Giving DVX more presence

filmelife

filmelife

Well-known member
Hi all,

As you all know, one advantage the xl2 has over the DVX is size, some clients unfortunately think bigger is better all the time.

Question, how can i give the dvx more of a big time look, i was thinking a cavision mattebox perhaps.

What you think?
 
I would educate your clients -- it's cheaper than puffing up your camera and weighing it down with "stuff" for the sake of looking more professional.

If you need a matte box, by all means, get one, but why would you want to lug that around if it serves absolutely no purpose?
 
I think they mean DVX in HVX forum (as if that really matters with respect to this question). If that's your concern - go mattebox. Show them a good reel, though, and they won't care what you're using.
 
Yea that is exactly what I mean, This is HVX forums, and the DVX sections are not only Right for your DVX question, but ti will help keep seperation, and benifit DVX users that might be in the same situation.
 
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Check out my DIY mattebox

Check out my DIY mattebox

Hi Killfilm,

I recently made my own Mattebox for my DVX & it costed around $13 in all. Check out my full thread at :

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=60616

Most people say that the main reason they get a mattebox is to make their DVX look much more "professional" & gets it noticed more often.

Besides looking like eye-candy, I would definitely have to say that on really bright outdoor garden shoots, when the sun is shining at full strength, the mattebox serves as quite an effective sun-shade & helps prevent lens flares (of the sun's rays) from the side of the camera, or from on top. Plus, my mattebox is made of extremely light, yet sturdy corrgulated plastic board. It doesn't add much extra weight at all.

The other use is when shooting outdoors & there's a slight drizzle. The mattebox helps protect the camera lens from raindrops dropping on it. But then again I love my DVX so much I wouldn't subject it to even a slight drizzle, unless under something like a Kata rain cover.

Comments about my mattebox are ofcourse welcome. Thanks.

Andrew
 
Is there any merit in using a mattebox for run 'n gun situations? I'm putting together a documentary on hot air ballooning and have been doing all of my shooting handheld so far. I don't have a tripod yet, but that is next on my wishlist (I fly balloons and have a million connections within the ballooning community, so I've been concentrating on the types of shots that I can do handheld. Tripod shots will come later since I can arrange shooting sessions almost anytime).

Andrew - can your mattebox be removed easily? Will it unfold flat for storage? I like the design and am thinking about making one. I don't have any gaffer's tape laying around, otherwise I'd do it today :)

How heavy is it? I don't think I'd want one on my DVX when using a Steadicam Merlin, though - too much surface area for wind.

Just some random questions. Thanks for the help!
 
I just submitted a thread (with photos) thanking the DVX community on helping me do this--

Check it out in the DVX hardware forum from today.

Photos say it all.

Kyle
 
Hi Rat6666, my mattebox is pretty sturdy when mounted. It doesn't slip off easily either. Nope, it can't be folded in any way, else it'll distort the whole shape. I just put it on & take it off when not needed. I only use it during outdoor shoots. Never indoors, as it serves no purpose (as in cutting out strong stray lights), because indoor lighting is already dim to begin with.

Yes, my mattebox is very, very light, yet quite rigid. For, me, even moderately strong wind is not a problem for my mattebox.

I usually shoot on a tripod when I anticipate that shooting an event will take considerable amount of time, like 15-20 mins. Cause holding the cam for that long really makes my hands tired & makes the shots jerky as well.

Usually if I shoot handheld & need to move around quite a bit during shots, I still ensure that my DVX is fastened to the tripod (3 legs closed together). In this way, the tripod now becomes a mono-pod. By doing this I get extremely fluid, smooth video even when walking or running while shooting. Same concept as the steadicam, which isolates your body's movement from the camera's to remove any jerky video. The steadicam is so expensive, so I resort to this way, which is cheap & gets good results.

Therefore, you should invest in a pretty light, yet sturdy enough tripod so it can double up as a mono-pod too. Since the DVX wasn't designed to be shoulder-mounted like the Canon XL2 or JVCHD-100, but more to be a hand-held design, reducing camera shake is more critical.
 
SurJones said:
Yea that is exactly what I mean, This is HVX forums, and the DVX sections are not only Right for your DVX question, but ti will help keep seperation, and benifit DVX users that might be in the same situation.
Click to expand...

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Whatever champ. :) You know the DVX and HVX look almost exactly the same? Wait... oh yes there they are side by side hmm very similar indeed. HD100 is pretty strange looking beast side by side with the pana cams.

But for the question at hand. I understand what your saying. Some peoples perception, especially the uneducated, think bigger just must be better and no amount of education? you can only do so much, (most of my clients couldnt give a **** about the technical to be honest and dont want to be told) wont make any difference. Some people just think that way... thats their perception and so be it. Yes a CAVISION set up will make untrained eyes believe its got more go (this is the real world). The good news is the whole CAVISION set up doesnt wiegh too much, and in ACTUAL FACT SERVES A GREAT AND VERY USEFUL PURPOSE, and the price is right.... just compare.
 
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I agree with you ncje. In my country, people's perception is that the bigger the camera, esp the shoulder-mounted types, the more pro it is. Although we, who are in this business knows that the DVX wacks the XL2's & leaves them in the dust.

I think those who are uninformed think that a handheld like a DVX can't compare in performance to a shoulder-mounted one, just because it's smaller & the fact that it's "hand-held". Technology has been able to shrink cameras smaller, yet increase on it's performance. These are just my thoghts.
 
Yes, I'm pretty sure about this. I have a film-maker/movie-maker friend of vast experience who told me that the Canon XL1 & XL2 cameras are awkward to operate & in terms of color reproduction & vibrancy, the DVX performs better than the XL2.

Ofcourse the main selling point of the Canon is that their lenses can be interchangable. But from my film-maker's friend's comments, very few XL2 videographers purchase extra interchangable lenses for the XL2 because it's just too expensive.

XL does beat DVX real bad in the zoom department ofcourse as the magnification of the XL2 is far more powerful.

Also, my other videographer friend testified to me that he was shooting with a DVX100A in a huge auditorium & the images were projected real-time via BNC cables to a mixer unit about 100meters away & live-fed unto 4 LCD projectors spread around. He was quite surprised that even with such far distnaces, the images recorded from his DVX still remained clear, sharp & held their colors well. He told me it was the camera. Cause he had an older Panasonic 3CCD camcorder that loss picture clarity & color when live-fed from about 60 meters via BNC cables.
 
We shoot Canon XL1S cameras at Red Rocks Amphitheater for the big screen. It's really amazing how good these cameras can look. They do seem to display a LOT less noise in low light than a DVX.
 
Lets not get into a DVX vs XL debarcle..... there are whole articles on this. But just for the record I agree with this:

Originally Posted by andybiz_2005
Although we, who are in this business knows that the DVX wacks the XL2's & leaves them in the dust.
Click to expand...

Anyway lets not hijack this thread - the original question was about the perception of bigger is better by the laymen,
 
I have a DV Rig Pro and use it on just about any shoot that I am hand held. Actually it depends on the shoot. Sometimes I don't need it. I used it yesterday as I shot a Celebrity Basketball game in North Philly and a lot of people both celebrities and other camera crews were giving me props on my whole set up. One celeb who has been in a bunch of movies, asked me for my business card because he liked how professional my set up was and wants me to come to NY to shoot something!
Click to expand...

I just pulled this from another thread.. just to reiterate my point.
 
if some snide dingleberry says to your DVX "gee thats a small camera" just pull this out of your gear bag:

OldCellPhone200jve.jpg.242339.1.jpeg


and then ask him if he wants to trade cell phones. Tell him yours is better cause its bigger. That should shut him up as he will be reminded in a real way that as technology advances size decreases.

heres one on ebay. Much cheaper than a mattebox.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-MINT-MO...4QQihZ007QQcategoryZ64355QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ed
 
Well,

I'm interested to know how we can further assesorize our DVX cameras to not only look more professional, but also add real useful functionality to it. Perhaps, like a DIY ring light for our DVX, or a special zoom lens for our DVX that would extend it's zoom range to that of a XL2 maybe? Any commercial attachable zoom lenses for the DVX100A?
 
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