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View Full Version : HMC150 with Letus Ultimate & Nikon Zooms Part 2


gmoe
10-15-2008, 06:59 AM
Okay here’s some indoor run & gun event shooting test footage using the HMC150 and the Letus Ultimate with Nikon lenses.

In this first test, I wanted to see how well the HMC150 and Letus Ultimate combination would work in a run and gun type situation with not so great fluorescent lighting, no video assist monitor, no tripod, just the camera mic, and no time to white balance. Basically, your worst last minute run and gun situation.

This first clip is all shot at 1080 / 24P with Cine D / Ultimate Set @ 99

Here is the vimeo link. It's a little compressed and you can see macroblocking which is not in the original footage. Original footage transcoded to DVCPro is much better.

http://www.vimeo.com/1967522

I decided to only use one lens and that was my Nikon 28-70 AFS 2.8. The Gain was on medium on the HMC150 and the iris was opened all the way up. The aperture on the Nikon lens was also open at 2.8.

The results are to be expected, a little dark and grainy. You can see the grain, but it is not as bad as I had expected with my older HVX. There would be a lot more grain in the image with my older HVX that's for sure.

The camera, adapter and lens were mounted on a cavision shoulder mount rig that I have re-configured just slightly to give it a bit more balance.

This footage was taken at the Holy Redeemer Church and School in Philadelphia for a community meeting concerning the proposed casino in the neighboring Chinatown community.

http://componentgeek.com/HMC150&Ultimate%20Tests/No%20Casino%20%28Small%29.jpg



This footage is merely to test the limits of what the Ultimate and HMC150 can do in real world situations. I'd love to clean up the footage in post but I felt it was best to show it as it really is. The cuts are rough and are merely to show different shots from the event.

One interesting thing to note:

I only had one 16g ADATA SDHC card on me and of course these community events go waay long. At about 30 min. left of tape with the PH 1080/24P settting I was able to buy some more time by switching to the downgraded HE 1080/60i mode (I forget actually how much more time it bought me, I think another hour? Someone else do the math!)

Anyway, the footage isn't great but if you need to capture something instead of nothing. The ability to switch to a long recorded format setting on this camera can surely save the day. Luckily for me, I was shooting this just as a test, not for a real gig.

(By the way, this is not the ADATA card that went into the washing machine. That will be in the theatrical lighting event footage testing to follow shortly.)

http://componentgeek.com/HMC150&Ultimate%20Tests/No%20Casino2%20copy%20%28Small%29.jpg

Additional Footage:

1080 / 60i HE Recording Mode

I was originally not going to post this footage but I guess it's not as bad as I thought. Like I said, I had to down grade to the HE recording level in order to keep shooting since I only had one 16g SDHC Card. The footage still looks usable. I guess when you are in a pinch this might save you.


http://www.vimeo.com/1974982


(continued)

gmoe
10-15-2008, 07:00 AM
Okay here we go..

What I will post here are sample test footage for shooters who cover events mainly in theatrical type settings where your only lights are the theatrical lighting that is available on stage. This may be useful for event shooters who make their living covering panels, symposium, plays, music recitals, that sort of thing.

Basically, in these type of situations you really can't bring your lights, you have to work with what you have. Often times as well, you are shooting from the very back of the theater which means exposure control is hell and getting a nice clean picture really tough to do.

For these tests, I'm shooting with the Letus Ultimate adapter (setting @99) and my Nikon 80-200 AF-S F/2.8 and a Nikon Telephoto 400mm f/3.5 ED IF AIS Manual Focus Lens.

All these tests are shot from approximately 50 feet away on the second floor mezzanine of the theater. There was no gain on the camera and shutter was at 1/48. The aperture on the 80-200 was at 2.8 and 400mm was at 3.5. And the HMC150 iris ranged from all the way open to F/2.8. All recordings were shot with the Cine D
scene file.


1st Sample:

1080/24P - Nikon 400mm

This footage is shot at the 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival after the screening of Planet B-Boy at the Asian Arts Initiative.

Director Benson Lee has a Q&A with the audience.

http://componentgeek.com/HMC150&Ultimate%20Tests/Benson%20copy%20%28Small%29.jpg


Here's the vimeo link:

http://www.vimeo.com/1976218

Findings: The compressed file on Vimeo has rings around Benson, it almost appears like it could be the adapter ground glass but I'm not sure. The original footy doesn't show that problem. Overall I'm pretty impressed, not bad for being 50 ft away! The 400mm gave me a nice intimate shot. Benson was wearing a cap so you lose his eyes but there's still detail there, definitely the lighted areas are much better but at least you can get a real world sense of a telephoto, Letus Ultimate and HMC150.

2nd Sample

720/24P - Nikon 400mm

This footage was taken at the panel discussion at the 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.

http://componentgeek.com/HMC150&Ultimate%20Tests/Panel%20-%20720-24P%20Sample2%20copy%20%28Small%29.jpg

Here is the vimeo link:

http://www.vimeo.com/1986176

Findings: There is a little camera shake because the Mezzanine floor shakes when people are walking near the camera.

Again, the compressed file suffers a little but it still looks pretty good. What I've noticed from my eye is that the compressed file in low lighting when shot 720/24P seems to not hold up as much as 1080/24P when compressing the file for streaming purposes for vimeo when shooting in these kind of lighting conditions where the lighting is varied.

But in terms of HD file versions to work with on Edius 5, I am finding it much easier to work with 720/24P transcoded to the Canous HQ codec than working with the 1080/24P footage transcoded to Canopus HQ or even DVCPro. I have a dual core processor so even working with DVCPro is challenging but doable. I'll definitely need a computer upgrade soon.

Quality wise like many have said, there's a small bit of detail that increases for 1080/24P but not much difference.

2nd Sample

1080/60i - Nikon 200mm

This footage was taken at the panel discussion at the 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.

http://componentgeek.com/HMC150&Ultimate%20Tests/Panel%20-%201080-60i%20Sample2%20copy%20%28Small%29.jpg

Here is the vimeo link:

http://www.vimeo.com/1991878

Findings: I wanted to put a 1080/60i sample up for those who like that reality tv look. Again, this is the vimeo compressed file and also it's playing differently with the vimeo player. I think at 24fps. But it looks pretty good still. Their titles on the card you can see pretty clearly. Again this footage is shot 50 ft away on the 2nd floor mezzanine so I was pretty impressed overall.

PaPa
10-15-2008, 07:16 AM
not too shabby for low light!

MikeGunter
10-15-2008, 08:30 AM
Hey, thanks for the footage.

Does the HMC150 have the internal Flip for the 35mm adapters?

matt s.
10-15-2008, 08:43 AM
looks good for the bad lighting in that place!

Mike the 150 has the LCD flip function. The footage is still recorded upside down.

MikeGunter
10-15-2008, 08:47 AM
Thanks Matt....

shrigg
10-15-2008, 08:54 AM
Hey, thanks for the footage.

Does the HMC150 have the internal Flip for the 35mm adapters?

The LCD does have a flip option which is a first for a prosumer cam but the footage still gets recorded upside down. Obviously not with a Letus Ultimate or Extreme, but for non-flipping adapters.

MikeGunter
10-15-2008, 10:11 AM
Yep...

I understood that it was a preview of the footage, not a flip of the imagery, but that's very significant and very cool - avoids a flip adapter, saves a stop or 2, makes for a lighter package, etc., it just gets better...

shrigg
10-15-2008, 11:43 AM
it just gets better...

Couldn't agree more. I am amazed at the thought Panasonic has put into this camera. An excellent evolution of the HVX. Although I'd say shooting on inexpensive SDHC media is more of a REVOLUTION!!!! :thumbup::thumbup:

booggerg2
10-15-2008, 12:51 PM
I would like to see a CCed version to see how the footage holds up after it's brought up to the proper level..

oh btw.. that chick in the back of the room screaming "it's scary!!" is pretty funny...

MikeGunter
10-15-2008, 01:13 PM
Couldn't agree more. I am amazed at the thought Panasonic has put into this camera. An excellent evolution of the HVX. Although I'd say shooting on inexpensive SDHC media is more of a REVOLUTION!!!! :thumbup::thumbup:

Oh yeah...

I'm down with that. Like I've said, I could buy a pair of 150's for the price of a HVX200 with P2 media. :)

There's no question that DVCPro HD is more robust and built for the long haul. I like it a lot, prefer it, but for plain vanilla journeyman work, the HMC150 is just there.

gmoe
10-17-2008, 08:52 AM
Just added a few more samples to compare Nikon 400mm and Nikon 80-200 lens as well as 1080/24P and 720/24P. I also included a 1080/60i in HA Recording mode.

gmoe
10-18-2008, 02:15 PM
Check out outdoor test footage here:

HMC150 with Letus Ultimate & Nikon Zooms & OCT 18 LOMO Testing Part 1
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1437178#post1437178

Hope this helps folks who are considering the HMC150 and the Letus Ultimate. :)

Gmoe

Humanoid Typhoon
10-20-2008, 02:02 AM
Benson is pretty cool. My crew performed at the Planet Bboy premiere here in Hawaii. Really hoping it comes out on DVD. I didn't get a chance to watch it, had a wedding to shoot that night :(.

gmoe
10-20-2008, 05:26 AM
Benson is pretty cool. My crew performed at the Planet Bboy premiere here in Hawaii. Really hoping it comes out on DVD. I didn't get a chance to watch it, had a wedding to shoot that night :(.

Benson Lee is an amazing filmmaker, also a great entrepreneur. His success of Planet B-Boy is his savvy marketing skills and how he raised money for this film. He's also very humble and inspiring to hear talk about his work.

Planet B-Boy was one of my favorite films from the festival and is a must see. I think it's coming out on DVD on November 11th I believe.