Do you screw filters on the DVX? how many can fit?? vignetting??

T

TheJackyl

Active member
Hey, I was wondering how many screw on filters a DVX could use at once? I was thinking I could see myself using 4 filters at once. I dont have any experience using filters and would like to buy the right type, without a mattebox it appears screw on would be the best, 72mm for the DVX. If you screw on to many filters would there be a vignetting problem?? does anyone know how many?

Okay all that is said above with the assumption that one filter can screw on and then another can screw on, on top of the first, then another on top of the second. PLEASE correct me if I am wrong!!

Would special slim filters help? Also do they make filters from something such as 80MM(or another number higher than 72) to 72MM, without buying a special adapter ring??

I know this must sound like a newbie question but I'd get to get some straight up answers so I can move on with the subject of filter holding/mattebox. THANKS
 
4 filters? What might they be?

If you simply go with 72mm filters, then they will start showing up in the picture on full wide. Not sure at what point though.
Going larger with the filter diameter will definitely help, i.e. get a 72-77 step-up ring. And then use 77mm filters, etc. Slim filters will help also, but some [all?] don't have a front thread, so it would have to be your last filter.
Another option would be to get a filter holder and use 4x4 filters; but they are normally limited to the use of only two filters. Only? Two filters is really about all you'd want to play around with. As a rule you'd want to use as LITTLE "other" stuff in front of the lens as possible. Some filter's effect can NOT be duplicated in post though, so they are a must: polarizer for instance.
 
I have a bunch of 72mm filters as well but I use mostly Series 9 drop-in filters.
They're more than 82mm accross and you can stack up to three filters with no vignetting at all. With four filters you start having a barely noticeable vignette effect at full wide.

Besides, I can also use Series 9 filters with my wide angle adapter (a vintage lens from Century that was originally intended for the broadcast market).

Finally, with Series 9 you'd keep your investement on moving to the HVX.

Lutnik
 
Thanks a lot for the replies - very useful information! I will surely look into Series 9 filters too. For 4 filters I was thinking something like 2 NDs, a black pro mist, maybe a polarizer, so the option for 4 would be ideal? I'd also like to test using a split field diopter, some color enhancing filters, and other diffusion filters to see what they can produce.
 
do you think you'll really need ND's?
Don't know if you already have a DVX or are getting one so take this comment in that light -- but you know it's got built in ND's that are just spiffy.

you are also forgetting a UV filter which you will want to buy and never take of your lens.

I use that and a polarizer on occasion.

Almost any other effect can be created in post, or in camera using thet color controls but I do want to try a black promist at somepoint.

theres a DVD which compares various filters on the DVX that's put out by DVXlabs (jarred and Barry) which is cool ... it's called DVXlabs Interior Filter Tests ... might see if you can find that.
 
Thanks for the reply Jack, are the ND built into the DVX just as good quality as if you bought a filter? glass I suppose but possibly resin? I knew the DVX had those NDs but always figured they werent very good, kinda like another auto feature, if I was wrong in this assumption I'd love to know. Also could you give me an example of recreating an effecting in camera? I can imagine its simple in a software application but how can the DVX camera controls be used to simulate filter efffects? Thanks!
 
I don't know of anyone who doesn't use the built in filters - they are perfectly acceptable.
 
The ND filters are quit good. I don't know if they are glass or resin but they work very well. I supplement these with ND grads or a polarizer as needed. While there is a lot you can do in post you can't recover blown out whites/lights. So if you want shadow details plus sky you need some tools for in camera light control, hence ND, ND Grads. In some instances you may need supplemetal lighting or reflectors to bringing shadow areas into F stop range.

S Cannon
 
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4 filters at a time? There's really no need for that, it's just so much glass to go through, not to mention the pain in the ass of making sure both sides of every filter are dust and smudge free. You really want to be going through as little glass a possible. The ND filters on the DVX work just fine. I have a full set of 72mm NDs that I got with my cam thinking I'd need them now and again, and honestly, I've never once used them.

I guess it really depends on your place in the industry. If you are shooting shorts, might as well buck up and spend a bunch of dough on a matte box, follow focus and 4x4s. But guys like me, in the ENG/broadcast end of things, honestly, the ONLY filters I ever use are UV, polarizer, and occasionally, but very rarely an ND grad (for wide extreriors only) or a promist (for talking heads with people who have REALLY bad skin) Otherwise everything else can be done in post, and honestly, and editor sitting at a symphony is just going to be pissed off about filters.
 
TheJackyl said:
...a black pro mist....
Click to expand...

Black ProMist??? You have a DVX, yes or no?
The whole Black ProMist and ND thingy was really for cams BEFORE the days of the DVX. It was meant to achieve more of a FILM LOOK, something already inherent in the DVX/HVX.
You should reconsider this filter usage IF you have a DVX.

If you DON'T have a DVX, then sure, that filter route isn't a bad one.
If you like, check this short we did in a former life; using the ND and Black Pro Mist on an XM1 (PAL version of GL1) shot in FRAME mode. It was deliberately white-balenced wrong, and together with all the filters, achieved that brown/yellow grass look:

http://thatsun.com
 
The DVX doesn't have an inherent BPM look. It has an inherent clean look. I use a 1/4 BPM 80-90% of the time. Sometimes a polo for effect. I only use my UV filter when I am shooting car mount and want to protect the lens. Otherwise I keep it clean.
 
J -- I'd love to see some footage -- got me a B&H guft card burnin a hole iny pocket. Will probably get a 35mm wide angle for my adaoptor but maybe a black promist...

vidled said:
Black ProMist??? You have a DVX, yes or no?
The whole Black ProMist and ND thingy was really for cams BEFORE the days of the DVX. It was meant to achieve more of a FILM LOOK, something already inherent in the DVX/HVX.
You should reconsider this filter usage IF you have a DVX.

If you DON'T have a DVX, then sure, that filter route isn't a bad one.
If you like, check this short we did in a former life; using the ND and Black Pro Mist on an XM1 (PAL version of GL1) shot in FRAME mode. It was deliberately white-balenced wrong, and together with all the filters, achieved that brown/yellow grass look:

http://thatsun.com
Click to expand...
hey that looked nice -- agree with you on everything except that I think it would still be nice to try some stuff with a black promist -- seen some DVX footage with it and it's purdy.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
that looked nice -- agree with you on everything except that I think it would still be nice to try some stuff with a black promist -- seen some DVX footage with it and it's purdy.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

And I stand corrected then on the BPM issue; that's cool. I really didn't know that, I'm guessing my tests turned out yuck because I may have had used a too strong version. I see J talks about a 1/4; IIRC mine was MUCH stronger than that.

Great, makes me want to try it again for sure...
 
WOW! its crazy ive always thought of the built in ND as an auto feature never to be turned on and i as WRONG, just saved me some $$$ and frustration! thanks a lot guys!!
 
yeah they are regular glass filters inside the camnera behind the lens and you just pop em on or off

that dvxlabs interior tests DVD is pretty cool, but i can't seem to find it online anymore.
 
bpm?

bpm?

J : "The DVX doesn't have an inherent BPM look. It has an inherent clean look. I use a 1/4 BPM 80-90% of the time. Sometimes a polo for effect. I only use my UV filter when I am shooting car mount and want to protect the lens. Otherwise I keep it clean."

Could you explain what's a BPM? What about the POLO?
I'd like to learn
Thanks:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
earlier in the post a 'black pro mist' and a "polarizer" are refered to, they are both filter types check out wikipedia
 
a black pro mist is for a softer "film lool"
makes the contrast range more like film, helps blacken the black, and counteracts video sharpness

a circular polarizer like you would use with the DVX rotates to change the angle at which light comes into the camera -- the effect this has is to make skies bluer or allow you to shoot through glass or shallow water so that you can see the other side rather than your reflection

the black pro mist is an aesthetic choice

the polarizer is a useful (and in my opinion necesseary) tool that allows you to accomplish certain tasks.
 
i have the black pro mist, 812 warming, black diffusion fx, gold diffusion fx, soft-fx, 82A, and the obligatory UV. would i stick any combo of four of those on? no way...there's no need. besides consider this...if you bought a matte box for an Arri, spending $2,500 to nearly $5,000...you'd be getting a box that holds 2 filters. so why would you think you need to screw on four?
 
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