watching the red film at nab and noticing a warped shot). i didn't notice rolling shutter distortion because i almost always used a merlin on moving shots, and if it was ever handheld i'd be holding it deadstill.

i'll try to post my ex1 footage sometime soon.

[mico]

Its not just being handheld its being hand held with a consistent vibration of something mechanical like a a helicopter or road, like hand held in a car,mounted on a car or other vehicle. Walking hand held is not an issue. Its dramatic pans and vibration while handheld or mounted.

[ahusain]

Its not just being handheld its being hand held with a consistent vibration of something mechanical like a a helicopter or road, like hand held in a car,mounted on a car or other vehicle. Walking hand held is not an issue. Its dramatic pans and vibration while handheld or mounted.

here's my ex1 footage with extreme vibration:

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=109548

[mico]

here's my ex1 footage with extreme vibration:

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=109548

Thankyou for posting that. It definitely shows the wobble in that kind of shaking.

Now that kind of vibration obviously isn't a practical representation of any type of shooting so I won't, personally, dismiss the camera yet. If you have the time and I know you must have other things to do, but if you do, can we get some real world type vibration shots. For me it would be running hand held with some quick pans thrown in and hand held or mounted in a car on a rough road. If those shots were to come out decent to me, I'll buy the cam.
Appreciate your posting the vid.

[ahusain]

Thankyou for posting that. It definitely shows the wobble in that kind of shaking.

Now that kind of vibration obviously isn't a practical representation of any type of shooting so I won't, personally, dismiss the camera yet. If you have the time and I know you must have other things to do, but if you do, can we get some real world type vibration shots. For me it would be running hand held with some quick pans thrown in and hand held or mounted in a car on a rough road. If those shots were to come out decent to me, I'll buy the cam.
Appreciate your posting the vid.

welcome!

here is the other kind of footage: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=109613

[mico]

welcome!

here is the other kind of footage: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=109613

Fantastic. I have to thankyou for the time you've spent getting and posting this.

I can say i have no problems with that footage. My one minor gripe is that the shutter speed distracts which may possibly hide the wobble. There's a saving private ryan look that makes judgement a bit harder. If you're tempted to do this again I would like to see same thing but running (slow jog) , handheld (run and gun), more quick left to right pans and a smoother shutter speed to make a better case for this being a non issue.

Thanks again. I think I'm being sold.

[philip bloom]

my blog is updated and includes a link to the first edited short shot on the EX1 clean, with no adaptor. It's only 700x400 at the moment. I don't want to abuse Maxim's generous offer of hosting.

It's a very sweet piece about a protestant family on the Scottish Isle of Mull to run on Channel 5 on Christmas Eve.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

So much for that. :D

I think the bandwidth is gone again as the link doesn't appear to be working!?!?!?

Can't wait to see your work though! :beer:

[philip bloom]

thats odd. try again! I just uploaded a cleaner version. Dont get too excited. Its very gentlle Sunday evening type thing that will bring a tear to the old folks faces! But is a nice example of the image the ex1 is capable of delivering!

[LuckyStudio 13]

Phill, thats some wonderful interview and everything was very cinematic !!

[katyam]

Dear Philip,

What beautiful footage! Thank you for posting it.

I have several questions about the camera - perhaps you could touch upon them in the detailed analysis of EX1 you said you'll be writing:

1. Could you comment more extensively on EX1 ergonomics? Some people on this forum expressed quite a bit of discontent with respect to the camera weight balance, button size, positioning of the LCD monitor, and the potential issues with matte boxes.

2. When shooting with a Letus adapter, can you still do handheld work? Forgive my ignorance - I am just starting to learn about these things - but it seems that all the footage featured on Letus site (except your footage in London) - has an HD camera + Letus Extreme + some other lens. Is this also necessary for the EX1, or camera + Letus is a sufficient combination?

3. Can one mix the adapter-free and adapter-enhanced footage in one film without compromising its visual consistency? I noticed that you pointed out to two shots in your fist clip that were done without the adapter, and it worked beautifully, but would this also work for a longer feature, especially when projected on a big screen?

Many thanks,

Katya

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Very Nice!

The sound was decent as well.

Good throughout. I did notice when they were reading on the bed that there was some deep rumbling. Did you use a lav that might have gotten jostled?

Did you record sound straight into the camera?

Very Nice Piece of Work!

[philip bloom]

2. When shooting with a Letus adapter, can you still do handheld work? Forgive my ignorance - I am just starting to learn about these things - but it seems that all the footage featured on Letus site (except your footage in London) - has an HD camera + Letus Extreme + some other lens. Is this also necessary for the EX1, or camera + Letus is a sufficient combination?

3. Can one mix the adapter-free and adapter-enhanced footage in one film without compromising its visual consistency? I noticed that you pointed out to two shots in your fist clip that were done without the adapter, and it worked beautifully, but would this also work for a longer feature, especially when projected on a big screen?

Many thanks,

Katya

Most cameras work well with a 35mm adaptor. Everyone should benefit from it too. Handheld is possible but awkward with something like an ex1 and letus combination. A bit unwieldy

Yes you can mike the footage. You will need to slightly soften the clean footage in post with a little bit of diffusion but it should be no problem. The next piece I am cutting has it's interviews and some shots done with the Letus and the rest shot without.

[katyam]

Great! Thank you. On another thread, at DVInfo, there was a mention of the listing the equipment that you are using, for others to reference as a guide. I looked, but haven't found the list there. Will you be making it at some point?

Look forward to seeing more of your work,
K.

[philip bloom]

what sort of list is wanted? What sort of things?

[katyam]

I think people, myself included, are curious about the particulars of you EX1/Letus setup - lenses, camera support, etc. I would also love to know which lights you are using for your shoots.

[philip bloom]

OK.

These are my main lenses.

16mm Zenitar f2.8
18mm Signma f1.8
28mm Nikon F2
35 Nikon F1.4
50mm Zeiss f1.4 and Zeiss Macro T2 and Nikon 50mm F1.4
85mm Zeiss f1.4
105 Nikon f2 DC
135 Vivitar f2.3
180 Nikon F2.8
I also have one Sigma zoom which I think is 28-70mm f2.8
Two swing tilt lenses f2.8. One 50mm and one 85mm

I use the Letus support bracket on a set up mish mash rods that I am still perfecting.

The most solid I have come across are the Cinevate camera base and rod support. I actually use the carbon fibre rods from Cavision. Cavision supports are pretty good and very customisable. I did use my old Redrock one for a bit but it is SOOO heavy.

I used a Marshall 7" monitor when I need external focusing. Helpful but no longer essential with my ex1 and it's amazing LCD screen. But it is still easier to focus using an external monitor. The resolution on the screen can by a 100 billion pixels but it's still small and size is everything!

I sometimes use my redrock follow focus but this is quite rare. I am a fast worker. Constantly changing tools, constantly changing lenses and having a follow focus slows me down. What i do have is the gears on most of my lenses. It helps me to rack focus so much easier.

My tripod is a Miller DS20 solo. i CANNOT rave about this enough. It is a super tripod. It is lightweight but solid. It can go as low as my low boy manfrotto tripod and very high. it has a superb head that can take the weight of a fully laden down 35mm ex1 combo and monitor. It is also super smooth.

I have a few different radio mics. 2 Sennheiser evolution lavalier but not sure of the model number. They are affordable and good quality. I also have recently bought audio technica's dual receiver lavalier system which is great for my larger cameras as it powers off of the 12v camera output. The receiver is a little big for the smaller cameras but it works so well.

I have a wally dolly which is for me the best dolly I have used for the price. So smooth. easy to set up, doesn't need perfect surfaces and is cheap. Oh and it doesn't need a grip!

My main light is a rifa 55 500w soft box with a 45 degree egg crate diffuser. A superb soft key light and it goes everwhere with me. I also have 2 dedo 150 lights which I use for backlights etc. I have a projector and gobos for them. I have redheads and otherlights but rarely use them. I often try to make use of as much natural light as possible. For example if you look at my Anorexia section most of the interviews in parts 1-3 are with available light.

I have three matteboxes. I cheap Indian one which is fine. A cavision one, which keeps falling apart and a lovely Chrosziel one that lives on my DSR 450. I recommend buying the best you can afford as I didn't to start with and just bought cheap. They fell apart quickly. I have formatt and Tiffen 4x4 filters.

I think that's the bulk of my daily kit and set up.

[katyam]

Wow. Thank you for such a detailed list - it's amazingly useful because I am now putting together an equipment set for a documentary project in Israel, and many things you described are exactly what I should be getting. I can't help wondering, though - how do you carry all of this???? It's a lot of stuff!

[philip bloom]

I have a big car...and it isn't that much really! What is the project in Israel? Have shot some great stuff out here. What a beautiful country!! Can I come?

[katyam]

Well, actually... I was thinking that in a dream world I'd invite you over as a DOP, because your vision, as far as I can tell from your work, is exactly what I need for my film! But the project has a very skimpy funding - I am still a grad student in Jewish studies, and this is my first serious film. Here is a brief description:

Born as a Master thesis idea, and currently evolved into a full-feature (1.5 hours) documentary production, the movie (working title “Days of Return”) is an exploration of the connection between Jews and their land, the difference between spiritual and physical return from exile and the deep-seated foundations of the Jewish national and religious identity that, if fully brought back to life, could help us build a secure future in Israel. The film will be a series of conversations between Katya (Kathryn) Myer, a Jewish refugee from the Ukraine, who, after living in America for 14 years, comes to Israel to discover her roots, in the process finding out that she is not halachically Jewish, and Israeli scientists, teachers, guides, soldiers, rabbis, social activists, and settlers. As she goes through conversion and probes into the deeper meaning of her heritage, many difficult questions about Jewish identity, unity, and the very possibility of a nation whose existence is premised on its relationship with God and the hope for the renewal of that relationship come to the surface, including the questions of the future of Israel, its survival, and the spiritual destiny of the Jewish people.

Just like you said, Israel is extremely beautiful, and could lend itself so easily to produce an amazing visual line for this type of story. So, in a dream world, I'd definitely invite you over to make that vision a reality :)

[philip bloom]

Well, actually... I was thinking that in a dream world I'd invite you over as a DOP, because your vision, as far as I can tell from your work, is exactly what I need for my film! But the project has a very skimpy funding - I am still a grad student in Jewish studies, and this is my first serious film. Here is a brief description:

Born as a Master thesis idea, and currently evolved into a full-feature (1.5 hours) documentary production, the movie (working title “Days of Return”) is an exploration of the connection between Jews and their land, the difference between spiritual and physical return from exile and the deep-seated foundations of the Jewish national and religious identity that, if fully brought back to life, could help us build a secure future in Israel. The film will be a series of conversations between Katya (Kathryn) Myer, a Jewish refugee from the Ukraine, who, after living in America for 14 years, comes to Israel to discover her roots, in the process finding out that she is not halachically Jewish, and Israeli scientists, teachers, guides, soldiers, rabbis, social activists, and settlers. As she goes through conversion and probes into the deeper meaning of her heritage, many difficult questions about Jewish identity, unity, and the very possibility of a nation whose existence is premised on its relationship with God and the hope for the renewal of that relationship come to the surface, including the questions of the future of Israel, its survival, and the spiritual destiny of the Jewish people.

Just like you said, Israel is extremely beautiful, and could lend itself so easily to produce an amazing visual line for this type of story. So, in a dream world, I'd definitely invite you over to make that vision a reality :)

That does sound great. Just my sort of thing. I wish you all the luck in the world with it.

Do you live in Israel yourself?

[katyam]

I live in Cambridge, MA, but have been in Israel for a year now, and will stay here until next August, filming as much as I can, before returning to school for the 08/09 academic year. Thank you for the good wishes - my biggest luck would be finding a DOP that has the vision I am looking for. I have tried working with a few people here, all really great, but they have a different eye for things I am after - don't really know how to explain it more precisely.

Philip, this of course is a crazy thought, but how realistic is it to get you to Israel, actually? E-mail me, if you'd like: katyam@gmail.com

[philip bloom]

Here is an update version of my Protestant short with magic bullet grading. It looks a lot more 35mm adaptor a like now even though it was shot with the ex1 clean. I will also post a link to my first short on a Buddhist family in the UK for comparison. It was shot on the XDCAM HD F350. One camera cost £20,000 including lens then other cost £4200.

http://aerialsfilm.com/bloom/protestantsnewgradesd.mp4 NEW GRADE 700x400

http://aerialsfilm.com/bloom/protestantsnewgrade720.mp4 NEW GRADE 1280x720

http://aerialsfilm.com/bloom/buddhism%20sd.mp4 F350 Short 700 x 400

[Alvise Tedesco]

Hi Philip.
Since you own 3 matteboxes, do 1 fit ok the EX?
I'm sure it will be possible to use glass 4x4. I'm most concerned about my (cheap and lovely) Cokin 4x6 vertical grads.
Suggestions?
Cheers
Alvise

btw those sheeps and the boat running everywere are crazy

[philip bloom]

None of the matte boxes work that great. Due to the lcd placing. Maybe the new Redrock Matte box will the perfect one...

[philip bloom]

blog back up. sorry for downtime

[philip bloom]

p.s. am now the proud owner of a second letus extreme.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

So nice you bought it twice! :grin:

[jpbankesmercer]

Your doing lovely work.

[philip bloom]

Spent four hours shooting pretty pictures with the ex1 and letus extreme. I had a few technical problems but the results look good. I will post a new blog soon with the new video.

[rockoblm]

Philip, whats up with your site...seems to be down.

[BobDiaz]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f103/KQ6WQ/Page_Down.jpg


:crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby:

[philip bloom]

click on the link on my signature and it will work fine. Had to mover severs as it became way too popular and .mac closed it down!

www.philipbloom.net
www.philipbloom.co.uk

[philip bloom]

just finished my latest ex1/ letus short. I will be posting the link this evening once it is uploaded.

[philip bloom]

you can view it as part of my blog here: http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/Blooms_Blog/Entries/2007/12/14_Blog_5.html

it's called "kew gardens in winter"

Enjoy!

[Stevet]

Very nice Philip! I also really enjoyed the sound track. It works well with the footage.

Question, do you leave the EX1's detail set to it's default, or have you shut it off or played with different settings?

[philip bloom]

The detail is unchanged. I haven't really gone through all the options yet. I really should!

[Patrick_Rochel]

WOW man you should be selling these camera for Sony, that stuff just looks fantastic.

I have one question though. On the carosel scenes, is that the rolling shutter that I am seeing that seems to make the footage jump in a subtle fashion.

It isn't horrible it just is kind of jarring when the rest of the footage is so breathtaking.

Thanks

[philip bloom]

Thanks Patrick. What time is the bit you mean about the rolling shutter?

Edit: I see what you mean. It's actually the compression of the small .mp4 to make it fast enough to download. There is a huge amount of information there. There is a 720p version but that is highly compressed too.

What size are people prepared to download for future reference?

[Stevet]

If you're up to posting it, I would not mind seeing the 720p version.

[philip bloom]

the h264 mp4 version is available, the link is on the same page as the video.

a free ex1 and extreme for the first person to spot my cameo!

kidding about the prize. no way you can take them off me now!!

[Patrick_Rochel]

Yeah, so I just DL'd the 720 version and the quirk is gone. I can see now that it is the compression and not the camera. It is still slightly there but almost gone. I have to say that this is some of the very best video footage that I have seen for less than 10 grand and it looks better than most I have seen above that. I think the important thing to note here is that this camera with that adapter now eliminates the visibility of video to 90% or more of any audience that would be watching a film made with this camera. Mind you that the script is still the most important part but you wont get some wiseacre saying that a film made with this cam looks low budget. I wouldn't shoot a massive scifi epic with it but if I had the budget to really shoot a massive Scifi epic I certainly wouldn't be using a sub 10k camera.

Thanks Phillip for the breathtaking footage and taking the time to give us a higher res version.

[BobDiaz]

WOW!!!!!

I've only gotten 1/2 of the video, "kew gardens in winter" loaded into my iMac and I'm blown away. It's outstanding... I just wish my DSL was faster.

Best Wishes,

Bob Diaz

[Stevet]

The 720p clip is excellent.
Thanks again Phil.

[eofeapr]

Love your style Mr. Bloom

If I could i'd work for you for free just watch and learn.



Bully !!

[greenheron]

[QUOTE=philip bloom;1126706]the h264 mp4 version is available, the link is on the same page as the video.

a free ex1 and extreme for the first person to spot my cameo!


Cameo was you sitting on the park bench with your breath backlight by the sun.

[philip bloom]

[QUOTE=philip bloom;1126706]the h264 mp4 version is available, the link is on the same page as the video.

a free ex1 and extreme for the first person to spot my cameo!


Cameo was you sitting on the park bench with your breath backlight by the sun.

ex1 and letus extreme in the post to you. It may take some time, you know, Christmas post is very slow...

[philip bloom]

better version in 720p now linked on the blog. Less compression.

I love shooting with this combo. But it is SO hard compared to just having a nice 20x zoom lens. It's much harder to capture that moment as you often have the wrong lens on. But I am getting quicker at switching!

[Look 1st]

Hi Phillip,
The Kew Garden 720p is Stunning to say the least!
Thanks for posting.
I am curious about what you said on your blog :"I spent a fair amount of time making it look as good as possible."
I would take that to mean lots of editing and color grading/correction. No?

[poweredbyjolt]

Wow! That short is amazing. The footage and colors are so crisp. It makes me want to trade in my HVX.

[philip bloom]

Hi Phillip,
The Kew Garden 720p is Stunning to say the least!
Thanks for posting.
I am curious about what you said on your blog :"I spent a fair amount of time making it look as good as possible."
I would take that to mean lots of editing and color grading/correction. No?

Actually I meant in the shooting. The grading was very simple, I have a couple of magic bullet looks presets that I use that emulate colour reversal film that I used for this and Piccadilly Furs that I just tweak. The editing took about 2 hours including the grading. It was very simple. I knew as I went along where I wanted everything to fit in.

Is anyone else out there using the EX1 with the Letus extreme. i would be very interested to hear of their experiences and see some clips!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Hello Phillip!

Great Piece as Always!


Have you tried to see how it holds up against flashes of light?

I love the images I am seeing from this camera and for most doc work and most narrative work it looks spectacular.

I am just worried about using it for sports where there is heavy flash use.

[philip bloom]

thanks, i haven't tried it with flashes yet. I have seen what happens to the red camera with flashes and am sure it will be worse...thats the problem with cmos i guess

[philip bloom]

check out http://aerialsfilm.com/bloom/sunset1080.divx in about half an hour it should be uploaded. shot on the f350 but it shows how well the codec can handle fast moving water.

thanks to maxim again for hosting. i owe you a beer!

[philip bloom]

blog fully back up including rss and comments.

[Essami]

>Is anyone else out there using the EX1 with the Letus extreme. i would be very interested to hear of their experiences and see some clips!

Im waiting for my EX1. Have 5 music video projects coming up. Hoping to get mine before christmas to do some tests over the holidays but I'm afraid it might be January before I get one.

Kev Gardens looks as excellent as the Piccadilly Furs! Nice work!

sami

[ffaf07]

Variable frame rates, the incredible resolution and colors, they'll all help you form extremely stylized music videos. Good choice Sami.

[Essami]

I nearly peed my pants when I saw the Piccadilly Furs short on Phils site. Ive been waiting for 7 years to be able to do everything on my own and not have to develop, do telecine and all that. I still love film to no end but after school its just been way over my budget for my own projects.

Havent been this excited about christmas in 15 years or so :)

sami

[philip bloom]

I hope you love it. I can't praise the camera enough. Especially with the Letus Extreme.

[spa_edwards]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ilauzirika http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1114680#post1114680)
Could you explain which are the main differences that make you prefer the EX over the HVX?

I'm saving for a new camera and I'm looking for opinions.

Picture quality i prefer. I love the sharp focusable LCD. I prefer the ex1 workflow to the p2 workflow. The compression means I can get almost an hour of full hd on a card as opposed to the 16 mins of p2. I have no problems with log GOP.

The menus are better. The lens is wonderful. The dof is better. The camera is better in low light. Shall I go on?





yes please do go on.............

im going to buy my first camera and cant decide between the hvx or the ex1. Im leaning towards the ex1.

The footage you shot was awesome. How good would it have looked if you didnt use the letus?


many thanks
steve edwards

[philip bloom]

its great. Go to my blog and look at XDCAM EX1 as camera A. There should be a couple of things that were shot clean http://web.mac.com/philip.bloom/Blooms_Blog/Blooms_Blog/Entries/2007/12/7_Day_3.html

[FrankC]

[quote=spa_edwards;1130015]yes please do go on.............

"im going to buy my first camera and cant decide between the hvx or the ex1. Im leaning towards the ex1."

I also took a close look before I bought my EX1. If you read the previous responses to the many threads on this site, you'll see there is absolutely no comparison between the two. The EX1 is the "latest and greatest". Actually many have said the Canon's are the only close cameras to the EX1 in this price range. I think the HVX has had it's day (as short as it was). Naturally Panasonic will come out with something "Wow" in a couple of years, but for now, the game will be ruled by the EX1 .

[philip bloom]

[quote=spa_edwards;1130015]yes please do go on.............

"im going to buy my first camera and cant decide between the hvx or the ex1. Im leaning towards the ex1."

I also took a close look before I bought my EX1. If you read the previous responses to the many threads on this site, you'll see there is absolutely no comparison between the two. The EX1 is the "latest and greatest". Actually many have said the Canon's are the only close cameras to the EX1 in this price range. I think the HVX has had it's day (as short as it was). Naturally Panasonic will come out with something "Wow" in a couple of years, but for now, the game will be ruled by the EX1 .

Am sure panasonic will fight back very soon but for me they would have to stick half inch chips in and for there to be cheap higher capacity p2 cards.

[spa_edwards]

cheers lads.

I will be spending the next couple of days trying to read all of the posts. two questions i would like to put forward that i cant seem to find the answer to-

1) The colour sampling rate of both cameras - does it matter that the sony is 4:2:0 and not 4:2:2 like the panasonic, what is the pros and cons of this?

and
2)Ive read that the sony p2 cards records at a rate of 35mbs while the panasonic records at 100mbs, does this mean that the sony camera loses quality in recording at 35mbs. this is very confusing for me at the moment. so confusing it is to me, that i cant construct a descent question. lol.


I understand that they might be amatuer questions but if i dont ask - i will never know.

many thanks
steve edwards

[cckid]

Philip hi,

what was your experience editing and doing basic color correction in xdcam ex format....I had sony hdv fx1 didn't like it coz of the format....now I have p2 hvx200 and I love the editing process because I am staying in the same format from start to finish on the macbook pro 2,4ghz as well on the macintel 2,66ghz....can I expect to edit in xdcam ex, have dissolves, freeze frames and similar without transcoding to pro res??....if anyone knows please let me know...

ONe more thing...I've just received a letus ex a couple of days ago...can I realistically expect to work with letus ex and sony ex and rely just on the its glorious lcd screen without having additional external monitor for critical focusing...you see this possibility would mean a great deal to me because I love to travel light and have as less equipment with me...what's your sincere opinion on these issues....if you find time drop a post...thanks

cckid

www.staderzen.com

www.honeymoonthemovie.net

[philip bloom]

Hi

I don't touch Pro res and actually edit everything in xdcam ex timelines with no problems at all. Including lots of grading.

I dont use a monitor with my ex1 and have no problems. Look at my kew gardens film. No monitor was used to get focus.
Best

Phil

[cckid]

Thanks Philip,

I've been following your work and I like it mucho...truly inspiring...seems to me that sony ex will be the way to go for me....of course together with my letus ex...keep up the good work

best regards

cckid

www.staderzen.com

www.honeymoonthemovie.net

[philip bloom]

thanks cckid.

[ffaf07]

Philip, when you shot that segment on the protestant family, was the interview scene set up deliberately so that only the woman's face was in focus? Her body seemed to be a little bit out of focus, If I'm not mistaken. I was just curious if you set up a very narrow depth of field deliberately or if the LCD did not prove perfect for pin sharp focusing.

My guess would be the former, because her face was in perfect focus.

[BobDiaz]

cheers lads.

I will be spending the next couple of days trying to read all of the posts. two questions i would like to put forward that i cant seem to find the answer to-

1) The colour sampling rate of both cameras - does it matter that the sony is 4:2:0 and not 4:2:2 like the panasonic, what is the pros and cons of this?

and
2)Ive read that the sony p2 cards records at a rate of 35mbs while the panasonic records at 100mbs, does this mean that the sony camera loses quality in recording at 35mbs. this is very confusing for me at the moment. so confusing it is to me, that i cant construct a descent question. lol.


I understand that they might be amatuer questions but if i dont ask - i will never know.

many thanks
steve edwards

Good questions...


#1, 4:2:0 vs. 4:2:2 For most shooting, 4:2:0 might be good enough. However, if you do a lot of Greenscreen or Bluescreen work, you'll need the extra color resolution that 4:2:2 offers. Greenscreen and Bluescreen work can be done with 4:2:0, but it seems to be easier and works better with 4:2:2.

The 4:2:0 results in 12 bits per pixel, while the 4:2:2 results in 16 bits per pixel. So, the 4:2:0 gives us less data we need to compress, but we have a slightly rougher color resolution. Not a big issue with most shots.


#2, 100Mb/s vs. 35Mb/s The 100Mb/s system on the Panasonic P2 compresses each frame as a separate frame all to itself. Thus, what happens in the frame before or the frame after, has no impact on the current frame's compression. Thus, excessive movement or changes between the frames has NO IMPACT on the compression quality.

The 35Mb/s system used by Sony uses MPEG Long GOP (Group Of Pictures). MPEG records a key frame and then looks for the differences between this frame and the other frames. Now, if there isn't an excessive amount of changes between the key frame and the other frames (within the GOP), the system works very well and generates a lower bit rate than the P2 system. As for quality, given the higher horizontal resolution at the 1080i mode (1920hx1080v), the Sony system can be sharper. Panasonic DVCPRO100 is 1280hx1080v. However, if there's compression noise, the Panasonic system would be the better system.

The potential problem with MPEG is that IF there are lots of changes between every frame, the CODEC can't deal with all the changes and compression noise will appear on the video. This may appear as little blocks the appear and disappear between each GOP OR as an overall blocky look.

The big question is, "How likely will this happen?"

At 720@24, 25, & 30p, it appears that it's not very likely to occur.

At 720@60p, 1080@30p, and 1080@60i, we really don't know for sure. I haven't seen anyone using the camera in those modes who has posted any information on it.

If your videos are of slow/medium moving things, chances are this is not going to be an issue. However, we are still waiting for the results from those who shoot lots of fast action at 720@60p, 1080@30p, or 1080@60i.

The Long GOP of the Sony system does give us more minutes per GB of memory, BUT we operate with an increased risk of seeing compression noise.


Bob Diaz

[Look 1st]

I think the HVX has had it's day (as short as it was).

Still LOTS of great footage being posted thats shot on the HVX.
The HVX didnt become any less capable because the EX1 came out.
They arent really on the same playing field anyway, its like comparing a Filet to a Sirloin, ones obviously better, but they are both still very tasty :)

[philip bloom]

The HVX is still a superb camera. Would I have sold it if I didn't need the cash to buy the EX1? No.

For everyone who still has an HVX, you have a superb camera there. For me I needed different things, better lens, sharper image, bigger sensors, better low light, longer recording time. I need my workflow and my camera to operate like my full size cameras. This is the only "small" camera I have used that lets me do that.

Should people buy an HVX today rather than an EX1? I would say no. Mainly because I think it is a superior product. BUT, the HVX makes sense for some people who are bought into P2. It is surely a foregone conclusion that Panasonic will lose customers to Sony with the EX1 but they will respond with a replacement that can take up the new challenge. Now that camera should be pretty special!

[spa_edwards]

Cheers for your reply bob, it was very useful.

Just wondering that if i was to use the ex1 "overcranking" system with the variable framerates, would i experience compression noise when using this? many thanks.



The potential problem with MPEG is that IF there are lots of changes between every frame, the CODEC can't deal with all the changes and compression noise will appear on the video. This may appear as little blocks the appear and disappear between each GOP OR as an overall blocky look.

[matthew77]

I would say the chances of compression noise are lower when overcranking.

The EX1 actually increases its datarate at higher fps, so at 60 fps overcrank, the camera records 2.5x the data per second compared to 24. In other words, it maintains the amount of data per frame that it records.

And since the image changes frame to frame are only 40% of what they would be at normal speed (on average), the codec is taxed far less when overcranking.

No one has been able to show any visible macroblocking (compression noise) on the EX1 in any test footage I have seen. It's not to say that it can't happen, but the codec is very good and hard to break.

Also, the 35Mbps rate, according to what I have read, can be exceeded by the EX1 codec for short bursts (up to 50Mbps I think) for particularly difficult frame sequences.

[emotepix]

Agreed, matthew77.
The footage that convinced me was taken from the back of US aerobatics ace Patty Wagstaff's plane doing some pretty outrageous (15G) moves - and nary a macroblock (nor a CMOS vertical smear) in plain sight.
Now if only someone besides Red can get some wavelet compression going...

[philip bloom]

Brevis flip on it's way. Interesting to see how it compares to the extreme. Will post more info on my blog.

[philip bloom]

My religion series is all done. http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/Religion%3A_XDCAM_HD.html

These are authored shorts looking at how being a certain religion in Britain affects their lives.

[mcgeedigital]

Awesome series Philip. Very nice storytelling.

What dolly did you use for the Hindu piece?

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Very Nice.

I think I missed the Hindu piece though.

I only saw, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist. ;-)

[philip bloom]

Awesome series Philip. Very nice storytelling.

What dolly did you use for the Hindu piece?

I think you meant Buddhism. The wally dolly!

cheers

[rockoblm]

I really enjoyed your series. You're probably limited on time, but it would have been interesting to see a bit more of each family. How much post corrections did you do?

[philip bloom]

I really enjoyed your series. You're probably limited on time, but it would have been interesting to see a bit more of each family. How much post corrections did you do?

yes it would have been nice to have made them longer but i was given max running times for them. Their interviews were so fascinating. Wish I could have made them longer.

Everything was graded in post, is that what you meant?

[spa_edwards]

Just wondering that if i was to use the ex1 "overcranking" system with the variable framerates, would i experience compression noise when using this? many thanks.


cheers for the reply, but i think i must have meant to say - would i experience compression noise with undercranking?

love the work philip

[philip bloom]

No compression noise with undercranking. Thanks

[Steve Shovlar]

Thought the catholic one was particularly good. Almost brought a tear to my eye when the man was talking aout his baby who died 40 minutes after its birth. Really excellent stuff Phil.

[philip bloom]

Cheers Steve,

Nice to hear from another UK member. Dorset is pretty, great place to shoot pretty pics.

[Steve Shovlar]

Cheers Steve,

Nice to hear from another UK member. Dorset is pretty, great place to shoot pretty pics.

Yes beautiful down here. Only 25 mins from the Jurrassic coast with Lulworth and Durdle Door, but live here in lovely rolling countryside.

Looks like I will have the same setup as yourself come the new year, with the FX1 and waiting on the Brevis flip module. Doubt I can compete with the quality of your work but it gives me a target to aim for quality wise.

Are you or any other Brits going to Videoforum at the end of January? Nice to all meet up for a drink.

[philip bloom]

I think I am going. I might be giving a presentation on tapeless workflow

[Steve Shovlar]

Cool. I'll check out when that is and come and watch if it's on the day I am there.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

My religion series is all done. http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/Religion%3A_XDCAM_HD.html

These are authored shorts looking at how being a certain religion in Britain affects their lives.


Philip~

What was your set up for sound?

What mic, booms, mixers, etc...?

In fact, if you get a chance and it's not too much trouble, could we please see some stills of your set up?

~Estebe

[philip bloom]

Philip~

What was your set up for sound?

What mic, booms, mixers, etc...?

In fact, if you get a chance and it's not too much trouble, could we please see some stills of your set up?

~Estebe

Actually it couldn't have been much simpler. 416 as camera mic channel 2. Channel one was a sennheiser evolution radio mic. That's it!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Actually it couldn't have been much simpler. 416 as camera mic channel 2. Channel one was a sennheiser evolution radio mic. That's it!


Sweeetness! :thumbsup:

[philip bloom]

Ok. Done a new short to test out my shift/ tilt lenses. 80% was done using the 65mm and 85mm Hartblei lenses. Go to my blog at www.philipbloom.co.uk and read all about it and see the film. Enjoy!!!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Great work!

Cam settings, color correction,...?

[BobDiaz]

Philip,

I decided to "play around" with your footage from Kew Gardens In Winter. So, I downloaded the 720p version and imported it into Final Cut Express HD. I had it reduced to NTSC (720x480) DV, 60i. From that point, I burned it onto a DVD for my SD TV.

If you look at the tree to the left at 1:14 - 1:16, you'll see a squirrel climbing the tree in the HD version. In my SD version, it's really tough to see it; then again, I have about 1/4 the pixels to see it.

To me it appears that in the conversion from 25P to 60i, FCE HD converts the 25p into a 30p sequence by adding a copy of every fifth frame, 1 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 11... This does create an odd jutter in the image that easy to spot on pans, but harder to spot with other shots.

Best Wishes,

Bob Diaz

[scottlacy]

I noticed the judder too. Thought it was my laptop graphic card struggling to keep up with the data rate.

Otherwise, a sublime video. I played it on my 42-inch Samsung HDTV set (went HDMI out from my laptop). It upscaled beatifully. Looked pretty much like any high-end film work I typically see on DirecTV.

[philip bloom]

If you look at the tree to the left at 1:14 - 1:16, you'll see a squirrel climbing the tree in the HD version.

Thanks Bob, you are the first person to spot it! I only noticed it on my 3rd or 4th viewing!

Great work!

Cam settings, color correction,...?

1080p25 and 720p25 for the 60fps. Cine gamma 4 and slightly crushed blacks. Detail on +4 and graded in Magic Bullet Looks. Thanks E.

Looked pretty much like any high-end film work I typically see on DirecTV.

Thanks Scott

[philip bloom]

Anyone in the UK please watch Channel 5 every night this week at 7pm to see my Religion series of shorts shot on the ex1, some with and some without the Letus extreme

[philip bloom]

I have done a very nice new Letus Extreme/ EX1 Short all shot in 60fps. Enjoy and please post feedback!

http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/My_Autumns_Done_Come.html

[ichichich]

Philip - what lens are you using for those extreme closeups? Looks fantastic :-)

[philip bloom]

Hi

It's the Zeiss T2 50mm Macro

[philip bloom]

It's lets you get those terrific close ups but it is also incredibly sharp.

[LuckyStudio 13]

Beautifully cinematic! The colors are extremely film like !

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Hi

It's the Zeiss T2 50mm Macro


This is a cinema lens or a 35mm film lens.

Which Zeiss is it exactly.

[philip bloom]

it is the nikon mount Zeiss T2 500 mm Macro

[moldcad]

I have done a very nice new Letus Extreme/ EX1 Short all shot in 60fps. Enjoy and please post feedback!

http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/My_Autumns_Done_Come.html

Philip.

You've moved me to tears with this masterpiece.

'cause My Autumn’s Done Come... as well.

Thank you!

[philip bloom]

I have Just found out fox news are broadcasting my ex1 letus extreme short today on judaism. Keep an eye out!

[sinai]

hey phil
great work everything you posted from picadilly up to the religion shorts . NICE WORK
can u outline shortly what is the difference between letus and brevis since you worked with both . concerning adapters i only worked with ps mini 35 adapter which is just great . but quiet expensive i own a bunch of nikkor lenses from my F3 still camera . what would you recommend .
Cheers and keep the good work up .
p.s. i guess sony owes you something ....;)

[philip bloom]

thanks. I can't be honest until I have tried out the brevis flip. As soon as I have properly I will let you know.

All i can say is the Letus Extreme is amazing. So well built, great light loss and very easy to use.

P.s. Sony, can I have a free camera please?!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Yes... Please Give Philip a free camera!!!


Send it to;

Philip Bloom
In Care of Estebe Verde
1806 Belles Street
Suite ..:grin: (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=117085#)

[philip bloom]

Yes... Please Give Philip a free camera!!!


Send it to;

Philip Bloom
In Care of Estebe Verde
1806 Belles Street
Suite ...More :grin: (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=117085#)

cheeky bugger!!!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

cheeky bugger!!!


Hey Philip.

What's your favorite part of Europe?

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

[philip bloom]

I loved the south of France. I also love Manhattan as I lived there for a bit. Great filming opportunities there!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

I loved the south of France. I also love Manhattan as I lived there for a bit. Great filming opportunities there!


Cool...

I like San Francisco, Hawaii, Portland Oregon, Dublin, and New Zealand. All for different reasons I suppose.

How hard is it to work in the UK and Europe with the higher prices and VAT?

[larrys]

Hey Phil,

I emailed you those questions! In the meantime, over on another forum, someone said the rolling shutter is a major problem. It looks like you have more direct shooting experience with the EX1 than anyone I see on the web, what's the real facts on the rolling shutter "problem"!

Thanks, Larry

[philip bloom]

i have NEVER had a problem with rolling shutter! EVER!!!

Some people are going out of their way and push it to extremes to get it. Yes I am sure under extreme circumstances it does happen.

Larry could you send email again. i cant see it and am worried it was spam filtered

Phil

[emotepix]

Did anyone see the footage from the Sony site of aerobatics ace Patty Wagstaff in her Extra 300 plane? 15Gs and nary a waver...

[edit] Here's the link to the press release. When I find the link to the footage I'll add it here (if someone doesn't beat me to the punch, that is)...

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/b2b/broadcast_production/release/32170.html

Here you go. Bottom clip:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/xdcamVideoGallery.shtml

BTW okay so it may have been only 10+Gs, but I thought I saw 15 the first time I watched the clip. I just tried to watch it again but got too dizzy halfway through...

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Did anyone see the footage from the Sony site of aerobatics ace Patty Wagstaff in her Extra 300 plane? 15Gs and nary a waver...


That's curious to be sure.

I wonder what's up with that.


What were the camera settings and was it a stock set up.


If so, that's pretty damn good.

[philip bloom]

I got the Brevis flip to work with the ex1 today. which is good news!

[emotepix]

so?? what did it look like compared to the LE?

[philip bloom]

not filmed anything yet. doing that tomorrow. will post on my blog

[emotepix]

can you hear the baited breath? :-)

[wartez]

Philip may I bother you for a photo of your xdcam/letus rig? I'm interested in this set up and would like to see what it looks like in action. Did you have any issues fine tuning the adapter for the camera?

Thanks!

[BobDiaz]

i have NEVER had a problem with rolling shutter! EVER!!!

Some people are going out of their way and push it to extremes to get it. Yes I am sure under extreme circumstances it does happen.

Larry could you send email again. i cant see it and am worried it was spam filtered

Phil

I have a theory on the Rolling Shutter "Issue"...

The time for the shutter to open/close is very short when shooting at 24p/25p at 180 degrees, compared to time the shutter is open. Thus, the effect of the rolling shutter is not seen.

However if you set the shutter speed to something very short, like 1/2000 of a second, it should be more like a slit moving across the image sensor. Thus a quick pan may show more distortion than the longer shutter times; which show more as a blur.

IF I'm correct, the rolling shutter would be a non-issue for normal, 24p, 25p, and 30p, at 180 degree shooting. However it may be an issue for very short exposure times like 1/1000 of a second or higher.

Bob Diaz

[matthew77]

Bob,

I agree with you and have plans to test it on a motion control pan/tilt head in January.

The same can be said of film, especially on cameras with a rotating focal plane shutter, that the narrower the shutter angle, the more of a "slit scan" the shutter function becomes. At narrower angles, a film camera is not immune to "rolling shutter" artifacts.

The "global shutter" ideal that seems to be part of the dogma on this site is something that is strictly reserved for the perfect world of electronic cinematography.

[philip bloom]

Philip may I bother you for a photo of your xdcam/letus rig? I'm interested in this set up and would like to see what it looks like in action. Did you have any issues fine tuning the adapter for the camera?

Thanks!

there should be photos on my blog

[philip bloom]

my first footage with the brevis flip/ ex1 combo is now up on my blog for people who are interested.

[emotepix]

Thank you Philip!
Any prelim observations/comparisons? This stuff looks a little more contrasty than the Letus footage, but that could easily be the MB...
Chris

[philip bloom]

that's all in the grade.

Softer edges when using the ex1 and the brevis with big wide angles than the letus extreme. although the letus to a lesser degree exhibits the same problems. This could be a problem with the ex1 lens and close focus. I would love to hear from any other ex1/ letus extreme owners what they have found.

Much lighter than the extreme but a bit longer. Sharpness is pretty good, no complaints there! it's a good system with the ex1 but i really want to put it on my z1 to see if i still get those soft edges on the wide angles.

[sinai]

...so they perform more or less the same ?!?!?!

btw. phil, new year eve in london town UHHH scarry better get out of there ..

[philip bloom]

more or less. but it is way more complicated than that. a proper test s needed

no way am going anywhere near centre of town!

[philip bloom]

I am giving a presentation on tapeless workflow with the ex1 at the Broadcast Live forum in London on the 31st if anyone is around. Be good to meet you, just don't judge me on my presentation. I do pictures not words, it could be very embarrassing!!

p.s. if anyone in London fancies helping me out on Thursday next week for free I am shooting my next short at some cool locations throughout the day starting quite early. It's a non commercial short like the others, I am just doing to test and stretch out the ex1/ Letus extreme combo.

[emotepix]

Wish I could make it, mate. But Los Angeles is a bit of a hop away...
Cheers
Chris

[philip bloom]

I think I am going to be on the Sony stand for the entire three days of broadcast forum at the end of month. Sony have hired me to answer people's questions about the EX1.

[TheMusician]

Hi Phil. Barry Green, whom I have an enormous amount of respect for, made a post about his observations with the EX1 over on the HVX boards. In it, he states that he sees a large loss of resolution when panning. There is a lot of question about whether it is simple motion blur, or if there is some sort of aggressive noise reduction going on. Have you noticed any softening during a pan? Or have you ever panned across a chart during all of your evaluations of this camera and noticed that to be a problem? (Your footage is so outstanding, I hope that Sony is paying you well to do your presentation)

[Barry_Green]

I didn't say there was a "large loss", I said there was more of a loss than I've seen on other cameras. And I don't have an answer as to why it happens; it could maybe be motion blur but it seems to happen in much milder circumstances than other cameras do. I'm not the only one who noticed it, but again it may be something as simple as motion blur. It felt like there's more to it than that, but I don't have an answer.

[spa_edwards]

p.s. if anyone in London fancies helping me out on Thursday next week for free I am shooting my next short at some cool locations throughout the day starting quite early. It's a non commercial short like the others, I am just doing to test and stretch out the ex1/ Letus extreme combo.


Hello Phillip,

Are you talking about Thursday 17th? If you are, i live in London and would love to come and help out. What time are you thinking of starting and finishing?

Regards,
steve edwards

[philip bloom]

i meant yesterday. But I have been pretty ill so cancelled it. I crawled out of bed to do a few shots today. Not quite what I had planned but it looks nice. I will cut it together soon and post a link on my website with info on my blog.

[philip bloom]

It's now confirmed. Sony have hired my to answer questions about the EX1 for 3 days at the broadcast forum. Be weird to be talking about just one camera to lots of strangers. Not really my game, I prefer to just use them. oh well!! I guess all my praise for it has made them think I am the perfect person for the job! Crazy people!

[Steve Shovlar]

I hope they are making it worth your while! ( a free Ex1 perhaps?)
;)

[spa_edwards]

i meant yesterday. But I have been pretty ill so cancelled it. I crawled out of bed to do a few shots today. Not quite what I had planned but it looks nice. I will cut it together soon and post a link on my website with info on my blog.


Damn, just my luck. Nevermind. Let me know if you want any help again as im only as train ride away, and im in no doubt that i would learn alot too.

I will be getting an Ex1 within a month or two - hopefully sooner - and i want to get rigged up with the lexus too. But having never used a film adaptor, im unsure about a few things - i have searched this site but cant seem to find the answers i need. My eyes are starting to pixelate.

It would be sooooo much appreciated if you or anyone could answer any of the following questions.



Where can i find a decent deal on the Ex1? Or at least the average deal.
Where can i buy the Lexus from and how much is the average price?
Where can i get rails from and what type can i get that are value for money?
and
With the rails and lexus mounted onto the Ex1, will i need to get a certain tripod to handle the weight? that is if weight is at all an issue.


I can't wait to get this camera as i have a short film lined up to shoot that will look fantastic with this setup.

Many thanks
Steve Edwards

[philip bloom]

Steve,

Getting a deal on an EX1 is tough because they are so popular nobody really has them any cheaper than list. Best thing I can suggest is give Yevgeny a call at Mitcorp in London and say I sent you.

Best place for Letus and best rails are also the Letus ones go to here: http://www.letusdirect.com/248.html

my tripod is a miller ds20. For all the information you need just go to my website and read my blog. There is stacks of info there of my trial and error with the letus and ex1.

Good luck! It's a great combo. Will get my new footage up soon!

[philip bloom]

I hope they are making it worth your while! ( a free Ex1 perhaps?)
;)

I wish! They are paying me my daily rate which is fine. It's also good for me I guess. I will make sure I get many business cards printed out!

[spa_edwards]

Steve,

Getting a deal on an EX1 is tough because they are so popular nobody really has them any cheaper than list. Best thing I can suggest is give Yevgeny a call at Mitcorp in London and say I sent you.

Best place for Letus and best rails are also the Letus ones go to here: http://www.letusdirect.com/248.html

my tripod is a miller ds20. For all the information you need just go to my website and read my blog. There is stacks of info there of my trial and error with the letus and ex1.

Good luck! It's a great combo. Will get my new footage up soon!


Brilliant,

Thats helped me out alot, thank you very much. I will check out the new footage and read through your blogs tommorow.

Regards,
Steve Edwards

[philip bloom]

New Letus Extreme EX1 short called "South Bank" is now on my website. Go to my blog to see it and read all about what I used to make it.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Did you use a tilt lens on this?

What lenses did you use?

[philip bloom]

all the lenses I used are listed on the blog! Yes lots of swing tlit

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Sorry, I assumed the page you posted your footage on was part of your blog.

But, after a bit of hunting:


"The lenses I used were my Sigma f1.8 20mm, 35mm Arrax f2.8 tilt shit, 50mm Zeiss T2 macro, 85mm Hartblei tilt shift and my 105mm Nikon f2 DC."

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Philip...

Why no matte box mate?

Do you not fancy them or?

[philip bloom]

I love my Matte Box,

but when shooting with my Letus and prime lenses and trying to travel light having a matte box means changing lenses is a pain. I used a matte box and filters on my Autumn day short and EVERY day when doing broadcast work on my full size cameras, but when am just running around knocking shots off as quickly as possible I don't.

If I was doing these shorts for money and had more time without a doubt I would!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Thanks for your reply Philip! :beer:

[philip bloom]

Another short! This time it is a Landscape Study around Dungeness Nuclear Power Station on the South Coast. Very different to my last short. I just wanted to show having a 35mm film adaptor is more than just shallow DOF.

You can read about it and see it at my blog on my website.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

Holy Snikes That's Good!

Loved It!


Questions:

Was the train a miniature.

It looks like it was small scale when I saw your reflection (I liked that by the way) and when it passed in front of the bus.

Was that your "Dag" in the beginning shots?

And

Have you used the or demoed the F23 yet? If so, how's the EX1 image compared?

[philip bloom]

yes the train was small, but still big enough to be a passenger!
What is the F23?

[kubalsky]

I like the mood of "Dungeness" It has a real Distopian feel to it.

Tokyo has a lot of abandoned factory, theme parks and housing areas on the outskirts. Nationwide their is a bit of a movement amongst photographers to take photos at these sites. I think they refer to it as "Distopia" You may have seen photo books from Japan on this subject.

I'm hoping to shoot some stuff with my Ex1 out there this year. If you ever find yourself in Tokyo and want to know of any places like that let me know. Your films are Inspiring stuff. Thankyou.

Kubalsky

[philip bloom]

Thanks

I have regraded it black and white. i think it works MUCH better now!

You don't often see 35mm adaptor footage in monochrome.

[wartez]

Thanks

I have regraded it black and white. i think it works MUCH better now!

You don't often see 35mm adaptor footage in monochrome.

i think the 35mm adapter look in b&w is beautiful! if you would like i can send you a short film i shot late last year in b&w with the m2. i will be shooting a noir picture later this month with the lex and ex1 in b&w, should be pretty exciting!

[philip bloom]

I would love to see it if possible!

[ESTEBEVERDE]

yes the train was small, but still big enough to be a passenger!
What is the F23?


Sony F23 (http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/cinealta/shoot/f23.shtml)

[ESTEBEVERDE]

i think the 35mm adapter look in b&w is beautiful! if you would like i can send you a short film i shot late last year in b&w with the m2. i will be shooting a noir picture later this month with the lex and ex1 in b&w, should be pretty exciting!

can you post it here so we all can have a look?

I would love to see what you have done.

[wartez]

I would love to see it if possible!

I started a new thread in user films. I'll link it in here for now, let me know if you'd like it edited out of this post.

Son of the Beast HVX/M2 B&W (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=122513)

Enjoy!

[scottlacy]

Forgive the novice question, but what are the compelling reasons for using a matte box?

I understand they keep light from hitting the lens directly and also allow for the quick swapping of filters. But is there anything else to be gained from using a matte box?

[philip bloom]

basically to control light and let you use 4x4 filters

[Tomas Riuka]

philip,

can you explain more , what you mean by saying "control light"... what can matte box do more than len's hood if you're shooting with 35mm lenses? or does is change something, that you can open 1 barndoor more, one less ?

and what is the difference between using 4x4 or 3x3 filters and just srewing on let' say 72 mm filter directly on the 35 mm lens?

sorry for newbie questions...

[ffaf07]

I too am interested to hear the advantages a Matte Box proposes, from the experts.

[Steve Shovlar]

The Mattebox keeps direct sunlight of the lens. Say you are shooting with the sun low in the sky. It could be below the hood that comes with the EX1 and cause sunspots on the lens.

Or, if you have too much light, using the barn doors helps keep the light levels lower coming into the lens.

Then you have the advantage of using 4x4 filters for a very wide variety of uses.

From polarizers through the grads. Yes a lot of the filter stuff can be done in post, but grads can make a sky sing.

Plus of course it looks super impressive and will definately make you look the real professional in front of your employer.

[Tomas Riuka]

yes, but paying 700$... jeez... that is soo expensive for nothing... i understand 100$, but 500... i think that's too much :(

[mcgeedigital]

yes, but paying 700$... jeez... that is soo expensive for nothing... i understand 100$, but 500... i think that's too much :(

There are other options out there.

Plus, chicks dig matte boxes.

[Tomas Riuka]

other options? like what?

[Steve Shovlar]

I use a mattebox all the time. The Vocas 350 is a super bt of kit. Not cheap but when you have it in your hands you can see why.

There are cheaper alternatives like the Formatt, but it clips onto the lens without rods and might cause extra stress on those camera threads.

[philip bloom]

yes, but paying 700$... jeez... that is soo expensive for nothing... i understand 100$, but 500... i think that's too much :(

it really isn't nothing! Matte boxes and filters are incredibly important and essential in today's filmmaking

[Jon Nelson]

Phillip

Can you tell us which matte box (and support) you are using with the basic EX (ie: which one you use without the adapter)

Too bad we have the LCD/mic overhang to work around!

Thanks!

[Steve Shovlar]

Can't answer for Phil but my matteox is the brilliant Vocas 350, and it fits only if you put the filters in from the bottom, because of the EX1's overhanging mic. However, it might be quite easy to get the disk which butts up to the EX1 lens extended to completely alleviate this problem. A machine shop could do this easily.

It works perectly with a lens adapter.

http://www.libraprobroadcast.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=vocas-mb350

[wartez]

has anyone ever tried using a screw on nd, polarizer or other filter that threads right on to the 35mm lens as opposed to in a mattebox? sometimes it is easier to run and gun without a mattebox, so i wondering if anyone had tried these photo filters instead?

[philip bloom]

Quick question for you guys. I am on the Sony stand at this Broadcast forum thing and all my work will be playing on the screen there BUT on Thursday I have this debate panel that I am part of. I have been asked to show one of my shorts...now which one do I show. I am leaning towards the South Bank, any thoughts?

[socbret]

I would definitely say that South Bank is my favorite of the EX footage, I say go with that.

[booth]

Quick question for you guys. I am on the Sony stand at this Broadcast forum thing and all my work will be playing on the screen there BUT on Thursday I have this debate panel that I am part of. I have been asked to show one of my shorts...now which one do I show. I am leaning towards the South Bank, any thoughts?

I really liked Piccadilly in Furs and My Autumns Done Come. Probably MADC because it has a slight narrative flow. Though there's some really nice exteriors in PIF.

Kew Gardens was also very nice too, especially as it also goes from day to night so it gives some idea of what it looks like in available light.

Were these shorts shot entirely in available light?

[philip bloom]

thanks guys. all done with available light

[philip bloom]

my site is down currently as it is being revamped. My upload connection is a bit slow, but hopefully be back up in about 4 hours.

[cckid]

hi Philip....I think south banks would be the way to go...the richest of them all....and the lighting....just beautiful...you caught some amazing stuff that day...that will sell a bunch of those ex1 cameras...I know i was sold when I saw it...now trying to sell my hvx200pal in order to change for the ex1....I held one yesterday and thought it was smaller and lighter than I thought it would be....

[LuckyStudio 13]

Phil,
I would pay some good money when you explain to the old school ENG people, why your EX1 is so much longer than the ordinary EX1 and why are there still SLR lenses attached to that black tube liked apparatus.

[philip bloom]

i was explaining it quite a lot to some people yesterday...the concept did baffle many!

[spa_edwards]

i was explaining it quite a lot to some people yesterday...the concept did baffle many!


Hello Mr Bloom,

I came down to the live broadcast today to stalk you, which i did!

lol,

I was going to introduce myself today and find get the nitty gritty about the ex1 but you were deep in conversation with some geezers and didnt want to intrude. I had to shoot off for a seminar.

The live broadcast was excellent and i managed to get my hands on the ex1 and get a feel of the camera, plus four seminars during the day which one was about the EX1 by another cameraman called nigel -something-, who also was on your unbiased level in his talk. Smaller than i thought it would be and it is also better than my already high expections were. I cant wait to get this cam.

im glad i went, cheers for letting me know that it was through this blog

[Steve Shovlar]

I also went to Video Forum today and had a great day out. Arrived at 9 and didn't leave till way after closing. Could easily have spent a few more hours walking around the stands and viewing the excellent seminars. This event has really taken off and is a big date on the calendar.

Met up with Phil and had a bit of a chat. He was working on the packed to the rafters Sony stand and chatting to a lot of people interested in the camera.

The EX1 was th show stopper, no doubt about it. There were three REDs at the show, but compared to the EX1 they had little of the way of people around them.

Looks like the EX1 is going to take over from where the ZU1 left off, and dominate the field.


Another point. A stall there is selling Formatt 4x4 filters at a tenner each!!! I got 7 for £40! The are normally over £100 each! Some nice grads inc ND 0.6, some tabaccos and corals. Thought I got a good deal, and told Mr Bloom, who somehow wrangled 7 for £30! The b&st*rd!

Oh, and I said hello to Keith Chegwin.

[philip bloom]

Actually Steve is not mentioning he bough a lovely .6 pink grad and a nice half purple. Be great for those wedding vids! Personally I wouldn't go over a .4 pink, but hey personal preference!

Good to meet you Steve and all the other guys from this and dvinfo forum.

Been hard work standing up all day talking to everyone about it, also because I am wearing a Sony exhibitors badge I had to explain to everyone that I don't actually work for Sony, just been hired by them for these three days as a broadcast EX1 cameraman. Been enjoyable, i think most people have been impressed by what they saw with it. They have a circle of about 12 cameras pointing at a bloke doing wood sculpting (!) all the way from the a1 to the f23.

Yesterday a guy from a big FX house in Soho was looking at the cameras, mainly at the pricier ones, then someone mentioned the ex1 to him so he was sent to me. He looked at it, saw the specs. Said thats pretty impressive. looked at the picture and said nice but as usual you can see noise in the dark parts of the image. I said really? I then looked closely and yes it was noisy as hell, so I looked on the camera and someone had stuck on full auto so it had AGC on. I turned it off and he was blown away by the clean image. When I told him it was 4:2:2 out of the HDSDI i think he was sold!

[philip bloom]

by the way. just booked my flight and hotel for Vegas in April to go to NAB. Hooters hotel?!? tempting but not so great for the taxman!

[samsara]

Hello philip, beautiful work.
*Could you please tell me when you use the brevis if you have to zoom less or moore than with other adapters?
*It seems that it's difficult or not possible to get perfect edge to edge sharpness with the Brevis?

thanks

[philip bloom]

using the ex1 with the flip?

[samsara]

Yes, the brevis + the hvx or the ex1

[philip bloom]

people are getting perfect edge to edge sharpness on some cameras, including the HVX with the Brevis. I haven't on the EX1 yet. Nor have I with the Letus, almost. But not quite. When the EX1 Letus fix comes out I will be very interested to see if it solves the issue for all adaptors. I think it will!

[samsara]

excuse me philip, I want to say letus, as I saw your footage and sometimes find that problem :

*Could you please tell me when you use the letus if you have to zoom less or moore than with other adapters?
*It seems that it's difficult or not possible to get perfect edge to edge sharpness with the Letus?

thanks

[philip bloom]

i have had perfect Letus edge to edge on my HV20!! On the ex1 as I said not quite yet.

I find I have to zoom in slightly more on the extreme with the ex1 than the Brevis, but then I havent got good enough edge sharpness with that yet. With a lot of fiddling my edge sharpness on the ex1 letus is pretty damn good. Look at my dungeness short. it looks pretty sharp to me edge to edge!

[Lenilenapi]

Philip.

Are you stopping down your camera f-stop when shooting outside with the Letus? That would probably help a great deal until there is a fix.

Lenny Levy

[philip bloom]

Lenny, absolutely. The ex1 lens with small aperture helps a lot. On Dungeness as soon as the sun went down edge sharpness was no longer as good

[samsara]

yes indeed
Dungeness it's beautiful, very filmic

thanks