HPX500 Demo

[digitalinnovations]

I will be getting an HPX500 w/ Fuji 2x to demo for a couple of days. I plan on shooting as many scenarios as I can, but I was wondering if there was something in particular you guys were hoping for. I think I saw somewhere on here that there was a request to shoot a rez chart. I wouldn't mind doing that if no one has had the chance to (if someone wouldn't mind posting it in here that would be great). I do not have a HVX200 to compare it to though. I do have a Panny 410 1/2" DVCPRO25 cam I could shoot. If that interests anyone just let me know. I am pretty excited about getting some serious time with the HPX500!!!

[mmm]

Click here to download rez chart (http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/ISO_12233-reschart.pdf)


It'll be interesting to compare 720p rez to 1080p and a side by side would be great as reference, although I doubt many people are familiar enough with the 410 to use it as a benchmark.

Maybe someone could lend a camera for comparison, whereabouts are you?

Thanks!

[digitalinnovations]

You're welcome! Thank you for the rez chart!

I am down in Southern Illinois. I doubt anyone is very close to me , or close enough to borrow an HVX200. I am more than willing to do so if the opportunity arises.

[LMGvideo]

I'd like to see some interior shots under various lighting conditions. A really good test of "real world" latitude is to shoot an interior with a window and see how blown out it gets. If you have time, throwing up a few lights to light a 'scene" might be interesting.

I'm thnking we're probably going to get one if I can get the budget approved, if so, then I'll contribute to the test footage quest.

[kyle.presley]

Could you shoot some portrait stuff with the iris as open as possible? I would love to see how shallow 2/3 inch lenses can get.

[k2director]

Thanks for asking! I too would love to see how it handles indoor lighting, and also how shallow it can makes its depth of field...

[digitalinnovations]

OK, I just got back with the cam and will do my best to get some of the above requested shots and post them here. I am also curious what is everyone's recipe for Slo-Mo and fast motion both in camera and in FCP. I have not done is slo-mo outside of adjusting the speed in FCP. I am really eager to check out the slow motion effects. Thanks!

[kyle.presley]

Shoot 720/60p with shutter at 1/120 and reduce by 30% in a 24p timeline.

[digitalinnovations]

OK, here is a quick DOF example. It is shot 1080/60i @ f5.6. The closet object is 5' from the front of the lens and the furthest point is 7' from the front of the lens.

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-DOF-Flowers.mov
(FCP Export File-right click and download)

I shot this late last night (11pm) to test the low light. Again it is shot 1080/60i wide open with +12db gain. There is a 60w standard exterior recessed light over head, it is pitch black beyond that. I just wanted to see how it handled the low light and gain.

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-Frog-Night+12db.mov
(FCP Export File)

If anyone prefers the compressed QT files, let me know and I will try to get those encoded and uploaded ASAP.

There is zero color correction and to be honest, I didn't even white balance. It is on the factory F1 setting, so I haven't even messed with the CINE D or CINE V. If anyone has any recipes, feel free to send them over and I will try them out.

I plan on shooting the rez chart today and posting as well.

On a side note, I gotta say the P2 workflow is pretty dreamy! I am used to shooting DVCPRO tape then having to capture. So I probably would not have even messed with the low light shot, but with the P2 I am grabbing quick shots whenever. If you are like me and have not used the P2 flow, I think you will love it, I sure do!

[kyle.presley]

Downloading now. Thanks a lot!

[mmm]

Thanks for spending so much time on this! It's much appreciated!

[kstewart]

Winfows users of Quicktime can't play these files, would you please encode them in H264 ?

Thanks !

Kristin

[digitalinnovations]

I am sorry, that completely slipped my mind. Of course I will get those encoded and uploaded for you guys ASAP.

[digitalinnovations]

Thanks for spending so much time on this! It's much appreciated!

I am having a blast doing it, but you guys are very welcome!

[kstewart]

Thanks digital !

I can't wait discovering four files... Another thing : what would be nice is some landscapes shots, with daylight !

Kristin

[digitalinnovations]

Below are the links to the Rez Chart images (shot 1080/60i @ f5.6):

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-HPX500-RezChart-2.tif
www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-HPX500-RezChart-2.png


Also, here are the links to the compressed QT-H264 files for al you windows users out there. The descriptions for these clips is posted in this thread above.

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-DOF-Flowers-WIN.mov
www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-Frog-Night+12db-WIN.mov

Please right click and download these. Let me know if you have any problems with these linked files. Hope these help!

[k2director]

Digital,
Thanks much! There's definitely a shallow-enough depth of field for me to work with--especially for talking head interviews, which is what I'd largely use it for.

The low light test was also helpful, since I could imagine there was very little light to begin with, based on your description of the setting. Did you by any chance shoot the frog without any gain? If so, how did that turn out?

At any rate, thanks for taking the time to shoot and post this. It's helping to further boost my excitement for the camera...

[Barry_Green]

Thanks for shooting. The res chart isn't really helpful though, because it's framed too small. You need to frame it such that the area where the white triangles touch the black triangles is exactly on the edge of the frame.

[digitalinnovations]

Oh, OK. I got ya, I framed it up at the safeties, my bad. I will reshoot it tomorrow and try to get it reposted then as well. You can tell I do this type of stuff a lot! *grin*. I usually just go by the end product and the quality it produces. I tend not to go by charts, etc. Probably the wrong way to be. But I know it could be helpful to some on here and I really don't mind doing it. Especially if it makes the HPX500 look even better to some. I think I am sold at this point.

[digitalinnovations]

Did you by any chance shoot the frog without any gain? If so, how did that turn out?


Glad I could help! I didn't end up shooting anything with 0 gain. It was like shooting "blind", I couldn't see much of anything in the VF or LCD without the gain in place. I probably should have tried it at +3 or +6, just for fun.

[kyle.presley]

Wow, f/5.6 is pretty shallow.

[digitalinnovations]

Barry - I changed the link in the previous post to the new rez chart images. See if these are formatted correctly. They are straight image exports from the FCP timeline. It was shot 1080/30P @ f5.6. Thanks!

*edit*

Here are the links to the 720/60p rez charts shot @ f5.6.

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-HPX500-720-RezChart.png
www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-HPX500-720-RezChart.tif

Hopefully these are formatted correctly.

[digitalinnovations]

*deleted double post*

[Barry_Green]

Much better framing, but still kind of muddy. What size did you print that chart out at? I shot some stuff using one of those charts once, and I found that to get decent results I had to print it at 4x size and tape the four pieces together. The bigger the chart, the more accurate the lines will be.

[digitalinnovations]

It is printed out on a piece of legal size. So I am guessing that is not nearly big enough based on what you had to do. I might try to do it that other way before I have to return the demo unit.

[Barry_Green]

The bigger you can print it, the less that the printer's resolution will have an effect on the ability to render the fine lines. I originally tried printing that chart on a "1200dpi" inkjet, and the results were nearly useless. I printed it at 4x size (on four sheets of paper) on a 600dpi laser and the results were infinitely superior.

All I'm saying is, make sure that the lines on the chart are rendered as pristinely and cleanly as possible. Printing a larger chart will remove any vagueries caused by ink spray or anything like that in the finer sections of the resolution wedges.

[Noel Evans]

Thanks for posting the footage, though in its compressed format its not telling me a great deal. On the flower shot could you possibly post like 1-2 seconds of the DVCPro footage uncompressed? Would be very greatful. Also you're a little underexposed.

[digitalinnovations]

On the flower shot could you possibly post like 1-2 seconds of the DVCPro footage uncompressed? Would be very greatful.

The original links I posted were to the FCP/QT export files here:

http://www.digitalinnovations.tv/vid...OF-Flowers.mov
(FCP Export File-right click and download)

http://www.digitalinnovations.tv/vid...Night+12db.mov
(FCP Export File-right click and download)

Are you wanting them in an exported QT/DVCPROHD movie? Just let me know and I will do my best to help out.

[Noel Evans]

Are you wanting them in an exported QT/DVCPROHD movie? Just let me know and I will do my best to help out.

I know its a complete hassle to do. But I would greatly appreciate it. Only 5-6 months before I need to decide on my camera options. I know it sounds strange sayone ONLY 5-6 months but it has to really count this time around. This will be my production camera for next 3 years at a minimum.

[digitalinnovations]

No problem! I will try to get that uploaded for you today.

[digitalinnovations]

Sorry for the delay. I got caught up. Here are the links, let me know how they work for you.

www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-Frog-Night+12db-DVCPROHD.mov
www.digitalinnovations.tv/video/DI-DOF-Flowers-DVCPROHD.mov