Brevis 35 Production Tests: XL1s, XL2, DVX, HVX, VX2100

Dennis Wood

Dennis Wood

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The original Brevis thread is getting a bit huge, so I'm firing this one up to post tests from the GS400, XL1s, XL2, DVX, HVX, and VX2100 done with the production Brevis. I now have access to all of these cams with tonight's edition as follows:

GS400 clip from production Brevis (9MB)

XL1s on production Brevis (11MB)

Quick shot of the Brevis SN#1 on the XL1s

Can you guess what the floated red dot is? I only had an hour, and it was snowing/raining, so the XL1s stuff is done indoors. The cam was set to manual, manual focus on the 16X lens, and aperture set at around F4.0. Everything else was set to defaults. Forgive the blown out window footage. The XL1 footage is deinterlaced by WME9. It would have been nice to play some more, but family time took precedence today. I have to say, compared to the GS400, I find the cam a bit noisy. I had one of my testing (cheap) macros affixed.

Lens is Minolta F1.4 50mm.

Tomorrow night, XL2 clips, and possibly DVX, HVX, and VX2100.
 
WOW. drool.

anxious for tomorrows footage. This fooge looks great.

I know it is a lot of extra work Dennis but a few uncompressed stills would rock. (esp. from DVX and HVX.)

Looking good.

-rook
 
That is truly great news. Any chance you can try it out with a Z1 or a FX1. This way I could know in advance if I'll need a macro/achromat or not. And more important of all I would hear from the master himself what would be the best option. Plus I would be able to see what my footage is going to look like ;-)
 
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If I can dig up one of the Sony's I'll do it. Tonight we are definitely playing with an XL2, DVX, HVX and VX2100. I just found out however that the four HVX's have nary a one P2 card, so the shots will be DV from that camera :-( With prices dropping on P2 cards, the film school is waiting....

I'm wonderining if we can do a direct dump from firewire on that cam?
 
It would be really awesome if you could find a Z1/Fx1. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I hope everything is ready soon...the EURO is really high right now ;-) hehehe
 
rawfa, you will need a macro or achromat with the Z1U or FX, no question. I got a cheapo macro set of ebay, hopefully by the end of this month I will have a brevis and the macros and adaptor ring, and will post Z1U footage, if it is not already done by then.
 
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That might be a problem for me...since I was the first person to be accepted as beta tester. According to Dennis, macros may cause aberration and barrel distortion and a good achromat would be a better choice. He said he will provide a good one under 100$, so I'll probably buy it from him along with the Brevis35...so I won't have to pay for 2 different shipments to Barcelona.
 
yes an achromat is certainly a better option. And if you can pay in advance to Dennis, do. However, in the mean time, a cheap macro set, for testing and practice purposes, can be purchased on ebay, as Dennis pointed out, for $30.00 US dollars. Many of the resellers are in Europe, so you may even be able to get a cheaper shipment. They may actually work just fine, we'll see!
 
Any advise on a good/cheap (these 2 works usualy don't match) brand? Do you think that maybe a spacer tube would be a better idea (since there'll be no optical interference)?
 
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rawfa said:
Any advise on a good/cheap (these 2 works usualy don't match) brand? Do you think that maybe a spacer tube would be a better idea (since there'll be no optical interference)?
Click to expand...


No, a spacer tube won't work. You can't get far back enough and zoom in tight enough, it is physically impossible without an achromat or macro. I'm not sure of macro brands, I just got the cheapest, because I know it is just for testing and I will be getting an achromat later.

You just want to make sure you get a 72mm +1 +2 +4 and +10 kit, or the like, and then a 72mm to 58mm step down ring, as you will need that to fit the brevis on your camera
 
Dennis,

I have to say that this new footage seems very soft to me. Either the focussing was not spot on in the actual shoot or the current set up is exhibiting softness more than I have seen.

I might try looking at it on a monitor with a little post sharpening. It seems to be the thing to do to make 35mm adapter footage look its best.
 
I found the Xl1 soft too but the panasonic shots I didn't find that soft. Actualy I find the Brevis to the the least soft from all the less expensive adapter (even though I'm going to have to start comparing it to the M2 and the G35 if the price keeps going up). Sharpness IS a big deal to me and it is one of the reasons I sold my Letus35. Specialy when you're dealing with Hd that is much more notissable.
 
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Yes, I also believe the GG focusing was slightly off. Given the sharpness achieved with the GS400, I’m convinced the XL1s-Brevis35 combination is capable of a much sharper image.

In any case, the tests that will be done tonight should give a better idea.
 
I should note on the XL1 footage that it was my first time with that camera, the owner is not an expert shooter, the footage was field reversed, and then deinterlaced by WME9...and we were shooting through +6 diopters of my "disposable" testing macros. That's about a lot of factors to the detriment of the XL1s footage. Also, the camera settings are no doubt at their default..the owner has most of his footage shot by hired help. The object of the testing is not to tweak the camera to it's best settings...it's to get the adapter mounted up and framed correctly.

I've just reviewed the 16:9 24P SD from the HVX, DVX, VX2100 and the XL2. I think you guys are going to like it! More tonight....

Big surprise on the HVX. Guess what we needed to make it work?
 
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Uh, tape. The 82 to 72 step down ring is in the mail. :thumbsup: And the macro strength? We didn't need one. We'll have another crack at the HVX on Saturday, with the proper step down ring in hand...but I'll post what we got. We were unwilling to mess with the camera to much, as the 82mm glass was in mortal peril. After testing the other three cameras, I had macros in hand, and was completely surprised that none were required. The huge 82mm glass zoomed and focussed right on in...no vignette, no macro.

I should point out that Mike ( the camera guy) had never set hands on the HVX until today, and it's my first time even seeing it "in person". It's sweet.

Having seen Mike take some time to adjust the back focus on his XL2, including a stint hooked to my 51" HDTV, I realized that this is something not even checked on the XL1s I was using. The GS400 on the other hand, is a camera I'm intimately familiar with, is always used on the adapter in manual mode, with sharpness and contrast turned down a few notches in picture settings, and there is no OEM back focus to check...
 
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